USB Hard Drive Not Recognised

[zznw4m]

Hardware
Dell Inspiron 8500 Laptop

OS
Dual Boot Win XP Professional SP2 / SuSE 9.3 Professional

Problem
I have a Belkin 3 port USB Hub with its own power source. If I leave the External 40Gb Hard Drive plugged in, after I boot into Windows it doesn't show up in either 'My Computer' or 'Hard Disk Manager'. However, if I unplug it then plug it back in again when Windows is running - guess what - it magically appears. Plugging the drive directly into the Laptop's USB port does not make any difference.

By the way, SuSE recognizes the drive every time I log on.

Microsoft don't provide free support for Windows XP Professional regardless of whether you are a home or business user, so unless I pay them megabucks to fix their leaky software I either have to put up with it or try and find somebody in a forum who's got a fix.

So....any ideas anyone?

Thanks,

[thedon57]

Originally Posted by zznw4m

Hardware
Dell Inspiron 8500 Laptop

OS
Dual Boot Win XP Professional SP2 / SuSE 9.3 Professional

Problem
I have a Belkin 3 port USB Hub with its own power source. If I leave the External 40Gb Hard Drive plugged in, after I boot into Windows it doesn't show up in either 'My Computer' or 'Hard Disk Manager'. However, if I unplug it then plug it back in again when Windows is running - guess what - it magically appears. Plugging the drive directly into the Laptop's USB port does not make any difference.

By the way, SuSE recognizes the drive every time I log on.

Microsoft don't provide free support for Windows XP Professional regardless of whether you are a home or business user, so unless I pay them megabucks to fix their leaky software I either have to put up with it or try and find somebody in a forum who's got a fix.

So....any ideas anyone?

Thanks,

Specifications:

Click here - portable hard drive - for specification of portable hard drives

Click here - external hard drive - for specification of external hard drives

Models covered in this support page:

USB portable hard drive (enclosure) Y-251U, BA-HC21
USB2.0 portable hard drive (enclosure) Y-252, BA-HC22
USB2.0 / Firewire combo portable hard drive (enclosure) Y-255C
USB2.0 Firewire external hard drive U235, UF35, U2HDD, UFHDD
FAQs

Important Notes: 99% of the complaints on portable hard drives can be related to the insufficient power supply from the USB port (especially the case for laptops), please try to connect the black power cable first, then connect the grey cable, this will solve most of the problems.

I can not find the driver for Windows ME, 2000, and XP, please send me the driver.
How do I know if the computer recognizes the USB hard drive?
Why my computer lists the USB hard drive as "Unknown device" in "Device Manager"?
My computer recognizes the USB hard drive but it does not show in "My Computer"?
What is the safe way to remove the USB hard drive?
There is no new hard disk model name shown at "Disk Drivers" of "Device Manager" or "Universal Serial Bus controllers" does not have "USB Mass Storage Device" appear.
It shows "USB Mass Storage Device" in "Universal Serial Bus controllers", but there is not any new hard disk at "Disk drivers".
Can I install a system in the portable hard drive and boot the computer with it?
My portable hard drive is working properly under Windows 98, but when I upgrade to Windows XP, the portable hard drive is not recognised?
How to install the USB / USB2.0 hard drive in Linux?
What light should be on for working external hard drive?
How to avoid hard drive crash / how to maintain the portable / external hard drives?
How to assemble your own portable hard drive / external hard drive
1. Assemble a portable hard drive (2.5" laptop hard drive )

2. Assemble an external hard drive ( 3.5" desktop hard dive )

Driver download
Click on www.allcamer.co.uk/drivers/ then select the driver you need.

Hardware reviews click here to read



1 I can not find the driver for Windows ME, 2000, and XP, please send me the driver

There is no driver required, do not install any driver manually.
2 How do I know if the computer recognizes the USB hard drive?
After both the USB cable and power cable were connected, if the small icon appears at the left corner of the computer screen, then the computer have recognizes the USB hard drive correctly.
3 Why my computer lists the USB hard drive as "Unknown device" in "Device Manager"?
Because the computer fails to correctly recognizes the USB hard drive. There maybe several possible reasons: 1. The cables are not tightly connected, especially the power cable. For Y-251 and Y-252, the typical symptom is the LED keeping flashing green and red alternatively; for Y-350, listen to the noise of the USB hard drive carefully, if only the noise of the fan is heard, it means power connection is faulty somewhere (maybe inside the enclosure, do not ignore the "white pole" as the connect at this point became loose quite easily if the top cover was fixed with little attention).

