Solder a SATA port on Mini Dell Inspiron 3185

[ThinkPad560X]

I got a Dell Inspiron 3185. It only has 32GB soldered chip and that is it. It does have upgradable ram surprisingly. There is solder connection for the SATA "On some models it did come with the SATA HDD"
Non SATA port: https://www.ebay.com/itm/296652216516?_ ... R8bV4LzTZA

With SATA port: https://www.ebay.com/itm/193879690396?_ ... BMxtXgvNNk

Instead of buying an entire motherboard I was going to get the SATA port and solder it on. There is a M.2 slot but it is for the WiFi. So I am woundering if soldering on the SATA port it will read.
The SATA equipped board isn't that much but if I can avoid ewaste and install the SATA port on the current board that would be better.

On Bios it shows
HDD1 <Not detected> No SATA port so no HDD/SSD but does show up in bios
HDD2 - DELL eMMC 32GB

This machine is fully used up on Windows 10 Home with all updates and bloat removed such as Mix reality, OneDrive, 3D viewer and so on.

This is just a small mess around machine and want to max it out and haven't soldered in a long time. Just glad it has a single DIMM slot to upgrade the ram. A HP of this same type "Probably a $150 laptop from store" I was checking the cracked screen for someone on a external display and checked under the bottom lid to see it had everything soldered down. WiFi, No M.2 slot or SATA, CPU soldered "Normal now" RAM soldered. That machine had zero upgradeability minus getting like a 512GB or better Micro SD card for extra storage but not for the OS. I told him it be cheaper just to get a new machine than replace the screen.

[RealBlackStuff]

Wrong Forum.
Go to Dell!

[ThinkPad560X]

It is mostly about motherboards than dell.

[axur-delmeria]

I did something similar to an Acer Aspire One A110. I say "go for it" if that isn't your primary machine.

Do check if there are passive components (like capacitors) that need to be soldered as well.

[ThinkPad560X]

I figured it should work as it is reading HDD1. "No drive installed/detected it shows" If there was nothing showing but eMMC then it wouldn't read if even soldered one in. The 32GB is max at 21H2 and don't have enough space to fully update to 22H2. And the machine even came preinstalled Windows 10 Home, not sure what they were thinking of only 32GB for an OS plus user data.

Best thing is I could install Linux Mint on the 32GB eMMC and windows 10 on SSD.

[ThinkPad560X]

I ordered the HDD caddy and the SATA Socket Connector Adapter H=6.74mm. The bad thing is the SATA port is coming from china, so will be awhile wait, but it is just a project machine so don't matter really. I probably could upgrade the eMMC from 32GB to probably 512GB but I think the SATA port will be enough as I think Linux Mint on 32GB should be fine.

[thedudeabides]

Hi, I am in the exact same stage with my Dell Inspiron 3185: has no SATA connector loaded in HDD1 refdes. Can you please advise what Chinese connector part (number or link) you ordered that will work with HDD1 ? I need to order one and give it a try. I ordered an 8GB DDR4 to upgrade too. THANKS A LOT for posting and please keep this thread updated and I will gladly contribute as well. -TheDudeAbides B-)

[ThinkPad560X]

You will get a pack of 5 of these SATA ports. Took around a week half to get them. I didn't try them out yet. https://www.ebay.com/itm/172387784400

You can post on here if it fully works as I don't know when I will get to this project.

[thedudeabides]

thanks for the link, I ordered 5 pcs of each: Sata 22 Pin SMD and Right-Angle because the PCB connector footprint appears to be through-hole (?) but yeah, it looks like long shipping time, like first week of Dec? Looking forward to comparing results B-)

[ThinkPad560X]

I have a Lenovo IdeaCentre tower that has a NVMe slot but is missing the port and would like to look if it can use that port or not. It is a Lenovo IdeaCentre Y700. Most motherboards looking on ebay doesn't have the port soldered on it, if it's an Intel but the AMD version does. I like to have less e-waste as possible and use what I got. Again this isn't dire need and if anything the board may get upgraded to a more recent one as this tower is a 6th gen Intel. It is maxed with the 6th gen i7 and 32GB max RAM.