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I accidently broke Pin #4 (looking at it from right to left) on my Maxtor hard drive. Unfortunately, I have very important data that was not backed up.
The pin broke off so deep that there is almost no metal visible to make contact with. I also lost the pin that broke off...go figure.
Does anybody know how to fix this solution without having the broken pin or with the broken pin (I'm desperately searchng my room for it)? I greatly appreciate any and all info. It's only one pin and I can't believe that a hard drive would refuse to work with that one piece damaged. By the way, I don't know if this makes a difference but I use my hard drive for external puproses and all I want to do is be able to boot it one more time so i can get my info off it and then be done with it. I do have an external hard drive kit since I use it externally.
The pin broke off so deep that there is almost no metal visible to make contact with. I also lost the pin that broke off...
Not a good sign to even solder it back on. If the data is important to you, the best you can do is ship it to a data recovery vendor. Be prepared to pay dearly.
i_XpUser
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XpUser is correct. The only other option would be to pay a technician to 'try' and replace or repair the connector. That's a pretty tricky job.
If the data is irreplaceable, I would go with the professional data recovery service. But like XpUser said, it will really hurt your pocketbook.
Sorry, I do not check for private messages
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Yeah, the data recovery shops are very pricey.
You need to find a good bench tech.
Where are you?
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Out of my curosity the #4 pin is one of the 16 pins essential for data per this scheme. Do not try to do anything on your own - you can make the recovery more difficulty.
i_XpUser
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HI thats a nasty problem, ouch!
ive always wandered why they dont improve the connector type to make that impossible.well heres what i would try personally-
*find an old IDE ribbon you dont mind throwing away after (a 40 wire IDE ribbon would be ideal because although they were replaced with black 80 wire ribbons which have less electrical interference between the wires in the ribbon, the old ones still work fine-especially for a once off)
Then youre not wasting a decent part.*find the missing pin, or break one off an old floppy drive if you have one lying around that you dont need #make sure you get the whole length of the pin when you snap it off! use a pair of long nose pliers to break it from the base#
*place the pin into the appropriate hole in the ribbon connection. Make sure you put it in the right one!
* get hold of a soldering iron and a small amount of solder
*use the solder to fill the top of that connector hole you've put the pin in to keep it in place- it shouldnt take much at all, but make sure you leave some solder protruding like a bump- enough so that when you plug the ribbons connector into the hard drive- the protruding bump of solder touches the remnant of the broken pin.
if it touches and the contact is stable- you should get an electrical flow back.
*IMPORTANT: be carefull to make sure the lump of solder doesnt touch any other pins.they have to be kept seperate.
thats what i would do and i would bet good money on it working.
(if i am right in assuming that electrical current passes through solder)if current the current isnt passing through the solder- just break two pins off the flopppy drive, and when you've place one in the connector hole; cut the second pin in half, and (MAKING SURE IT IS CONTACT WITH THE PIN IN THE HOLE)solder them both into place with a small (tiny) length of the second pin protruding enough to touch the remaining metal in the hard drive spot.
Think that'll work guys?!¿
good luck ;)
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Hi XPU,
That's a concept that merits further study. Pin #s 42 & 44 on a 40 pin cable.
This pinout leaves me feeling less queasy:
http://www.unixiron.org/techtips/pinouts2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Hi M2 - it's a good thing you caught it. Thanks :-) As for xavier995 idea, I guess only someone with many years experience of electronic soldering and a feeling of supreme self-confidence can do it successfully. It if doesn't work - double the price to be charged by the recovery vendors (they will love you).
i_XpUser
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Yeah,
Anybody with the requisite skills would not be asking.
