G3 233 Mhz Desktop: "New" hard drive

Hi folks

I managed to resurrect another trash-saved Mac which was sitting around here.

Before, at the first try (probably after ~10 years without being in use), it chimed and showed a flashing question mark. I then tried some OS 9 CDs I had lying around and also a Power Macintosh G3 one (not sure if the correct model). That last one was the only one that made it react. It showed a happy mac for some seconds, then ejected it and showed the flasing question mark again.

As the hard drive seemed really quiet, I took it out. And indeed, it will not spin up.

Then I looked through my HDD stock to find one of the the oldest, noisiest ones. Found.

And downloaded OS 8.0 and 8.1 for the Gossamer, and burnt 2 CDs with the G5.

Finally, it booted with the CD and I was able to do a complete OS 8.1 install.

As always, it got a new PRAM battery. Also blew out some dust and looked for another matching rubber foot as one was missing.

My question: Is it possible that the original hard drive isn't dead, but only the controller board?

How do I identify another board which would be compatible? Or: which number (for example) indicates the board model?

I'd like to know if the original HDD can be saved...

Left: old HDD / Right: "New" HDD



Thanks :quadra:

Nicolas