WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.000 You know, I rarely, if ever, have a chance to get bored 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.160 because whenever I feel it coming on, 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:07.880 all I need to do is fire up a web browser 00:00:07.880 --> 00:00:09.880 and then descend into what I call 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:13.120 a related products black hole 00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:17.940 until I find something so mind-bendingly weird or stupid 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:20.840 that I know that I simply must have one 00:00:20.840 --> 00:00:23.920 so I can try it out and share it with you guys. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:27.520 And because my websites of choice for these descents 00:00:27.520 --> 00:00:32.140 are ones like Taobao, AliExpress, Deal Extreme, and eBay, 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:37.100 it is usually quite affordable and doesn't take that long. 00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:40.400 So without further ado, 00:00:40.400 --> 00:00:43.700 I present to you my latest find, 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:48.700 the DDR4 memory to M.2 SSD drive adapter. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:52.240 How does it work? 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.940 Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, 00:00:54.940 --> 00:00:58.340 probably not the way that you'd expect. 00:00:58.340 --> 00:01:00.100 But I'm sure what you were expecting 00:01:00.100 --> 00:01:02.580 was this segue to our sponsor, GlassWire. 00:01:02.580 --> 00:01:04.860 With GlassWire, you can instantly see your current 00:01:04.860 --> 00:01:06.860 and past network activity, detect malware, 00:01:06.860 --> 00:01:10.060 and block badly behaving apps on your PC or Android device. 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:13.480 Use offer code Linus and get 25% off GlassWire 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:24.220 at the link below. 00:01:24.220 --> 00:01:25.720 Okay, so what we've got here, 00:01:25.720 --> 00:01:28.020 if the product name is anything to go by, 00:01:28.020 --> 00:01:32.880 is a DDR2 M.2 hard disk adapter card 00:01:32.880 --> 00:01:36.880 sated to M.2 NGFFB key memory slot SSD expansion card. 00:01:37.300 --> 00:01:40.950 So what I gather from all of that 00:01:40.950 --> 00:01:45.450 is that we are adapting a DDR4 memory slot 00:01:45.450 --> 00:01:50.450 to an M.2 SSD drive slot. 00:01:50.470 --> 00:01:52.410 So I guess we should probably go get 00:01:52.410 --> 00:01:56.790 one of each of those things and give this a shot, shall we? 00:01:56.790 --> 00:01:59.210 Okay, so we've got our test bench, 00:01:59.210 --> 00:02:01.870 we've got our M.2 SSD, 00:02:01.870 --> 00:02:05.350 and we've got our bizarre adapter. 00:02:05.350 --> 00:02:06.630 So I'm gonna go ahead and pull out 00:02:06.630 --> 00:02:08.330 one of my memory sticks here. 00:02:08.330 --> 00:02:11.630 And actually, before we put this in, 00:02:11.630 --> 00:02:15.250 let's install an SSD on it. 00:02:15.250 --> 00:02:17.990 So they helpfully include this screwdriver. 00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:21.070 Put that into the, uh-oh. 00:02:21.070 --> 00:02:26.360 Oh, we seem to have a slight problem here, Houston. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:31.880 This does not fit in. 00:02:31.880 --> 00:02:34.180 How about if we try it the other way? 00:02:34.180 --> 00:02:37.220 No, even though it kinda looks like it'll go in, 00:02:37.220 --> 00:02:39.140 that still doesn't work. 00:02:40.410 --> 00:02:42.650 So what could be the problem here? 00:02:42.650 --> 00:02:47.570 I mean, other than that this is completely insane. 00:02:47.570 --> 00:02:50.590 All right, so we've missed something here. 00:02:50.590 --> 00:02:53.330 We did a bit of an explainer on this a while back, 00:02:53.330 --> 00:02:54.990 but don't blame me for not watching it. 00:02:54.990 --> 00:02:55.830 It was kind of boring. 00:02:55.830 --> 00:03:00.030 But M.2 is just a physical slot, 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:03.270 and it can actually accept drives 00:03:03.270 --> 00:03:07.210 that use both the newer NVMe protocol 00:03:07.210 --> 00:03:10.770 and the older SATA-type drives. 00:03:11.270 --> 00:03:14.350 All we need is a SATA M.2 drive 00:03:14.350 --> 00:03:17.950 with the correct keying for this type of slot. 00:03:17.950 --> 00:03:21.170 So now that we're equipped with that, 00:03:21.170 --> 00:03:24.030 let's try again, shall we? 00:03:24.030 --> 00:03:26.850 So here's our WD Blue. 00:03:26.850 --> 00:03:29.010 You can see that, aha! 00:03:29.010 --> 00:03:32.700 Indeed, this does install now. 00:03:32.700 --> 00:03:33.680 Go ahead and grab our screw. