How to google search and where buy an Inductor for the external 2.5 hard drive encloser components

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GPU_Noob

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So,
I do have an 2.5 external hard drive encloser for laptop hard drive.
One day I touch my on the PCB board of the external hard drive and the hard drive suddenly stop detected by the computer.
Now,
Every time I plugging the external hard drive to the computer.
It shows the error:
USB not recognized.

So,
I bought the multimeter and tested every components of the PCB board.
So,
One of the Inductor
I believe is the bad one.
I want to replace it with a good one.
Not sure if anyone of you guys can help me out.
As I don't know anything about electronic.
But would like to give a try to fix it.

I have a attached a picture of the Inductor
that I believe is bad.
 

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Last edited:
The 'L' indicates an inductor (i.e., a coil), not a capacitor (typically denoted with 'C').

USB/SATA adapters are cheap. Just buy a new one and don't risk your HDD/SSD or the PC's USB HBA.
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
The 'L' indicates an inductor (i.e., a coil), not a capacitor (typically denoted with 'C').

USB/SATA adapters are cheap. Just buy a new one and don't risk your HDD/SSD or the PC's USB HBA.
Click to expand...

Just to add to this...

Using a DMM,Coils will check shorted. Capacitors should not check shorted.

Also agree about buying a new one unless this is academic.
 
Sorry,
i don't know what is DMM,Coils
I mean
I want to buy a ceramic capacitor only.
But I don't know how to google search and am i buying the right capacitor.
As the ceramic capacitor seem shorted for me.
That's why I need help.

As I want to learn and test if I understand of how to use the multimeter.
No interest in buying a new external hard drive encloser.
 
GPU_Noob said:
Sorry,
i don't know what is DMM,Coils
Click to expand...

You need to learn these things before making erroneous decisions based on wildly incorrect assumptions. This is your video card thread all over again, you haven't learned anything about electronics, not even the basics.

GPU_Noob said:
I mean
I want to buy a ceramic capacitor only.
But I don't know how to google search and am i buying the right capacitor.
As the ceramic capacitor seem shorted for me.
That's why I need help.
Click to expand...

You need to re-read and comprehend the posts above you. They tell you correctly that you're wrong in assuming that the circled component is a capacitor, because IT IS NOT A CAPACITOR. The component masking on the PCB even tells you it is not a capacitor.

That component is an inductor. If you do not know what an inductor is, you need to do research on what they are. Inductors will read as near dead shorts, a multimeter won't help you at all. If you want to measure an inductor, you need an LCR meter, and they are not cheap. A good LCR meter will run at least a couple hundred dollars.

Buying a ceramic capacitor isn't going to help you, you're in the same place with your video card. You'll buy a $1 capacitor with $23 shipping and tax and learn again that it won't do anything. This time, it'll probably cause something to blow up because inductors are not capacitors and you shouldn't be substituting them.
 
Ok,
Thanks GigaByte.
Will change the title right now.
Is that mean you can not guess what inductor I need to buy and replace as long I don't have the LCR meter for the measurement for the inductor ?
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
The 'L' indicates an inductor (i.e., a coil), not a capacitor (typically denoted with 'C').

USB/SATA adapters are cheap. Just buy a new one and don't risk your HDD/SSD or the PC's USB HBA.
Click to expand...
Thanks BlueLineSwinger,
The main reason I am here.
Is that I want to learn ( Self Learning ) how to fix electronic even though I don't even basic knowledge.
But,
Thanks for the suggestion.

I know is hard or impossible to tell without measure it first with an LCR meter as suggested by GigaByte.
Is possible or Can you help me where to buy the same inductor of the picture that I posted here ?
 
The inductor is not broken. Something else (or multiple things) are broken and you do not have the skills to find it.

Cannot be easily fixed.

Buy a new one of you need this.
 
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GPU_Noob said:
Is that mean you can not guess what inductor I need to buy and replace as long I don't have the LCR meter for the measurement for the inductor ?
Click to expand...

