... sata hard drive connectors broke.. ( on the hardrive.. )

[dt]

ok well i i pulled the cords out of my sata hardrive and the hardrive connector part broke. meaning the harddrive is basically useless at the moment.

how do i fix this problem if i can fix it?

the L part is broke... not the gold pins

 

[Kamrooz]

How big was the harddrive?

Hate to say this but I think it's useless now since it's a very sensitive part. I just re-wired my two sata drives today and was extremely careful with them...That's the only downside about sata is the wire setup.

Sad to say such news but I think it's useless now..Unless someone else has some advice. I don't think they make replacement parts for them but who knows...maybe someone else can shed some light.

 

[dt]

i hope so.. its a 320 gb still on its 5 year warranty ( which is probably voided now ).

the little black part broke off the hardrive. man.... i didnt even have this drive for a year!

 

[Kamrooz]

ouch I'm sorry man...They do have a poor design when it comes to the SATA connectors...I'm scared as all hell when I pull mine out....

I just browsed around on the internet and people have glued it back together..But it depends how much of the SATA connector plastic has broken off.

Here's a thread where I found some info that might help...Good luck ^_^..lol

http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=182789

 

[Kamrooz]

ohh snap..I thought you said it wasn't on warranty...Yea Mrsbytch has a good solutions.

Hopefully they'll RMA it for you and you'll be back up and running. But just incase that falls through..Superglue ftw.

 

[dt]

thanks guys!!!

i have one of those 320gb sata seagates that have the 5 year warranty.

I hope they fix it for me until then i will just have to newegg it for now.

I have that EXACT same problem that guy had!

 

[darkguset]

Even if they don't fix it, you can find a similar drive (used or broken) and strip off its electronics, and use it on your hard drive.
The same goes for a drive that had a head crash but its electronics work fine. Unfortunately you will have to have some tech knowledge to do that, but then here's your chance to learn a few things for yourself!
Enjoy!

 

[dt]

and it was the first sata drive too..

anyone had any luck with seagate fixing things like this?

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Do you need the data off the drive?

If not, just go to Seagate's web site, fill out a Return Merchandise Authorization form (RMA), and it will give you an RMA number. Ship it back to Seagate and they'll send you another drive.

If you need the data, do not RMA the drive to Seagate -- they will not fix it and send the same drive back to you. Basically, there's 4 ways you can go:

1. Professional data recovery. Likely to be expensive, although not as bad as someone with a drive that needs to go to the clean room.

2. You can attempt to superglue the part back together, get a SATA cable on it, and then copy the data off if you're successful. (If you need to, superglue a cable in place as well. You'll sacrifice a cable, but get your data back.)

3. Swap the electronics board of your HD with an identical one from another HD of the same model. (Pretty easy solution if you have another HD available).

4. Remove the electronics board, cut a SATA cable, and solder the SATA cabe leads onto the board bypassing the connector. (Difficult, requires soldering skill and equipment. But possible.)

 

[dt]

the data was mostly applications and the os... oooo my bookmarks... but even if i got the data back i couldnt place it anywhere because i dont have another hdd for that.

o well i guess i could send it to seagate and get another drive.

how long would it take them? 4- 8 weeks?

 

[p05esto]

Do you still have the part that broke off? This exact thing happened to me and I fixed it, a year later it's still working MINT.

Grab some super glue and the black plastic piece that broke off. First press the piece into place so you see how it fits. Then lightly superglue the endge and push it into place. I held mine in place for like 15 minutes to be sure the bond was tight. Worked great afterwards.

Superglue = very strong stuff (especialy on plastic).

 

[dt]

i have no idea where the piece is when it broke off
the piece basically shattered and there are a lot of little pieces...

but i have super glue..

 

[p05esto]

Then the super glue will not work. I'd personally go for the soldering option. If you're careful - there are only a few wires and you could do a permanent and nice job. And if you think about it, a soldered connection is better than simple metal contact. You'd actually be reducing resistance and improving your computer slightly by solering the connection.

Heck, maybe this is the elite overclocking future - solder all connections, no more plugs!!!

 

[dt]

solder the sata connector to the actual hdd? i guess those soldering classes in computer service and support when i was 14 is actually going to help me.

 

[slim142]

Samething happened to me (well similar)

i disconnected the sata cable from my hard drive and the black part of the hard drive (where the pins are on) broke and got stock on the sata cable

my sata cable is now useless and i had to rma my hard drive, hopefully newegg loves their customers and exchange it to me

 

[dt]

hmm... i ordered this from new egg too... RMA TIME ..

 

[slim142]

there is no need for a receipt, just start an RMA process and return it. I didnt need to return the receipt, I only sent the hard drive and the sale confirmation on my accounts page.

 

[dt]

update: i fixed my sata drive! i picked up some super glue and prayed to god that it would work and it did! time to put this baby in raid 5 lol.

 

[sailer]

update: i fixed my sata drive! i picked up some super glue and prayed to god that it would work and it did! time to put this baby in raid 5 lol.

This sounds good, because I had the same thing happen to a Western Digital hard drive myself. I hate to have to buy another new hard drive, and I'm not sure that I can RMA a broken part.

 

[dt]

yeah, i was thinking the same thing. seagate didnt help me at all with it so i left the drive in a corner in my room and i finally got around to fixing it.

when i moved my computer i found the broken sata piece under my tower ( how it got there? i have no idea)

note: have the parts that broke off so you can glue it together. if not then buy yourself a small sata drive and rip the back off of it lol.

 

[qwazzy]

Seagate will help you with nothing. In all the messages, I get"Sir, we feel you're pain, and if you'd like, just fill out an RMA request." Heh, now I've been waiting 3 weeks..NO NEW HD. Third Seagate HD I have gone through for 4 months. Isn't it just sad?

 

[dt]

Seagate will help you with nothing. In all the messages, I get"Sir, we feel you're pain, and if you'd like, just fill out an RMA request." Heh, now I've been waiting 3 weeks..NO NEW HD. Third Seagate HD I have gone through for 4 months. Isn't it just sad?

ugh, lame seagate. i guess i will keep my drive until it just flat out dies. i will place my drives in raid 10 instead of raid 5 so i can use my computer when the drive dies.

 

[croc]

If its just the l-shaped plastic, you should be OK....

 

[sailer]

Oddly enough, the Western Digital with the tabs broken off is working ok, but my one year old Seagate is giving problems. It wants to freeze up or slow down a lot. I did a back up of it a couple days ago, but I wonder now how long it will last. Maybe till next year, or maybe tomorrow. Who knows?

In the meantime, I've got an old IBM Deskstar in another computer that keeps on going. Hard drives, you can never tell how long they last.

 

[dt]

If its just the l-shaped plastic, you should be OK....

yeah, its the L shaped plastic. i glued it back on and now its giving me smart errors in raid 5. now i dont think i can rma the hd because i glued the actual connectors to it.

but at least i got my old data!