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:34.580 Oh, look at that. 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:37.900 Our free screwdriver is even, oh! 00:03:37.900 --> 00:03:38.880 It's even magnetic. 00:03:38.880 --> 00:03:41.500 Not very magnetic, mind you, just a little magnetic. 00:03:42.420 --> 00:03:45.860 Okay, so there it is. 00:03:45.860 --> 00:03:47.800 It feels a little like complete madness, 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:56.650 and maybe it is, but hey, isn't that why we're all here? 00:03:56.650 --> 00:04:03.160 Fire it up, shall we? 00:04:03.160 --> 00:04:04.820 Oh, this is actually my first time 00:04:04.820 --> 00:04:06.820 using my test bench in the new office. 00:04:06.820 --> 00:04:08.320 I need to turn on my UPS. 00:04:08.320 --> 00:04:10.240 I need to plug in my UPS. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:11.640 Hey! 00:04:11.640 --> 00:04:18.890 There we go, all right. 00:04:18.890 --> 00:04:20.730 All right, you crazy little adapter. 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:21.930 Show me your magic. 00:04:21.930 --> 00:04:29.900 Reveal to me your secrets. 00:04:29.900 --> 00:04:30.900 Okay, so as we'd expect, we're down to, oh, wow. 00:04:30.900 --> 00:04:31.740 All right. 00:04:31.780 --> 00:04:33.260 We're down to 24 gigs of RAM 00:04:33.260 --> 00:04:36.580 because we did remove one of our eight gig sticks. 00:04:36.580 --> 00:04:39.500 And as far as our storage drives go, 00:04:39.500 --> 00:04:43.540 we've got a whole lot of nothing going on here. 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:48.740 Perhaps then that's why they included this. 00:04:50.080 --> 00:04:51.760 I think it was supposed to be red, 00:04:51.760 --> 00:04:54.340 but it actually ended up kind of pink, didn't it? 00:04:54.340 --> 00:04:57.200 Ah, SATA cable in the package. 00:04:57.200 --> 00:05:00.600 So let's shut her down and plug this baby in. 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:02.580 Okay, so now that we're just using a SATA cable, 00:05:02.900 --> 00:05:06.000 we don't expect it to show up as a normal SATA drive, 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.000 but the thing is there's still nothing. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:10.080 Nada. 00:05:10.080 --> 00:05:11.820 All right, so here's the thing. 00:05:11.820 --> 00:05:14.020 There are actually a lot of different ways 00:05:14.020 --> 00:05:16.400 that an adapter can function. 00:05:16.400 --> 00:05:18.320 So you know how if you buy a travel adapter 00:05:18.320 --> 00:05:20.040 for your electronic devices, 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:23.580 there are the bulky ones that actually convert 00:05:23.580 --> 00:05:27.280 from 220 volts to 110 volts 00:05:27.280 --> 00:05:31.080 versus the simple ones that just physically change 00:05:31.080 --> 00:05:32.320 the shape of the prongs on your device. 00:05:32.320 --> 00:05:34.320 So if you want to change the shape of the prongs 00:05:34.320 --> 00:05:35.650 on your device to fit into another socket, 00:05:35.650 --> 00:05:38.790 well, those rely on the user to double check 00:05:38.790 --> 00:05:43.210 if their device has a universal input switching power supply 00:05:43.210 --> 00:05:45.490 kind of like this one. 00:05:45.490 --> 00:05:50.010 So the same kind of rules apply for computer adapters, 00:05:50.010 --> 00:05:53.210 and there are a number of different main kinds. 00:05:53.210 --> 00:05:56.590 The first one is what I call physical adapters, 00:05:56.590 --> 00:05:58.290 and these are very simple. 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:00.390 Actually, here, I can grab one right now. 00:06:00.390 --> 00:06:01.630 This right here is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:01.630 --> 00:06:02.110 This is a USB-C adapter. This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:02.110 --> 00:06:02.350 This is a USB-C adapter. This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:02.350 --> 00:06:02.390 This is a USB-C adapter. This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:02.390 --> 00:06:02.410 This is a USB-C adapter. This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:02.410 --> 00:06:02.770 This is a USB-C adapter. This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:02.770 --> 00:06:03.530 This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:03.530 --> 00:06:03.790 This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:03.790 --> 00:06:03.950 This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:03.950 --> 00:06:04.310 This is a USB-C adapter. 