FirmTek SeriTek/1eSE2, User Manual

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III. Connecting External Enclosure(s)
Introduction
This section describes how to connect external hard drive enclosure(s) and a method of
formatting your Serial ATA hard drive(s) using Apple
’
s Drive Setup utility (OS 9.XX) or
Apple
’
s Disk Utility (OS X). If you decide to use a third party drive setup utility, please refer to
the documentation provided with the utility.
Connecting the SeriTek/1SE2 or
SeriTek/1eSE2
to an External Enclosure
1. The SeriTek/1SE2 and SeriTek/1eSE2 host adapters are compatible with a wide range of
external enclosures. Enclosures must meet basic requirements which include:

Adequate power to support the hard drives (internal power supply),

7-pin shielded receptacles compatible with FirmTek
’
s shielded Serial ATA cable (see
below)

Support for Serial ATA Version 1.0

Serial ATA hard drives or Parallel ATA hard drives with compatible Serial ATA to
Parallel ATA converter
2. Install hard drives into the external enclosure according to the instructions included with
the enclosure.
3. Attach one end of FirmTek
’
s shielded Serial ATA cable(s) to the Serial ATA receptacle(s)
on the SeriTek/1SE2 or SeriTek/1eSE2, and connect the other end(s) to the external
enclosure.
4. Power on the external enclosure.
Note: Macintosh computers require unique external shielded Serial ATA cables for maximum
reliability. FirmTek Serial ATA cables were specially designed to be compatible with both PC and
Macintosh computers. Please use only FirmTek external shielded Serial ATA cables with the
SeriTek/1SE2 or SeriTek/1eSE2.
Caution: The SeriTek/1SE2 and SeriTek/1eSE2 host adapters require different types
Serial ATA cables/connectors. The SeriTek/1SE2 provides original L-shaped SATA
connectors, while the SeriTek/1eSE2 provides the latest I-shaped eSATA connectors. eSATA is
a new cable/connector specification from the ATA Committee that defines a new
“
external
”
SATA
connector, called eSATA.

The original Serial ATA (Type A SATA) connectors have an L shaped opening

The newer
“
eSATA
”
connectors have a rectangular opening
Using the SeriTek/1SE2 host adapter with the SeriTek/2EN2 external enclosure
requires cables which offer an L-shaped connector on one end, and a rectangular I-
shaped eSATA connector on the other end.
Original L-shaped
Serial ATA connector
Newer rectangular
eSATA I-shaped
connector