Interface question for broken SimpleTech 500GB External USB HDD

Background: About a year ago, I bought one of those SimpleTech 500GB
drives because I was short on cash and storage alike. I'm not even sure
what the model number is, but it's one of those obnoxious "sleek" black
cases with a "one-touch" backup feature that I don't really care about.
It was just for storage, and I intended to back up everything on it to
another disk. I got around to doing that partially before it stopped
working. I seem to have misplaced or thrown out the documentation and
box it came in.

The problem: it just decided it no longer needs to turn on. When I have
it plugged into the wall and hit the power on, I see the light go on for
a fraction of a second and then shut off. This possibly implies that
the casing itself messed up, and that the physical disk drive could
still be okay. I'm still trying to hunt down the receipt and check the
status of my warranty, but either way SimpleTech seems about as
interested in customer service as McDonald's is in stemming obesity.

So, my question: if I took the case apart, would I have a drive I could
easily plug into another interface? Say, a SATA or EIDE interface? The
case doesn't look that easy to take apart anyway, but maybe it is.

Thank you!

"Bolwerk" wrote in message
m...
Background: About a year ago, I bought one of those SimpleTech 500GB
drives because I was short on cash and storage alike. I'm not even sure
what the model number is, but it's one of those obnoxious "sleek" black
cases with a "one-touch" backup feature that I don't really care about. It
was just for storage, and I intended to back up everything on it to
another disk. I got around to doing that partially before it stopped
working. I seem to have misplaced or thrown out the documentation and box
it came in.

The problem: it just decided it no longer needs to turn on. When I have
it plugged into the wall and hit the power on, I see the light go on for a
fraction of a second and then shut off. This possibly implies that the
casing itself messed up, and that the physical disk drive could still be
okay. I'm still trying to hunt down the receipt and check the status of
my warranty, but either way SimpleTech seems about as interested in
customer service as McDonald's is in stemming obesity.

So, my question: if I took the case apart, would I have a drive I could
easily plug into another interface? Say, a SATA or EIDE interface? The
case doesn't look that easy to take apart anyway, but maybe it is.

Thank you!


More than likely the drive itself is good...
probably an ATA type

philo wrote:
"Bolwerk" wrote in message
m...
Background: About a year ago, I bought one of those SimpleTech 500GB
drives because I was short on cash and storage alike. I'm not even sure
what the model number is, but it's one of those obnoxious "sleek" black
cases with a "one-touch" backup feature that I don't really care about. It
was just for storage, and I intended to back up everything on it to
another disk. I got around to doing that partially before it stopped
working. I seem to have misplaced or thrown out the documentation and box
it came in.

The problem: it just decided it no longer needs to turn on. When I have
it plugged into the wall and hit the power on, I see the light go on for a
fraction of a second and then shut off. This possibly implies that the
casing itself messed up, and that the physical disk drive could still be
okay. I'm still trying to hunt down the receipt and check the status of
my warranty, but either way SimpleTech seems about as interested in
customer service as McDonald's is in stemming obesity.

So, my question: if I took the case apart, would I have a drive I could
easily plug into another interface? Say, a SATA or EIDE interface? The
case doesn't look that easy to take apart anyway, but maybe it is.

Thank you!


More than likely the drive itself is good...
probably an ATA type

Thanks for the response and optimism.

You mean PATA, right?

http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/04/11...rive-hands-on/
- that's what it looks like, and this is probably the same or a very
similar model (I probably got it in March or April 2008).

"Bolwerk" wrote in message
m...
philo wrote:
"Bolwerk" wrote in message
m...
Background: About a year ago, I bought one of those SimpleTech 500GB
drives because I was short on cash and storage alike. I'm not even sure
what the model number is, but it's one of those obnoxious "sleek" black
cases with a "one-touch" backup feature that I don't really care about.
It was just for storage, and I intended to back up everything on it to
another disk. I got around to doing that partially before it stopped
working. I seem to have misplaced or thrown out the documentation and
box it came in.

The problem: it just decided it no longer needs to turn on. When I have
it plugged into the wall and hit the power on, I see the light go on for
a fraction of a second and then shut off. This possibly implies that
the casing itself messed up, and that the physical disk drive could
still be okay. I'm still trying to hunt down the receipt and check the
status of my warranty, but either way SimpleTech seems about as
interested in customer service as McDonald's is in stemming obesity.

So, my question: if I took the case apart, would I have a drive I could
easily plug into another interface? Say, a SATA or EIDE interface? The
case doesn't look that easy to take apart anyway, but maybe it is.

Thank you!


More than likely the drive itself is good...
probably an ATA type

Thanks for the response and optimism.

You mean PATA, right?


Yes

time to open it up and have a look

http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/04/11...rive-hands-on/ -
that's what it looks like, and this is probably the same or a very similar
model (I probably got it in March or April 2008).

philo wrote:
"Bolwerk" wrote in message
m...
philo wrote:
"Bolwerk" wrote in message
m...
Background: About a year ago, I bought one of those SimpleTech 500GB
drives because I was short on cash and storage alike. I'm not even sure
what the model number is, but it's one of those obnoxious "sleek" black
cases with a "one-touch" backup feature that I don't really care about.
It was just for storage, and I intended to back up everything on it to
another disk. I got around to doing that partially before it stopped
working. I seem to have misplaced or thrown out the documentation and
box it came in.

The problem: it just decided it no longer needs to turn on. When I have
it plugged into the wall and hit the power on, I see the light go on for
a fraction of a second and then shut off. This possibly implies that
the casing itself messed up, and that the physical disk drive could
still be okay. I'm still trying to hunt down the receipt and check the
status of my warranty, but either way SimpleTech seems about as
interested in customer service as McDonald's is in stemming obesity.

So, my question: if I took the case apart, would I have a drive I could
easily plug into another interface? Say, a SATA or EIDE interface? The
case doesn't look that easy to take apart anyway, but maybe it is.

Thank you!

More than likely the drive itself is good...
probably an ATA type
Thanks for the response and optimism.

You mean PATA, right?


Yes

time to open it up and have a look

Ha, yeah, it was SATA. Oh well, that should be workable. I'll deal
with it tomorrow.

On Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:42:29 -0500, Bolwerk
wrote:

Background: About a year ago, I bought one of those SimpleTech 500GB
drives because I was short on cash and storage alike. I'm not even sure
what the model number is, but it's one of those obnoxious "sleek" black
cases with a "one-touch" backup feature that I don't really care about.
It was just for storage, and I intended to back up everything on it to
another disk. I got around to doing that partially before it stopped
working. I seem to have misplaced or thrown out the documentation and
box it came in.

The problem: it just decided it no longer needs to turn on. When I have
it plugged into the wall and hit the power on, I see the light go on for
a fraction of a second and then shut off. This possibly implies that
the casing itself messed up, and that the physical disk drive could
still be okay. I'm still trying to hunt down the receipt and check the
status of my warranty, but either way SimpleTech seems about as
interested in customer service as McDonald's is in stemming obesity.

So, my question: if I took the case apart, would I have a drive I could
easily plug into another interface? Say, a SATA or EIDE interface? The
case doesn't look that easy to take apart anyway, but maybe it is.

Thank you!


Some externals have cheap, low quality power bricks. After
getting the data off you might try a different power supply
if you have one around... probably 3 or more amps 12V
regulated switching PSU?

"kony" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:42:29 -0500, Bolwerk
wrote:

Background: About a year ago, I bought one of those SimpleTech 500GB
drives because I was short on cash and storage alike. I'm not even sure
what the model number is, but it's one of those obnoxious "sleek" black
cases with a "one-touch" backup feature that I don't really care about.
It was just for storage, and I intended to back up everything on it to
another disk. I got around to doing that partially before it stopped
working. I seem to have misplaced or thrown out the documentation and
box it came in.

The problem: it just decided it no longer needs to turn on. When I have
it plugged into the wall and hit the power on, I see the light go on for
a fraction of a second and then shut off. This possibly implies that
the casing itself messed up, and that the physical disk drive could
still be okay. I'm still trying to hunt down the receipt and check the
status of my warranty, but either way SimpleTech seems about as
interested in customer service as McDonald's is in stemming obesity.

So, my question: if I took the case apart, would I have a drive I could
easily plug into another interface? Say, a SATA or EIDE interface? The
case doesn't look that easy to take apart anyway, but maybe it is.

Thank you!


Some externals have cheap, low quality power bricks. After
getting the data off you might try a different power supply
if you have one around... probably 3 or more amps 12V
regulated switching PSU?


Yeah...
a buddy of mine had a "power brick" die on his external drive
so I wired it to an old XT/AT power-supply and it worked fine.
It was a bit "over-kill" but I have a bunch of them and now one is doing
something useful
rather than sitting in my basement.

FWIW: the guy had to audacity to talk about aesthetics...
his house is a cluttered mess...don't see how it could make a difference G