Cannot find the sata plug on motherboard

My intel tells me this is the motherboard for an eMachines T3642 Desktop PC,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GATEWAY-EMACHINES-W3644-MCP61SM2MA-4006232R-MOTHERBOARD-T5246-T3646-T3642-S3649-/330737918167?pt=Motherboards&hash=item4d018420d7

If this holds true,

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Shared/4006232R/4006232Rnv.shtml

In the list click on the blue - Product Views

The Ebay link shows you where the letters, of the above Gateway link, are on the motherboard.

1) B - Auxiliary 12 Volt ATX connector.
This is where the 4-pin ATX +12 Volt power cable plugs in,

Example of power cable from Power Supply,

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#atx12v4

Power for the Processor (CPU) Do NOT forget it.

2) E - Main Power Connector

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#atxmain24

Note* Color of connectors for 1) above, and 2), do NOT matter.
What the connector is, Does.

Note also that there is a pivoting Lock, on both power cable connectors.
The matching motherboard connector has a Lock TAB.
When the power cables are deemed to be plugged in tightly, and correctly; the Lock's hooked end will be over the Lock Tab.

[Squeeze the top of the Lock in, to release. Release when removing.
The Lock works on the same action as a seesaw on a playground ]

3) F- Floppy Disk Drive Connector
A 34 wire thin ribbon IDE cable, connects here on the motherboard, and plugs into the back of the Floppy Drive. The cable is the Data cable.

The power cable that goes to it is a 4-pin Small peripheral power cable. Looks like this example,

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#floppy

IF a Memory Card Reader, (Media Card Reader. Same/same) is used instead; it will use the SAME power cable.

The data cables are different though. They connect to a Front USB header on the motherboard, and are a rounded cable.

ONE of the Front USB headers on the motherboard, will be used for the Card Reader.
Click on S - USB 2.0 Connectors

[NOTE* In EACH USB header are provisions for attaching to TWO USB ports. Front OR back of computer.
One will be used for the TWO data cables, going to the Card Reader. Which one? Pick one.
BIOS will set up a new Interrupt Request for it. (IRQ) ]

G - Parallel ATA IDE Connector
40 wire flat ribbon data cable goes here. (ONLY 39 wires are actually used, though)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PATA-cable.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ATA_cables.jpg

Now I'm going to get a little lengthy, and detailed;

In the first link immediately above, PATA-cable.jpg
See the two small 'ribs' on the Top/Middle of the connector?
(May just be one solid block, also)

That is a Locating Lug. When you plug the connector into the motherboard, it lines up with a Cutout in the motherboard connector.
IF there is NO Locating Lug;
Look at the side of the cable that has the faint Red stripe.
This Red stripe is on the SAME side as Number 1 wire.

When plugging into the motherboard connector, the side of the cable that has the Red stripe, goes DOWN. Down towards the Bottom of the motherboard.
Number 1 pin in the motherboard connector, is at the Bottom of the motherboard connector.

If no Locating Lug when plugging into a device; Harddrive or Optical Drive, (CD/DVD drive);
The side of the flat data ribbon cable that has the Red stripe, goes towards the POWER CABLE pins, on the device.

Let's look at an IDE (PATA) harddrive, and the 4-pin Peripheral power cable that plugs into it;

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#peripheral

See where the power cable plugs in? The Red stripe on the IDE flat ribbon cable, will be next to the power cable.
Also can be said as, when the IDE flat ribbon cable is plugged into the Harddrive, the Red stripe will be on the Right.

Same with an Optical Drive.

You MAY have an optical drive's flat data cable plugged in here.
IF it is an IDE (PATA) optical drive.
MORE than likely though, your Harddrive is a SATA unit, and plugs into a SATA connector on the motherboard.

U - SATA Connectors
Note there are two. SATA1 and SATA2.
The Harddrive is supposed to plug into SATA1.
The beauty of SATA is though, that you can plug the Harddrive into SATA1, OR SATA 2.
BIOS will find the device.

This is an example of a SATA data cable, and it's connector,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SATA_ports.jpg

(Your SATA connector on the motherboard, is different than the example shown)

Between a SATA data cable's connector, and a SATA power cable's connector; a SATA power cable connector is the Larger of the two.
A SATA data cable connector has 7-PINS.
A SATA power cable connector has 15-PINS.

