Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Just bumping the thread. Any ideas?
Just bumping the thread. Any ideas?
[SOLVED] Problem w/ External Hard Drive
I've tried googling this one but none of the results seem to help / aren't relevant to my situation.
Here's what's wrong. Running Windows Vista, using an external USB HD (Acomdata "hybrid drive"). It's been working fine for a while, but all of a sudden, Windows no longer recognizes the drive. It doesn't show up in disk management nor does it show up in My Computer.
However, a message does keep popping up - a notification that the device can run faster in a USB 2.0 port. Pretty much just ignoring the message, since I've tried plugging the device into different ports and get the same result. All other USB devices work perfectly, and all ports are working fine. No drivers missing.
I've tried the following so far to get it to work:
- using the USB cable from another external hard drive which is known to work; this didn't work
- plugging the hard drive into two different computers (running WinXP); this didn't work
- Tried re-installing the driver software with the HD's CD; this didn't work as the software was already installed.
Really at a loss here. It powers up just fine and all cables are connected properly. But no computer sees it.
Any suggestions? Please let me know. Thanks!!
Here's what's wrong. Running Windows Vista, using an external USB HD (Acomdata "hybrid drive"). It's been working fine for a while, but all of a sudden, Windows no longer recognizes the drive. It doesn't show up in disk management nor does it show up in My Computer.
However, a message does keep popping up - a notification that the device can run faster in a USB 2.0 port. Pretty much just ignoring the message, since I've tried plugging the device into different ports and get the same result. All other USB devices work perfectly, and all ports are working fine. No drivers missing.
I've tried the following so far to get it to work:
- using the USB cable from another external hard drive which is known to work; this didn't work
- plugging the hard drive into two different computers (running WinXP); this didn't work
- Tried re-installing the driver software with the HD's CD; this didn't work as the software was already installed.
Really at a loss here. It powers up just fine and all cables are connected properly. But no computer sees it.
Any suggestions? Please let me know. Thanks!!
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Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Hmmm unplug the drive, uninstall akll your USB ports from device manager, reboot and let the OS reload the USB drivers. I assume the USB2.0 message is a relatively new occurrence? Sounds like a driver may be hosed for the port itself.
Hmmm unplug the drive, uninstall akll your USB ports from device manager, reboot and let the OS reload the USB drivers. I assume the USB2.0 message is a relatively new occurrence? Sounds like a driver may be hosed for the port itself.
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
SRG,
Any updates on this? I have an E5 500gb and have just started having the same problem. It seems to lock up during the CD partition boot and the computer will not see the drive or any of the data.
I have sent a tech support request to Acomdata, but we'll see how that goes. I also have e-mails in to several of my tech head pals, so I am hoping we will come up with a solution to at least retrieve the data.
e-mail me at [email protected] if you have any updates and I will post any solution I am given.
I have accepted the fact the drive is probably shot, I just want my 200gb of data back.
SRG,
Any updates on this? I have an E5 500gb and have just started having the same problem. It seems to lock up during the CD partition boot and the computer will not see the drive or any of the data.
I have sent a tech support request to Acomdata, but we'll see how that goes. I also have e-mails in to several of my tech head pals, so I am hoping we will come up with a solution to at least retrieve the data.
e-mail me at [email protected] if you have any updates and I will post any solution I am given.
I have accepted the fact the drive is probably shot, I just want my 200gb of data back.
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Did you try reloading the USB drivers? If that failed, and you are primarily concerned with recovery, remove the drive from teh USB enclosure and install it as an internal drive. If it is identified in BIOS, then scan with r-studio and verify it is able to find your files, then just write them out to another drive. If it is not identified in BIOS, post the make and model number of the actual drive that is inside the Acomdata enclosure.
Did you try reloading the USB drivers? If that failed, and you are primarily concerned with recovery, remove the drive from teh USB enclosure and install it as an internal drive. If it is identified in BIOS, then scan with r-studio and verify it is able to find your files, then just write them out to another drive. If it is not identified in BIOS, post the make and model number of the actual drive that is inside the Acomdata enclosure.
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Haven't had any luck with this. I'm sure it's not the USB drivers because all other USB devices work. And I don't believe the hard drive can be removed from the enclosure - it's not a regular hard drive placed in an enclosure.