00:06:04.310 --> 00:06:05.390 And here, you can plug in a USB type A 00:06:05.390 --> 00:06:07.630 to USB Micro B adapter cable. 00:06:07.630 --> 00:06:10.230 And while Micro B does actually... 00:06:10.230 --> 00:06:11.410 This is fun fact. 00:06:11.410 --> 00:06:14.130 Have an extra conductor in the tip. 00:06:14.130 --> 00:06:16.670 It's only for sensing if a device 00:06:16.670 --> 00:06:18.730 that would normally be the target 00:06:18.730 --> 00:06:20.770 is supposed to act as a host. 00:06:20.770 --> 00:06:24.530 So this functionality was built for USB on the go, or OTG, 00:06:24.530 --> 00:06:27.790 and allowed you to plug accessories like network cards 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:30.090 into devices like phones and tablets. 00:06:30.090 --> 00:06:32.350 For the vast majority of use cases though, 00:06:32.350 --> 00:06:35.010 that extra pin lies dormant. 00:06:35.010 --> 00:06:39.690 And all this cable does is run the same four conductors, 00:06:39.690 --> 00:06:42.610 power, ground, and then two data wires 00:06:42.610 --> 00:06:45.130 to two different shaped plugs. 00:06:45.130 --> 00:06:48.190 No modifications to the signal whatsoever 00:06:48.190 --> 00:06:49.910 are actually taking place. 00:06:49.910 --> 00:06:51.570 The second main kind of adapter 00:06:51.570 --> 00:06:53.410 is a little bit more complicated. 00:06:53.410 --> 00:06:56.830 I'm gonna call these signal mode adapters, 00:06:56.830 --> 00:06:58.270 for lack of a better term. 00:06:58.270 --> 00:07:02.130 These take some connector and convert it into another one 00:07:02.130 --> 00:07:06.550 that is totally different, but natively supported. 00:07:06.550 --> 00:07:08.010 These types of adapters 00:07:08.010 --> 00:07:10.930 tend to be relatively inexpensive still, 00:07:10.930 --> 00:07:13.950 thanks to the fact that the processing is being done 00:07:13.950 --> 00:07:17.190 on the computer or the device side. 00:07:17.190 --> 00:07:19.050 The last main adapter I'm gonna talk about 00:07:19.050 --> 00:07:22.590 is what I will call a complete adapter. 00:07:22.590 --> 00:07:26.970 These take an entirely unrelated signal 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:31.410 and then actively convert it to something else in real time. 00:07:31.410 --> 00:07:32.130 An example of that is this. 00:07:32.130 --> 00:07:37.130 So this would be something like an HDMI to VGA adapter. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:43.380 HDMI has no legacy analog mode of operation 00:07:43.380 --> 00:07:48.380 and a VGA display device has zero understanding whatsoever 00:07:48.400 --> 00:07:49.960 of digital signaling. 00:07:49.960 --> 00:07:54.000 So these types of adapters tend to be more expensive 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.080 due to the required processing power, 00:07:56.080 --> 00:07:57.840 like there will be chips inside. 00:07:57.840 --> 00:08:00.480 They tend to be bulkier for the same reason, 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:01.640 and they also tend to be more expensive. 00:08:01.640 --> 00:08:05.220 They also tend to be directional, only working one way. 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:08.360 So this one will take the HDMI port on your laptop 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:11.440 and convert it to a VGA cable for that projector 00:08:11.440 --> 00:08:12.840 in the old conference room, 00:08:12.840 --> 00:08:15.940 but it would not go the other way around. 00:08:15.940 --> 00:08:17.940 It's also common for these to require 00:08:17.940 --> 00:08:20.580 an external power source in order to function, 00:08:20.580 --> 00:08:24.380 depending on what type of connection is being converted 00:08:24.380 --> 00:08:28.530 and whether it has power pins that can be utilized. 00:08:28.530 --> 00:08:30.560 So back to the topic at hand then. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:31.560 This device is a VGA adapter. 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:35.400 This device was far less interesting 00:08:35.400 --> 00:08:40.060 than I had initially hoped right after I clicked on it. 00:08:40.060 --> 00:08:43.420 The geek in me would have absolutely loved to see 00:08:43.420 --> 00:08:48.420 some kind of crazy way to use a high-speed memory interface 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:52.280 with a standard SSD. 00:08:52.280 --> 00:08:55.920 The issue is that such a product would have to have been 00:08:55.920 --> 00:08:59.480 designed from the ground up for that type of access, 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:01.400 like Intel's Optane DIMMS, 00:09:01.400 --> 00:09:05.900 that they actually, I think, just finally started releasing, 00:09:05.900 --> 00:09:09.560 because a normal computer would have no idea 00:09:09.560 --> 00:09:12.840 what to do with a storage device plugged into a memory slot. 