win2000 pc not detecting usb external hard drive

[rb]

I've just pressed an old pc into service, and it's running one of my
favorites: Win2000.

Got everything working except one USB device.

I've added a 4 USB port pci card to supplement the two USB ports that came
with the pc.

I have a printer, monitor, and external USB hard drive plugged into the pci
card strip. The printer and monitor work fine. The USB external hard drive
is not detected.

I also tried the external USB hard drive in one of the two original USB
ports. Not detected there either.

I switched the USB hard drive to my other pc next spot over, and it works
fine on it.

What should I check????

 

[Sid Elbow]

I have a printer, monitor, and external USB hard drive plugged into the pci
card strip. The printer and monitor work fine. The USB external hard drive
is not detected.

I also tried the external USB hard drive in one of the two original USB
ports. Not detected there either.

I switched the USB hard drive to my other pc next spot over, and it works
fine on it.

What should I check????

Is the drive powered from the USB bus or does it have its own power
supply? Some usb installations don't give enough power to USB HD's.

 

[rb]

Good point. My USB external hard drive has it's own 110v power cord, if
that's what you're asking.

 

[Sid Elbow]

Good point. My USB external hard drive has it's own 110v power cord, if
that's what you're asking.

Yes, that was what I meant. So, assuming it was plugged in at the time
(believe me I've been there ), power doesn't seem to be the problem.

I presume that somewhere along the way, you rebooted the "faulty"
machine just in case. The only other thing I can suggest is that you
power down, unplug all other usb devices, reboot and try again.

That and try another cable.

 

[rb]

Well, turns out it was a hard to see loose plug connection that was the
culprit. Glad I found that, as I was in the process of going nuts as to
what the heck was wrong. Nothing made sense until I just happened to wiggle
the signal cable coming out of the external usb hard drive.

Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Sid Elbow]

Well, turns out it was a hard to see loose plug connection that was the
culprit. Glad I found that, as I was in the process of going nuts as to
what the heck was wrong. Nothing made sense until I just happened to wiggle
the signal cable coming out of the external usb hard drive.

Glad you found it. I had the same thing with a small (laptop) drive USB
drive. The connector at the drive end was flaky. Wiggling the cable
would give intermittent contact. Swapping the cable didn't help - it was
the connector itself. Miniaturised to the point of being delicate as is
so often the case these days.