Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini Teardown

ID: 5137

Description: This OneTouch 4 Mini hard drive was bought at a...

Steps:

  1. This teardown is the same with the other onetouch 4 mini models.
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  2. The drive's enclosure doesn't have any screws or glue holding the case in place, it has a clamshell-style design that cradles the drive inside.
  3. There is a seam at the bottom edge of the drive where the 2 halves comes apart. A flat head screwdriver helps pry it open.
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  4. The drive is suspended in the middle of the enclosure by several foam rubber pads, which keeps the drive quiet and keep vibrations at a minimum.
  5. The metal plate covering the lower part of the drive is an EMF shield, and is where the SATA to USB board is held in.
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  6. Removing the shield is removing the 2 philips screws on the side of the drive where the shield is held in place.
  7. Lets see what kind of chip and drive do we have here on the next step....
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  8. The other side of the drive. The sticker on the connector, is the serial number.
  9. The controller board and the drive is connected using SATA.
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  10. The 2.5" hard drive in the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini isn't a Maxtor drive at all. It's a Seagate Momentus 5400.5 LD25.2 hard drive.
  11. Here is the Seagate product overview to the Momentus 5400.2 hard drive, model number ST980210AS
  12. Removing the EMF shield reveals a small PCB that plugs directly into the SATA and power connections of the Momentus 5400.5. It doesn't even have a physical connection to the RFI shield -- it just hangs off the back of the drive itself. The SATA connections to the drive are soldered to the PCB itself.
  13. The controler board's chip is made by Initio. It is a Initio INIC-1605 USB to SATA Bridge Chip
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  14. Just to keep in mind, taking your external drive apart would void the drive's warranty. It's just something to know if your external drive is under warranty.
  15. Even though the hard drive's label reads "Not Suitable for Laptop Computer Use", it still works perfectly as a laptop hard drive.
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