Hi,

Long story short, the pins in the mini port on my external hard drive is broken beyond repair. It is a Samsung USB hard drive, that has the USB soldered directly on the PCB, rather than the SATA connectors I am used to seeing (simple, easy fix as well!!).

I have ordered a replacement mini USB, but the solder points are so small, I don't dare attempt the 'surgery'!

I have bought another second hand hard drive, same size and model - I then tried swapping PCB, but it doesn't work on the drive (powers up, but nothing shows up in windows) - the hard drive has a different sticker so maybe from a different batch?? Swapped PCB back over.

What I am after is, is there a way to order a replacement PCB or do I need to remove chips somehow as well? Any help would be much appreciated. Not sure if there's hardware encryption on the drive, but certainly from a software level I did not use any software or encrypt the drive.

Failing that, is there a way to solder the USB cable directly onto the board?

Here are all the details I can muster - Thank you for taking time to read.

Hard Drive Details

Has Samsung badge, but appears these are Seagate drives.
Serial Number : S2RAJ9BC500920
Model – ST1000LM026
Part Number - HN-M101XBB
Sticker on back – NLC4231NE
Capacity – 1TB


PCB Details (from what I can read on the board – please check photos).

USB onboard
N4 REV 2 20120421
BF41-00365A 00

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/145/photo11da.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/photo9gh.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/255/photo6j.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img259/8932/photo8bv.jpg

Replacing the usb port (if thats the only problem) will be the easier option.
But with proper tools only can you do a proper job.
Take help from someone (service tech) who has the tools and knows how to do it.
(or solder four thin insulated wires from the pcb to the new mini usb port. Have to be careful about orientation and shorts)

A straight swap of PCB will not work , you will have to transfer the rom from the patient to the donor.

Is your data important ?
Is it worth DIY risk ?

Easier to take pro help if data is important, as this shouldn't cost you much

Sorry if my English is not very good.

I have had exactly the same problem, but with a hard drive of 500mb. The hard drive is of Freecom, although when you remove the shroud appeared Samsumg, the codes are similar to yours but it is something different (i'm guessing by the capacity). The problem is the miniUSB which began to leave behind to make connection and only connected by moving the cable, but now does nothing.

I'm two months in contact with Freecom in Germany since by law (European), must have spare parts for the equipment for 5 years after discontinuation of a product. But for the moment don't give me solution and say they don't have the PCB for given me (because I will tell you how it ends).

While I tried to put small wires on each hole of the miniUSB, and connect it to a computer, but it does not work, the problem is on the welds of the miniUSB and how they are micro-welds, i dare not to weld them myself.

If Freecom solution does not give me what I will try with Samsung. If you've found another solution, please, put it here. To see if between the two we got access to the hard drive.

This is my hard drive:
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/9518/discodurocara1.jpg
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/160/discodurocara2.jpg

Regrads,

If that is the only problem then (Usually the broken / dry contacts are clearly visible when magnified), it will be a easy job for someone who has the right tools and experience, (laptop service guys usually have SMD rework stations that can be used to reflow the solder on the MiniUSB)and also shouldn't cost you much.
But if data is important, dont risk DIY options