(Solved) Laptop Caddy connector identification. Getac, Roda and Itronix laptops

[Fraser]

This is one of those "do you recognise this connector" posts but I have done plenty of searching before asking.... honest ! 

I have two makes of ruggedized laptops that use the same format of connector on their hard disk caddy's, just with differnt numbers of pins.

I am providing some pictures from eBay of the caddy used in the Roda Rocky rugged laptops. The sellers pictures show the connector details. Of significance for identification is the offset locating spigots at each end of the connector. There are absolutely no manufacturer letters, part numbers or logos on the connector of the caddy or laptop. I have searched HRS and other common connector manufacturers, but with no success. HRS have something similar but no offset on the spigots and not compatible even with modification. I believe the connectors are described as "Mezzanine connectors" or PCB interconnect connectors.

The Roda rocky uses a 50 pin version of the connector as it is IDE whereas the Itronix/General Dynamics XR1 and GD8000 series rugged laptops use a lesser number of pins connector as it is SATA.

I would really appreciate any suggestions as to who the manufacturer of this connector might be. Even if I cannot buy the identical  connector, I may be able to modify another in the companies range.

I have 6 Roda Rocky's and 8 General Dynamics GD8000's needing these connectors as the caddy's are crazy money for what they are.

Sincerest thanks in advance

Fraser 

[daqq]

What's the pitch spacing?

[Fraser]

I will check and come back to you.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Connector is 50 contacts total. 25 contacts per side - wipe contacts.

Contact Pitch is 1.27mm

Connector total width including locating spigots but not side 'wings' is 35mm

Connector total width including locating spigots and side 'wings' is 44.5mm

Connector height, not including side 'wings' is 4.8mm

Connector height, including side 'wings' is 6.6mm

Inner slot is 1.7mm high by 32.4mm long

Alignment spigots are rectangular at base and form a spike at the end. They are NOT aligned with the central slot, being offset to create a connector orientation safety feature. Dimensions are 2.87mm x 1.77mm

Fraser

[daqq]

Inner slot is 1.7mm high by 32.4mm long

I don't know the specific connector, but given the 1.7mm height, it might be used as a board edge connector? You could probably make a PCB counterpart if you can't find the proper counter part.

[Fraser]

The laptop has the mating connector inside, so not a PCB edge connector but you make a good point. I could always look to adapt another connector that is designed using the same contact pitch and slot height. I would prefer to find the correct connector if possible as this is a removable hard disk caddy.

When I first met the connector format on the Itronix/General Dynamics XR1 and GD8000 laptops, I thought it was a custom part as I could not identify it. Now that I have seen the exact same connector format on the RODA Rocky, I am thinking it must be a COTS part, likely from a well known manufacturer. The problem is, which manufacturer ?

Fraser

[soldar]

I don't know the specific connector, but given the 1.7mm height, it might be used as a board edge connector? You could probably make a PCB counterpart if you can't find the proper counter part.

That was my thought. There were many computers like the early Commodore that used the edge of the mobo for connetcors. I remember it well because I used them in projects. And they had game cartridges that had connector that fit the edge of the mobo. 

What I mean is that even though it might look like a dedicated connector it might just be the edge of a PCB protruding there.

It also reminds me of the old Centronics printer connector.

[Fraser]

I have been inside the laptops to see whether I could change the connector to something more common. Sadly it is definitely a proper mezzanine PCB connector pair. Interestingly, both connectors in the pair are through ho,e type and not surface mount which is what I expected to see. This could be for reasons associated with the use of a rugged laptop of course. Through hole may be more rugged than reflowed surface mount connections.

I have found very similar connectors that have different alignment pin designs or an outer D shell design in place of such pins. I may have to buy something close to right and modify it to mate with the laptops connector. Before I do that I will be searching the product ranges of all the common connector manufacturers, including some that I have never heard of !

I did some Googling on the top connector OEM’s in the World and found the league tables for each year.

The resulting list is as follows :

TE Connectivity
Amphenol
Molex Inc
Delphi Connection Systems
Yazaki
Foxconn (FIT)
JAE
Luxshare Precision
J.S.T
Hirose
Rosenburger
Sumitro morning Wiring Systems
Jonhon
Harting
Samtec
Shenzhen Deren Electric Co. Ltd
Phoenix Contact
Fujikura/DDK Ltd
Korea Terminal Co.
AVX Kyocera

Quite a list for me to work through !

Fraser

[Fraser]

Well after a lot more searching with Google in image mode, I think I have identified the connector make. I believe it to be a product of KEL. AliExpress list a 100 pin version here.....

