USB drive turns off and on constantly

M

Max

My USB drive turns off and on all the time. Not good. I heard someone say
WinXP does this in USB 2.0 mode because it can't handle large xfers or
something. Is there a fix?

-Max
 
A

Andre Da Costa

After you've installed your new USB 2.0 controller and devices, connect to
the Internet and open Windows Update. Make sure that your new hardware is
plugged in and operating (at least at low speed). If Windows XP recognizes
your USB 2.0 hardware, it will offer you the chance to download the new USB
2.0 drivers. You can also manually download the driver by following the
steps in Universal Serial Bus 2.0 Support in Windows XP.

See link:
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;312370

Andre
 
M

Max

Brand new computer, and just updated thru windows update. This happens on
all 3 of my computers. The external hard drive just shuts down and turns on,
even when I'm not using the drive. So basically everything you said is no
help.

-Max
 
C

CS

You never mentioned what make model your external USB 2.0 hard drive
is. Some external USB 2.0 hard drives have a built in "sleep mode"
and will shut down or spin down when not in use. Usually this can be
controlled or turned off through software supplied by the drive maker.

You can also check your power options in XP through Control Panel and
make sure you do not have any hard drives set to turn off after a
specific time. I believe that setting is only for internal drives
attached to the IDE bus connectors but am not 100 percent certain.
 
M

Max

I/O Magic aluminum case - WD 120MB IDE drive, not sure of exact model. There
is no IOMagic driver. Maybe a WD jumper setting? In my USB settings I have
unchecked ~ability to shutdown hardware to save power~ and I have all power
management to never turn hard drives off. Someone told me it's a bug in
Windows and USB 2.0, but I've not heard anyone else say it from my
searching.

-Max
 
A

Alex Nichol

Max said:
My USB drive turns off and on all the time. Not good. I heard someone say
WinXP does this in USB 2.0 mode because it can't handle large xfers or
something.

In Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager
Look in USB devices at the bottom, for the Root Hub concerned. You may
need to double click and check on the Power page for the one relevant
to the drive, then on the Power Management page uncheck 'Allow . . .
turn off. . . to save power'
 
R

R. McCarty

Also, when you have the Details box open for each USB Hub, click
the "Power" (Tab) and check power usage and Bandwidth. If you
have the drive on a heavily loaded USB channel, you might need to
move it to a different one.
 
M

Max

The drive is the only USB device connected, besides my mouse, maybe the
mouse is causing it but doubtful.

And I did turn off save power.

Thanks for the try anyway! I really don't know what else to do except stop
using it and go with firewire, or perhaps removable SATA hard drive racks --
but my notebooks won't be able to use them really.

-Max


R. McCarty said:
Also, when you have the Details box open for each USB Hub, click
the "Power" (Tab) and check power usage and Bandwidth. If you
have the drive on a heavily loaded USB channel, you might need to
move it to a different one.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top