IDE prong bent.

E

eh eh eh eh

New Member
One of the prongs of the IDE slot on my motherboard is bent. I can't push the IDE cable all the way in. This might be why my CD drive isn't being recognized. Is there anything I can buy, besides another motherboard, that can fix this problem?
 
Use a pair of tweezers or something to pull it into shape. Make sure to ground yourself by touching the metal of the case for a few seconds first, and also unplug the computer
 
Its really difficult to get to that part of the motherboard, because its built like:


--------
|.........|
|........[|
|........[|
--------

The "[s"] being the two IDE slots. So, they are basically pointed towards the part that holds the harddrive. There is about an 1" of clearance. The only way I could tell it was bent was by using a flashligh and a dental mirror.:eek:.
 
How about a lead pencil(older ones that use the larger lead) or a pen... Maybe one of those could fit over the pin enough to bend it back
 
eh eh eh eh said:
Its really difficult to get to that part of the motherboard, because its built like:


--------
|.........|
|........[|
|........[|
--------

The "[s"] being the two IDE slots. So, they are basically pointed towards the part that holds the harddrive. There is about an 1" of clearance. The only way I could tell it was bent was by using a flashligh and a dental mirror.:eek:.
Click to expand...
I had the same EXACT problem. What I did is I took a pair of plyers and bent it back. To get to it, I took off the other side of my case and layed on the floor with a flashlight. Dont worry, as long as you dont break the pin it still works as normal.
 
Both those seem like they could work, but, since the IDE slots are such bad positions, its make it hard for the tweezers and pencil to fit. It seems as if I'm gonna have to take my motherboard out and do it, but I'm kinda nervous about doing that because I'm afraid I won't be able to put all the wires in the right place again, and the computer won't start. Thanks to you both for your ideas, though. :).
 
Cbeck527 said:
I had the same EXACT problem. What I did is I took a pair of plyers and bent it back. To get to it, I took off the other side of my case and layed on the floor with a flashlight. Dont worry, as long as you dont break the pin it still works as normal.
Click to expand...

I took the opposite side of my case off and I got a better look at it, but the harddrive rack thing is in the way for anything to fit. Ugh, I hate this case so much.:P.
 
eh eh eh eh said:
It seems as if I'm gonna have to take my motherboard out and do it, but I'm kinda nervous about doing that because I'm afraid I won't be able to put all the wires in the right place again, and the computer won't start.
Click to expand...

take a detailed picture of your motherboard, so you can use it as a reference. It's really not that hard, though putting the power/reset connectors and front panel audio can be a pain in the butt.
 
liuliuboy said:
take a detailed picture of your motherboard, so you can use it as a reference. It's really not that hard, though putting the power/reset connectors and front panel audio can be a pain in the butt.
Click to expand...
It might even be worth leaving those connectors plugged in, and just removing the expansion cards, screws, and moving the motherboard out slightly if you're not confident about plugging them back in.
 
I'm gonna see if I can fit the tweezers in, but from the position I can see it, it dosen't even look like its bent, it looks like its gone. :|. I can't see which way its bent, but, if I can't get it to work I guess I will just take the motherboard out. My computer is a MESS, I haven't ziptied the wires. :D.
 
Oh, I see it. Its bent pretty much parallel with the bottom of the IDE slot. I guess when it bent, I pushed the IDE cable into it, thus pushing it all the way down.
 
Hopefully you'll be able to bend it back into position. If it breaks, or doesn't work, you can always buy a cheap PCI IDE controller card. All is not lost! :)
 
I had one in, because CompUSA put it in when I took my pc to them last year. But, when I had it in my PC, it would loop when I booted the system. It would take it a couple tries to boot to windows. So, my friend took it out. The PC works fine, its just, there is no CD drive, and I guess when the people who worked on it at CompUSA put it in it was because the prong was bent. Working CD drive > looping boot process, I guess. Is there any reason it would do that? Thanks alot for the help.
 
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