USB 2.0 Digitus enclosure with Maxtor HDD problems...

Pluppo · 07-02-2006, 04:07 AM

Hello!

I had some problems with my Digitus enclosure a while back, it's got a 200 GB Maxtor HDD in it. Actually it hasn't been working for months and I would like to fix it. I'm using it with a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop, through a Belkin PCMCIA USB 2.0 card.

It all started when I was downloading a large file to the drive, all of the sudden the download stopped, and it was because the drive was not there anymore.

I took the enclosure to a friend who has a stationary PC, and the drive worked (at least for a few seconds, because I turned it off straight away). When I got home and plugged it in, it worked for about 30mn, then stopped working. After this I tried pretty much everything I could think of, I reinstalled all drivers for all related devices, but nothing seemed to help.

I remember that when the drive was working, I could see it as a "maxtor" device in device manager, but after the problem started it shows up as USB2 Mass Storage Device instead, without showing the drive letter in My Computer or in HDD management tools. I did a lot of unplugging and restarting and sometimes I could see the drive letter in My Computer again, without being able to access it.

If I unplugg everything for a few days, and then try it, I'm able to access the HDD for a few seconds, but then it vanishes.

So, here's what I think I can conclude for these experiences:

- There is nothing wrong with the Belkin PCMCIA USB 2.0 card, because it works with other USB 2.0 devices.

- There is nothing wrong with the Maxtor HDD, otherwise I would never be able to access the content on occasions.

- Something must be wrong with the Digitus enclosure. I'm guessing it could be something to do with it's powersupply, but I don't know enough about these things to be sure. I don't want to order a new powersupply if something else is wrong, maybe it's the enclosure itself?

Please let me know what you think about my problem. If you need more information, let me know and I'll post it...

**manic** · 07-02-2006, 01:47 PM

Take drive out of enclosure, inspecting the components inside. Set the
drive to slave, install it on a desktop pc. See what happens. If the format
of the drive is in ntfs you will not be able to access the data, fairly
certain. If the format is fat32 you should have complete access to data.
Either way you will know if the hdd is ok.

07-02-2006, 04:07 AM	#1 (permalink)
Pluppo Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 6 OS: XP	USB 2.0 Digitus enclosure with Maxtor HDD problems... Hello! I had some problems with my Digitus enclosure a while back, it's got a 200 GB Maxtor HDD in it. Actually it hasn't been working for months and I would like to fix it. I'm using it with a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop, through a Belkin PCMCIA USB 2.0 card. It all started when I was downloading a large file to the drive, all of the sudden the download stopped, and it was because the drive was not there anymore. I took the enclosure to a friend who has a stationary PC, and the drive worked (at least for a few seconds, because I turned it off straight away). When I got home and plugged it in, it worked for about 30mn, then stopped working. After this I tried pretty much everything I could think of, I reinstalled all drivers for all related devices, but nothing seemed to help. I remember that when the drive was working, I could see it as a "maxtor" device in device manager, but after the problem started it shows up as USB2 Mass Storage Device instead, without showing the drive letter in My Computer or in HDD management tools. I did a lot of unplugging and restarting and sometimes I could see the drive letter in My Computer again, without being able to access it. If I unplugg everything for a few days, and then try it, I'm able to access the HDD for a few seconds, but then it vanishes. So, here's what I think I can conclude for these experiences: - There is nothing wrong with the Belkin PCMCIA USB 2.0 card, because it works with other USB 2.0 devices. - There is nothing wrong with the Maxtor HDD, otherwise I would never be able to access the content on occasions. - Something must be wrong with the Digitus enclosure. I'm guessing it could be something to do with it's powersupply, but I don't know enough about these things to be sure. I don't want to order a new powersupply if something else is wrong, maybe it's the enclosure itself? Please let me know what you think about my problem. If you need more information, let me know and I'll post it...

07-02-2006, 01:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,197 OS: xp	Take drive out of enclosure, inspecting the components inside. Set the drive to slave, install it on a desktop pc. See what happens. If the format of the drive is in ntfs you will not be able to access the data, fairly certain. If the format is fat32 you should have complete access to data. Either way you will know if the hdd is ok. __________________