Hi. A few years back I accidentally connected a laptop charger to my Seagate external drive and it stopped powering up afterwards. I removed it from the enclosure back then to see if maybe I lucked out and it was just the enclosure or bridge (?) that died, but it did not work.

I gave up at this point as most of my important stuff was backed up on other drives and filed it away in a drawer. I came across it again recently and would like to give it another go if possible as there are a few small things on there that I would like to recover.

I know nothing about electronics so bear with me here! But I have done my reading prior to signing up here, including the FAQ and other similar cases.

I have attached a photo of the PCB. I'm hoping this is one of those typical cases where snipping off the 12v diode might be enough to get it to work again. I have just received a multimeter in the post so can do some testing.

Could one of you much more informed and savvy people take a look at it, tell me what you think, and point to where the diode is - I'm assuming it's the large black component that I have put a presumptive circle around?

Many thanks.

Yes, that's the most likely culprit. Also check the two zero-ohm resistors nearest the SATA power connector. They should measure 0.0 ohms (of course).

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