2014 Archives

[freddyk72]

Hi, I recently purchased a Travelmate P645-MG. It's a great machine, and I had a question about adding a HD.

The P645MG uses a mSATA SSD for its main HD, but underneath there is space to add a regular 2.5" SATA drive. However, there does not appear to be any SATA connector for the drive. I peeked at the motherboard, and there might be a SATA port there, but I wasn't sure.

So if anyone could tell me (or point me to a service manual) how to add a 2.5" drive underneath, I'd appreciate it very much. Thanks!

[Clyde]

The specs for this model do not show it has an available 2nd hard drive bay, so adding a 2nd drive may not be possible.

[Acer-Tommy]

I do see that at least one model, the TravelMate P645-MG-9659 ships with a 256GB SSD and a 500 GB HDD.

[Andrik]

If you can post a picture of the motherboard, we can see.

It sounds like it's the same situation as with my R7 572G. It also has as mSata drive and additional space for an 2,5" disk. However, to install the extra disk a bracket AND a MOLEX type sata adapter is necessary. 

The bracket is readily available, the sata connector isn't. I'm still waiting for a reply from the acer folk where I can order the sata connector.

You might try to search the internet for spare parts, or just talk to Acer about it.

[freddyk72]

Ok, here is a picture:

There is a connector labeled 'JHDD1' circled in yellow in the lower left corner. The empty 2.5" bay is above it - a regular 2.5" hard drive fits snugly inside. A regular SATA data cable does not fit in the JHDD1 port. Does this port provide power as well as data? I couldn't find any empty power port on the motherboard.

Thanks for all your input!

[freddyk72]

Sorry, here's a closeup picture of the connector:

[freddyk72]

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Acer-Tommy wrote:

I do see that at least one model, the TravelMate P645-MG-9659 ships with a 256GB SSD and a 500 GB HDD.

---

Hi Tommy, would it be possible to find out what kind of cables/connectors are used?

Looking at the photo I took, the wireless card is plugged into the motherboard on the left - the connector above it (at the top of the picture, with the '33D' label on it) might be an extra power connector.

Thanks,

Fred