Haven't had any luck with this. I'm sure it's not the USB drivers because all other USB devices work. And I don't believe the hard drive can be removed from the enclosure - it's not a regular hard drive placed in an enclosure.
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
What is the model number of the acomdata enclosure? It may not be a true electromechanical but if it's a hybrid drive, it simply has a combo SSD for high capacity cache. Considering Acomdata doesn't actually build drives - the drive inside is almost certainly a discrete drive in the enclosure, probably a samsung.
What is the model number of the acomdata enclosure? It may not be a true electromechanical but if it's a hybrid drive, it simply has a combo SSD for high capacity cache. Considering Acomdata doesn't actually build drives - the drive inside is almost certainly a discrete drive in the enclosure, probably a samsung.
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
I bet your USB drive is OK, try these:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/find-your-missing-usb-drive-on-windows-xp/
http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/12/show-hidden-devices-in-windows-xp.html.
For some people reporting such problems this one worked: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
(Tweak UI is of interest)
I bet your USB drive is OK, try these:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/find-your-missing-usb-drive-on-windows-xp/
http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/12/show-hidden-devices-in-windows-xp.html.
For some people reporting such problems this one worked: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
(Tweak UI is of interest)
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
I have been getting similar responses from other people I know, but I think we are not getting across the unique nature of this drive. It is not simply a USB drive, but it is an AC powered drive that is almost it's own OS.
Here is the link to the technical data.....
http://www.acomdata.com/e5_hybriddrive.asp
I have had people tell me to simply hook it to a SATA connection, but you will see by the data, there are no hookups for that. USB port, AC power port, that's it. With this trouble I can assure you my next XHD will be a simple storage unit, but the E5 seemed to have some nice features, and I got one hell of a deal on it.
Let me know if this makes any sense. If I am simply misunderstanding what you are advising, please, Like Denzel Washington said "explain it like I'm a 5 year old."
De Laurentius - I did try the methods you linked, as they were all part of the troubleshooting, but when the CD partition locks up, you not only can't see the HD partition, you can't get to it.
Thanks for the feedback, and please don't give up. I know I won't.:4-dontkno
I have been getting similar responses from other people I know, but I think we are not getting across the unique nature of this drive. It is not simply a USB drive, but it is an AC powered drive that is almost it's own OS.
Here is the link to the technical data.....
http://www.acomdata.com/e5_hybriddrive.asp
I have had people tell me to simply hook it to a SATA connection, but you will see by the data, there are no hookups for that. USB port, AC power port, that's it. With this trouble I can assure you my next XHD will be a simple storage unit, but the E5 seemed to have some nice features, and I got one hell of a deal on it.
Let me know if this makes any sense. If I am simply misunderstanding what you are advising, please, Like Denzel Washington said "explain it like I'm a 5 year old."
De Laurentius - I did try the methods you linked, as they were all part of the troubleshooting, but when the CD partition locks up, you not only can't see the HD partition, you can't get to it.
Thanks for the feedback, and please don't give up. I know I won't.:4-dontkno
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
None of the specs indicates anything oput of the ordinary on the drive, the processor included seems to be simply used on the USB interface card in the enclosure. All the other specs sound like a typical 7200 rpm hard drive. The whole Nomad thing is nice marketing, it runs some preconfigured apps that have all the dll's in the application folder. While I haven't had one of these enclosures come in for recovery, I have had a couple of the Lacie Raid boxes, and some other externals come in that had some marketing bells and whistles, at the heart of the enclosure tho is a standard SATA drive. I doubt this is really even what is considered to be an industry standard 'hybrid drive' or else the cut sheet would have mentioned the 'ready drive' support and the SSD preloading cache. Any 3.5 inch external drive will require AC power - USB can't provide enough current to spin up 3.5 inch platters - anything bus powered will be a 2.5 inch drive inside.
I really think if you open the enclosure, you will find a standard 3.5 SATA drive inside, pull that out and mount it internally and see what happens from there. External drives are really hard to trouble shoot since the USB interface doesn't pass all the low level commands and protocols that some of the better recovery tools need. Anytime we get an external drive in for recovery, first thing to happen is the drives come out of the enclosure and get connected via PATA or SATA ( as needed ) to the hardware imager. Your call but that would be the next step I would take.
