up vote 3 down vote favorite
1
share [g+] share [fb]

By stupid curiosity, I've connected the FDD power cable to the jumper pins of a SATA drive, and powered on the system. The SATA drive's controller burned out. What now? Can it be replaced, and still be able to read the disc?

link|improve this question
2  
Probably not worth the cost. A similar situation has taught me the power of backups – basszero Oct 16 '09 at 17:26
1  
wow! +1 from me for owning up to this! Never seen jumper pins big enough on a SATA drive to support an FDD cable, don't suppose you have any pictures!? – William Hilsum Oct 16 '09 at 17:31
4  
@Wil: he probably means the FDD power connector, not the data ribbon. – quack quixote Oct 16 '09 at 17:36
......oops, eh? – J. Polfer Oct 16 '09 at 17:39
@~quack +1, makes more sense! – William Hilsum Oct 16 '09 at 17:51
show 1 more comment
feedback

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Theoretically you may be able to replace the PCB with one from an identical drive. Note that manufacturers sometimes use slightly different boards even in the same model series, so you would really need an identical one.

It's possible but somewhat unlikely that the platters (the actual hard drive) is damaged but even if you succeed I would only do that to read data off the drive and then replace it.

And yes, it is also possible that it's damaged beyond repair.

link|improve this answer
2  
There are parts of the drive's electronics which are not in the PCB (the motors, the head, and often a small chip near the head). If any of these has burned, replacing the PCB will not be enough. – CesarB Oct 16 '09 at 19:32
Indeed. As said, that is very well possible, but from my experience rather rare. I mainly dealt with hard drives that were struck with lightning, not with some that were directly connected to power. – Michael Stum Oct 16 '09 at 20:47
feedback
up vote 1 down vote

Yes its possible to replace the PCB and its highly unlikely that your data will not be recoverable. After the change of PCB your SATA drive might function as well as it used to.

I have had the connector my SATA drive burned out and replaced to get back to a full functional hard disk

Though as Michael Stum said that it could be damaged beyond repair

link|improve this answer
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.