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GETTING TO KNOW YOUR MTC-4015
2.4.8 CN18 : Mini PCIe, mSATA
Both mSATA and Mini PCIe share the same form factor and similar electrical
pinout assignments on their connectors. There was no clear mechanism to
distinguish if a mSATA drive or a Mini PCIe device is plugged into the socket
until recently that SATA I/O issued an ECN change (ECN #045) to redefine Pin-
43 on mSATA connector as “no connect” instead of “return current path” (or
GND).
When an mSATA drive is inserted, its Pin-43 is “no connect”, and the respective
pin on the socket is being pulled-up to logic 1. When a Mini PCIe device is
inserted, its Pin-43 forces the respective pin on the socket to ground, or logic 0.
MTC-4015 using JP11 Pin-43 status designed for switching between mSATA
drive and Mini PCIe device.
CN18
JP11
Header
Interface
1-2
Auto Detection
2-4
Mini PCIe
1-3
mSATA