USB hard drive enclosure...can't get it to work.

[mike_n_herrin]

Sunday i bought a USB 2.0 hard drive enclosure. It supported up to a 1000GB hard drive. I pluged in my WD 160 GB into it and it seemed to fit ok. then pluged the whole thing into my computer. it popped up recognized and even with the correct model of the WD drive. i thought i was good to go. a little later on i got a few file errors when working with some files on the drive. But still seemed ok (that was sunday night). last night (monday night) i turned the pc on and the drive enclosure and nothing. tired the other 3 USB ports nothing. took the drive out put in a WD 120 GB and kept getting a USB device failed message. so i thought ok well i got a bum drive enclosure.

i took it back got another brand (this one only supported up to 500 GB). Put the WD 160 in it and then hooked it up to the computer. I got a new USB device found, then nothing. i'm still getting nothing. i've tried the WD 120 also and still nothing. I've tried all 4 usb ports. I have a USB printer, scanner and 2 flash drives and they work in all the ports.

the instructions for both enclosures were fairly simple and straightforward...is there something i'm doing wrong?

I have Win XP SP2. The enclosure i have not is a Dynex 2.0 USB the other one was Adaptic (they are all best buy had ).

thanks.

[mike_n_herrin]

i also tried it in knoppix and nothing as well. I tried it on my laptop and it see's it at first (the first few seconds after i plugged it in) but then nothing after that. Restarting the laptop still gives me nothing.

i'm at a loss...

[meandamedeos]

I have a hard drive enclosure from best buy as well, it has 2 usb plugs on it, one for power, the other for file transferance. If yours doesn't have that, make sure that the enclosure doesn't require an outside power source, hope that helps.

[mike_n_herrin]

it does have an external power source. the light on the drive enclosure comes on and i can hear the drive spin up. i just now tried a third hard drive a WD 27 GB drive and nothing again.

i tried it in knoppix and it just freaked knoppix the hell out. knoppix locked up and wouldn't do anything. i've tried 2 usb cables plus the cable that came with the drive i returned today...so that is 3 cables. still nothing. there has to be something i'm overlooking. something i assume is simple. lol.

[trawler69]

My first thoughts were power supply too, followed by hard drive jumper settings i.e. make sure they are set to slave. Apart from that wait for Trex!

[mike_n_herrin]

the instructions on the first drive enclosure said specifically to set it as master. I've tried master on all of the drives and cable select. I didn't try slave though. i even tried a different electrical outlet.

the enclosure i'm using (or trying to use) now is a Dynex DX-HDEN10

[WYSIWYG]

I believe trawler is correct. you need to set the drive on slave with the jumpers.

[star-warrior]

I bought one for £25 from Maplins, and it didn't work. Lights were on and it whirred and everything. Computer kept saying the same error message as yours did. Kept thinking that the disk drive was probably knackered. Then I got tempted by Ebay, and bought another one for £2.75 with the same for packaging. Plugged it in, worked a treat. Turns out the first one was faulty from the start.

By the time I realised the 4 week returns policy had run out. Fucking Maplins. Shite as owt!

Otherwise, if you've plugged the drive in wrong into your enclosure, you may have fried it. Sorry. But to make sure, get a really cheap enclosure and try again.

[T-Rexx]

mikey:

I think your second enclosure has also gone bad mechanically. Knoppix should have no trouble whatsoever identifying, reading, and even writing to the drive in the enclosure on the usb bus (I've actually done it many times in knoppix). The behavior you describe "knoppix locked up" suggests an electrical problem on the usb bus. Something got scrambled on the little circuit board in the drive.

I'd bring enclosure #2 back to where you bought it.

This isn't that weird. The @#$%$&* things are very cheaply made.

[mike_n_herrin]

/\ i'm afraid....if i take it back and request a third one and it doesn't work either i'll be screwed, as then i'd be stuck with it. well i guess i could send it back to the manufacturer.

so i take it if they really are this flimsy, i wont be swapping out HDD in the same enclosure...i guess once it goes into the enclosure it shouldn't be removed.

[Angband]

I did some googling and did not find anything definitive except for a thread on NT Compatible saying to shut everything down and unplug the PC from the wall for a few minutes and then give it a try (I know this sounds whacky to me also but a few people in the thread stated that it worked). Go figure.

http://www.ntcompatible.com/Desperat...ed_t32356.html

Hope this helps. I know ai wish I would have heard of this a while back at a clients house (format and reinstall was the fix for his USB devices not being recognized.

Oh and nice Christmas lights on the TARDIS.

-Ang

[mike_n_herrin]

well i'll be damned. i tried setting it to slave but that didn't work. for shit's and giggles i just put it back on master and plugged it all back in and now it works. my first thought was i didn't have something plugged in all the way, but my god i tried 2 other hard drives on it. you'd have thought if i didn't have something plugged in all the way the on drive #1 that i would have gotten it right on drive #2 or drive #3 and not on the 4th try (even though it was back to drive #1). anyway it's on now. we'll see if it's still working tomorrow.

...could there have been some interference with the enclosure sitting on top of my case next to the cable modem?

thanks everyone for your assistance...i don't know what "fixed" it.

ps thanks for the comments on my christmas tardis. Kahaih made it for me 2-3 years ago, i just forget to change it this year. but then he PMed me yesterday and had resized the original so i could have a bigger one so i'm using it this christmas.

[T-Rexx]

^ mikey:

My guess is that it's something with the way the parts fit together. A little pressure on the circuit board inside the case might warp it just enough to cause a malfunction, etc. You ought to experiment with placing it in different locations, to see if electromagnetic interference really is an issue.

And cool avatar!

[mike_n_herrin]

Well i got a second one of the same type as the one that is working. In order to get this one to work i had to take the jumper off completely. that's different from the other one that is working. But as long as they both work i'm happy. I got this one for 7 dollars less because it was a previously opened box. so i took a chance.

now all my doctor who is sucessfully backed up and i'm taking it with me to IL for christmas break. i wont be back until Jan 6th.

thanks for the help folks.

- mikey