USB Hard Disks

Many different USB (or firewrire) external hard disks are available. It is hard to decide which is better and which is best to avoid.

There is an IDE or S-ATA hard disk inside the external USB enclosures. To communicate between the hard disk and the host (the computer) a special device is required to "translate" USB commands to standard ATA commands. The hard disk can execute such commands (for example, reading, writing and so) and then sends data and results back to the host, through this device again.

USB bridges

This device is called "USB bridge" - the bridge between the host and the hard disk. Usually this is a small (approx. 1 square centimeter) chip inside the external enclosure, next to the hard disk connector.

Many companies make such USB bridges. They have different features: some of them can allow software like Hard Disk Sentinel to detect hard disk temperature, health and full S.M.A.R.T. information. These bridges also allow to use special commands for example to set acoustic level and to test the hard disk using hardware self tests and control the hard disk just like if it were an internal disk.

In contrast, many (the most common) bridges do not support such features. Using hard disks with these bridges are not too safe because it is not possible to access any S.M.A.R.T. information about the hard disk. If the bridge physically has no support for it, Hard Disk Sentinel will not be able to detect any information about hard disks with such bridge chip.

Determine USB bridge type

From version 2.40, Hard Disk Sentinel displays vendor and product code (VID and PID) of the USB bridge on the "Information" page when the external hard disk is selected.

VID and PID codes of USB hard disk

By this information, it is possible to find out the exact type of the USB bridge without opening the external case which may void the warranty of the external hard disk.

Below you may find information about all known bridges up to now. The list will increase as reports arrive about unknown bridges. If temperature, health information of your external hard disk is not displayed and you can see a VID/PID pair which is not listed, please use Send test report to developer option.

Known USB Bridges

Vendor and Device	Detailed Information	Hardware support	Min. Version with support
VID: 04B4, PID: 6830	Cypress USB 2.0 to IDE adapter	Yes	2.02b
VID: 04B4, PID: 6831	Cypress USB 2.0 to IDE adapter	Yes	2.02b
VID: 04FC, PID: 0C15	Sunplus SPIF215A	Yes	2.60b
VID: 04FC, PID: 0C16	Sunplus SPIF216A	Yes	2.60b
VID: 04FC, PID: 0C25	Sunplus SPIF225A	Yes	2.60b
VID: 04FC, PID: 0C26	Sunplus SPIF226A	Yes	2.60b
VID: 059B, PID: 0276	IOMega Corp. / ???	Yes	2.60b
VID: 059F, PID: 1013	LaCie / ???	Yes	2.50
VID: 067B, PID: 2507	Prolific PL2507 Hi-speed USB to IDE bridge	Yes	2.40
VID: 067B, PID: 3507	Prolific PL3507 Hi-speed USB to IDE bridge	Yes	2.60b
VID: 0BC2, PID: 3000	Seagate FreeAgent Desktop	Yes	2.11b
VID: 0BC2, PID: 3010	Seagate FreeAgent Desktop	Yes	2.11b
VID: 0C0B, PID: B159	Sharkoon (Dura Micro Inc.)	Yes	2.60b
VID: 0F2D, PID: 9208	Vipower Inc VP-9208	Yes	2.02b
VID: 1058, PID: 0701	Western Digital Passport	Yes	2.02b
VID: 1058, PID: 0702	Western Digital Passport	Yes	2.02b
VID: 1058, PID: 0900	Western Digital Mybook	Yes	2.11b
VID: 1058, PID: 0901	Western Digital Mybook	Yes	2.11b
VID: 1058, PID: 0902	Western Digital Mybook	Yes	2.11b
VID: 1058, PID: 1100	Western Digital Mybook	Yes	2.11b
VID: 1058, PID: 1102	Western Digital Mybook	Yes	2.11b
VID: 1058, PID: 1105	WD Mybook Studio Edition II	Yes	2.50
VID: 13FD, PID: 1240	Initio Corporation INIC-1606	Yes	2.60b
VID: 13FD, PID: 1250	Initio Corporation Combo & HID INIC-1606	Yes	2.60b
VID: 13FD, PID: 1640	Initio Corporation INIC-1610	Yes	2.40
VID: 13FD, PID: 1650	Initio Corporation INIC-1610L	Yes	2.40
VID: 13FD, PID: 1840	Initio Corporation INIC-1608	Yes	2.60b
VID: 13FD, PID: 1850	Initio Corporation Combo & HID INIC-1608	Yes	2.60b
VID: 152D, PID: 2329	JMicron USB-SATA bridge	Yes	2.40
VID: 152D, PID: 2336	JMicron 20336 SATA adapter	Yes	2.40
VID: 152D, PID: 2338	JMicron 20337 SATA+IDE adapter	Yes	2.40
VID: 152D, PID: 2339	JMicron 20339 SATA adapter	Yes	2.40
VID: 0424, PID: 20CD	Standard Microsystems Corp. USB97C202	No	Not possible
VID: 048D, PID: 8903	Integrated Technology Express IT8903	No	Not possible
VID: 04CF, PID: 8813	Myson Century CS8813	No	Not possible
VID: 04CF, PID: 8818	Myson Century CS8818 USB2.0 - ATAPI Bridge	No	Not possible
VID: 05E3, PID: 0702	Genesys Logic GL811E USB 2.0 to IDE adapter	No	Not possible
VID: 058F, PID: 6390	Alcor Micro Corp - AU6390	No	Not possible
VID: 067B, PID: 2506	Prolific PL2506 USB to IDE bridge	No	Not possible
VID: 0EA0, PID: 2118	Ours Technology Inc. OTi-2118	No	Not possible
VID: 13FD, PID: 1040	Initio Corporation INIC-1511	No	Not possible

(1): this bridge chip has hardware support but because of missing software interface information, Hard Disk Sentinel does not yet support enclosures built with this bridge chip. Requests for the necessary information are on-going.

Notes

Detection is independent from the size, type, model and manufacturer of the hard disk inside the external enclosure. The functionality of the bridge chip determines if Hard Disk Sentinel can access information about the hard disk.

It is possible that an unknown bridge is compatible with any of the existing detection methods. So if the temperature, health and other details of your USB hard disk is diplayed but the VID/PID combination (displayed by the latest version of Hard Disk Sentinel) is not listed in the table, please use Send test report to developer option. This way new compatible bridges can be added to the list.

In most cases before purchasing an external hard disk, it is hard to know the type of the bridge inside the case. Please check hardware compatibility page for the list of known external hard disks/enclosures using compatible USB bridges.

Tehcnically, pendrives and card readers work like external hard disks so you can see vendor and product information (VID/PID) of such devices also.