SATA connector broke off...

[ryan29121]

So I went to plug my Seagate hard drive in and the sata connector on the hard drive just fell off. I just plugged it in normally, like I have before a thousand times, and it just snapped off. Do you know of a way to fix something like that? I called up seagate and they didnt help me at all. I just got this hard drive a month ago so I dont really want to replace it. Any suggestions?

 

[pdyckman@comcas]

I broke off a sata connector and was able to take the drive out. I gently inserted the sata cable so that the connection was made, but way to loose (of course). So I used some duct tape and very carefully used the tape to keep the connector in. It worked until I got another drive some time later. Once you know that the connection is right, you can mix up some epoxy glue and really make a permanent connection out of it.

 

[ryan29121]

I submitted an RMA through seagate to see if I can luck out and get a replacement. If that doesn't work, which seems likaly, I will try and rig something up. I think I lost the little SATA piece that broke off the hard drive. Could I still rig something up without that little piece?

 

[Nodsu]

Have you done this thing a lot with that drive? I think the standard SATA is rated for something like 50 insertions.

So what exactly did you break off? The plastic frame around the pins or the whole thing with the pins ripped off too? Maybe take a picture?

It's only eight wires, so you could let an electronics guy solder you a new connector.

 

[ryan29121]

Just the shroud around the pins broke off (pins are completely intact and in good shape) I have only unplugged and replugged the drive in about 3-5 times. I think my side panel on my case might have squished the cable which caused the break. Piece of crap SATA. If only they made the connector more durable.

 

[N3051M]

one of my friends had the same problem with him snapping the thin plastic bit on his drive.. i was supprised when i went to visit him that he was using packing tape to hold the cable in for quite a few months and still working..

i promptly told him to get a spare hdd and copy stuff of it, send a rma request to seagate and get a replacement drive of them under warranty. He's now happy and got a spare 200gb hdd to boot..

good luck with getting the replacement tho

oh yeh.. there's eSATA connections..