Hi, Lonnie. I've read this entire thread up to the date of this post.
Comments as follows:
1. The drive has malfunctioned on two different machines in
exactly the same way. This would tend to rule out a port
failure on the original machine - and indicate a problem with
the components supplied with the drive itself
2. Firewire 400 is *supposed* to be Plug-'n-Play in WXP.
However, there are a bunch of "gotchas" that can interfere
with this process. You are running into this problem.
3. Firstly, if you can "see" the drive in Windows Explorer while
connected using the Firewire interface - then you have
communication with the drive. This should show in Device
Manager as the presence of TWO Device Manager items,
the Drive Itself in the "Disk Drives" section and the Firewire
Interface for the drive in the "SBP2 IEEE1394 Devices"
section of Device Manager. These are the only two items
that are required to be working properly to communicate
with the firewire interface in the external hard disk.
Note: You indicate a problem with the "Buttons and Lights"
interface. This is a custom piece of driver software
unique to the WD drive's software - and is used to
allow you to interface to the "One Button Backup"
hardware in the drive itself. This driver/hardware
interface allows you to use the button on the drive
to automatically start the WD backup software.
However, this interface is NOT required for correct
operation of the disk itself.
You can verify correct operation of the disk by copying
250MB or more of data to the external disk. Then use
the COMP command in a dosbox to verify the files in
the target test-folder are binary-identical to the files in
the source test-folder. If so, the drive is usable for
backup with generic (non-WD) backup software.
4. If the drive fails when the WD software is installed, then you
have a problem with the WD software. It is probably installing
"updated" firewire drivers which are incompatible with the
firewire hardware in your machines. This is a common failure
with older versions of manufacturer-supplied backup software.
Check to ensure you are using the latest version of the
WD-supplied backup software. If so, then WD have a
compatibility problem which requires further investigation on
their part.
5. Microsoft have identified several deficiencies with
firewire chipsets - and MS have been able to work
around these deficiencies with updates to the
Microsoft firewire drivers. The latest firewire driver
update of which I am aware is described in the
KB904412 article, available from the Microsoft
Support website. Please note that you need *at
least* the V2 (Version 2) update. If the WD software
is installing the V1 (Version 1) update - this may be
exactly why your failure is occurring. Follow the
procedure detailed in the KB article to update your
WXP Firewire drivers.
Note: My experience with this update has been
that it solves "disconnect in the middle of
things" problems, not "initial mount" failure.
While updating this driver is a good idea
regardless, it is not a foolproof guarantee
as a fix for the problems you describe.
6. Even with all the above problems sorted out, you could
still have hardware problems with the drive. The first
of the hardware "gotchas" is the drive-interface problem.
Many of the cheaper external hard disks use older firmware
on the drive and/or el-cheapo components supplied with the
drive - where these items have various and sundry bugs.
Most of these bugs cause compatibility problems resulting
in the very errors you are describing.
As a result, your first step will be to find a firewire external
Hard Disk that actually works properly - so you can use that
as a test unit to verify the rest of your components. This
is usually done by contacting a high-quality computer dealer
in your area - not a chain store, not an el-cheapo outfit - to
have them connect up a known-good firewire external
disk. This is used only to verify the rest of your system's
firewire components are working correctly.
7. Firewire is very sensitive to cable quality, and many of the
Firewire cables supplied with external hard disks are el-cheapo
units with poor electrical characteristics or poor connector
quality. Once you have established a valid connection with
the test unit described in item 3, your next step is to establish
that you are using a known-good cable for your own external
disk. Swap your cable with the cable supplied with the test
unit and use their drive to verify your cable is valid. Test on
both your desktop and laptop machines. If the known-good
drive works properly with your cable, then at least that item
has now been verified-good.
8. The next item to verify is the Power Supply for your
external disk. It is extremely common for the Power
Supply for an external hard disk to be marginal - especially
when used with larger hard disks (anything over 250MB).
This problem *will* manifest as a successful mount using
USB and a failure-to-mount using firewire. I have had
six or seven different units exhibit this problem.
This is normally solved by purchasing a high-quality
replacement power pack with a higher current capacity.
Normally, power packs for external hard disks are 12
Volt units with a positive centre-electrode. Take the
old power pack with you to an electronics supply
house to verify they have a replacement supply
which is compatible with your external disk.
The problem power supplies I have seen are in the
1.7Amp to 2.0Amp range and should be replaced with
a 2.5Amp, 3.3Amp or 5.0Amp unit. Normally, for an
external Hard Disk of anything under 300MB, a 2.5Amp
supply is fine. For a 500 or 750MB Disk, a 3.3Amp
supply is fine. For a 1GB Disk, buy a 5.0Amp supply.
Note: The replacement supply should be a high-quality
switchmode-style regulated unit. Do NOT use
an unregulated supply - and insist the supplier
provide the switchmode type. If the supplier
does not know what you are talking about, you
are using the wrong supplier. Leave and find
someone competent. Do NOT shortcut this.
Furthermore, if you want to test this procedure
without buying the supply, take the laptop with
you to the electronics supply store. Hook up
your external disk with the new supply in the
store and test as above. If the original supply
is the problem, the drive will mount with the
new supply in place. If not, using either supply
will still show the problem.
9. If the problem is neither the cable nor the supply,
then you have a problem with the firewire interface
in the external hard disk. This is extremely common
with older and/or el-cheapo external firewire hard
disk enclosures.
Many enclosures can have the firmware for their
firewire interfaces upgraded. Pretty well every one
of the older firewire units I have used has required
a firmware update to the latest available for that
chipset before the drive actually worked stably
and reliably - especially for disks larger than 180MB.
However, this procedure is NOT for the technologically
faint-of-heart. This procedure requires the same
expertise as a motherboard firmware update and
the same attention to detail. Use the services of
the same outfit as described in Item 3 if your
enclosure requires a firmware update.
Best I can do for now. <tm>
Bill
so I don't think that scenario is possible.