Snapped SATA Connection on HDD, Can i replace with this?


Recommended Posts

Hey All,

When pulling out a sata cable from a hard drive, i was a bit to forceful and have broken the plastic connection from the hard drive, as you can see here...

ovZ54l.jpg

I'm wondering if i can unscrew the circuit board from the back of this hard drive and replace it with a known good working one off a drive of the same make?

This is the current drive...

uAhVOl.jpg

This is the spare drive...

1aemRl.jpg

And here they are side by side, will the circuit board on the right hard drive work on the one on the left?

aOn1Jl.jpg

I haven't done anything like this before to a hard drive so im very worried about this.

Thank You!

Nope it probably won't work.

You could probably get a replacement header, desolder the old one and replacement it but afaik it's all SMD soldering, so probably easiest to get someone else that's skilled to do it.

I'd probably say to attempt swapping the PCBs if they were both 500GB drives, but since one's 500GB and the other is 250GB, no, it won't work at all. The BIOS will see the drive as being a 250GB drive since that's what that PCB's firmware is for, so even if it did manage to function, your data would likely be screwed. I wouldn't bother.

Do you not have the old piece of plastic that snapped off? I'd personally attempt to glue it on and if I had to, glue a SATA cable in place.

You don't want to touch the srews on a hard drive. Without the correct torque on the screws it will destabilize the whole hard drive and it won't work at all.

Maybe you could glue a sata cable to the surrounding plastic as it seems the actual connector is intact.

I do have the plastic bit, it looks awkard to get it back in place and i dont want to get glue on the pins!

I have found this spare drive... its a 500GB but its firmware says HP12 though, hmmm im tempted to try, its only because this is my main machines hard drive thats all, i do have a backup, i just want to save myself the time of reinstalling everything if possible.

CK1m8l.jpg

i accidentially snapped a SATA connector, what i ended up having to do was Super Glue the plastic back aganst the metal, then transfered the data off it quick to another drive

i accidentially snapped a SATA connector, what i ended up having to do was Super Glue the plastic back aganst the metal, then transfered the data off it quick to another drive

I did something similar, I hot-melt glued a sata cable onto the drive and its been working perfectly for years (its on my secondary system with non-important data, so I was fine experimenting)

Just plug in the other drive (or any other drive you want to replace it with) without changing any PCBs around, then just restore your data from backup.

Thats the last resort imo, i want to try and fix it first, if it doesnt work, then ill restore the data onto a new drive, not one of these spares.

It won't work. You need to find another drive or PCB that's exactly like what you have. The firmware # also needs to be the same.

Depending on how long you have used the drive, finding the nearly exact PCB match may not work either, especially on modern drives. Modern drives store unique calibration data. As the drive ages, the calibration data becomes even more unique. The best chance to do a PCB swap is when the differences between the calibration data are as small as possible (in other words, when the drives are brand new).

If i try and replace the board, with that spare drives one, is there a chance it will corrupt / blow up the drive beyond repair?

They don't even match. Of course, you are gonna have a bad time.
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • I think it depends on what you're looking for to do, and the time you have to spare. With my Dwarf 3, I easily spend 3-4 hour sessions; half an hour driving to an un-light polluted place, unpacking and setting up the smart scope + tripod for equatorial tracking, mucking around with settings, maybe shoot some calibration frames, spending a few hours shooting, merging with past photo sessions, etc. It's crazy how time flies and I often get home later than I expected. It's something I still need to set aside a good part of an evening to do, all in all. For one session, where you often need like four for best results when it comes to deep space objects. With practice, I can probably begin cutting time here but I think where smart scopes find their home is among people who love to shoot the night sky but don't have the spare time to go deep with the "navigator level" attunement to the night sky itself. Having said this, _if_ you have even more time to spend on this hobby, it will probably be even more rewarding to do it more by hand and learn the skies and the details of how it all works.
    • I misread the title and thought Teams itself would be redesigned. Imagine having this one as a native WinUI app.
    • Dell, HP PCs ran into endless reboot, BitLocker recovery loops but Windows 11 isn't to blame by Sayan Sen Last month Neowin reported on a major issue on Dell systems wherein a bug in its official support tool was leading to endless blue screen of death (BSOD) and restarts. Following our report, Dell officially acknowledged its SupportAssist-related crash issue, confirming that the culprit is not Microsoft's operating system but rather a faulty version of its own remediation software. In a newly published support advisory, Dell stated that version 5.5.16.0 of Dell SupportAssist Remediation and Alienware SupportAssist Remediation can trigger blue screen errors and unexpected system restarts. The company notes that the problematic component operates independently of the main SupportAssist application, meaning users should not remove the primary SupportAssist software when troubleshooting the issue. According to Dell, the crashes are linked specifically to the SupportAssist Remediation service, which is bundled with SupportAssist OS Recovery Tools, and as such it has since released an updated version, 5.5.16.1, which is said to resolve the problem. Affected users are advised to first verify whether version 5.5.16.0 is installed by checking the Installed Apps section in Windows Settings. If so, Dell recommends updating SupportAssist OS Recovery Tools through either SupportAssist's "Update Software" feature or Dell Command Update. Dell also advises users to back up important data before performing the update and to ensure systems remain connected to power throughout the installation process. If you are still having issues though make sure to report to the Dell support forum. As it turns out though Dell is not the only PC maker currently dealing with update-related headaches as HP is also facing a separate but probably equally frustrating issue involving recent Windows Secure Boot updates that were released with recent Windows 11 Patch Tuesdays. Similar to Dell, HP also put up its own support article where it explains the issue. The company says that affected devices could hit a brick wall when booting as they run into a BitLocker recovery loop after the April 2026 updates. The problem appears to affect systems wherein the new UEFI Secure Boot CA 2023 certificates fail to apply properly. As such affected users will find themselves entering their recovery key over and over again despite the system otherwise functioning normally. HP says such PCs should be updated to the latest available BIOS version and configured with the necessary Secure Boot certificates before installing Microsoft's Windows 11 Patch Tuesday updates. Systems that are already experiencing the problem may require BIOS configuration changes to restore normal boot behavior. Admins can find information regarding that in the support article here on HP's official website.
    • Getting further away from the artistic study of mental disease that was the first game... (which never needed any sequels to begin with) But I get it, a company has to make money. And the second was at least visually impressive, if not in any other way.
    • If its the devs fault you would think Unreal would help M$ take full advantage of Unreal and work with them to fix the performance issues. Otherwise they are catching unwarranted bad press.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      DJC50PLUS earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      DJC50PLUS earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Proficient
      Eric Biran went up a rank
      Proficient
    • Dedicated
      Conjor earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Week One Done
      Windows Guy earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      493
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      246
    3. 3
      Steven P.
      72
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      69
    5. 5
      neufuse
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!