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PC Standards project | CC BY 4.0 | non-destructive SATA checks 1
ROCK 5 ITX SATA Drives: Preflight and Identification
An original non-destructive board-specific checklist for the Radxa ROCK 5 ITX Mini-ITX motherboard | 15 September 2026
Scope: installation readiness and drive identity only. This supporting guide is not a full motherboard manual, storage migration
plan, RAID tutorial, or permission to erase a drive.
1. Identify four board ports and power separately
The manufacturer documents four onboard SATA 3.0 interfaces, each supporting up to 6 Gbps. With board power
disconnected, identify those four connectors from the official ROCK 5 ITX interface page. A SATA data connector does not
itself supply drive power: select a compatible drive power path from the board, power-supply, and drive documentation. Do
not force keyed plugs or assume a data cable is a power cable.
2. Cable and inspect before boot
Mount each drive securely and route data and power cables away from fan blades, sharp edges, and hot surfaces. Leave
enough clearance that the connector does not carry mechanical load. Record each drive's model and serial on a private local
inventory; never put serials in a public upload. Connect one drive at a time if the identity of existing data matters. Restore
power only after the cable and supply ratings are checked.
3. Discover without changing data
On a supported Linux boot, identify the attached block devices with lsblk -o NAME,MODEL,SIZE,TRAN. Compare each
reported model and capacity with the private inventory. A device name such as /dev/sdX is not a permanent identifier: it can
change when drives are added or reordered. Confirm which physical drive each name represents before any later operation
that writes data.
If a new device is absent, inspect the relevant boot/kernel log for SATA link or power errors, then shut down and isolate power
before reseating a cable. Do not diagnose a missing drive by formatting or creating an array. The publisher describes hdparm
-t /dev/sdX as a read-speed test, but this checklist does not require benchmarking; run it only after positively identifying
the device and considering workload impact.
Acceptance record and boundary
Record board revision, SATA port number, drive model/capacity, power-source rating, cable seating, and the Linux device
identity observed on that boot. Keep any customer data, drive serials, hostnames, and network identifiers private. This sheet
intentionally contains no mdadm --create, mkfs, or superblock-removal command: those can alter or erase existing
storage and require a separate reviewed plan and backup.
Attribution and redistribution
Technical reference: Radxa Documentation, ROCK 5 ITX - SATA 3.0, https://docs.radxa.com/en/rock5/rock5itx/getting-started/interface-usage/sata.
License notice: https://docs.radxa.com/en/license. Adapted and reformatted from the CC BY 4.0 board documentation, with newly authored
non-destructive preflight and privacy steps. No Radxa images, logos, or third-party content are reproduced.
Original checklist and prose released by the PC Standards project under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Attribute as: "PC
Standards project, ROCK 5 ITX SATA Drive Preflight and Identification Guide, 2026, CC BY 4.0." No personal, confidential, or proprietary-only
information is included.
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