multiple USB HDD failures

[TD Giorgio]

I have a 3 yr old IBM TravelStar 12 Gb HDD in a USB enclosure. I've
used this for a year or so to transfer files between work and home.
Normally, I use the USB connection provided by an IBM A20m laptop (USB
1.1). But I recently had a large volume of files to transfer, so I
used a Belkin USB 2.0 PCCard adapter. When the external HDD was
plugged into this PCCard USB port, the disk failed to spin up.
Connecting the HDD to the native USB 1.1 port afterward also failed to
spin the disk up.

OK, so the disk is 3+ yrs old - presuming that it died a sudden death,
I purchased a new external USB HDD enclosure and a new 40Gb Fujitsu
HDD. This combination worked great at work and at home on the USB 1.1
port on the A20m. Then after about a week of use, I had that same
large file transfer and used the USB 2.0 port provided by the Belkin
PCCard adapter.

The Fujitsu HDD failed to spin up when attached to the Belkin PCCard
USB adapter - and this new enclosure/HDD now also fails to spin up on
two other USB ports (my A20m and my Dell desktop at work).

So it seems that the Belkin PCCard adapter has killed both HDDs. Is
this possible? What could cause this? How should I proceed? Advice?

Thanks...Todd

 

[Tom Scales]

Are you connecting the external power supply to the Belkin PCCard. I have a
different brand, but it would not work properly with an external hard drive
UNLESS the external power brick was plugged into the card. A pain, but it
worked.

Tom

 

[Rod Speed]

I have a 3 yr old IBM TravelStar 12 Gb HDD in a USB enclosure. I've
used this for a year or so to transfer files between work and home.
Normally, I use the USB connection provided by an IBM A20m laptop (USB
1.1). But I recently had a large volume of files to transfer, so I
used a Belkin USB 2.0 PCCard adapter. When the external HDD was
plugged into this PCCard USB port, the disk failed to spin up.
Connecting the HDD to the native USB 1.1 port afterward also failed to
spin the disk up.

OK, so the disk is 3+ yrs old - presuming that it died a sudden death,
I purchased a new external USB HDD enclosure and a new 40Gb Fujitsu
HDD. This combination worked great at work and at home on the USB 1.1
port on the A20m. Then after about a week of use, I had that same
large file transfer and used the USB 2.0 port provided by the Belkin
PCCard adapter.

The Fujitsu HDD failed to spin up when attached to the Belkin PCCard
USB adapter - and this new enclosure/HDD now also fails to spin up
on two other USB ports (my A20m and my Dell desktop at work).

So it seems that the Belkin PCCard adapter has killed both HDDs.

Maybe. Or there is a power problem with an odd sequence.

Is this possible?

Shouldnt be.

What could cause this?

I'd suspect a power problem.

How should I proceed?

I'd measure what power is being delivered to the
drives myself, but you may not be able to do that.

Is the drive powered from the USB cable ?

 

[Odie]

I have a 3 yr old IBM TravelStar 12 Gb HDD in a USB enclosure. I've
used this for a year or so to transfer files between work and home.
Normally, I use the USB connection provided by an IBM A20m laptop (USB
1.1). But I recently had a large volume of files to transfer, so I
used a Belkin USB 2.0 PCCard adapter. When the external HDD was
plugged into this PCCard USB port, the disk failed to spin up.
Connecting the HDD to the native USB 1.1 port afterward also failed to
spin the disk up.

Thanks...Todd

I'm currently looking into this debacle with external storage. I have
so far come across serious shortcomings with an external LaCie drive,
and am busy looking at various other external drive enclosures.

Belkin is quite high up on the list of "problem" devices.

Not only do the drives not work, but the most serious offenders actually
seem to render the drive useless, at which stage intensive data recovery
procedures need to be run in order to recover any existing data.

Odie

 

[TD Giorgio]

Are you connecting the external power supply to the Belkin PCCard. I have a
different brand, but it would not work properly with an external hard drive
UNLESS the external power brick was plugged into the card. A pain, but it
worked.

I did have the external power for the Belkin plugged into the
wall/card. The real problem here is that, at least in two cases, once
the USB HDD was connected to the Belkin PCCard, the HDD was toast -
would not spin up when connected to any USB port. This is getting
expensive and frustrating...

Todd

 

[TD Giorgio]

Yes, the USB HDD is powered from the USB cable. When connected to the
IBM A20m, no problem. When I connected to the Belkin PCCard, I also
used the supplied wall wart power supply. I'll try to check voltages
tonight.

Todd

 

[TD Giorgio]

Tell me about your problems w/ the LaCie drive - this was
(potentially) my next choice.

Todd

 

[TD Giorgio]

Thanks to all who have responded. Now I've got the big question, with
some data... The voltage between pins 1 and 4 of the USB connector
should be 5 V, AFAIK. On the native IBM A20m USB, I measure about 4.5
V. On the Belkin USB PCCard w/o the external power brick, I measure 5
V. On the Belkin USB PCCard w/ the power brick (as I used it on the
HDDs), I measure 12 V. So, what should I ask Belkin to do?

Thanks..Todd

 

[Rod Speed]

Thanks to all who have responded. Now I've got the big
question, with some data... The voltage between pins
1 and 4 of the USB connector should be 5 V, AFAIK.
Correct.

On the native IBM A20m USB, I measure about 4.5 V.

That doesnt matter if the drive housing uses an external power brick.

On the Belkin USB PCCard w/o the external power brick,
I measure 5 V. On the Belkin USB PCCard w/ the power
brick (as I used it on the HDDs), I measure 12 V.
Urk.

So, what should I ask Belkin to do?

Replace the housing and the drive under warranty.

They are legally responsible for their housing killing the drive.

Dont let them bullshit you on that.

 

[Rod Speed]

That doesnt matter if the drive housing uses an external power brick.

Replace the housing and the drive under warranty.

And the laptop too, its likely killed that as well.

 

[Rod Speed]

And the laptop too, its likely killed that as well.

Maybe not the laptop, it may well still be ok.

 

[TD Giorgio]

The laptop has 2 PCCard slots. One has an 802.11b - still working
fine. I've tested the other (where the Belkin USB PCCard was
inserted) with a CF Card/PCCard adapter - I can write/read/format OK.
The native USB port on the A20m is also OK. I'll let you know what
Belkin says. BTW, the Belkin power brick is labeled as 7.5 VDC out,
but I measure 12.5 V....

Todd

 

[Rod Speed]

The laptop has 2 PCCard slots. One has an 802.11b - still working
fine. I've tested the other (where the Belkin USB PCCard was
inserted) with a CF Card/PCCard adapter - I can write/read/format
OK. The native USB port on the A20m is also OK.

OK, that detail was a little unclear from your earlier posts.

I'll let you know what Belkin says.

Yeah, that would be good.

BTW, the Belkin power brick is labeled
as 7.5 VDC out, but I measure 12.5 V....

Thats normal unloaded. Its a bit high loaded, but the
external housing should regulate it down to 5V for the
drive inside that, and presumably thats what's failed,
the regulator, and that isnt being regulated anymore
and thats what killed the drives.