[Ham-Computers] Laptop Hard Drive Connector Differences

[Jim Hill]

Finally figured out the problem!  Maybe this post will help somebody 
else with the same issue.

I seemed to have two laptop hard drives with different connectors. 
One had the normal EIDE connector with a number of pins that 
resembled wires.  The other had a blade type connector similar to 
connectors seen on PC boards. Placing them side by side, I noticed 
the blade connector extended farther out than the EIDE 
connector.  After browsing through the Dell community forums, I 
discovered an adapter is used. The adapter fits flush with the drive 
connector base and appears to be part of the hard drive.  A few 
moments of gentle prying using an Exacto-Knife separated the adapter 
from the drive.

On to the next problem - Jim




At 07:58 PM 3/31/2008, you wrote:
>I'm replacing the hard drive on my Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop 
>purchased in 12/02, and noticed the connector "pins" differ.  It's 
>not a SATA drive, and I assumed all non-SATA laptop drives had the 
>same connector.  Now, I'm not so sure.
>
>I just bought a 120 GB Western Digital Scorpio hard drive 
>(WD1200BEVE, see bottom row center at 
>http://www.newegg.com/store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=380&Tpk=laptop+hard+drive 
>) as a replacement . The connector on this drive has two rows of 
>pins. The hard drive currently in the computer (Seagate ST9160821A) 
>has a flat sheet of thin plastic with a row of flat metal "pins" on 
>each side. The Seagate worked fine until I dropped the computer. 
>However, the Seagate was also a replacement.  It's a long story, but 
>I think the drive that came with the computer had pins (see below):.
>
>The original drive (Hitachi DK23EB-40, I think) started to fail 
>about a year ago shortly before I was scheduled to leave on a long 
>trip.  I was unable to remove the original drive, so phoned a local 
>computer store (mom and pop type), and discovered they had closed 
>their business. The owner said he still did some repairs at his 
>home,  so at his request I left the computer at his wife's business 
>(a restaurant) for him to remove the original drive and replace it 
>with a drive I had purchased.  I picked the computer up later, and 
>noticed the original (defective) drive had some bent pins.  I 
>wondered what had happened, and assumed he either handled it roughly 
>or gave me another 40 GB drive by mistake.  Since the replacement 
>drive worked fine, I didn't pursue it further.
>
>The hard drive receptacle has a slot with thin flat "wires" rather than holes.
>
>For other Inspiron owners - I think I found the trick for removing 
>the drive. The drive is bolted to a drawer that slides into the 
>computer. A bolt must be removed and the front panel of this drawer 
>must be slid down about 1/8" before the drawer can be removed. The 
>front panel sticks, and can be moved by gently prying with a 
>screwdriver. Verify the front panel of the drawer moves up and down 
>freely before attempting to pull the drawer out of the computer.
>
>Thanks, Jim
>
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