44 PIN IDC (2mm) MALE at the controller and peripherals
44 PIN IDC (2mm) FEMALE at the cable
The 44-pin ATA connector is the small form factor variant of the standard AT Attachment (ATA) interface, designed for 2.5-inch notebook hard drives. It was formally specified in ATA-2 (ANSI/INCITS document 948D, ratified March 1996) in Annex B, which extended the 40-pin desktop ATA bus with four additional pins supplying power directly through the drive connector. The connector uses a 2.0 mm pitch IDC header — finer than the 2.54 mm pitch of the desktop 40-pin variant — to suit the compact drive bays of laptop computers. Pins 1–40 carry identical ATA signals to the standard 40-pin connector, with pin 20 removed as a mechanical keying pin; pins 41–44 provide the integrated power supply unique to this form factor.
| Pin | Name | Dir | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | +5VL | OUT | +5 VDC (Logic) |
| 42 | +5VM | OUT | +5 VDC (Motor) |
| 43 | GND | - | Ground |
| 44 | /TYPE | OUT | Type (0=ATA) |
Notes
- Direction is Controller relative to Devices (hard disks).
- Pins 1–40 carry the full ATA signal set (identical to the 40-pin desktop connector); only the four power-extension pins (41–44) unique to this notebook connector are shown above.
- Pin 20 is absent from the physical connector and serves as a keying pin to prevent incorrect cable insertion.
- Connector pitch is 2.0 mm, compared with 2.54 mm on the standard 40-pin desktop IDC header.
- Pin 44 (/TYPE) is pulled low (0 V) to identify the device as ATA-compliant.
Signals
- +5VL — +5 V DC supply for the drive’s logic circuitry, delivered directly through the connector rather than via a separate power cable.
- +5VM — +5 V DC supply for the drive’s spindle and actuator motors.
- GND — Signal and power ground return.
- /TYPE — Active-low type identification line; driven low (0 V) by an ATA device to declare ATA compliance to the host controller.