meirionwyllt said:
I've just bought a Maxtor 400GB SATA drive and want to use it as an
external HDD via my SATA-ready external USB2 case. When I first
plugged it in, it was 'sort of' recognised by Windows XP SP2 in that it
came up with USB Mass Starage Device, but not 'Maxtor ------'. I then
went to Computer Management, initilized, then formatted the drive abd
gave it a letter. I then copied over the vast amount of music from the
other external HDD (the PATA one that I'm replacing). All was fine and
dandy until I rebooted, only to find that the SATA drive was no longer
recognised by Windows, and it had also taken out my other external
drive, so in My Computer I was left with the two partitions of my
internal drive, and DVD-R drive, and only those.
If I delete all 'Disk drive' devices and reboot with only the sata
drive plugged in to the USB, then I can get it to reappear, but of
course I don't want to be doing this every time.
OK so I'm guessing it's something to do with my USB2 controller
perhaps? FYI, my laptop is a Centrino, so the host controller is
'Intel 82801FB/FBM'. I have tried looking on the Intel website but
it's so confising, there's all these different chipsets with all the
same name and none that really seem to be right.
Any help on this would be cool, so I can start using my new drive.
Thank you.
P.S. Should I be seeing a SATA controller somewhere in my device
manager? Also, is it normal that I have 5 USB controllers in my device
manager, 4 USB and 1 USB2?
meirionwyllt:
Understand that when you use your SATA HD in a USB external HD enclosure, it
becomes, for all practical purposes, a USB device and is treated as such by
your system. So there will not be any indication of "SATA controller" in
Device Manager unless you have another internal SATA HD installed - which,
of course, you don't have (I believe).
If I correctly understand you - you are using two USB EHD devices, one
containing a SATA HD and the other a PATA HD. I assume that you connected
both devices to your laptop and (apparently) successfully copied over all
the files you wanted from the USB EHD containing the PATA HD to your new USB
EHD containing your SATA HD. Is that right?
Now you disconnect from the system the USB EHD containing the PATA HD, and
with the USB EHD containing the SATA HD still connected, boot up. And here's
where you experience your problem, right? The system does not detect the
existence of this USB EHD that contains your SATA HD. Is that your precise
problem? Or have I missed something?
If it is, we can go on from here.
Anna
meirionwyllt said:
Thanks for your help. Yes, you have my problem pretty much understood.
The only addition I'd make to your diagnosis is the fact that, after
rebooting, this problem occurs regardless of whether I still have my
old PATA HD still connected. When I plug in my SATA for the first time
(or the first time since I delete the driver), then all is well and the
drive is recognised, but when I reboot it will not re recognised during
Windows startup and will not appear in My Computer.
I hope this additional bit will be of use to you.
Thanks again.
meirionwyllt:
Frankly, I'm getting a bit more confused with your latest response. Please
understand that when you install either a PATA or SATA HD in an appropriate
USB external hard drive enclosure designed for that particular type of
drive, and use that device as a USB device - it's of no consequence (in this
situation) as to whether the HD has a PATA or SATA interface. I want you to
clearly understand that.
I mention this because you state that "When I plug in my SATA for the first
time
(or the first time since I delete the driver), then all is well and the
drive is recognised, but when I reboot it will not (b)e recognised during
Windows startup and will not appear in My Computer."
We are talking about a SATA HD installed in a USB external HD enclosure, are
we not? Why is there your reference to "delete the (SATA?) driver"? Why is
there a driver issue here? What do you mean about "plug(gin) in my SATA for
the first time...then all is well and the drive is recognized but when I
reboot it will not (b)e recognised during Windows startup and will not
appear in My Computer."?
Again, this issue basically involves an issue of a USB device not being
recognized by the operating system, is that right? There's an inference in
your latest statement that this might not be so. That somehow you're
referring to some drive-recognition problem involving an *internal* SATA HD.
Again, just to make this issue clear. The basic problem, as I originally
understood it, is that your system does not detect a USB external HD (a
SATA HD is installed in that USB device), i.e., you cannot access the
contents of that external HD. There's no problem with your system when you
boot with your internal HD and the system functions properly in all respects
notwithstanding the USB EHD non-recognition problem. If that is the case,
try the following...
