Assembly

To mount the drive inside the AluBoxTFX, it must first be taken apart. This is where the “tool free experience” gets tested. On the connection end of the enclosure there are two tabs, one on each side. Using your thumbs, push up on each tab at the same time, and the end cap should release.


The top cover can now slide easily off toward the back. While the top cover is off you can see the wiring for the Power & HDD Activity LED on the end with the mesh cover.


Attached to the controller board are the power wires and the data cables, both IDE and SATA. To install my drive I swapped out the 4-pin Molex connector for the SATA power connector, and I removed the IDE ribbon cable to allow better viewing of the installation.


At this point I was ready to connect the drive. The easiest way seemed to be to flip the hard drive upside-down and make the connections, then flip the drive rightside-up.


In the middle of the enclosure there is a large silver bracket. This is a spring-loaded shock absorber that holds the drive firmly in place. To mount the drive all I had to do was line up the small pins on the large flat area with the screw holes on the bottom side of the drive (marked in red above). Next I held down the drive with one hand and slid the cover back on with the other, paying close attention to the data cable inside the enclosure. As I slid the cover on I noticed that the cable had to be pushed down to avoid being pinched between the drive and the cover, and the cable continued to rub across the cover as it was moved into place. I would not consider this a problem, but just a point to take into consideration when installing the SATA drive inside.


Once the cover is in place the end-cap can be replaced by sliding up the tabs, putting the end in place and releasing the tabs. If the AluBoxTFX is to be mounted on its side, it can now be slid into the plastic base.