Solution: Go to "Control Panel" --> "System" --> "Device Manager", remove the "Unknown device", and detach the USB cable, check the power connection points, then connect the power cable and USB cable again, restart the computer if necessary.

2. Installed driver manually under Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP by mistake.

Solution: Go to "Control Panel" --> "System" --> "Device Manager", remove the "Unknown device", and detach the USB cable, then connect the power cable and USB cable again, restart the computer if necessary.

3. Faulty hard drive /hard drive jumper setting (Y-350 only)

For Y-251/Y-252, try with another hard drive; for Y-350, you can first try different jumper settings, if this does not work, then the hard drive might be faulty.

4. Faulty cables (USB, power)

Replace the cables.

4 My computer recognizes the USB hard drive correctly as the small icondoes appear in the corner of the screen, but it does not show in "My Computer"?
You need to create DOS partition on the hard drive by run "FDISK", after run "FDISK", it will show as a new drive (as "E:") in "My computer". After "FDISK" you need to "Format" the new drive that newly appears in "My Computer", then the USB hard drive will be fully functional.

Read the User Manual to find more information regarding "FDISK" and "Format".

If "FDISK" fails to run, restart the computer again.

5 What is the safe way to remove the USB hard drive?
Like the hard drive fixed inside the computer, the USB hard drive is quite fragile when powered, so ensure safe removal procedures to avoid damages to the hard drive.

First right click on the , then click on the "Remove USB mass storage device", after a while, a message will pop out that the device is removed successfully, and the small icon disappears from the corner of the screen.

If the computer fails to respond or give the message "It is not safe to remove the device now!", shut down the computer, then remove the device.

6 After driver installed, there is no new hard disk model name shown at "Disk Drivers" of "Device Manager" or "Universal Serial Bus controllers" does not have "USB Mass Storage Device" appear.
Adjust jumper of hard disk to "Cable Select" or other setting and try again (Y-350 only).
7 If a brand new hard disk has been installed at enclosure. It shows "USB Mass Storage Device" in "Universal Serial Bus controllers", but there is not any new hard disk at "Disk drivers".
Please FDISK and FORMAT hard disk.
8 Can I install a system in the portable hard drive and boot the computer with it?
No, you can not under Windows. But it is possible with MAC.
9 My portable hard drive is working properly under Windows 98, but when I upgrade to Windows XP, the portable hard drive is not recognised?
In Windows 98, the hard drive ( inside the PC ) and the portable hard drive were automatically formatted as FAT32, when you upgrade your PC to Windows XP, the installation programme will format the hard drive ( inside the PC ) as NTFS by default, which will cause the portable hard drive not be recongised.

You can either reinstall Windows XP, but when it prompt you to choose the hard drive format, choose FAT32, then you shall be able to see all your data previously saved under Windows 98; or you have to re-format the portable hard drive as NTFS ( warning: you will lose all information you have previously saved in the portable hard drive if you choose this methods)

11 How to avoid hard drive crash / how to maintain the portable / external hard drives?
Hard drives are delicate machines, they are prone to vibration and shock especially when they are powered because they are spinning at very high speed (7200 RPM), vibration and shock can cause the reading head dip into the magnetic surface, which may damage the reading head as well as the magnetic surface (bad sectors).

The golden rule: Do NOT move the portable external hard drives once they are powered; and move them only if the power is off. This rule also applies to the internal hard drives of computers / laptops: Do NOT move the laptop /computer once the power is on.

12 Which lights should be on for a working external hard drive?
A) USB 2.0 external hard drives: i) Mains adapter should be green; ii) Once mains adapter connected to the external hard drive, a blue light should be on, at the same time you should hear the noise of the hard drive starting to spin; iii) Another blue light flashes whenever there is communication between the computer and the external hard drive.

B) USB 2.0 / 1394 external hard drives: i) Mains adapter should be green; ii) Once mains adapter connected to the external hard drive, red light should be on, at the same time you should hear the noise of the hard drive starting to spin; iii) The green light flashes whenever there is communication between the computer and the external hard drive.

[zznw4m]

My problem is none of the above. If you read the posting you will see that

1. the USB Hub is powered before I boot into Windows;
2. the Hard drive is recognised by Windows if I unplug it then plug it back in.

My problem is that it is not automatically recognised on boot and it's a major source of irritation that I have to unplug it from the USB Hub and then plug it back in again every time I boot so that I can see it.

[bookworm]

Originally Posted by zznw4m

My problem is none of the above. If you read the posting you will see that

1. the USB Hub is powered before I boot into Windows;
2. the Hard drive is recognised by Windows if I unplug it then plug it back in.