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32475566031.html

Time to start digging into KEL connector  listings and suppliers. RS sell some.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Yep it is a match to the KEL 8900 series connectors 

https://www.kel.jp/files/topics/376_ext_19_en_0.pdf

Web page

https://www.kel.jp/english/product/product_detail/?id=376&p_cont=39&pageID=3%20#search_result

Now to track down a UK agent for them.

Fraser

[Fraser]

It looks like I need a KEL 8901-050-177-S-A-F socket for my DIY Roda Rocky HDD caddy’s

Radio Spares are a KEL agent but the connectors are on back order so I will have to wait.

Fraser

[Ecmbuster]

After the struggles and searches, I stumbled across this post.
The investigation is amazing and I have two RODA ROCKY II PM.
Booting off a cheap USB will change after what I read.
Is it possible to create a diagram pin to pin to make up an new harness between the computer and the IDE drive and post it?
Thanks for the details.

[Fraser]

ECMbuster,

This is a great coincidence........

I just bought yet another Roda Rocky as it included the hard disk drive, DVD recorder and power supply. It was the right money  . I already own several Roda Rocky laptops, mainly RT886  models and a couple of RT686 units. From what I can establish, the same hard disk caddy will work in all of the Roda Rocky laptops, which is great news. The caddy is sealed against water ingress so I had not opened the only example I own to date. A have several brand new RT886 units awaiting the day I find the KEL connector so I can make adapters to fit the hard disk in its correct port. Sadly Radio Spares never got stock and have deleted the connector from their catalogue. I am even considering buying a higher pin count KEL connector that they still stock and cutting it to length to give me the correct pin count ! The connectors are not cheap but I have few options.

The latest Roda Rock II purchase came with the hard disk caddy and a hard disk but the caddy was cracked so I disassembled it for a plastic welding repair. This may be the time to create the pin out diagram that you are asking about. I was waiting until I found a source of the connector but now is as good a time as any The Caddy connector PCB also contains a large SMT diode and that may be a temperature sensor. The caddy surprisingly does not contain a heater for cold environs use. The actual caddy casing is very thin and fragile ABS plastic and a 3D printed replacement is a clear way forward to making a clone. I will take some pictures of the dismantled caddy and begin creating the pin out diagram as soon as I have a spare moment, hopefully tomorrow.

If anyone knows of a source of the correct, or higher pin count KEL connector, as detailed above, I would be interested to hear from them  KEL connectors are found in a lot of rugged laptops but are not that common when trying to buy small quantities. I got lucky with my Getac M230 rugged laptop hard disk connector requirement as a company produced a small batch of complete M230 HDD adapter PCB’s that I bought at £10 each. A bargain Sadly I can only find complete Roda Rocky hard disk caddy’s at £100 each on eBay. I live in hope of finding cheaper listings. My backup plan will be to buy the 100 contact connectors from Aliexpress and cut them down.

Fraser

[Fraser]

I just ordered 10 of the KEL 8901 series 100 contact connectors from Aliexpress. I can make the connectors that I need out of them. Each 100 contact connector will provide a 50 pin for the Roda Rocky and a 30 pin for the General Dynamics-Itronix GD8000 laptop  in this application, only one locating spigot and end is really needed per connector.

The connectors worked out at $5 each delivered so if I can make two useful connectors from each then the price drops to a very reasonable $2.50 each 

Fraser

[Ecmbuster]

Interesting, an eye opener!
The document in this post is far smaller than uploading the camera images and thought today:
"Put this together and post it"

The ribbon that I found, you can have it. Send an address if interested.
The two adapters that I need is for two identical models and they have an interesting job to do.
I can likely make an IDE case to fit and keep it cool unless you have a better idea.
Kindly let me know how this works out.

[Fraser]

ECMbuster,

Thanks for the pictures. I would love the ribbon cable but think you should hold onto it for the moment in case it can be used after some modification If you definitely do not need it I will happily pay the postage etc.


Regarding your present configuration, the standard response to getting a hard drive or SSD into these caddyless Roda Rocky, or other laptops for that matter, is to buy the very inexpensive PATA CD-ROM to SATA HDD/SSD adapters. My four new Roda Rocky RT886 units were provided with such an adapter when purchased. To use it you have to give up your internal CD/DVD drive, remove the Optical drive from the Roda optical bay caddy and install the hard disk/SSD in the optical drive bay using the adapter. It is seen as a bootable PATA drive on the Slave channel in BIOS. A blanking ‘box’ or plate can be made to fill the HDD caddy hole if desired. An external USB CD/DVD drive is both cheap and easy to connect when needed. These laptops were never intended to be an ‘Ultralight’ so the additional weight in the carry bag is of little consequence 

I attach a picture of an example optical bay adapter but you should check which IDE connector your CD/DVD has on its  rear inside the Roda Optical drive caddy. It is normally a compact connector and not a conventional IDE 40 or 44 pin type.

