USB device not recognized

[Magnus Österberg]

Hi!

I've got an ASUS A6 SMP laptop with Windows XP Home Edition SP2. My
wireless Logitech keyboard + mouse USB-connector works fine, so do the
USB-connection to my digi camera, aswell as USB for my Creative MP3
player.
But, the USB for my MAPOWER external harddisk stopped working!
I plug it in, Windows says "USB decice is ready for use" but after a few
seconds a yellow note pops up saying "USB device not recognized". There's
nothing wrong with the hard disk, I tried it on other computers, it works!.
I ve been browsing
the net, this seems to be a common problem for many people. The external
disk case has its own power supply.

I tried deleteing all USB stuff from the device manager. When i booted,
all USB stuff, except my HD works. I tried removing all other USB hardware,
the disk still doesn't work.

Please, come up with a fix for this. Please, Do not tell me to re-install
Windows, that's not a solution.

Magnus

 

[Guest]

Reinstall Windows! There is something to be said for Western Digital
external hard drives. Sounds like you need to reinstall the drivers.

 

[Magnus Österberg]

There have to be another solution than to reinstall the OS?

Magnus

 

[Guest]

I was just joking about reinstalling Windows (you said not to tell you to
reinstall Windows) ;-) . I suggested that you reinstall the USB hard drive
drivers - did you try that yet?

 

[Guest]

Many external USB hard drives come with drivers and sometimes applications
also. If you find the CD try reinstalling these drivers. If you know that
there wasn't any drivers to install, let me know the make and model number of
your external USB hard drive.

 

[jamesjfraney]

sorry to hijack but I have the same problem - I have a Bluemedia
External Hard Drive.....Have reinstalled all drives etc....it worked
for six months then suddenyl nothing!! Note that it does show up as a
generic storage device in device manager but not in My COmputer

 

[Guest]

When this first happened had you installed any new updates, software or
hardware?

You might want to set your system to NOT download and install Microsoft
updates - instead let Automatic Update inform you of available updates, they
it is your decision to download and have them installed. This way you will
know if your system gets weird that the recent MS update is the problem. If
the updater does everything behind your back, then you will not have any idea
why or what is making your system suddenly dysfunctional.

Did you try to take the system back right away to a recent Restore Point?
Does the external hard drive work on different computers (test this to make
sure the drive is working)?

 

[Magnus Österberg]

Me too set the Windows Auto Updater to always confirm with me before any
updates. That is probably a good idea.

My disk is a Maxtor and the case is branded MAPOWER. I'll check the exact
make and model tonight.
There are no additional driver CD's, all drivers are automatically installed
by the OS (Win XP SP2 Home Edition, english).

I could try taking the system back to a restore point aswell...

Magnus

 

[Magnus Österberg]

My disk is a Maxtor 250 gb in a MAPOWER case. but I don't see in what way
this would affect? I mean, USB is always USB, right?
But there have to be some kind of solution to this...

Magnus

 

[Guest]

Mapower does have drivers for most of its products. You need to find out
what product/enclosure you own. A model type and/or number is required in
order to select the right driver.

 

[Magnus Österberg]

A software driver for a USB component?? In this case, a case for an external
hard disk. What do you mean? In what way could Windows interact with the
case and what good would a driver do in this case? In this case, I'm totally
lost.

Magnus

 

[Guest]

Yep. Almost all USB devices require a driver. If Windows itself doesn't
have and/or install it, then it requires it to be installed from some other
source (CD or whatever). The driver would allow the case IDE to USB
conversion so Windows can identify the device and know how it is used - as a
storage device. What is the model type and/or number for the case?

 

[Magnus Österberg]

Now as I finally looked at Mapowers web site I saw that there actually are
drivers for these kinds of hard disk enclosures aswell. Mine is a Mapower
KC21B. I tried to use the Genesis driver (330200422618PMCY_Win_6_01.zip) but
without success. I didn't get all of the INI-file configuration. Isn't there
any easier solution, such as a customized install package?

PS. I tried Mapower on another Win XP computer again, worked fine. I'll try
and use a USB-Y cable next week.

Magnus

 

[Magnus Österberg]

Hmm, no, I'd say it's this one.

http://www.mapower.com/Product.asp?CateID=94&LineID=10

 

[Guest]

Well let me know if it works out and how. You might use Mapower support to
see if they already know of the problem and how to fix it.

 

[Magnus Österberg]

The USB-Y cable I was about to borrow was the one with the smaller ending.
Thus it didn't fit. So the problem still lives. I tried to update the BIOS,
and some drivers using an ASUS live update toool. No change.

I still don't understad how an USB-Y cable could solve this? I mean, the HD
case has its own AC power cable.

Appreciate any further assistance!

Magnus

 

[Magnus Österberg]

I now tried to install XP Pro Edition onto the Home Edition. I was placing
very much hope in that this would clean out any erroneous registry settings
etc. Burt no...exactly everything else but the external USB hard disk
works...I am getting deeply depressed... (kidding)

Magnus

 

[Guest]

Who suggested using a USB Y cable? What kind of Y cable?

Upgrading the operating system usually does not fix existing OS problems.
Nice try with the BIOS, that too is rarely a solution.

Did you contact Mapower support with your problem?

You might want to repost this problem since it is over a week old and has
too many replies for anyone to be interested in looking at it. If fact a
problem with 3 or more replies is frequently ignored - presumed that the
problem has been answered/solved.

 

[Magnus Österberg]

Yep, I'll repost...later...

Some other guy mentioned the USB-Y cable. Do u think that could do any good?
They're pretty expensive..

Nope, not in touch with Mapower yet.

Magnus

 

[Guest]

I don't know, you didn't mention what kind of Y cable. I'll presume PS/2 to
USB. It could work, but it is a odd way to deal with the problem. At Newegg
( http://www.newegg.com ) USB cables are cheap. If anyone is going to know
or have a solution it would be the manufacturer.