Note also the L-shaped opening. This lines up with an L-shape on the Harddrive connector, or an Optical Drive connector. (Data cable connector)
Note also that a SATA power cable has this same L-shaped opening.

More to follow in a Comment.
Regards,
joecoolvette

From what I was able to find it looks like the board is set for IDE Interface connections for the hard drives. But you can make it accept SATA Drives by adapters that plug into the Power Supply cables that go into the hard drive.

I'll show some links below that will show you the adapters you will need.

The link below shows the Cable that would plug into one of the power supply cables and go into the SATA Drive to give it SATA Interface.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-4-PIN-IDE-Molex-To-2-X-15-Pin-SATA-Power-Adapter-cable-Fast-From-USA-/270963453066?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item3f16ae2c8a

The link below shows you the cable you need that will supply the Power to the Sata Drive. It too plugs into one of the cables that come out of the Power Supply and goes into the Sata Drive.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-4-PIN-IDE-To-Serial-SATA-Power-Cable-adapter-/270693224712?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item3f0692d108

Okay. Let's start with the motherboard, and power cables coming from the Power Supply;

A) The eMachines T3642 Desktop PC uses a
Foxconn (WinFast) MCP61SM2MA motherboard,

1) http://www.ebay.com/itm/eMachines-T5246-T3646-T3642-4006232R-Motherboard-/140665743077?pt=Motherboards&hash=item20c054e6e5

2) http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Shared/4006232R/4006232Rnv.shtml

(The Form Factor is Micro-ATX. (uATX)
It uses an AM2 processor socket )

[NOTE*
Power unplugged from computer, AND Anti-Static Precautions FOLLOWED.

Anti-Static Precautions:
Your body carries Static electricity. Static WILL fry out (Short Circuit) the delicate hardware components inside a computer.

Computer on a table, computer unplugged from power, computer case open.
TOUCH an unpainted surface, of the metal frame of the open computer case.

This action will relieve your body of Static.
IF, you leave your computer in the middle of working on it, be SURE to Touch the metal frame again upon your return ]

Click on the link in 1) above. This shows the bare motherboard with no hardware components attached, or power cables from the Power Supply, or any other cables attached. (Cables = Wires)

Scroll down to the photo of the motherboard.
Look at the Yellow long, Ram Memory slots, that are vertical. (2 each)
To the right of them.

A1) The whitish connector that has two columns of 12 socket holes, is the 24-pin ATX main power cable connector.

This is a general example of a 24-pin ATX power cable, and it's respective connector on the motherboard,
(NOTE* Color of power cable connector, and connector on motherboard, Does Not matter),

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#atxmain24

View the photo to the far right. Note the Lock on the power cable's connector, and the Lock Tab on the motherboard's connector.

The hooked end of the Lock, MUST be hooked over the tab, to ensure the power cable is plugged in tightly, and correctly.

A2) Look at link 1) again.
Look at the Top/Left side of the motherboard. See that whitish square connector with 4 socket holes?
That is a 4-pin ATX +12 Volt power connector.

A 4-pin ATX +12 Volt power cable plugs into it. This power cable's connector also has a Lock,

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#atx12v4

A3) The Harddrive is a SATA unit. It has a SATA power cable that plugs into it, and a SATA data cable that plugs into it.

The SATA headers (Connectors) on the motherboard, are seen in link 1), and are to the bottom/right. There are 2.
They are Blue in color, and are above the green headers.

This is where the SATA data cable of the harddrive plugs in.
Straight connector. Elbow connector plugs into the back of the Harddrive.

The SATA data cable connector has 7 pins.
The SATA power cable has 15 pins. It is the longer connector,

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#sata

Which SATA header on the motherboard, should the SATA harddrive's data cable plug into?
SATA1. The top header. (Connector)

The beauty of SATA however, is that you can connect in EITHER connector, and BIOS will find the harddrive.

Note the L shape on the inside of the power cable connector, and the data cable connector. There is a matching L shape for the connectors on the motherboard, and the back of the Harddrive. Line these up when installing the cables.

A4) The optical drive/s (CD/DVD drive) may be SATA, but I'm betting the optical drive/s are IDE. (PATA)

The optical drive/s will use a flat ribbon cable, for a data cable, and it plugs into the long Blue connector, seen in link 1), to the bottom right of the whitish 24-pin ATX main power cable connector.

