This is the sata/power connector in the NUC11TNHi3

DKlin · ‎01-28-2022

There is nothing preventing it from being plugged in 180° out, and it is very difficult to seat the connector all the way into the socket. So is the BLUE tab supposed to be in this orientation?

LeonWaksman · ‎01-28-2022

The SATA Ribbon cable is inserted in right direction (the blue tab towards the white piece and the contacts on the ribbon towards contacts in the receptacle). The cable can be easy removed and reinserted when you lift the white part with a finger a little up. After inserting the cable, push the white locking part down.

Leon

DKlin · ‎01-31-2022

Since I have two of these SATA/POWER cables, but only ONE NUC11PNHi3 here, (the other NUC11 was sent to our assembly group), and the cable orientation is correct and seated properly, I have to assume that I damaged the connector on the motherboard. These TINY connectors are TOO fragile, even though they save board space. The system still boots fine from the M.2 SATA, and the M.2 NVMe slots, so it is not a total loss for now. Thank you for your help.

LeonWaksman · ‎01-31-2022

I have to agree that these FPC connectors are very fragile and I my self damaged one, before I've learned how to remove the SATA Ribbon cable. However I don't see any damage on your connector. Please check the other side (i.e. that the connector is well connected to the drive bay. Please also check that the SSD is fully inserted, making good contacts with the bay receptacle. If the SSD is fully inserted, you should be able to fasten it to the SSD cage with four screw supplied in the NUC box. See this video from 11:00.

Leon