ext hard drive problem

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by fastrhino, Oct 30, 2005.

  1. fastrhino

    fastrhino Nibble Poster

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    I am running a toshiba laptop with xp sp2, i have been having a problem with a xternal HD i borrowed to back up my system proir to sending it away to be repaired.

    it worked ok initially, but now only recognises it when it feels like it, tried different usb ports still get the message, new hardware not recognised.

    eventually it will pick it up but some times it takes ages of unplugging and plugging it back in till it picks it up.

    it works fine on my dads laptop first time every time. so why is my toshiba being so fussy, ebery other usb device works fine.
     
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  2. AJ

    AJ 01000001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01101110 Administrator

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    sounds like a dodgy USB port ?????
     
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  3. fastrhino

    fastrhino Nibble Poster

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    If it is an usb port problem why would only one device not work correctly. is this a common problem
     
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  4. simongrahamuk
    Honorary Member

    simongrahamuk Hmmmmmmm?

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    I've seen something simillar before.

    What it was was an issue with USB Versions One and Two, sometimes it would work, and sometimes it wouldn't.

    What I ended up doing was going into device manager and disabling the USB 2 ports, the device then connected 1st time every time.

    Try this and see if it works.

    8)
     
  5. fastrhino

    fastrhino Nibble Poster

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    my laptop is almost 3yrs old and is does not have usb2 ports, i am told this every time i plug in my Ipod
     
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  6. simongrahamuk
    Honorary Member

    simongrahamuk Hmmmmmmm?

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    That could possibly be it then.

    Are you sure that the external drive you're plugging in isn't USB 2?

    Although most devices are backwards compatible (Like the ipod) some are not, and I think that this may be the case.

    How old is your dads laptop? is his USB 2?

    Did the external drive come with any documentation or drivers for it? Have you tried installing them? You never know!

    8)
     
  7. fastrhino

    fastrhino Nibble Poster

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    to be honest the documentation was rubbish, no troubleshooting guide, the driver was a generic usb driver, which i have installed already, according to the on screen message.

    my dads laptop is slightly newer, but i think the HD is usb version 1, but i will check with him as it is his HD i Borrowed.
     
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  8. moominboy

    moominboy Gigabyte Poster

    as far as i know all usb 2 ports are backwards compatible to series 1 so i dont think it'd be that. i can stand corrected though but i'd look at recent drivers etc, to help you out.
     
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  9. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    I agree with Moominboy, it is part of the USB2 standard that all USB2 devices have to be backwards compatible.

    I would try playing with the master/slave cable select jumpers on the HDD as that is about the only thing you can physically change.

    BTW I have a 5 year old USB1 laptop running W2K Pro and my USB2 hard drive caddy works perfectly. Maybe the caddy is poorly designed?

    Pete
     
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  10. Jakamoko
    Honorary Member

    Jakamoko On the move again ...

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    You don't mention here why the PC is being sent away to be repaired ? My initial thoughts were the actual HD was suspect, but if it works first time on your Dad's PC, then I take that back. Given you have checked other USB ports, the only other physical possibilty is the cable, as you didn't say if you tried the same cable on your Dad's machine.

    Other than that as simongrahamuk mentions, it may be a low level USB issue. If all else fails (and short of suggesting a full re-install of XP) - I'd go to Device Manager, and uninstall everything under the USB section (see below) then reboot.
     
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  11. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    So what's that question mark in your list Gav? Sort it out governor :D
     
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  12. fastrhino

    fastrhino Nibble Poster

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    tried different cavle too, but like you said it worked fine on my dads laptop using the cable supplied.

    i had to send it away because i spilled coffee on the key board and some of keys wern't working .

    it the HD is a Okion data mate, looks like a cheap and nasty design, but like i said worked fine every time when conected to my dads usb2 compatable laptop, according to the instructions supplied this device is just usb1.1.
     
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  13. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Maybe the coffee has worked itself a bit further in than just the keyboard. A lot of my users get the same message that hardware is not recognised or cannot install usb driver because of account restrictions. Are you plugging it into the same usb port all the time?

    If so it might be worth uninstalling the devices and drivers like Jak suggested and then booting into safe mode and reinstalling the drivers again.
     
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