Question Can I temporarily access data from this drive with missing pins?

[Spektralny]

I've found a very old Seagate ST31720A drive that I'd like to temporarily access. The problem is that some pins are missing and the PC does not recognise it but does not boot either. Is it still possible?

 

[TerryLaze]

You either find a second one, exact same model, and switch the broken pcb with a good one, or you have to put in new pins and make sure they connect correctly, some soldering required.
If the system doesn't boot, i assume an old system the drive was in, the system might need to be repaired as well, it should boot into a dos screen showing you some info about the system at least.

 

[Spektralny]

Thanks, it doesn't go as far as booting DOS. BIOS is trying to recognise the HDD and does not boot the operating system. When I unplug this disk, no problem with booting.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

A few things here:

1. That connector is far to mangled to ever be repaired. Too many broken pins and who knows what damage to the circuit board.

2. A drive that old that's been sitting around that long is likely not going to be readable anyway.

3. Board swaps (as suggested above) on IDE drives of that vintage are rarely successful and require that you move chips from one board to another identical board.