Unless you have the knowledge to reverse engineer the circuit the inductor is in, or a schematic that tells you what the exact value of the inductor is, the only other choice is an LCR meter.

And as a practical matter, inductors almost never go bad. I've been doing electronics for 25+ years and I've only seen a handful of bad inductors. Almost all of them were from physical damage from being dropped, bent or crushed. A tiny number of them are from capacitor or battery electrolyte eating them from the inside out. I think I've seen maybe one or two that were burned up because of circuitry failure, but at that point, you have much worse problems to deal with.

You're missing the forest for the trees. If you're getting a "USB device not recognized", I would immediately suspect a mechanical failure of the USB connector or cable, because the device is powered up enough to be sending signals back to the computer. It could be that the connector has detached from the PCB, which is a very common problem due to the shit ROHS solder not having enough ductility to deal with the mechanical stress of inserting/removing a USB cable hundreds of times. End result is it breaks away from the pins. Another problem is the USB ports get full of dirt/debris and/or the pins inside the socket get oxidized enough to not make a proper connection.

If the USB part is fine, I'd suspect the USB to SATA bridge chip next, and once you start having to do component repair, it's far cheaper to just buy another one. Those converter boards are ubiquitous jelly bean parts these days.
 
looks like you had a massive short on the sata connector, the board is dead, the drive probably is too

1656243901801.png

edited speelin
 
Last edited:
cdabc123 said:
The inductor is not broken. Something else (or multiple things) are broken and you do not have the skills to find it.

Cannot be easily fixed.

Buy a new one of you need this.
Click to expand...
Hi cdabc123,
How do you know so sure the inductor is not broken ?
Yeah,
I do only have the multimeter to do measurement and not sure of when is the situation to use each function like Continuity Mode, Resistance mode, DCV, ACV, etc...
Not even the basic.
Just try to learn.

Thanks.
 
GiGaBiTe said:
Unless you have the knowledge to reverse engineer the circuit the inductor is in, or a schematic that tells you what the exact value of the inductor is, the only other choice is an LCR meter.

And as a practical matter, inductors almost never go bad. I've been doing electronics for 25+ years and I've only seen a handful of bad inductors. Almost all of them were from physical damage from being dropped, bent or crushed. A tiny number of them are from capacitor or battery electrolyte eating them from the inside out. I think I've seen maybe one or two that were burned up because of circuitry failure, but at that point, you have much worse problems to deal with.

You're missing the forest for the trees. If you're getting a "USB device not recognized", I would immediately suspect a mechanical failure of the USB connector or cable, because the device is powered up enough to be sending signals back to the computer. It could be that the connector has detached from the PCB, which is a very common problem due to the shit ROHS solder not having enough ductility to deal with the mechanical stress of inserting/removing a USB cable hundreds of times. End result is it breaks away from the pins. Another problem is the USB ports get full of dirt/debris and/or the pins inside the socket get oxidized enough to not make a proper connection.

If the USB part is fine, I'd suspect the USB to SATA bridge chip next, and once you start having to do component repair, it's far cheaper to just buy another one. Those converter boards are ubiquitous jelly bean parts these days.
Click to expand...
GigaBite,
Yes ,
I am getting a "USB device not recognized",
Even though the usb ports are not dirty at all.
I did cleaned it with a tooth brush.
Also,
I check for the pin solder on the PCB board it looks good.
Everythings is intact.
For the cable itself I couldn't test as I only have 1 hard drive encloser.


USB to SATA bridge chip not sure what components is that on the PCB board.
What to type is google search engine to download the schematic of this PCB board ?
 
pendragon1 said:
lloks like you had a massive short on the sata connector, the board is dead, the drive probably is too

View attachment 486681
Click to expand...

Oh damn, completely missed that. Yep, the board's toast, toss it into e-waste (and quite probably whatever drive was connected at the time it occurred).

Even if it were possible to get it working again, I'd never trust it.