On the flat ribbon cable is a faint red stripe. It is on one side, and the side that has number 1 pin.

To line the cable up correctly when installing To the motherboard, use the cutout in the connector. The flat ribbon cable's connector, should have a Lug on the outside, which lines up with the cutout.

IF NOT, the faint red stripe side of the cable, goes down towards the bottom of the motherboard.

Looking at the photo, and the IDE (PATA) connector on the motherboard, number 1 pin is at the Bottom/Right corner, of the motherboard connector.

The flat ribbon cable's Lug, also lines up with a cutout in the connector, at the back of the optical drive.

IF the cutout is not present at the back of the optical drive, or there isn't a Lug on the connector, the faint red stripe goes to the RIGHT side of the optical drive.

(Doesn't matter if the flat ribbon cable is twisted. The faint red stripe ALWAYS goes toward the power cable connection, on a drive.
Harddrive, or optical drive.

Number 1 pin is the pin closest to the power cable connection on the drive.

More in a Comment.

Regards,
joecoolvette

this will depend on HARD DRIVE whether ide the ide will have 40 pins or sata the sata will have 8 copper slat type also PSU power supply unit ide or sata power connecters these days they usually supply both next MOTHERBOARD if has ide and sata plugs the ide will be a flat ribbon type with 40 pin plug ends the sata will be 8 copper slat type usually a bit thicker
most power supply units will fit but to make absolutely sure you could take some measurents inside you computers frame to make sure it will fit also you might need to get a heavy duty with plenty of wattage if you have added more ram another hard drive or a bigger one or any other devices cd/dvd drives then you will need more wattage to boot up
hope this helps
6 PCI slots, supports Socket 478 processors up to 3-GHz, two IDE, on-board sound.

Cons: Only supports one diskette drive

The Bottom Line: Good for building a modest system. It is still useful today. Reliable performance. 6 PCI slots make is very expandable.

molex to sata converters

ide lead which will locate itself by the blank

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B0001Y8UI4/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all

molex 4 pin power lead

this will depend on HARD DRIVE whether ide the ide will have 40 pins or sata the sata will have 8 copper slat type also PSU power supply unit ide or sata power connecters these days they usually supply both next MOTHERBOARD if has ide and sata plugs the ide will be a flat ribbon type with 40 pin plug ends the sata will be 8 copper slat type usually a bit thicker
hope this helps

All SATA drives need a signal cable and a power cable, but usually these cables already exist inside your computer waiting for you to use provided that your motherboard allows for an additional drive.

I'LL TELL YOU UPFRONT i HAVE ONLY INSTALLED SATA ON A NEW SYSTEM SO MY ANSWER MAY NOT BE CORRECT IN ALL SITUATIONS
Question is vague. Are you replacing a drive or building a new system? SATA drives have a dedicated plug on the Mother Board. Of course you already know you can't replace an IDE with a SATA without an adapter (Ebay has them for about $8) or the Bios is incompatible. The power is on the Motherboard and does not have a connector from the power supply like an IDE has.

1. For SATA, you just need a second SATA cable to plug it in and a power cable from the power supply.
2. For IDE, you will need a second IDE cable to plug the second hard drive, AND you will have to set both hard drives jumpers either to cable select or one Master and the other one Slave, based on which one you have the operating system.

Yes you need one SATA cable for each SATA device.

Biggest thing is to make sure that your motherboard has enough SATA ports available to accomidate another SATA device

If you mean power to the devices themselves, the 4-pin connectors coming from the power supply plug in to the drives. The red wire is +5 volts, the yellow wire is +12 volts and the black wires are ground (earthing) connections. IDE hard drives and CD drives use the same connector. SATA drives may have that same connector as well, but most use a different style. SATA-ready power supplies will have 1 or more plugs available. Adapters to switch from the 4-pin IDE plug to SATA type are available for supplies that don't have the right connector.

If you are asking what power pins from the mainboard power supply connector are supplying power to specific controller parts on the mainboard, that kind of detailed information is not available. Mainboards manufacturers do not supply circuit diagrams or repair information. They simply replace any boards that fail while still covered by the warranty, and expect you wil just buy a new one if the warranty has expired.

Much information about ATX boards including the power supply cable pins is found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX