DFL SAS -> SATA adapter review

[M. B.]

Hello,

I come across SAS drives very rarely and thatfor a dedicated SAS imager does not make any sense for me.

I stayed away from SAS jobs for a while but then I found a well working and very affordable solution: https://www.dolphindatalab.com/product/dfl-sata-to-sas-adapter-plus/ 

As i am writing this short post, I am imaging the 3rd drive for my 2nd SAS job ever and the adapter let me work on the drives with my MRT or any other SATA imager. 

I just wanted to share my experience with it (even if I just have used it a little while). I have not seen any issues and it has let me image drives that where reading just on their last leg with hanging, read errors, etc. As far as I see it handle instable drives and just get the job done if needed.

Maybe the tool come in handy for some beginners or some people who just need SAS rarely.

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

I'd love to know what is inside. I assume Dolphin have scraped the markings of the chip(s).

[juan van der meulen]

If you power one channel on and swap the usb to a Linux box, then in terminal hardware list it lists some of the controllers in those boxes. 

On Mon, 01 Dec 2025 at 23:37, pbzcbf...@gmail.com <pbzcbf...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd love to know what is inside. I assume Dolphin have scraped the markings of the chip(s).

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[M. B.]

>  If you power one channel on and swap the usb to a Linux box, then in terminal hardware list it lists some of the controllers in those boxes. 

... not sure what you mean - that one is not SAS -> USB but SAS -> SATA 

[wayne horner]

this works also

Alandata Data Recovery -  (949)287-3282  
"Cleanroom Data Recovery of RAID, VMware, Network Attached Storage, Linux, Tape, Disk, Forensics"

www.AlanData.com   www.AlanDataRecovery.com

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datarecoverycertification/e5ad7cbc-cd8f-4a86-8550-36e1ec3045a0n%40googlegroups.com.

[M. B.]

I know those are an option - just never used them with PC3k or MRT and I do not know how well they handle instable drives and if there are Drivers for Win 11 available...

[JKRecovery - odzyskiwanie danych]

I also don't have many SAS drives.... but when I looked for SAS adapter I found at aliexpress such thing. I have ordered it and You know what? it works... of course You can't make head map, don't have SA access but it works to image drive:

https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/1005009181865317.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.93.7b851802CXHtFM&gatewayAdapt=glo2pol

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

Wow! US$13 versus US$400.

[wayne horner]

You can't build headmaps correct. 

But I boot it into Linux and use DD rescue or HDD super clone. This is software that will make a map and clone the drive using the map it jumps over bad areas and makes multiple passes can copy forward and backward. You can also map the NTFS file system and only read what you need. 

If the drive needs firmware repair then there is limited support by Ace for that. Depends on the drive model. If I run into that then I've got to send it to a partner who has aces pc3000 for size. 

Alandata Data Recovery -  (949)287-3282  
"Cleanroom Data Recovery of RAID, VMware, Network Attached Storage, Linux, Tape, Disk, Forensics"

www.AlanData.com   www.AlanDataRecovery.com

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