GPU_Noob said:
What to type is google search engine to download the schematic of this PCB board ?
Click to expand...

Most companies consider such info proprietary and will not make it available.
 
Hi BlueLineSwinger,

Oh,
I see.
I mean just for example they do upload to the internet.
what to type in google search engine to download a schematic ?
 
GPU_Noob said:
Hi BlueLineSwinger,

Oh,
I see.
I mean just for example they do upload to the internet.
what to type in google search engine to download a schematic ?
Click to expand...
shit like this doesnt have schematics online, they are considered throw-aways. youd have to figure it out yourself and that takes knowledge and skill.
edited speeling
 
Last edited:
exactly as pendragon1 said, Best you could do is take the board apart, find the controller IC, google the manufacturers data sheet (if its even freely available). Then look at the reference design (or find the associated application note that includes the reference design), then try to figure out what the manufactuer of the board actually did (it will be similar to, but not the same as, the reference design). From there you can start trying to figure out what might be damaged. At which point based on the physical damage in your photos, you'll see that 90% of the silicon components on the board are fried, and you go buy a new one.

This is like trying to learn how to drive a car by getting into a helicopter. They both have wheels, how different could it be?
 
Hi travm,

I took the board apart already.
But how to identify a controller IC on the PCB ?
 
It will be the biggest IC on the board I would think. And when you google it's part number top hits will be something like "memory controller". But I'm not sure I've never designed a HDD.
 
Hi travm,

When I check the IC controller it give me a bunch of numbers.
But I just put IS621 google search engine and found this.
I guess I found the schematic but don't know it is or not and don't know how to read it.
Capture.PNG
 
What pendragon1 said.

But if you post a high res photo of both sides of the board you claim to have removed, I'll point out the controller. Its also possible that there is more than 1 board. But HDD's are super cheap so i've never tried to fix one. You'll find that if you want to buy a replacement "controller chip" it will cost more than an entire hard drive.
 
The IS621 is the controller. Use this search, "innostor is621" reference design, or something like it. Finding the schematic, or getting a replacement IS621 for the board is not likely to happen. I did find a site that looks like it has a data sheet, but wanted an account set up. It's not likely this is the only thing wrong with the board. As a learning experience this is fine, but you're better off getting a new one.
 
travm said:
What pendragon1 said.

But if you post a high res photo of both sides of the board you claim to have removed, I'll point out the controller. Its also possible that there is more than 1 board. But HDD's are super cheap so i've never tried to fix one. You'll find that if you want to buy a replacement "controller chip" it will cost more than an entire hard drive.
Click to expand...
travm,
Is not a HDD
Is a hard drive external encloser.
 
mtrupi said:
The IS621 is the controller. Use this search, "innostor is621" reference design, or something like it. Finding the schematic, or getting a replacement IS621 for the board is not likely to happen. I did find a site that looks like it has a data sheet, but wanted an account set up. It's not likely this is the only thing wrong with the board. As a learning experience this is fine, but you're better off getting a new one.
Click to expand...
Hi mtrupi,
What happen is travm saying is not the IC controller and now you saying is the IC Controller.
I'm getting confused.
So,
You believe that there's no schematic for this PCB external hard drive encloser.
OK then
Thanks.
 
I would buy a new one, That whole left side of the board looks trashed (Q1, Q2, R15, and C15) as well does the connector. Without a schematic or a working one to compare to you are just taking stabs in the dark. Honestly i wouldnt be surprised if your hard drive is messed up as well.
 
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GPU_Noob said:
Hi mtrupi,
What happen is travm saying is not the IC controller and now you saying is the IC Controller.
I'm getting confused.
So,
You believe that there's no schematic for this PCB external hard drive encloser.
OK then
Thanks.
Click to expand...
The image of the data sheet you posted is not the controller. I'm guessing this is where the confusion came in.
 