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:16.480 The interfaces are absolutely nothing alike. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:18.960 Once I accepted that my pipe dream wasn't happening, 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:21.220 I decided I would still be pretty happy 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:24.500 with having my drive powered by the memory slot 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:26.880 with only a SATA data cable required 00:09:26.880 --> 00:09:28.280 in order to get it working, 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:31.280 which is to say that I was pretty disappointed, 00:09:31.280 --> 00:09:35.400 when I figured out what was actually going on here. 00:09:35.400 --> 00:09:38.240 And I kind of wondered why they bothered 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:40.140 to mount this thing on a DIMM at all, 00:09:40.140 --> 00:09:43.300 because if you look closely near the pins here, 00:09:43.300 --> 00:09:46.760 you'll actually see that none of them are connected 00:09:46.760 --> 00:09:49.780 to any traces on the printed circuit board, 00:09:49.780 --> 00:09:54.200 which means that we're pretty much just wasting 00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:56.160 the gold plating on these connectors, 00:09:56.160 --> 00:09:59.400 and we could have just as easily double taped this thing 00:09:59.400 --> 00:10:01.260 to the side of another component, 00:10:01.260 --> 00:10:04.340 or left it hanging off of the cables, 00:10:04.340 --> 00:10:06.440 making this, I would say, 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:11.440 somewhere in between a type one and type two adapter, 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:14.380 because we're pretty much just taking these pins 00:10:14.380 --> 00:10:15.300 and converting them, 00:10:15.300 --> 00:10:18.100 it looks like we're doing a little bit of something to it, 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:20.260 to these pins over here. 00:10:20.260 --> 00:10:23.280 The good news is that once it's all hooked up correctly, 00:10:23.280 --> 00:10:24.900 our drive does indeed show up. 00:10:24.900 --> 00:10:26.540 Here's our 500 gig drive, 00:10:26.540 --> 00:10:29.200 and we can probably even boot to it. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:33.380 So M.2 SATA folks, there it is. 00:10:33.380 --> 00:10:35.060 I'm just a little disappointed, 00:10:35.060 --> 00:10:38.040 because I had hoped there was a little bit more 00:10:38.040 --> 00:10:39.460 exotic technology going on, 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:44.460 and this is pretty much just a simple physical adapter. 00:10:45.700 --> 00:10:47.190 Oh well. 00:10:47.190 --> 00:10:49.770 Our sponsor for today's video is Massdrop, 00:10:49.770 --> 00:10:54.690 featuring the Massdrop X Beyerdynamic DT-177X GO headphones. 00:10:54.690 --> 00:10:56.770 So Beyerdynamic, if you're not familiar with them, 00:10:56.770 --> 00:11:00.070 is a world renowned German manufacturer, and these ones, 00:11:00.070 --> 00:11:01.850 feature a closed back design, 00:11:01.850 --> 00:11:05.310 their latest generation of 45 millimeter Tesla drivers, 00:11:05.310 --> 00:11:08.790 a wide frequency range, and weighty controlled bass. 00:11:08.790 --> 00:11:10.710 They're a favorite for recording studios, 00:11:10.710 --> 00:11:13.670 and their 32 ohm impedance mean that they're easy to drive 00:11:13.670 --> 00:11:15.950 from portable sources without an amp. 00:11:15.950 --> 00:11:18.490 They feature a durable design with aluminum ear cups, 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:21.050 a spring steel headband, and metal yokes and hinges, 00:11:21.050 --> 00:11:25.290 and you can click the link below and reserve your set today. 00:11:25.290 --> 00:11:26.590 So thanks for watching guys. 00:11:26.590 --> 00:11:28.870 If you disliked this video, you know what to do. 00:11:28.870 --> 00:11:30.030 But if it was awesome, 00:11:30.030 --> 00:11:31.910 get subscribed, hit that like button, 00:11:31.910 --> 00:11:34.170 or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured 00:11:34.170 --> 00:11:37.250 in the video description. 00:11:37.250 --> 00:11:38.590 Also down there is our merch store, 00:11:38.590 --> 00:11:40.130 which has cool shirts like this one, 00:11:40.130 --> 00:11:42.950 and our community forum, which you should totally join.