[SOLVED]need help finding breackout cables.

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
634
76
28
hi everyone,
I just got an HP 487738-001 468405-001 24-Bay 3Gb SAS Expander Card for my server but I need a SAS to SATA cables for it.

I ordered a box of
Molex 10 X Mini 10Gbps SAS SFF-8087 36Pin to 4 SATA 7Pin HDD HDD Splitter Cables Molex 10 X Mini 10Gbps SAS SFF-8087 36Pin to 4 SATA 7Pin HDD HDD Splitter Cables | eBay

but the molex plug is smaller than the sockets on the card.

I counted the pins on the card it 36 pins and it is 3/4 inch wide socket.
counted the pins on cable 28 pins. and the plug is 1/2 inch wide.

does someone know what cables I need here?

thanks
 

vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
634
76
28
and that is my problem.

I ordered a box of the very same cables as in your link.
and they are wrong. the SAS connector about 1/4 inch too narrow.
I just got my MB and it has an 8 port built in sas. 2 ports exactly as my expander card has MX 1133

based on that I know that SuperMicor part number for the expander cable is CBL-0097L-02.
just ordered 2 of them to check it out. at the very least i can use the onboard controller for 8 drives and get my server started and order more as needed. if the cable works in the controller card.

unfortunately there are tons of similar SM parts on ebay that confuse a heck out of me.

a CBL-0097L-03
CBL-00108L-02 or something like it.
what the H#$L is the difference.......


will see if this one works.
.
thanks
 

vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
634
76
28
Ok. I know that externals are 8088 and internal are 8087.
Problem is that there seams to be several 8087 plugs and ports that are differ by size.
They look similar but one plug is narrow by about quoter of an inch.

I ordered a box of what I thought was 8087 cables. They were small.
They fit into the port but were loose. I mesure the port on card and it was tree quoter of an inch. And the plug was half inch.
It go in the port. But loosely.

I should get the proper sm cables next week and see. All pictures of this card I see show connectors fit snugly.


Ps. I am trying to go from internal 8087 was port to internal 4 7 pin sata had.
 

WANg

Well-Known Member
Jun 10, 2018
1,302
967
113
46
New York, NY
Eh, looking at the specs on the adapter, it should have 9 ports:
1C - that's an SFF8088/Mini-SAS4x - that's meant to connect externally to a SAS Tape drive.
2C - 7C - those are for the HDD backplanes - in other words, those are meant for the MiniSAS 4i/SFF8087 ports.
8C - 9C - those are only meant to connect up to 2 RAID controllers (documentation says that they are meant for the HP P410 RAID controllers). Those should also be for the MiniSAS 4i/SFF8087 ports.

The documentation of the card is out there.

Do everyone a favor? Take a photo of the board, the SAS side of the cables you bought, and what the connector looks like next to the SAS ports on the card that you were trying to connect to? My guess is that the cable will be similar to an HP 580751-001, or something that takes an SFF8087 connector and connects it to 4 SFF8482s, something like this. You can typically connect SATA drives to SAS backplanes and it'll work, but not the other way around - can't drive SAS drives on SATA controllers.
 

vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
634
76
28
Eh, looking at the specs on the adapter, it should have 9 ports:
1C - that's an SFF8088/Mini-SAS4x - that's meant to connect externally to a SAS Tape drive.
2C - 7C - those are for the HDD backplanes - in other words, those are meant for the MiniSAS 4i/SFF8087 ports.
8C - 9C - those are only meant to connect up to 2 RAID controllers (documentation says that they are meant for the HP P410 RAID controllers). Those should also be for the MiniSAS 4i/SFF8087 ports.

The documentation of the card is out there.

Do everyone a favor? Take a photo of the board, the SAS side of the cables you bought, and what the connector looks like next to the SAS ports on the card that you were trying to connect to? My guess is that the cable will be similar to an HP 580751-001, or something that takes an SFF8087 connector and connects it to 4 SFF8482s, something like this. You can typically connect SATA drives to SAS backplanes and it'll work, but not the other way around - can't drive SAS drives on SATA controllers.
hi WANg.

well...

this is the exact card I have. and you absolutly correct it has 9 ports.
1x external
8 internal.

if I am right ports 9c 3c 5c and 7c are the ones that I can use for SAS to SATA connections.

I am looking for forward breackout cabels to go from card SAS ports directly to SATA drives.
I have supermicro 846A case and the back plane is not expender but direct passthrough. as in it has 24 7 pin SATA ports on the back. power is shared from 6 molex but SATA is direct connections.

I can not take a picture as you suggested as I have contacted the seller and he very graciously agreed to a return so I have send the cable back.


this are the cables I ordered and sent back. Molex 10 X Mini 10Gbps SAS SFF-8087 36Pin to 4 SATA 7Pin HDD HDD Splitter Cables | eBay

if I am right this is the cable that will work with both my MB and the controller MiniSAS SFF-8087 IPASS to 4x SATA Breakout Cable 1.6ft CBL-0097L-02 | eBay


reason I think so is that the MB I just received has an 8 port SAS controller builtin and so it have 2 exact same looking port on-board. "CBL-0097L-02" is the cable part number from manual and SM website. so crossing my fingers.


again it is from SAS to SATA HDD not SATA to SAS or SAS to SATA expender back-plane.
 

vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
634
76
28
OK, an update here.

I have got the CBL-0097L-02 cables and they fit properly in both the on-board controller and into the expender card. so ordered some more as I only ordered 2 the fist time.

have the new setup up and having issues with the sas controller. so closing this thread and open a new one for that.