[SOLVED] Bent contact in SATA connector took out HDD and PSU?

GRIMland

Prominent
Aug 7, 2022
8
0
510
Long time lurker first time poster and could use some help - I'll try to keep this short.

My PC started to randomly power off during gaming. Yesterday it happened about 2.5 hrs into far cry 6. I suspected the PSU so a friend gave me his unused NZXT NP-C750M PSU. While hooking it up I noticed the SATA power connector wasn't sitting perfectly flush on the HDD, just slightly crooked but didn't think much of it. When I had everything hooked up I tried to power it on and just heard a click and CPU heatsink fan spun a second and stopped. Testing it, I noticed the 4 modular SATA/Perif plugs on PSU weren't working, wouldn't power drives or case fans. Everything else working. Then I realized the SATA plug that was not sitting flush on HDD was due to a bent contact in the SATA connector. I hooked up my old PSU to test and everything worked except the HDD, it doesn't power on, bio's doesn't recognize it.

I about cried at that point. Mind you I only have fairly basic technical PC knowledge, but I felt not only did I apparently fry the sata/perif power rail in the PSU, but my WD 1 TB HDD ‎WD10EZEX seems done for.

Please see pics (bent contact and you can see where it pushed into plastic on drive side), can that first pin on the L bend side not making contact do this? Hard to imagine but the drive was working fine yesterday before PSU swap. What are my options? Pay the steep price to send the drive to a recovery business and hope they can get it working?

View: https://imgur.com/CQpuXPA

View: https://imgur.com/o9VYfSU


Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

PC: Intel I7-8700, ASUS B360 TUF B360M plus gaming, cryrig H7, WD 1TB blue ‎WD10EZEX, Intel 32GB Optane m.2 mem, 2x 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000
 
Last edited:
Sorry to hear about the bad news.

The logic board of your HDD could have been fried, the board need to be replaced by a pro because you might need to deal with the HDD's Bios too.

BTW, I think that it's the time to add a high-performance SSD instead of using HDD+Optane combo.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If the drive hosts mission critical information(your life), then it's best you send it out to a data recovery specialist. Best could be that the board on the HDD needs replacing. Worst is that the board is gone but the data on it can be salvaged...
 
I'm guessing that your PSUs are modular, and that you used your PSU's cables with your friend's PSU. These modular pinouts are not standardised, so you probably ended up with 12V on the drive's 5V input.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2702-psa-on-mixing-modular-psu-cables-dont-do-it

Can you show us the component side of your HDD's PCB? If your are lucky, there may be a simple DIY solution.

BTW, your arrow points to the 3.3V end of the connector. This is not used.
 
Last edited:

GRIMland

Prominent
Aug 7, 2022
8
0
510
I'm guessing that your PSUs are modular, and that you used your PSU's cables with your friend's PSU. These modular pinouts are not standardised, so you probably ended up with 12V on the drive's 5V input.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2702-psa-on-mixing-modular-psu-cables-dont-do-it

Can you show us the component side of your HDD's PCB? If your are lucky, there may be a simple DIY solution.

BTW, your arrow points to the 3.3V end of the connector. This is not used.

I've never had a modular PSU before, my current one was a Corsair TX650 bought in 2012. My friend bought this NZXT and only put 20 hrs on it, then got a RTX 3080 and upgraded PSU to EVGA 1200 P2 so it's very likely the bag of cables he gave me had some EVGA ones from his new PSU mixed in with the NZXT cables. Not all of them looked the same so I'm almost positive that's the case.

Anything I can try I'm game for, otherwise I was going to bite the bullet and just buy a SSD and start from scratch. Lots of save game files on here I'd love to not lose!
Let me know if you need a better pic or one focused on a different spot
View: https://imgur.com/tUEIyq4
 

GRIMland

Prominent
Aug 7, 2022
8
0
510
FYI I did check the D2 and D4 diodes with multimeter and they seem good, no continuity in either direction, diode setting was ~0.5 in one direction, ~2.0 to 2.5 in other direction. Was actually hoping one was bad so I could remove it and hopefully get it spinning again
 

GRIMland

Prominent
Aug 7, 2022
8
0
510
Check the zero-ohm resistors (R67 and R64). R67 may be open.
I'm not the most knowledgeable on multimeter use but across R67 (small surface mount) and R64 (just two dots) i'm not getting a reading (meter stays on 0L). The very small SMD R63 is giving a reading of ~0 ohms though. Is that normal?
 
That means that both resistors are open circuit. "OL" means overrange. The readings should be close to 0.0 ohms.

If you want to play safe, you could buy a replacement PCB, but the "ROM" at U12 will need to be transferred from patient to donor. Some PCB suppliers (eg hdd-parts.com) will include the "BIOS" transfer in the price.

Otherwise you could flow a blob of solder over each resistor and hope for the best.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GRIMland

GRIMland

Prominent
Aug 7, 2022
8
0
510
That means that both resistors are open circuit. "OL" means overrange. The readings should be close to 0.0 ohms.

If you want to play safe, you could buy a replacement PCB, but the "ROM" at U12 will need to be transferred from patient to donor. Some PCB suppliers (eg hdd-parts.com) will include the "BIOS" transfer in the price.

Otherwise you could flow a blob of solder over each resistor and hope for the best.

Thanks for all the help - I'm willing to try the solder blob, though that's a very tight space in there. I've got small solder tips. Any advice on making a solder blob across the gap?

I think i was looking at the wrong component for R64. R67 is clearly labeled, but not seeing R64 labeled. Is it the resistor circled with ?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6Jp5mkKc82nSjpZu5
 

GRIMland

Prominent
Aug 7, 2022
8
0
510
I looked up the pinouts for the NZXT C650 and compared them to the cables that were used - the PSU works, I tested the SATA/PERIF ports and they're fine. Just wasn't powering case fans because my friend must have given me his unused EVGA 1200 P2 cables based on pinouts I found online. FYI HE HAS LEARNED FROM THIS TOO!

For the SATA cable that took out my HDD, this is what got what:
12v got grd
grd got grd
5v got nothing
grd got 3.3v
3.3v (unused) got 12v

So the ground pins getting 3.3v must had done it, the traces show it goes to a diode, then to R67 which makes sense why R67 is shorted. Does that make sense? I'm still getting around to taking it out.

The GFX card got 12v where it should have been ground (bottom left pin looking at backside of hardware side connector on both plugs) so I'm concerned about that, fingers crossed that doesn't have issues. It works enough to display bios.

Luckily the ATX and CPU cables had correct pinouts.
 

GRIMland

Prominent
Aug 7, 2022
8
0
510
HDD is working again - unsoldered R67, replaced it with a piece of solder wick. Gfx card seems fine, guess i dodged an even bigger bullet there. Couldn't have done it without you fzabkar!
 
Last edited: