Ripped off SATA connector

[Adcadet]

So....I was tweaking my fan placements in my Antec P180 and was putting back the lower drive bay. The rats nest of cables was hitting the lower fan so I began rearranging them, and I managed to snap off a SATA connector. The pins on the drive were bent and the upper plastic bracket was left behind in the SATA cable. I somehow managed to straighten out the pins and get them to slide back into the SATA cable between the broken off piece and the connector. Luckily the computer and affected HD seem to run fine, but I'm certainly paranoid now about moving the HD or putting it back in the case.

If you can't image what this looks like, here's a picture nearly identical to what my SATA cable looks like: http://media.photobucket.com/image/broken sata connector/JRizEJ6/Picture185.jpg

Anyone have experience with this sort of thing? Suggestions would be more than welcome!

 

[ddrueding]

I did that with the power connector on an original Raptor, good thing those drives also had molex connectors on them

It is very much a risk, and I think only a board swap could save you.

 

[Adcadet]

Maybe this is a sign that I should just get an SSD for my boot drive.

 

[BingBangBop]

I've had poor luck jury-rigging permanent fixes to a broken SATA connector. I'm happy, if I can get it to work long enough to get the data off.

 

[ddrueding]

Get a PCIe-based SSD and avoid the whole issue.