Kurobox Pro with Rear e-SATA

Partially Unlike the original LS Pro the Kurobox Pro follows the second version (see LinkstationProLiveDifferences) and does not have it's second SATA port set up for a "we thought we might want an e-SATA port, but changed our minds in production" position (Hardware Hacks for the LS Pro) for ease of connector installation. (Fortunate in my case because I can't solder surface mount stuff worth a ... )

The Kurobox Pro already has a second perfectly usable SATA port. Except it's on the front? Whatsup wid dat? Ditto for the PCI-E 1X slot which would be useful to add two more SATA ports, except that there's no way it would fit in the box, maybe I can find/hack a cable for that one and mount it over the mainboard, but I'm not hopeful.

Anyhoo, if you didn't know: the only difference between a SATA port and an e-SATA port is a connector designed for more insertion/removal cycles. So... I went to Fry's and bought a Nextar.3 external USB/e-SATA box which handily includes a SATA to e-SATA bracket. After a little slot cutting and drilling on the frame (after complete disassembly of course! AND blowing out any metal dust). I now have an e-SATA port on the back of my Kurobox Pro:



The cable is running between the mainboard and the bottom of the drive, and doesn't seem to have impeded air flow that I can tell.

Positioning of the e-SATA connector was pretty arbitrary as the connector wasn't deep enough to touch the drive or bracket. The provided L-bracket made a nice template: trace with sharpie, try and follow straight line with Dremel. :-)

There was a handy notch between the front board and the frame on the serial port side that was just the right size to run the SATA ribbon through, YOUR milage may vary.

Complete article to follow in my copious spare time, plus I'm wiki-challenged. ;-)

I needed the e-SATA box anyway, so it wasn't a bad deal at $50 to satisfy my hardware jones, but you could probably find it cheaper at New Egg or wherever.

And yeah, I don't know if you can see it clearly in the photo, but I KNOW my case-mod skilz suck! LOL