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General discussion

Broken Pin on HD

Aug 27, 2004 12:58AM PDT

thanks for reading.
one of my hard drives which holds crucial information , a pin broke and now it doesnt function
i wanted to know if i buy the exact same hard drive and replace the "motherbaord" part will the old drive accept it and become functional.
Below is a url of a video i made so you can see exactly what i'm talking about..the part in my hand is what i am referring to and thinking of replacing. Keep in mind, the cable plugs easily in and off that board so that wont be a problem.
video: ftp://hd:help@69.86.68.67:10605/hd_helpme.wmv

Discussion is locked

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Re: Broken Pin on HD
Aug 27, 2004 1:08AM PDT

what "pin" are we talking about - no i haven't looked at your video!!.
is it a power supply pin - a ribbon cable pin or master/slave pin???

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Re: Broken Pin on HD
Aug 27, 2004 1:22AM PDT

You won't know till you try. I couldn't see the break or broken pin so I can't tell much from the video. Next time a simple "picture" will do more.

You may learn from this that backup is cheaper than recovery...

Bob

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Re: Broken Pin on HD
Aug 27, 2004 4:47AM PDT

Maybe it will work, maybe not. When you do the transplant and restore power to the unit, the LED may start flashing. If so, leave the unit powered on and go out for a long lunch, if you're lucky the electronics is setting itself up for the new HDA (Head Disk Assembly), and will eventually come ready. If not, when you reassemble the "new" disk you may find that it doesn't work either, and now you're out the cost of the new disk as well.

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Repair
Aug 28, 2004 12:50AM PDT

I'll bet it's a power supply pin and still inside the power connector. CAREFULLY get it out and have a guru solder it back onto the "motor board" of the Hdd. I've had to do this a few times.
You might be able to order a replacement board from the mfg? Otherwise, you have to get the EXACT same hdd, all numbers matching, or you'll screw up your data on a swap job by trying to access the old Hdd, as the motor board parameters are different.