- fraudit

Well, it didn't...

Sure it didn't.

Confusing as it might be the whole stuff, the description of that DeLock is clear enough:
www.delock.de/produkte...anguage=en

surely they might have highlighted the or:

The converter can be installed into your system internally through the SATA 22 pin interface while using a SATA M.2 SSD, or via the SFF-8643 interface while using a PCIe M.2 SSD.

SF-8643 is yet another "standard", mini-SAS:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...ached_SCSI

jaclaz
_________________
- In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is. - 

Which as I understand means that I can connect either a regular mSATA drive via SATA cable or M.2 drive via the PCI cable, is that correct?  

- fraudit

Which as I understand means that I can connect either a regular mSATA drive via SATA cable or M.2 drive via the PCI cable, is that correct?

Not really.
I have no idea of what you mean by PCI cable, they don't exist AFAIK, unless you mean a PCiE "riser" cable *like*:
www.newegg.com/p/N82E1...-_-Product

M.2 is a form factor.
mSATA is another form factor.
See:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2

SATA is a protocol/interface.
PCI and PCiE (or NVME) are protocols/interfaces.

A SATA (protocol) SSD can have different form factors/connectors, among them there is the M.2 or NGFF.

A PCI or PciE (or NVME) SSD can have different form factors/connectors, among them there is the M.2 or NGFF.

So you can have BOTH
1) a SATA SSD M.2
AND
2) a PCI or PciE (NVME) SSD M.2
(and both will be - and here lays the worst instance of stupidity - be in the form of a M.2 keyed M) and if you remove (or ignore) the make/model/part number there is no way to distinguish the SATA one from the PciE one.

So, both will fit in a M.2 M keyed socket, BUT the first one still "speaks SATA" and the second still "speaks PciE".

Take this particular adapter as reference/example:
www.addonics.com/produ...5m2msa.php

this one allows to connect to a SATA bus either a mSATA or M.2 SATA SSD to a "normal" SATA cable (everything speaks SATA).

Now compare with this one:
www.addonics.com/produ...nvmpx4.php

this one allows to connect one PCI or NVME M.2 SSD to a PCiE bus (everything speaks PCI/PCiE/NVME)

And finally compare with this one:
www.addonics.com/produ...2s-px4.php

this one allows connecting on one side 1 PCI or NVME M.2 SSD to a PCiE bus (everything speaks PCI/PCiE/NVME on this side) AND 1 or 2 SATA M.2 SSD to 2 "normal" SATA cables (everything speaks SATA on this other side).

It is "madness", I know.

jaclaz
_________________
- In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is. - 

Understood, thank you!

So do you think if I get this one (https://www.addonics.com/products/ad25m2msa.php), will I be able to access the M.2 drive via the given blocker? Will the adapter manage to do all the translation for me? I understand Delock's one I have simply cannot translate one interface commands to another and hence my failure.  

- fraudit

Understood, thank you!

You are very welcome , but you didn't actually understand , judging from this question:

- fraudit

So do you think if I get this one (https://www.addonics.com/products/ad25m2msa.php), will I be able to access the M.2 drive via the given blocker? Will the adapter manage to do all the translation for me? I understand Delock's one I have simply cannot translate one interface commands to another and hence my failure.

There is NO such thing as a M.2 drive!

There can be a SATA drive with M.2 form factor OR a PCI/PCiE/NVME drive with M.2 form factor, and they use different protocols/interface.

Now, be nice, go to that page:
www.addonics.com/produ...5m2msa.php
and search on it (in "overview" and in the other tabs) the words:
PCI
PCiE
NVME

IF the thing was compatible with NVME, don't you think that the good Addonics guys would have mentioned it?

See if this article clears the matter:
www.velocitymicro.com/...ifference/

You see, there is no possible use (outside forensics) of a converter/bridge to connect an extremely fast device (a NVME SSD) to a much slower (internal) bus and controller (such as SATA), so it is not so casual that such bridges/converters are not available as "generic hardware", what is "queer" is that all the forensic stuff manufacturers also seemingly don't have this kind of adapters.

jaclaz
_________________
- In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is. - 

Ufff, many thanks for the detailed explanation, jaclaz, I really appreciate it!

I believe now I've got it. Clearly next time I will do my best to find matching controllers / standards.

This time I went short and simply got a M.2 USB case and connected it to my USB blocker  

- fraudit

Ufff, many thanks for the detailed explanation, jaclaz, I really appreciate it!

I believe now I've got it. Clearly next time I will do my best to find matching controllers / standards.

This time I went short and simply got a M.2 USB case and connected it to my USB blocker

Yep, you are welcome, and I think that was actually the ONLY thing you could do.

Makers of forensic tools might decide to create this (hypothetical) NVME to SATA converter (something they could sell for 100-150 US$, maybe 200) and let you use your existing write blocker or - more likely IMHO - create a brand new tool, a NVME (or PCiE) write blocker (that they could probably sell for a few thousands dollars).

jaclaz
_________________
- In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is. -