Hello folks. I have a problem with my HDD and would like to solve it.
Background: My old PC was overdue for a replacement, so I disassembled it and kept the (internal) HDD. I wanted it to take with me on travels and stuff to use on a notebook, so I bought a SATA + IDE to USB 2.0 adapter kit off eBay. After confirming functionality on my 20GB IDE drive, I moved onto my 250 GB SATA drive and plugged everything in. The motor spun up and I had access to the data. It worked fine for about a week. Then it suddenly failed. Here's how it went:
1. I attached the cables (SATA to USB) just as intended to the HDD.
2. The HDD didn't spun up like normal.
3. I checked Windows and it gave me no messages whatsoever.
4. After a few minutes, I smelled the stench of very hot plastic coming off from the external power supply.
5. I unplugged everything immediately to prevent further damage.
6. After an hour, I tried again. Same issue. Hot plastic and an unresponsive HDD.
Now after that stunt, I had to get answers for this.
The adapter power supply's only connection was a female 4-pin molex connector. An adapter was along the package to convert a molex to SATA-power connector.
The molex to SATA-power adapter had faulty wirings and two of the male molex contacts were loose. I checked the loose cables and one of them was actually hanging on a single copper thread, about to break off.
The HDD's circuit board has no visible damage.
The HDD was left untouched for a month after the incident. When I bought a new PC, I tried hooking it up with it to see if it would do anything.
The HDD caused some sort of power failure of the power supply (EVGA SuperNOVA 650W). The PSU wouldn't work, even after unplugging the HDD. One would deem it as dead.
However, after plugging in something that wasn't busted (a SATA DVD drive), it restored the functionality of the PSU and ran as if nothing ever happened. That's kind of weird, but okay I guess?
So there you have it. I don't know what my HDD is suffering from. Is it a short-circuit or a power surge? I don't know, but maybe you know.
But more importantly, is this fixable by replacing the HDD circuit board?
If yes, then I will do it as soon as I can.
If not, then I won't bother with it any longer.
The model of the troubled HDD is a Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 (ST3250823AS) with 250 GB.
Thanks for your time reading about my ramblings.
Background: My old PC was overdue for a replacement, so I disassembled it and kept the (internal) HDD. I wanted it to take with me on travels and stuff to use on a notebook, so I bought a SATA + IDE to USB 2.0 adapter kit off eBay. After confirming functionality on my 20GB IDE drive, I moved onto my 250 GB SATA drive and plugged everything in. The motor spun up and I had access to the data. It worked fine for about a week. Then it suddenly failed. Here's how it went:
1. I attached the cables (SATA to USB) just as intended to the HDD.
2. The HDD didn't spun up like normal.
3. I checked Windows and it gave me no messages whatsoever.
4. After a few minutes, I smelled the stench of very hot plastic coming off from the external power supply.
5. I unplugged everything immediately to prevent further damage.
6. After an hour, I tried again. Same issue. Hot plastic and an unresponsive HDD.
Now after that stunt, I had to get answers for this.
The adapter power supply's only connection was a female 4-pin molex connector. An adapter was along the package to convert a molex to SATA-power connector.
The molex to SATA-power adapter had faulty wirings and two of the male molex contacts were loose. I checked the loose cables and one of them was actually hanging on a single copper thread, about to break off.
The HDD's circuit board has no visible damage.
The HDD was left untouched for a month after the incident. When I bought a new PC, I tried hooking it up with it to see if it would do anything.
The HDD caused some sort of power failure of the power supply (EVGA SuperNOVA 650W). The PSU wouldn't work, even after unplugging the HDD. One would deem it as dead.
However, after plugging in something that wasn't busted (a SATA DVD drive), it restored the functionality of the PSU and ran as if nothing ever happened. That's kind of weird, but okay I guess?
So there you have it. I don't know what my HDD is suffering from. Is it a short-circuit or a power surge? I don't know, but maybe you know.
But more importantly, is this fixable by replacing the HDD circuit board?
If yes, then I will do it as soon as I can.
If not, then I won't bother with it any longer.
The model of the troubled HDD is a Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 (ST3250823AS) with 250 GB.
Thanks for your time reading about my ramblings.
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