How to unbend an IDE pin?
 

Grrrr... I *just* bought this f'n hard drive, went to plug it in, and somethin on the IDE cable isn't right because when I unplugged it, one of the pins was bent.

What is the best way to straighten it back out?

Gently ... with the smallest needle-nose pliers you can find.

I've used my finernail when they are long enough though.

Very carefully.......
Is it on the hard drive or motherboard?
If it's on the drive....return it as deffective

I can't return it to the store it came from since it was purchased back in Sept, however, the unit itself is was brand new as in... just opened today.

Is this something generally covered under warranty?

It could be.....did you buy the extended warrenty?
otherwise most stores have a 10-15 day return policy.
To return the drive to the manufacturer
will cost as much in shipping as a new drive.

No extended warranty.

Are you sure about the shipping? I new 160 GB drive is over $50, and unless I'm mistaken, it probably won't cost more than $10 to ship.

But... it's all moot if bent pins aren't covered under the manufacturer warranty (which I believe is a year or few years on hard drives).

I should have said shipping and handling
they make you pay to ship bothways too

Did you get the pins unbent?
hopefully it will work as is.

Which pin? Depending on drive and cable, it may not cause problems. Three pins aren't used. Seven are grounds; losing one may or may not affect you. Another would slow you down to polled speeds.

Still, like the others said, careful.

BTW, pins are numbered 1-40 alternating between connector sides. Find the red stripe on the cable. Find the key on the connector. Pin 1 is on the end with the red stripe, opposite the key. Pin two is across from it, on the same side as the key. And so on.

Honestly I've unbend these pins many a time with needle nose...never broken them once. I'll never forget the day my brand new 386 system arrived (a big upgrade from my 8088 Sperry) and I plug in the video and bent a pin. I wanted to cry.

You would think I've become less fumble fingered over the years due to that experience, but nooooooooooooooooooo...

How bad is it bent? If it's just a minor 'adjustment' get a clicky-pen and bend it back. Seriously.

You could send it back. Cost you some cash and rob you of some time and, in reality, he's just going to try to bend it back using a pair of pliers, but at least you'd be covered (assuming that bent pins are covered, right?) If it's not too bad, I'd just grab a pair of needlenose and a reliable clicky-pen (it has to be pretty thin down near the tip..) and bend it back yourself.

I have used a screw driver to nudge pins many times.
If a pliers will fit, use that.
Never broke a pin yet in 20 years.

Haven't tried unbending it yet cuz I don't have anything to do it with, however... gave the drive to a friend who said he could.

Waiting on results.

It's bend kinda.. bad. Basically where the pin comes out, it pushed that part up, and another part hit the top of the plastic, which bent it OUT... so kinda S shaped.

If its a good brand HD Western digital or seagate you can call them up and tell them you got it bent and they will send you a new one and tell you to send the orignal back in the box of the new one. at least thats what western digital did for me when i fried a hard drive. they didnt even ask how long i used it or what was wrong with it or anything. Customer service like that has kept me going back to them for hard drives for the last 5 years and i wont stop till they give me a good reason to.