external HDD (usb) not found...

[camosilver311]

i bought an external HDD (usb 2.0) a few months a ago, and i've always had somewhat of a problem getting the computer to recognize it. sometimes the computer sees it, sometimes it doesn't there is absolutely nothing wrong with the usb ports on the computer because i can unplug the HDD and plug in something else, which will work fine. positioning the usb cable going into the HDD differently has normally solved the problem, but the last week or so i have not been able to get my comp to see it. none of the usb ports see it at all.

windows xp, sp3, custom built in feb 2009 so it's a newer comp not an old dinosaur or anything. the HDD is 2tb, made up of 2 1tb western digital caviar wd10eacs drives.

any ideas?

[Ste]

You can always remove the hard drive from the enclosure and place it in the computer.

Other than that, check manufacturers website to see if you can update the firmware of the device and make sure windows update is done.

May also try another USB cable if not already.

[camosilver311]

You can always remove the hard drive from the enclosure and place it in the computer.

Other than that, check manufacturers website to see if you can update the firmware of the device and make sure windows update is done.

May also try another USB cable if not already.

i know i can use it in the computer but this external is used to backup everything i have on my computer in case it crashes or whatever. the manufacturer's website is useless, no downloads available for this model. searched for firmware and couldn't really find anything. besides, if it was a firmware issue, it wouldn't work intermittently. i did try another cable but that also did not work.

unless anyone has some other ideas, i am thinking the usb port on the case itself is faulty

[S0ULphIRE]

Have you got another spare USB port on your pc? Try plugging the hdd into that, to verify whether or not the problem is a faulty USB port

[camosilver311]

Have you got another spare USB port on your pc? Try plugging the hdd into that, to verify whether or not the problem is a faulty USB port

yeah i already tried that. not the computer ports or the cable. found the manufacturers site for the case (galaxy 3538UC is the model) and they say it doesn't need a driver so that rules that out.

[S0ULphIRE]

Is it possible to just have one drive in the enclosure? Try taking the other out and plug the external in with only one drive inside. If that works, and there are no drivers as you said, then the problem still could be with the cable.

If it's a thin, long USB cable then it's possible the signal quality is suffering too much for the connection to be made. Try getting a short, thick, sturdy-looking cable and connecting with that.

[camosilver311]

Is it possible to just have one drive in the enclosure? Try taking the other out and plug the external in with only one drive inside. If that works, and there are no drivers as you said, then the problem still could be with the cable.

If it's a thin, long USB cable then it's possible the signal quality is suffering too much for the connection to be made. Try getting a short, thick, sturdy-looking cable and connecting with that.

it's a pretty short cable, about 2 feet. and it's fairly thick as far as usb cables go, and it's the one that came with the unit. i don't know if it's possible to run it with only one drive, but i tried it and it did not work.

[S0ULphIRE]

It looks like the enclosure itself might be failing. Do the drives definitely work if you unplug them and install them in the pc?

Is there another pc you can plug the external into?