Quote:
The drive does nothing and smells. My father tried it on one of his Esata raid stacks and it toasted the slot it was in immediately... My computer won't even turn on with it in
It sounds like your board has a shorted TVS diode. The fix is to desolder it, or snip it out with sidecutters. The drive will work perfectly OK without it, albeit without protection on the affected supply rail.
See the following article for help in identifying the components.
HDD from inside Main parts:
http://hddscan.com/doc/HDD_from_inside.htmlIf you need help confirming the faulty component, please upload a detailed photo.
If you choose to replace the board, be prepared to transplant the serial EEPROM chip from patient to donor. This IC contains unique, drive specific calibration data.