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Jen - you're absolutely correct but the problem is no one listen until it's too late. Lesson learned the hard (and very expensive) way.
i_XpUser
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Hi everyone! First of all I just want to say thank you so much for your replies. Honestly a data recovery specialist is out of the question; price wise. I like your idea xavier995. I don't know how to solder but I'll try to find someone who knows. At this point and time I really don't care about the hard drive. I just want to be able to boot it up one more time so I can just transfer all the data onto my PC. I have some friends that may be able to do the soldering I'll have to talk to them later on today. Also, Mechanix2Go, what do you mean by bench tech? To answer your question as to where I am located, I am located in Tampa, FL. Lastly, I have taken a pic of the hardrive and the damage...if that helps you can see it here
http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=missingpinonhdd7yg.jpg
Again, I want to say thank you to everyone, this data really is dear to me. I will from now on always make a backup no matter what! I always learn after the trauma never before...jeezTekka~
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i didnt think it would cause any further damage (?) thats why i recommended that the soldering be done at the ribbon - not on the hard drive.
i took out an old 2gig drive to look at while i was thinking about it and the point at which the pins are attatched to the hdd,..well theyre little squares about 4 times the width of the pin itself.
im quite confident that only a small bump of extra solder would be enough to contact it.
id be happy enough to try it and the only time ive ever tried to use solder before it was quite a shambles haha. but then i was trying to join two wires end to end with no base.
if it worked it would save a whole lot of money. and if you wait long enough that the solder dries into a solid lump before trying to connect it; there wont be any residue on the hdd when you pull it out.
it wont be any worse off (if is DRY)
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The replacment of that pin or the board on the drive is not to hard.
1. You can find replacment controller boards on line. (search for the drive manufac/model # + controller board.) Or contact Maxtor about a replacment board.
2. Personally I would stop at a local PC shop and see if you can find a dead HD from the same manufac.. (the pins will be the same.)
See if the shop has a good bench that can remove a pin from the old drive and solder it in to your drive. (Its not that bad. remove the controler board. Get the solder joint hot. pull the pin out. Put the good pin in. Solder it to the board.)
If not take the old drive and your drive to an electronic repair shop in the area. I am sure they will have a bench tech that can do it or they will know someone that can.
I have replaced a few pins myself on customer's PC's.
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Just for the records, is it the fourth pin on the POWER connector? That's what it looks like in your picture. From all of the discussion here, it sounded like one of the pins in your 40-pin data connector that was broken.
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This is NOT a job for amatuers. And It could be made MUCH worse.
As you're in Florida, get your phone book or directory assistance and call the closest major Navy or USAF base. Ask the operator for the "Calibration Lab". If they don't have the tech you need, they will know who does.
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Or ask johns3 and xavier995 if they are willing to do it for you with the written guarantee that nothing else will disturbed and that your dear HD will be in a great working condition after the soldering.
i_XpUser
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OH! i assumed the pin that broke off was one of the 40 ide pins, but from the picture its actually one of the power pinsin that case my original thoughts out the window.
take a similar 4 pin connector off of any old cdrom and anyone you can find with decent solder skills should be able to replace one pin or the whole plugdo like johns3 said lol.
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That problem, now that we know what it actually is, will probably be an easy fix. Don't you have the OLD pin?
Another approach, let's say the connector/ PC board is damaged enough that you can't resolder the pin, or replace it, would be to solder on a pigtail made out of a power "y" connector.
Find yourself a local electronics tech (TV repair or Two way radio) or a technically competant amateur radio operator.
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If this a power pin then there should be big enough room to solder a lead to the back of the connector. If you use a drive power extender you should be able to use it to make a permanent repair. You should a static protected soldering pencil.
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tekkaman,
Whatever you decide to do, heed this WARNING. DO NOT TRY TO OPEN THE HD to fix the connector. The moment you open the enclosure, the data that is dear to you is irreversibly damaged beyond any repair. The HD are vacuum-sealed with the cleanest air on the earth!
i_XpUser
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Hard drives are not vacuum sealed. They depend on air to work. Most of them have a breather filter to allow clean air in.
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Hello everyone. Sorry that I wasn't clear about which pin was busted but indeed it is the 4th POWER PIN. Again, sorry for being unclear. Well I am relieved that the degree of the problem has decreased somewhat lol. I don't really know how to fix this myslef, but from what I have read I just need to find someone with soldering skills and just replace the missing pin? Again thank you all, you have really been a big help I can't thank you enough!
Tekka~
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You are correct, and for the record, hard drives are not "vacuum sealed with the cleanest air on earth."
