I've been swapping drives in and out so much while trying to troubleshoot a
windows failure, that I had a feeling I would damage one of them eventually.
Well I did; I slightly bent 2 or 4 of the leftmost pins on my brand new 160
GB HD drive. I straightened out the pins the best I could with my
fingernail, stuck it back in and windows could both detect the drive and
read the directories.

If the drive is permanent damaged, how would the problems manifest and how
could I see them? Is this thing going to silently write/read files
incorrectly, perform otherwise slower or sometimes be undetectable? Is there
a particular HD tool that would be useful in determining the existence of
such problems caused by bent pins? Thanks to all.

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

There is a tool specialized for surrounding the pin, allowing the user to
straighten the pin.
The user is the best determinant of a bent pin.
The user is the best determinant of a ide/scsi connector failing to engage
properly.  One typical visible cue is the connector is seating only to one
side.  Consider an optical aid, such as glasses,  to determine if a pin may
be bending in the process.  A typical sensory cue is that its difficult to
seat the ide/scsi connector on one side as opposed to the other side, or
difficult overall.  If either situation is noticed, stop what you're doing,
examine the pins and connector, correct if needed, and start over.

Those unable to pick up on these cues, before damage ensues, are obliged to
use SATA type HDs.
"bill" <benignn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:415533d5$0$4051$61fed72c@news.rcn.com...
> I've been swapping drives in and out so much while trying to troubleshoot
a
> windows failure, that I had a feeling I would damage one of them
eventually.
> Well I did; I slightly bent 2 or 4 of the leftmost pins on my brand new
160
> GB HD drive. I straightened out the pins the best I could with my
> fingernail, stuck it back in and windows could both detect the drive and
> read the directories.
>
> If the drive is permanent damaged, how would the problems manifest and how
> could I see them? Is this thing going to silently write/read files
> incorrectly, perform otherwise slower or sometimes be undetectable? Is
there
> a particular HD tool that would be useful in determining the existence of
> such problems caused by bent pins? Thanks to all.
>
>

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

"bill" <benignn@yahoo.com> writes:
> I've been swapping drives in and out so much while trying to troubleshoot 
a
> windows failure, that I had a feeling I would damage one of them eventuall
y.
> Well I did; I slightly bent 2 or 4 of the leftmost pins on my brand new 16
0
> GB HD drive. I straightened out the pins the best I could with my
> fingernail, stuck it back in and windows could both detect the drive and
> read the directories.

That happens all the time.  It's not too big a deal.

> If the drive is permanent damaged, how would the problems manifest and how
> could I see them?

If you didn't break the pins off, it's unlikely that it caused any
problem.  Just be more careful next time.

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 05:13:23 -0400, "bill" <benignn@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I've been swapping drives in and out so much while trying to troubleshoot a
>windows failure, that I had a feeling I would damage one of them eventually
.
>Well I did; I slightly bent 2 or 4 of the leftmost pins on my brand new 160
>GB HD drive. I straightened out the pins the best I could with my
>fingernail, stuck it back in and windows could both detect the drive and
>read the directories.
>
>If the drive is permanent damaged, how would the problems manifest and how
>could I see them? Is this thing going to silently write/read files
>incorrectly, perform otherwise slower or sometimes be undetectable? Is ther
e
>a particular HD tool that would be useful in determining the existence of
>such problems caused by bent pins? Thanks to all.

Like as not, there's no damage at all.  In fact, bending a pin *may*
cause it to make better contact, not worse.

The pin-out is available in many places, e.g. here:
http://www.bbdsoft.com/ide.html.  You'll easily see that if the thing
works, you've got connectivity.

Malc.

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage bill <benignn@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I've been swapping drives in and out so much while trying to troubleshoot 
a
> windows failure, that I had a feeling I would damage one of them eventuall
y.
> Well I did; I slightly bent 2 or 4 of the leftmost pins on my brand new 16
0
> GB HD drive. I straightened out the pins the best I could with my
> fingernail, stuck it back in and windows could both detect the drive and
> read the directories.

> If the drive is permanent damaged, how would the problems manifest and how
> could I see them? Is this thing going to silently write/read files
> incorrectly, perform otherwise slower or sometimes be undetectable? Is the
re
> a particular HD tool that would be useful in determining the existence of
> such problems caused by bent pins? Thanks to all.

There is permanent mechanical damage to the bent pins. They may break
if you pull ou the conector or put it in again. Apart from that,
with 80pin IDE cables (needed for fast UDMA), a broken essential
pin will usually show up as interface errors. A broken shielding pin
will not matter much with an 80 pin cable, because they are all
connected in the connector anyway. With a 40 pin cable there could
be reduced interface reliability.

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C  0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

There is no such thing as 80-pin IDE connectors or shielding pins.

"Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:2rlmstF1b6u6lU2@uni-berlin.de...
>
> There is permanent mechanical damage to the bent pins. They may break
> if you pull ou the conector or put it in again. Apart from that,
> with 80pin IDE cables (needed for fast UDMA), a broken essential
> pin will usually show up as interface errors. A broken shielding pin
> will not matter much with an 80 pin cable, because they are all
> connected in the connector anyway. With a 40 pin cable there could
> be reduced interface reliability.
>

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Eric Gisin <ericgisin@graffiti.net> wrote:
> There is no such thing as 80-pin IDE connectors or shielding pins.

True for 80-pin IDE connector. Read again blind fish: "80 pin _cable_"
is what I wrote about..

Untrue for shielding pin: This is just short for for a pin connected
to the intra-cable shielding, i.e. every other wire on an 80 pin IDE
cable.

Arno
[vbcol=seagreen]
> "Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:2rlmstF1b6u6lU2@uni-berlin.de... 


--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C  0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

"Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message news:2rm64lF19at6rU2@uni-berlin.de
> In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Eric Gisin <ericgisin@graffiti.net> wr
ote: 
>
> True for 80-pin IDE connector.

> Read again blind fish: "80 pin _cable_" is what I wrote about..

Yes, now read that again, chatterbox.
There is no such thing as 80-pin IDE cable nor shielding pins.
[vbcol=seagreen]
>
> Untrue for shielding pin: This is just short for for a pin connected
> to the intra-cable shielding, i.e. every other wire on an 80 pin IDE
> cable.
>
> Arno
> 

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

"Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message news:2rlmstF1b6u6lU2@uni-berlin.de
> In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage bill <benignn@yahoo.com> wrote: 
> 
>
> There is permanent mechanical damage to the bent pins. They may break
> if you pull ou the conector or put it in again. Apart from that,
> with 80pin IDE cables (needed for fast UDMA), a broken essential
> pin will usually show up as interface errors. A broken shielding pin
> will not matter much with an 80 pin cable, because they are all
> connected in the connector anyway. With a 40 pin cable there could
> be reduced interface reliability.

Wotaloadofbollocks.

>
> Arno

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Arno Wagner wrote:

> In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Eric Gisin <ericgisin@graffiti.net>
> wrote: 
>
> True for 80-pin IDE connector. Read again blind fish: "80 pin _cable_"
> is what I wrote about..
>
> Untrue for shielding pin: This is just short for for a pin connected
> to the intra-cable shielding, i.e. every other wire on an 80 pin IDE
> cable.

A wire is not a pin.

> Arno
> 
>
>

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]