The optical bay adapters take a common SATA 2.5” Drive and convert it to an IDE type for the host computer. These adapters were costing me less than $10 for SATA to SATA and around $15 for SATA to PATA

[Ecmbuster]

I should have though of that, both the Dell E4300 and the 3 D630's working computers have that tray to add the extra storage needed for work, documents and images and installers. Great idea.
I'll steal one out of the working models and see how that works with a fresh installation.

Update - The caddy was removed from the RODA and found a large sticker,  "defekt" and suppose in the German language.
The CD ROM does not come out of the caddy but the pins at the edge of the caddy are 80 pins (wipe contacts).
There has to be a way to remove the CD ROM or go back to plan A.

[Fraser]

I will look at my optical drive. The drive is definitely removable from the caddy.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Well that is an unexpected surprise ! Roda have clearly decided that users should not be able to change the optical drive easily without buying the complete unit from them, rather than a 3rd party ! The Optical drive looks to be standard but the plastic caddy does not have the usual screws at the rear to release the optical drive. It would appear that the optical drive is installed and then the top cover of the caddy is glued into place. Roda used glue on the hard disk caddy as well The glue is actually a plastic solvent so it is very hard to break the ‘bond’. Some minor plastics damage is inevitable.

So you have an optical drive caddy that appears to contain a faulty optical drive........ you are going to have to open that caddy if you want to replace the faulty optical drive or use a hard disk adapter as we discussed. The lid of the  caddy is quite thin plastic and could be opened in sections to to access the drive securing screws and cable within. I would consider cutting away a rear section of the caddy’s lid first to see if that is enough to remove the optical drive. Removing the whole cover may prove possible but you risk more plastics damage in the process. Much depends upon how well it is glued and in how many places. I cannot see any screw mounts above or below the optical drive so suspect it is held by just the usual rear bracket design found in laptops.

I would use a box cutter knife with a brand new blade for this task and take great care not to go too quickly as that can lead to accidents to the caddy or your hands !

Some pictures added for clarity. The rear section of the caddy lid that I would remove and the common rear screw retainer points on an optical drive.
Fraser

[Ecmbuster]

The optical drive replacement may work out but have a portable USB style that is used from time to time to perform installations and updates. At this point, the best solution would be yours, to adapt a connection to the hard drive connection into the RODA and test an installation. Let me know how your tests move forward. It may be the most logical course.

[Fraser]

I have been working on the pin out diagram and will have that completed soon.

I doubt I will go much further with this particular project for a while though as I have higher priority tasks awaiting my attention. I bought the connectors now because they are already hard to source and may become even more scarce between now and when I get around to making some adapters. For info, I will likely use a cable loom rather than a PCB fir the adapter as there are only a few needed and not many connections involved.

I will post my notes on the pin out once completed.

Fraser

[Fraser]

Just a quick update.....

The wiring of the PATA 44 pin connector to the KEL 50 pin connector is very straight forward.

Pins go directly to their numerical partner on the other connector ....1 to 1, 2 to 2 ....... 42 to 42, 43 to 43.

The following pins are not connected from the PATA 44 pin connector.....

20 (key)
21(DMARQ)
29(DMACK)
30(GND)
44(TYPE)

On the KEL connector there are additional pins........

41,42,43,45,46,47,48,49,50 are all connected together to +5V (Logic)

A 5.0V TVS diode is wired between pins 40 (GND) and 48 (+5V (Logic) for transient protection. It looks to be a SMBJ5.0 type.

More detail and pictures will follow in due course.

[Fraser]

A couple of quick pictures of the ribbon cable that I was testing for pin out.......

I have added my pin-out working notes for information. I will write them up as soon as time permits.

[Ecmbuster]

I see that you have been working at this problem. I did get the CD ROM operating with a good cleanup and a few drops of Stabilant-22 on the edge connection. It will read a CD. I am patient enough for your tests to complete and hopefully access a connection to the RODA IDE connection and wired attachment to the IDE connector of the hard drive.

[Fraser]

The 100 pin connectors arrived today. They look to be an original KEL part and not a clone.

I intend to carefully cut these connectors to the required length as previously detailed. I do not intend to regularly remove the hard disk drive and a locating spigot at just one end is enough for correct pin alignment. Not a perfect solution but, as we say in England, ‘beggars cannot be choosers’. I have had to buy what is available and will adapt it to the needs of the laptops. Each 100 pin connector will be cut to make both a 50 pin and a 30 pin connector for the Roda Rocky (50 pin) and Itronix/General Dynamics (30 pin) laptops 

Fraser