tl;dr Is there a common failure point for consumer SATA backplanes besides the ports themselves?
Pictures for context: [Showcase] Compulsive cable management --> one of my bucket list projects
I recently installed three (3) 6tb drives into a computer I built to be a NAS about a year ago. The four drive sata II hot swap bay I installed was purchased second hand, which is to say it was old when I got it.
After a sketchy initial setup and playing with samba, Plex, and all that, I removed the drives to install them properly in the trays (I didn’t have the correct hardware on hand). Upon reinstallation, one drive was not detected. A couple reboots and re-seats and no change, but the drive was immediately detected in a different slot. A data pool scrub and a reboot later and everything is reporting healthy.
I’m in the process of running smart tests (and carrying out a more thorough burn-in) on all drives now that play time is over, but I installed a known good SSD into the offending bay as a test. Not detected initially, but eventually recognized after a kinetic recalibration/reboot.
Ultimately I plan on abandoning hot swap entirely, but for the sake of the experience I’m going to pull the backplane out and give it a good looking at with an eye for broken solder joints. Are there any common failure points in these consumer units besides the port itself?