1. Access Disk Management and see if the USB device is listed. If so, and
there's no drive letter assigned, see if you can assign a drive letter to
the device.
2. If the USB device is listed in Disk Management with an assigned drive
letter, right-click on its listing and select Explore from the submenu.
Hopefully, Windows Explorer will open and the device will be listed.
3. Connect the USB device *directly* to a USB port on the computer, not via
a USB hub. Try different USB ports if your computer has more than one.
4. Do not use a USB extension cable.
5. Try alternate powering on/off methods. If the USB device contains its own
power supply, try booting up with its power on, then try powering on only
*after* the system has booted to a Desktop.
6. Try a different USB cable.
7. In the USB controllers section of Device Manager, uninstall all the USB
controllers listed and reboot.
8. Check out the HD with the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility.
If it checks out OK, another option is to remove the HD from its enclosure
and, if possible, install the HD as an internal HD to determine if there
are problems with the drive.
9. Access the website of the manufacturer of the USB device to determine if
there's any firmware update or info re the problem you're experiencing or
there's any possibility that the USB enclosure itself might be defective.
10. Determine from the manufacturer of your motherboard whether there's a
BIOS upgrade affecting USB device recognition.
Anna
meirionwyllt said:
Hi, I have now had a chance to try out your suggestions.
Just to confirm, both drives that I mentioned are indeed connected
externally via two different USB cases, and yes, the necessary files
have been copied over successfully to the USB Device that contains the
SATA drive. I tested this when the initial file transfer took place.
When I mentioned "deleting the driver and rebooting", I was referring
to deleting the "Unknown Device" driver that appears in my device
manager when my USB Device that contains the SATA drive is plugged in.
When my other drive (PATA via USB case) is plugged in, Windows
automatically recognises it as "Maxtor 6 Y160P0 USB Device" and places
the relevant device driver in Device Manager. It's confusing because
both my external drives are Maxtor, but I know the "Maxtor 6 Y160P0 USB
Device" definitely refers to my old external PATA drive because I
recognise the Y160P0 model number. But with my new SATA Drive/USB Case
combo, the driver in Device Manager shows up as 'Unknown Device' under
the heading of 'Universal Serial Bus controllers', and nothing appears
alongside the "Maxtor 6 Y160P0 USB Device" in the 'Disk Drives'
section.
I also checked 'Computer Management'. It no longer appears in the
'Disk Management' section. It definitely did so before, because I was
able to format it and give it a drive letter.
As for trying to find an updated driver for my USB controller, I went
to the Intel website and downloaded and installed a set of INF files
that were appropriate for my chipset.
I've also tried deleting everything in the 'Universal Serial Bus
controllers' section of Device Manager and rebooting, and still
nothing.
I have tried using a different USB cable, and different ports, and I am
not using an USB Hub and am not using an extension cable.
UPDATE: I have now tried your suggestion number 5 and, interestingly,
if I switch the power of the ext case of my SATA drive off and then on
during a Windows session, then all is well - the drive appears in My
Computer, Device Manager (as Maxtor 6 Q6BH USB Device) and in Disk
Management. But the drive will not boot up in this state, it always
requires me to switch the power off/on during Windows for this to
happen.
I have now also downloaded the latest version of my BIOS, or at least
the latest version on the Acer website, the manufacturer of my laptop.
But after flashing there is still no improvement.
Do you have any further suggestions? I hope the above info will help
you to shed some light on this confusing and very annoying matter.
Thanks so much for your help.
meirionwyllt:
I really don't know what else to suggest. We have run into the same
situation as you relate in your "UPDATE:" paragraph in that sometimes before
the system will recognize the USB external HD device it's necessary to power
up the USB external HD *before* booting to the OS, conversely other times
the opposite is true (as is apparently the situation in your case). We just
live with it.
Please note you are *not* booting up with the USB external HD. I assume you
don't really mean that in the technical sense. You are booting up to your
internal HD which contains the XP operating system, right?. I just want to
make that clear so that there's no misunderstanding here.
Anna
