How to solder a SATA cable to an HDD

[MagnumDong]

Hi all,
I've got an HDD with a broken SATA port (L is gone and a pin snapped off) and from what I've seen one of the solutions is to solder a SATA cable directly to the HDD. I also heard you have to be skilled at soldering to accomplish this.

Now I've never soldered in my life, so I was hoping to find a guide or something just to get an idea of what sort of challenge it may be, but alas, I could not find any.

So I ask, does anyone know of a guide for this sort of thing? Or alternatively, could you walk me through it?

 

[inzone]

If you have never slodered in your life then I would not start with trying to do this and maybe taking it someplace to have t done would be a better idea. You need very small soldering iron and thin solder. I know how to solder and this is something that I would not attempt.
Your best option would be to replace the circut board at the end of the hard drive , because a pin has snapped off there is no guarentee that your going to be able to solder it back on and have it work.

 

[nbelote]

I used to be very good at soldering and this is definitely something I would not leave to an amateur much less a novice like yourself, even with detailed instructions. It's best to try to have the circuit board professionally replaced as you would be less likely to damage the drive this way.

 

[ittimjones]

I know how to solder, and I too would not be confident in doing this.

However, I would try, but I would not have any expectations of it working.

 

[MagnumDong]

If you have never slodered in your life then I would not start with trying to do this and maybe taking it someplace to have t done would be a better idea. You need very small soldering iron and thin solder. I know how to solder and this is something that I would not attempt.
Your best option would be to replace the circut board at the end of the hard drive , because a pin has snapped off there is no guarentee that your going to be able to solder it back on and have it work.

Where would I be able to purchase a new circuit board for my HDD? I know if I had an identical drive around I could swap it out, but I do not. Is there a place where I could purchase a part like that?

 

[MagnumDong]

Best answer selected by MagnumDong.

 

[fzabkar]

@MagnumDong, your local TV repair shop should be able to do the soldering for you.

As for replacing the PCB, a straight swap probably won't work. That's because most modern HDDs store unique, drive specific "adaptive" information in a serial EEPROM chip. This chip, or its contents, needs to be transferred from patient to donor.

The following PCB suppliers offer a firmware transfer service, either for free, or for US$10:

http://www.donordrives.com
http://www.onepcbsolution.com
http://www.hdd-parts.com

I would advise that you avoid those suppliers who don't tell you that a board won't work without modification. Often they will attempt to obscure the requirement for a firmware transfer by deceptively describing their products as being "for data recovery only".

Alternatively, if you are not adept at soldering, your local TV/AV repair shop should be able to transfer the chip for you.

Onepcbsolution.com also offer a firmware transfer service for US$20 if you have purchased your board from a different supplier:

http://onepcbsolution.com/firmware-xfer-without-pcb.html

Some PCBs do not have a discrete serial flash memory chip. Instead they store the adaptive data inside the Marvell MCU (the largest chip). In this case you will need a "PCB adaptation" service.

The following PCB supplier includes such a service for free:
http://www.donordrives.com/services

In short, it would probably be a lot easier to solder a Molex power connector to your SATA power pins, if that is the problem you are describing. Repairing the data pins would be a little harder and less reliable.

 

[MagnumDong]

Thank you for the response! Unfortunately it is my SATA data port that has been damaged, I will check out the suppliers you listed though.