WD Green 1.5 TB PROBLEM

[jacktesterson]

Hi There,

I have a 1.5 TB Western Digital Hard Drive Green 32MB edition. Its roughly 6 months old I'm going to guess, bought new from NCIX.com

I bought a new Case last week from NCIX to move my HTPC equipment into. When I unplugged the Serial ATA Cable from the back of the drive using the cable also bought at NCIX, the Plastic connector for the SATA came off with the cable. Now I cannot connect any SATA Cable too this hard drive, even though there is nothing wrong with the drive itself.

This is super disappointing as I barely touched or used any force whatsoever in removing this SATA cable, something that is so simple to do.

I truly do believe this to be a Manufacturer quality issue as this is the first time I've ever removed a cable from this particular drive... and am wondering If I am eligible for RMA? or RMA with Western Digital?


Anybody got any ideas?

 

[RebateMonger]

You can look over WD's Support site. I'm pretty sure they specifically rule out broken SATA data connectors as being a warranty item. Regardless, you can always present your case for a warranty repair.

Questions about broken SATA data connectors on hard drives keep popping up here and elsewhere, so obviously they happen fairly often. It's just a small protrusion of the drive's PCB controller board, made out of fiberglas with some copper on the surface.

If you want to repair it rather than RMA it, and assuming that the copper data lines are still intact, you can consider permanently attaching one of the combined SATA data/power connectors. Like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3&cm_re=sata_connector-_-12-189-193-_-Product
You slide the combined connector over the data and power hard drive connectors and then spew adhesive all over the place to keep them from moving.

 

[jacktesterson]

I called western digital and they are replacing it no questions asked. Told them the truth. Said I should have new drive in 3-5 business days. E

 

[RaiderJ]

That's pretty slick!

 

[RebateMonger]

That's good news.

I'm bummed that the disk industry took about fifteen years to switch to the SATA data connector and came up with a connector that breaks off and pulls loose easily.

 

[Spikesoldier]

good for them giving you a (new?) replacement. too bad you lost your data on the drive.

 

[jacktesterson]

He called it new. I never asked. Don't care as long as it works. I was able to design a temp fix to get my data off, but it would never stay connected long term.

 

[wirednuts]

I'm bummed that the disk industry took about fifteen years to switch to the SATA data connector and came up with a connector that breaks off and pulls loose easily.

i think its amazing how they screwed up the sata plug. its like they tried to copy usb, but usb has been around since the toddler years of the personal computer and its LIGHTYEARS a better connector. and usb isnt even considered that good anymore (unless you count microusb, which is pretty awesome)

 

[RebateMonger]

i think its amazing how they screwed up the sata plug. its like they tried to copy usb, but usb has been around since the toddler years of the personal computer and its LIGHTYEARS a better connector. and usb isnt even considered that good anymore (unless you count microusb, which is pretty awesome)

I'm not as big a fan of the USB plug as you. There's no way to tell which side is "up" without looking inside the often hard-to-see sockets and plugs. And it's definitely possible to insert the plug upside-down. At least far enough to wreck the cable or the socket.

And the other end (I can't remmber if it's "A" or "B", but it's the square-ish connector with a half-moon on one edge) can be damaged enough by misalignment that it, too, can be inserted "upside-down".

An ideal cable would have an obvious visual clue about alignment. And an easy-to-use retention lock would be nice. The locks sometimes found on SATA cables would probably be OK, but their use is far from universal and they aren't effective on many components, since there's nothing to lock onto.

 

[FishAk]

I'm not as big a fan of the USB plug as you. There's no way to tell which side is "up" without looking inside the often hard-to-see sockets and plugs.

You probably already know this, and it's not perfect, but usually there are two holes in the metal surrounding the PCB on the connector. The deep holes usually go up. Alternatively, a marker or paint can be applied to one side. I know- it's not perfect, or even forgiveness.

 

[RebateMonger]

You probably already know this, and it's not perfect, but usually there are two holes in the metal surrounding the PCB on the connector. The deep holes usually go up. Alternatively, a marker or paint can be applied to one side. I know- it's not perfect, or even forgiveness.

No, I wasn't aware of that. Maybe subconciously, since I always felt there was something that told me which side was which. I'll look at some cables and see if they are all marked.

Of course that doesn't help much when a friend or client has just forced a USB cable in upside-down. :-(

Thanks.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've plugged in USB cables upside-down on this laptop, and I didn't even have to force it. Color me confused when I discovered that, I thought that they only went in one way.