(Isn't that a contradiction? If they WERE vacuum sealed, why would you need clean air?)
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BTW i was under the impression that expensive data recovery companies read the data directly from the platters, i fail to see how disturbing the controller board would drive the price up. (though i have never used one and probably never will)
Thats a good idea, if you have a nasa grade clean room, you could open the HDD and read it directly from the platters =D
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i did this, except I broke all four of them off..on my dad's hard drive..it was interesting explaining what happened..
anyway..
just get a friend who knows how to solder, and use a molex from a fan, or a 'y' connector, etc and solder it to the controller PCB..
or, if you're really worried about it, replace the PCB with one from a HD of the same make and model..Gigabyte GA-K8NS
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Alright guys thanks a lot!! I'm going to give this a shot hopefully tomorrow or the day after. I'll be sure to post back my success!!~ Cuz failure isn't an option lol. Again thank you all!!!!
Tekka~
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If you are already skilled at soldering small items then I guess you have a chance. If this is the first time you've done anything like this then I don't fancy your chances.
Err...someone asked if solder conducts electricity earlier. Were they joking, or have they never seen the underside of a circuit board?
DerekW
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Why not unsolder the whole IDE connector off the controller board and attach a new one? It would be easier than attaching a new pin. Alternatively, take an ide cable, attach it to the hard drive but cut out wire #4, then make it make actual contact with it. Fiddly, but you could do it with enough tape.
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Hello everyone! Well I have good news and bad news. Bad news is that I contacted Maxtor, the Chamber of Commerce, and I even went through the ENTIRE TAMPA computer repair section of the phone book and NOBODY has experience or is willing to do the task of fixing the power pin on my hard drive. The good news is that I met someone at my friends house whose father knows about A) soldering and B) is computer literate (software and hardware)WOO! So next week I will be able to meet up with his father and hopefully he can fix my hard drive. My plan is to use a molex extension cable, cut the end with the pins with enough cable to permit operation and sold the single wires to the HD board...Or something like that. I believe that its risky soldering a pin so I think the molex plan is best. I don't really know how to do that but I'm hoping that my buddy's dad can do it. Please let me know if you guys think I'm taking the right course of action, as far as the molex cable is concerned. This hard drive mess is really a heart ache for me, no joke, so I can't wait till next week to see if I he can finally fix it and get my precious data backed up. Well thanks for the support and wish me luck! Untill then!
Tekka~
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Well, it's no good as it is, so unless you want to spend lots of money on a recovery process then it sure seems worth a go. If your friend's father is skilled at soldering small things then he will probably make it.
One tip, make sure the soldering iron is good and hot before you start. This causes less damage to the surroundings because the soldering is fast and effective. I've found that a "not quite hot enough" iron applied for a long period is far worse.
DerekW
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many hard drives i have found can stand to lose a pin or two! every once in a while when i break find a broken pin or two on a hard drive, i try to solder it back. if i cannot, i just put it back in the machine and try it as is. i would say 3/4 of the time, they still work fine! either they dont use every pin they have, or they dont use them in a crucial way! try it!
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Dragon306 you must be very lucky in breaking only redundant pins (like grounds). Connectors are designed to be removed straight out and gently. In 20 plus years I've never lost a pin on a drive, but maybe a couple on the motherboard. The pin under discussion is a power connector and wouldn't be reliable under point contact alone.
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or, the replacement controller board is a very good idea, they are reather inexpensive and can be attached easily in place of the old one if the ribbon cables are hindled carefully.
and 99% of the time, i am not who breaks them, people bring their computers to me for repair and that is the or one of the problmes...
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ITS BEEN FIXED!!! TOOK ALL THIS TIME BUT I FINALLY GOT IT FIXED!~~ It was a pretty simple process so if anyone ever has this problem just find someone who knows how to solder. Its as easy as putting a molex connector onto it and then soldering the approriate molex wire (depending which pin busted) and your set to go!! THANK YOU everyone for your suggestions and help. I just wanted to post back and let you all know its good to go! THANKS AGAIN AND TAKE CARE!~
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