My problem is that it is not automatically recognised on boot and it's a major source of irritation that I have to unplug it from the USB Hub and then plug it back in again every time I boot so that I can see it.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not think that Windows recognises external USB HD drives on boot. I have an external HD in a caddy, which if I need I switch on after the Windows boot.

Hope this helps

[snooker]

Originally Posted by bookworm

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not think that Windows recognises external USB HD drives on boot. I have an external HD in a caddy, which if I need I switch on after the Windows boot.

Hope this helps

Hi .... Bookworm my external drive gets recognises whenever I do a reboot or a boot up , Though I am not using a hub , just to the computer ports ...

Zznw4m I too have similar problems as you but , My problem is only in my front usb ports , The back ones work great , I was told it has something to do with the wiring on my pc case which is no big deal , All I do is go into the devise manager area and uninstall the drive , afterward scan for new hardware which it will find and load correctly , this way you don't need to restart your computer to have it shown

[thedon57]

Hi bookworm is right if you read it he has power going through to the USB HUB when he turns it on but it will not work until windows has finished loading.

[snooker]

Hi ... I don't use a usb hub but , I'm curious about it though , Wouldn't it work like any other hardware that gets plug into the computer ? I mean if you use a scanner or printer it would get recognize , so why not a hub too ? Thanks

[thedon57]

Originally Posted by snooker

Hi ... I don't use a usb hub but , I'm curious about it though , Wouldn't it work like any other hardware that gets plug into the computer ? I mean if you use a scanner or printer it would get recognize , so why not a hub too ? Thanks

Hi a hub does get recognized but only once windows has started up, there are 2 kinds of hubs as far as i know you can get, the powered ones and the normal hubs, if you use or at least i have found an unpowered hub it slows everything down, if you have a powered hub it has its own little transformers built in to the lead to supply the power, also you can have 4 items fighting for one port, that is why i dont use them, i have installed instead extra usb2's in the back.

The person in question is using a powered hub so, if he has other things plugged in it as well it could be that, what is giving him trouble. He would be better off if he has a laptop getting a belkin usb card that goes in the side of his laptop.

[snooker]

Thanks for your input

[zznw4m]

Sorry to be a pain, but no-one seems to be reading everything I'm saying. There is no problem with the hard drive once Windows has recognised it. It doesn't appear to contend with the other devices I've got plugged in (a Belkin optical mouse and the Dell Floppy disc drive that came with the Laptop).

Also, I don't need to remove the device with Device Manager and re-install it. All I have to do is unplug it from the Hub and plug it back in again and Windows sees it. The thing is it's a pain to do this every time I boot.

The Belkin PCMCIA USB drive is a good idea but isn't the fact that the amount of power available to the Laptop is limited a potential problem?

Still puzzled as to why Linux has no problem with it. In fact still puzzled!

Thanks for all the help so far.

Terry.

[dfoley]

Have you checked your BIOS to see if it will recognize your USB Port?

It seems to me that i had a similar problem once and my BIOS wasn't set up properly.

Thanks,

Dan Foley

[zznw4m]

Dan,

The BIOS allows me to boot from 'USB Mass Storage Device' so it appears that it is recognised at that stage of the boot process. It seems to me therefore that this is a Windows problem as opposed to it being a problem with the Hub or the Drive.

Terry.

[RudyBerkvens]

I also have the same problem as you, none of the post have seemed to help. When I boot the computer no drive. unplug the drive from usb and plugg it back in an there is the drive. also turning off the drive and turning it back on works. I'm plugged directly into the usb on the computer. my MB also recognizes the drive just fine. Any help would be appreciated.

[yoni5002]

Well, this is a very long history aand I didnt red it at all...
I'll try to give some tips though:
1. USB hardware is gonna start figthing foe the lower current provided to them for your MB... Visit PCworld.com to learn more about this and to get a solution for this problem...(this is probably the reason why when you unplugg and plug them back the HDD magically works!!!
2. Try disconecting all the others USB hardware installed in your PC and change the Hub to another (check in the back of your CPU)
3. Make sure there is no dust in this Hubs!!! THATS THE MOST!!!

Yoni5002
_________

[Robin_Reborn]

I'm having a similar problem. I was planning on installing Ubuntu on my bootleg windows XP laptop so I bought an external harddrive, I moved almost all of my music onto the hard drive and most of my documents. I thought Ubuntu would be easier than it was and now realize I probably did something to fuck up the partition on my external hard drive. Windows no longer recognizes it, it says the drivers are okay and the drive is recognized but it doesn't show up on the my computer screen and I can't access it through typing E:\ either. I also can't partition my harddrive, which is nonsense.