I have just received my new mother board (GA-H170N) to discover 2 things:
I actually meant to order GA-Z170N :( - if it supports non-k overclocking I will have to exchange it.
The m-sata adapter I coincidentally received the same day doesn't fit as the mobo uses M2. ugh...
So my primary question is are there M2 to Sata adapters similar to m-sata to Sata adapters? All I can find are Sata to M2 adapters and can't think of a search term to differentiate... I could use every sata port I can get so multiple sata ports would be ideal, is that possible? Also are there any differences or limitations between M2 port for SSDs and M2 port that is used for a wifi module?
Can you elaborate on that a bit more? I see that the wifi m.0 slot is called M.2 socket 1 but I can't find much about it. It looks like it is commonly used for wifi but can also be used for ethernet, usb... The sata adapter would fit but what would happen? Would it work slower or just not work at all?
Well, M.2 is in practice is ever only going to be either sata and / or pcie and I know for a fact that you can get pcie/m2 sata adapters. I don't believe the pcie adapters are passive. Only msata adapters are passive. What I don't know is if "m.2 socket 1" slot can support sata interface at all.
If you want to use the M.2 port used for the wi-fi card for a SATA adapter it won't work (PCI only connection). If you want to use the other M.2 connector you can, since it's stated on the manual and the website the connctor is both PCI and SATA.
It doesn't have to be sata, there are pcie to sata adapters out there but from what I've read on the subject the m.2 socket 1 may not provide sata interface. It still supports many interfaces like usb but looks like sata interface is only provided on socket 2 and socket 3.
It depends on what keying it supports. If the m.2 supports both m and b key modules then you can use an adapter. M.2 is NOT like mSATA or mPCI-e, the exact same slots can be used for both PCI-e and SATA you just need to know what keying the slot supports
The wifi module has this near the connector - A11-11 E A. Does that mean anything? The odd thing is that it has many pins on the left then a gap then 4 pins another gap and another 4 pins. I haven't seen this type of connector anywhere. Can i tell the keying by counting the pins?
The wifi m.2 slot seems to be B key except that it has 8 pins not 6. Also the main m.2 slot only has 1 gap and according to the diagram that should mean its either m or b key, so how can it support the sata adapters? From the physical pinout it seems that the wifi slot should fit the pcie adapters I want.
Yeah, that's been established quite a while back. The question is what keyring do I have and what interfaces it supports. I read the wiki page you linked to more than once and I did not see the connector that my wifi module has nor did I see the 8 pin section on an m.2 slot, only msata which is very odd.
The one on the right has A and E keys (commonly found on wifi modules)
If you look at the table in the Wikipedia link it will tell you everything. Look at the table and see that neither of those keys support SATA. Count which pins are notched
Ah yes, thanks for posting the image, my sanity is restored :) The one on the right is the one I have. Though now I am thinking if the pcie adapters actively convert pcie to sata, any idea if that's likely? The adapter spec is minimal but from the images it is clearly no just traces with a connector at the end. It has 2 sata connectors so is could not be passive anyways.
Yes, but if the adapter is active then it does the conversion from sata to pcie internally. May just have to order it and try it to be sure. It would be pretty damn great if an otherwise useless wifi module slot could get me an extra 2 sata ports.
