PC not recognising new external hard drive

[MikeH]

Just bought a new WD Sata HD and an external caddy to use as a backup of data after the Sata connector on my internal HD decided to melt after 5 years. Luckily the PC shut down before damage was done to the HD. Anyway, I plugged the caddy into the PC via USB and a message popped up that said something like "Windows (XP Pro) has detected new hardware but doesn't know what to do with it". After 5 mins of me explaining to my PC what to do with it, it still didn't have a clue! So, like IDE external drives before it, I went to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management hoping to format and partition the drive......yes, you guessed, unlike the IDE drives, the Sata drive wasn't there! How is one supposed to format and partition a drive in Disk Manager if it can't recognize the drive? Is there a way of getting the PC/Windows to recognize the drive (with threats or a hammer!) or must I resort to even more flippin' software?
Any advice would be more than welcome.
Mike

 

[TriplexDread]

Hiya Mike, is it showing on the BIOS boot screen?

 

[MikeH]

Thanks for reply, but I think it's the caddy that's at fault. I bought another new WD drive and after unplugging and re-plugging the caddy I actually managed to get Windows to recognise the drive. After 5 attempts I actually managed to partition and format the drive. But now when I access it under My Computer, the drive appears, then disappears, then the 3 partitions appear one by one, only to disappear once more. So I'm sending the caddy back for a replacement.
Got fingers crossed.

 

[TriplexDread]

Seems there maybe faulty solder joints or broken wires within the cable

Good luck

 

[MikeH]

Received a replacement SATA caddy this morning. However, after fitting my newly formatted and partitioned WD HD into it and plugging into a USB socket, Windows "admitted" there was new hardware, it told me the make and model of HD, then said that there was a problem and it might not be working properly. It doesn't show up under My Computer nor Disk Manager. I have 3 external IDE caddies and didn't have any such problems with those. They just worked. I have read about installing SATA drivers but I already run 2 SATA HD's internally, so I assume the drivers are already present.
I have replaced a new hard drive thinking the first was faulty and replaced a caddy thinking it was also faulty......both replacements couldn't be faulty again surely? Must be something I'm doing or not doing. Any advice would be welcome.
Mike

 

[TriplexDread]

Mike I would suggest checking the USB socket you are plugging into?

Try a rear one or a friends PC or anything else that accepts external powered storage

 

[MikeH]

The USB cable that came with the caddy can't reach the back of my PC so I've ordered a longer one. My PC is under my desk on a plinth with a drawer unit next to it. Nearly all of my friends use Linux and not sure if it would show up after being formatted and partitioned under Windows.

 

[TriplexDread]

Ok well let us know how it goes

 

[MikeH]

Right, I've got a longer USB cable which I plugged into the back of the PC (USB socket on Motherboard) and turned the caddy on. Got a message:
"Unknown Device" then
"Hardware is installed and ready to use" then
"One of the USB devices on this computer has malfunctioned, and windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click on this message."
This is the 2nd WD 1TB Blue hard drive that I've obtained and from a different supplier. Surely the both of them can't be failing?
I removed the WD Blue drive and inserted into the caddy a Seagate 400GB drive, having been previously formatted like the WD Blue, and this drive was recognized immediately. So it's not the new caddy that's at fault.
The WD Blue does not appear under My Computer nor Disk Manager, so how am I supposed to sort this problem. The last message about clicking the message for help does not help very much. I click on it and it shows USB Root Hub with one of the connections as "Unknown Device", with the recommendation to reconnect the device, and If Windows still does not recognise it, replace the device!" BUT I ALREADY HAVE!!!!!!!
Yours,
Quite fed up!

 

[muckshifter]

I suspect a power problem ... my SATA 3 external drive came with a USB 3 Y-Cable

I'd also recommend buying a USB 3 powered hub, make sure it has it's own PSU.

USB is OK for mice, anything else really needs a supplemented PSU.

 

[gadjet]

Hi,
just a thought, I bought a WD USB Hard drive, on it's own worked fine, bought another, same drive. Will not work together with other drive. It refers to this issue in the documentation. Not sure if your hooking up two WD drives or not, thought this tidbit might help.

 

[MikeH]

Thanks for reply, but as a last resort I sent the last faulty powered caddy back and bought another new powered caddy. And guess what? It worked. At last! I'm thinking of checking the original caddy circuitry for a dry joint or similar. I've heard that there are more dry joint type faults since lead free solder has been banned in consumer electrical goods. If this is the problem and I can fix it I'll have a second caddy to use. Got fingers crossed.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I've heard that there are more dry joint type faults since lead free solder has been banned in consumer electrical goods.

Um, think you mean solder with lead, not lead-free

And solders containing lead aren't entirely banned, they just have their use restricted.

Most consumer goods are now built by machine and pcb's will probably be made by a machine performing flo-soldering.

It's worth scanning the soldered side of pcb's using a magnifying device to try and trace dry joints but the fault is just as liable to be a faulty component.

Glad you got your storage sorted

 

[MikeH]

Yes, you're right about the solder. Think I have a dry joint in my brain circuit!!!
Could be a faulty component, but if it is a dry joint and I find it, I'm quids in! Worth a fiddle about I think.

 

[V_R]

I've only just read this thread, so sorry for the late reply.

I had a similar issue with an old USB caddy a while back. It would on occasion not be recognised or 'malfunction' etc.

My bet is on a dodgy/corrupt USB driver.

Two ways I fixed it. Control Panel > Device manager, and uninstall the 'Generic USB Hubs' and reboot. Windows will reinstall them upon startup, then try plugging back in the caddy.

Or

Uninstall the device with this: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

But that didn't always do the trick for me. First option always fixed it.


I ended up binning the caddy as it just kept ****ing me off. No other device ever caused any issue so god knows what the root cause was....!