HELP!!! Screwed up hard drive

[paJAMbla]

I'm sure many of you know this, but I discovered this by accident and thought I'd share it with the newer builders like myself.

When you buy an OEM Seagate SATA 3.0 drive, you get no instructions with it.

I found out, by searching their website that these drives are shipped jumpered to transfer at 1.5GB/s so that they work with legacy boards. Remove this jumper, you get 3.0. When I removed mine, there was a noticeable difference in speed. Especially at startup.

Here's a link to the page showing this:
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=Serial_ATA_Jumpers_and_Cabling&vgnextoid=4a02242cb043e010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

Happy building!!

I decided to check out a Seagate hard drive I put in a new build I did for a friend last summer to see if I could take out the jumper as per the above thread. I decided to just take out the HD to get a closer look. When I went to plug the connectors back in, the cable from the psu would not go in. It turns out, the plastic part above the pins had broken off...apparently when I unplugged it. I guess its garbage, yes? Will Seagate replace it under warranty?

[glc]

1. Yes.
2. I doubt it.

Sorry. Been there, done that.

[paJAMbla]

Ouch. Is that a common problem with Seagate? Unplug it once and it breaks? (And I was being very careful)

[glc]

That's an issue with all SATA, you cannot put up/down stress on the connectors.

[paJAMbla]

Thanks for the quick responses GLC. I couldn't sleep last night I was so upset that I had screwed up a computer I had built for a friend. STUPID!!!!

My next question is of course: can data be retrieved without a power connector? They just had one work related folder on the drive they were hoping to recover.

[glc]

If it's an early SATA that also has the legacy power connector, that's almost too easy. Otherwise, you are gonna have to get creative - straighten out the pins and find some kind of shim material to temporarily wedge the connector on there secure enough to run it. Then you can just clone the thing to a new drive and be all set.

[paJAMbla]

Its a 7200.9 which I purchased last July. I dont think there are any other types of connectors but I don't have it in front of me. Can I just put a new one in and proceed like a new build-- reloading everything? The only thing they really needed was that one folder and I don't know if its worth all the trouble.

[TimPoet]

That's an issue with all SATA, you cannot put up/down stress on the connectors.
Glad I know now. I've been known to pooch a HD or two....

[glc]

Sure - but you are gonna have to rig power to the old one somehow to get that folder.

[paJAMbla]

Okay....thanks again GLC. Well, this is the first lesson I've had to learn the hard way. I'm sure it won't be my last.

[paJAMbla]

I hesitated to write a follow-up post just because I know I'm going to come across as an idiot. But, if I can keep just one other pc building rookie from making the same mistake I did then so be it. I couldn't understand why this plastic guide over the pins on the HD (don't know the name) would fall off when I removed the SATA cable carefully and was sure I hadn't moved it up and down. Well, I pulled out the manuals and in reading the manual to the Antec Sonata II case it indicated that you can slide the hard drive into the case face up (toward the removable panel) or face down. I don't remember exactly why I decided to place it face up but I assume it was to install it first and then more easily plug in the SATA cables. BIG MISTAKE! The panel went on fine-- everytime I took it off and put it back on. However, the SATA cable made its bend right before the end connector and little did I know (and I should have) that the panel was putting slight pressure on this plastic guide by pushing on that section of the cable. Thus, when I removed the cable the plastic guide/connector fell off as a result of the pressure--which was probably greater when I pulled the panel off and on. It just didn't dawn on me that it was that much pressure and, even then, I wasn't aware that the connectors on the HD were that weak. I hope new builders using the Sonata case read this. Of course it may be an issue for other cases as well but I'm not sure.