Storage Solutions Can't use any external USB portable HDD's!

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thetechmind

Forerunner
This happened for the second time yesterday. I had to copy some stuff from a 320gb portable iomega usb drive and it failed to get detected on my system.

2 ports on the front of my cabinet / 4 usb's on the mobo , all failed to detect the hdd.

The same occured 1 month back when I wanted to access some data on a 80gig lacee hdd.

This is strange. Nothing shows up on the screen. Doesnt even show the safely remove hdd symbol , nor does anything come up in the device manager.

my phone , hp aio , optical mouse , pen drives , usb card reader , webcam all run absolutely fine from the same USB's !......

The only thing i can reason out is the hdd not getting enuf juice from the usb ports .......or is it something else :huh:
 
Thats not a problem with your PC. Thats a problem either with the cable or with the HDD(Most Likely).
 
Switch said:
Thats not a problem with your PC. Thats a problem either with the cable or with the HDD(Most Likely).
Click to expand...

-ve , the same hdd's works perfect on another pc , hell both of them worked absolutely fine on another desktop.....WITH the same cables i tried them on.....i thought the same and so i swapped with almost half a dozen of similar cables i have and still it was the same..........:( :|

OT : @ switch : can i steal the pic in ur signature and mod it and use it ? :)
 
I think the problem is that the USB port is not supplying enough power to the HDD.. This happens with my LaCie 160GB HDD also in some systems where the system fail to detect the device..

Soln: Use the ext hdd with the power cord & it should solve the problem..
 
vinaycm said:
I think the problem is that the USB port is not supplying enough power to the HDD.. This happens with my LaCie 160GB HDD also in some systems where the system fail to detect the device..

Soln: Use the ext hdd with the power cord & it should solve the problem..
Click to expand...

then whats the use of it being portable :S , it used to work earlier and now it refuses to work.....shouldnt the malfuntion also affect other hardware used on the same usb port :(
 
Any of the items that u mentioned working thru your USBs don't require extra power. Try using a HDD with a power adapter just for trouble shooting. You might also try uninstalling your USB controllers.

Also, I've had particular HDDs not working on my main machine while they worked perfectly on my other machine. I've also had a HDD not working with my perfectly all right cables but it worked fine with the owner's own cable. Never figured out why it was happening though :). On a few lappy's I'd seen with the USB malfunctioning, it was due to hardware failures, so that might be it too.
 
Try to get your hands on a USB 2.0 Hub which should be using a external power source. Now attach the HDD to the laptop via the HUB. Should work.
 
Naga said:
Any of the items that u mentioned working thru your USBs don't require extra power. Try using a HDD with a power adapter just for trouble shooting. You might also try uninstalling your USB controllers.

Also, I've had particular HDDs not working on my main machine while they worked perfectly on my other machine. I've also had a HDD not working with my perfectly all right cables but it worked fine with the owner's own cable. Never figured out why it was happening though :). On a few lappy's I'd seen with the USB malfunctioning, it was due to hardware failures, so that might be it too.
Click to expand...

+1. It could be a cable thing. I had a friends WD passport. Worked fine on its own cable, but wont work with other mini-USB cables at my place.
 
If you can get hold of a USB cable with the extra USB connector at one end for power(USB Y cable), that might solve the issue.

However, I have not seen a Y cable with mini USB connector at the HDD end so if the casing has a mini USB receiver port, it might be a problem finding such a cable.
 
Naga said:
Any of the items that u mentioned working thru your USBs don't require extra power. Try using a HDD with a power adapter just for trouble shooting. You might also try uninstalling your USB controllers.

Also, I've had particular HDDs not working on my main machine while they worked perfectly on my other machine. I've also had a HDD not working with my perfectly all right cables but it worked fine with the owner's own cable. Never figured out why it was happening though :). On a few lappy's I'd seen with the USB malfunctioning, it was due to hardware failures, so that might be it too.
Click to expand...

hummm , so the next time i will try doing so.......i would need to hunt a power adaptor for the same though.....will try uninstalling the usb controllers and reinstalling them as well......i did try with all cables only after trying the manufactures cable!.....

Switch said:
Try to get your hands on a USB 2.0 Hub which should be using a external power source. Now attach the HDD to the laptop via the HUB. Should work.
Click to expand...

will try that the next time....

techie_007 said:
+1. It could be a cable thing. I had a friends WD passport. Worked fine on its own cable, but wont work with other mini-USB cables at my place.
Click to expand...

i tried all cables , manufacturers and others too , dint work...

sydras said:
If you can get hold of a USB cable with the extra USB connector at one end for power(USB Y cable), that might solve the issue.

However, I have not seen a Y cable with mini USB connector at the HDD end so if the casing has a mini USB receiver port, it might be a problem finding such a cable.
Click to expand...

done that :) , both the hdd's had manufacturers cables with the "Y" and i used 2 usb's to feed power to the hdd's but they refused to show up....

@ all : thank u for ur valuable responces........

@ all : can it be the smps -12/+12 acting up by any chance ?
 
What is the motherboard that you are using? Is it known to have such a problem?

Is a regular 3.5 inch HDD with an external power source detected and working?
 
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