No hard drive found using seagate seatools

[Digerati]

You are right, reversing polarity on a wifi or BT antenna will cause no harm, but those are not antenna wires. The gauge of the wires is too large for antenna wire and antenna wires are shielded. And you don't normally see clip-on connectors for antennas, and would not for a permanently fixed antenna integrated in a notebook. The antenna cable would be soldered for maximum continuity, strength, lighter weight, and lower cost, or use a more secure, shielded semi-permanent screw-on connector.

Clip-on connectors similar to those seen in that image are often used on batteries that must be replaced every so often.

 

[Fred Garvin]

FYI, the black & white wires in the picture are your primary and secondary wireless network antennas. They travel up behind the LCD panel. No harm there. I'd have ditched the Seagate Seatools, which is normally useless, and try a program like HDTune or Hard Disk Sentinel. Your original issue sounds like a file table issue or maybe a failing hard drive. Testing with either of the 2 programs I mentioned should confirm or rule out a bad drive.

 

[Digerati]

Well, I certainly could be wrong - it would not be first and will not be the last time that happens. I have never seen a notebook wireless card like that but when looking through these images, I see some like your image. I still don't like the fact it uses clip on connectors as they can weaken over time resulting in a less-than-ideal "mechanical" connection. And you don't get optimal (lowest resistance) "electrical" connectivity without having a solid mechanical connection first. So the choice of clip-on connectors in a mobile (thus subject to knocks and bumps - if not drops) device seems questionable to me. But I am just an old radio head.

 

[Fred Garvin]

They don't look it, but the connectors to the network card are actually very tight. They're the same on all laptop wireless cards. The pics in your link mostly show the opposite end of the antennas where they terminate behind the LCD panel.

 

[Digerati]

They're the same on all laptop wireless cards.

Not all, which is why I said otherwise. But I agree now and that is an antenna, though the wires to it sure look heavy, compared to those in the images.