Darunion said:
I would buy a new one, That whole left side of the board looks trashed (Q1, Q2, R15, and C15) as well does the connector. Without a schematic or a working one to compare to you are just taking stabs in the dark. Honestly i wouldnt be surprised if your hard drive is messed up as well.
Click to expand...
My Hard Drive still good.
Nothing wrong with it plugging back and forth.
Is just giving me an USB not recognized error message.
 
mtrupi said:
The image of the data sheet you posted is not the controller. I'm guessing this is where the confusion came in.
Click to expand...
ok
sram said:
GPU_Noob, do you understand ohm's law?
Click to expand...
Google search result:
Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points

Not really understand what that means.
Can you explain to me in your own words please?
 
GPU_Noob said:
My Hard Drive still good.
Nothing wrong with it plugging back and forth.
Is just giving me an USB not recognized error message.
Click to expand...
I disagree. Just because it is working doesn't mean it is good. Unless this drive is not used for anything important to you then it isn't worth keeping. After experiencing data losses before it isn't worth the risk IMO.

I know you are wanting to learn to fix this but this isn't the right way because you are trying to do it with a trial an error approach.

If you are looking to replace components digikey.com and mouser.com are good for buying from.

Please spend time learning what you are doing so you'll have an understanding and start to gain a valuable skill from it. Or my choice would be replace the drive and enclosure.

 
GPU_Noob said:
ok

Google search result:
Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points

Not really understand what that means.
Can you explain to me in your own words please?
Click to expand...
I suggest that you spend some time reading about the basics of electronics. It will be far beneficial for you than messing first hand with electronic components and replacing them randomly. After you establish some knowledge and build some simple circuits yourself you can then try playing with electronic boards and maybe fixing them. The members here have been very cooperative I see. You need to change your approach.
 
Computer parts that have power issues should never be reused unless they are fully refurbished. Even then, they can have gremlins.

I reused a keyboard from a computer that was damaged in a lightning strike, it would destroy USB ports and USB controllers. Not immediately, either, just kind of randomly, or through some method I never understood. Took me forever to figure out that the keyboard was killing other machines.
 
Axman said:
Computer parts that have power issues should never be reused unless they are fully refurbished. Even then, they can have gremlins.

I reused a keyboard from a computer that was damaged in a lightning strike, it would destroy USB ports and USB controllers. Not immediately, either, just kind of randomly, or through some method I never understood. Took me forever to figure out that the keyboard was killing other machines.
Click to expand...
This is likely good advice, but I have had a PC get struck by lightning through the LAN port. Only thing that didn't "work" after that was the motherboard. Currently all other peices of hardware are still working 10 years later.
 
sram said:
I suggest that you spend some time reading about the basics of electronics. It will be far beneficial for you than messing first hand with electronic components and replacing them randomly. After you establish some knowledge and build some simple circuits yourself you can then try playing with electronic boards and maybe fixing them. The members here have been very cooperative I see. You need to change your approach.
Click to expand...
Where to find a good electronic book ?
Prefer downloaded as PDF format
 
GPU_Noob said:
Where to find a good electronic book ?
Prefer downloaded as PDF format
Click to expand...

Axman said:
Computer parts that have power issues should never be reused unless they are fully refurbished. Even then, they can have gremlins.

I reused a keyboard from a computer that was damaged in a lightning strike, it would destroy USB ports and USB controllers. Not immediately, either, just kind of randomly, or through some method I never understood. Took me forever to figure out that the keyboard was killing other machines.
Click to expand...
Understand.
The inductor was measured using the multimeter.
Even though I don't really know how to use the multimeter.
Try to follow my believe that is the cause of the problem.
I mean.
If I don't start from somewhere I'll never learn.
That's my believe.
I do agree with sram that I need to read some electronic books to grasp some basic ideas of how things works.
But not sure if I will understand.
I am more into practical than theory.

But not really understand of the LAN port and Keyboard .
I am trying to fix what I believe that's the component is bad.
By buying another one and replacing it.
To see if I am understand of how to use the multimeter.
 
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