Here is the same principal as the 'Nomad Desktop' except designed to run off of a USB thumb drive http://portableapps.com/
None of the specs indicates anything oput of the ordinary on the drive, the processor included seems to be simply used on the USB interface card in the enclosure. All the other specs sound like a typical 7200 rpm hard drive. The whole Nomad thing is nice marketing, it runs some preconfigured apps that have all the dll's in the application folder. While I haven't had one of these enclosures come in for recovery, I have had a couple of the Lacie Raid boxes, and some other externals come in that had some marketing bells and whistles, at the heart of the enclosure tho is a standard SATA drive. I doubt this is really even what is considered to be an industry standard 'hybrid drive' or else the cut sheet would have mentioned the 'ready drive' support and the SSD preloading cache. Any 3.5 inch external drive will require AC power - USB can't provide enough current to spin up 3.5 inch platters - anything bus powered will be a 2.5 inch drive inside.
I really think if you open the enclosure, you will find a standard 3.5 SATA drive inside, pull that out and mount it internally and see what happens from there. External drives are really hard to trouble shoot since the USB interface doesn't pass all the low level commands and protocols that some of the better recovery tools need. Anytime we get an external drive in for recovery, first thing to happen is the drives come out of the enclosure and get connected via PATA or SATA ( as needed ) to the hardware imager. Your call but that would be the next step I would take.
Here is the same principal as the 'Nomad Desktop' except designed to run off of a USB thumb drive http://portableapps.com/
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
I actually wound up getting the HD out - it's a Western Digital HD inside. I hooked it up to a desktop computer, and while it recognizes the drive, I can't assign it a drive letter.
I'm thinking my last resort is deleting the partition, reformatting, and using a free program to recover the lost data.
Any input?
I actually wound up getting the HD out - it's a Western Digital HD inside. I hooked it up to a desktop computer, and while it recognizes the drive, I can't assign it a drive letter.
I'm thinking my last resort is deleting the partition, reformatting, and using a free program to recover the lost data.
Any input?
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
If it is in BIOS, don't format to recover your data - if the BIOS can find it and all that is missing is the file structure then try the recovery software against the whole physical drive. r-studio is like $50.00 and will handle the drive if BIOS sees it. What is the Model number of the WD> 50000AAKS perhaps?
If it is in BIOS, don't format to recover your data - if the BIOS can find it and all that is missing is the file structure then try the recovery software against the whole physical drive. r-studio is like $50.00 and will handle the drive if BIOS sees it. What is the Model number of the WD> 50000AAKS perhaps?
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
I believe it is picked up in the BIOS. Okay, that is good news. I'll write back w/ model number later on tonight; I'm at work and the HD is at home.
I believe it is picked up in the BIOS. Okay, that is good news. I'll write back w/ model number later on tonight; I'm at work and the HD is at home.
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Cracked mine open and it is indeed a WD5000AAKS.
I appreciate all of your help on this, and will let you know if I am able to bypass or work around the CD partition and get my data.
Thanks again
ray:
Cracked mine open and it is indeed a WD5000AAKS.
I appreciate all of your help on this, and will let you know if I am able to bypass or work around the CD partition and get my data.
Thanks again
ray:Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Could be a corrupt firmware problem on that one...
Could be a corrupt firmware problem on that one...
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Yeah, could be why acomdata has yet to get back to me on my tech support query. I can't wait to see if this works. If so, maybe I'll just leave it attached as a slave drive for storage. That would be great.
Thanks again
Yeah, could be why acomdata has yet to get back to me on my tech support query. I can't wait to see if this works. If so, maybe I'll just leave it attached as a slave drive for storage. That would be great.
Thanks again
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Alright, the hard drive I have is a Western Digital. SM-WDC WD1600BB-00.
I've tried two freeware programs (Recuva and PC Inspector), they haven't been able to retrieve the files from the drive - though it is picked up in the BIOS, and it's in file manager (just can't assign a drive letter).
I honestly don't have the free cash to shell out for a paid software to try and fix this so I'm hoping there are some free solutions. Thanks!
Alright, the hard drive I have is a Western Digital. SM-WDC WD1600BB-00.
I've tried two freeware programs (Recuva and PC Inspector), they haven't been able to retrieve the files from the drive - though it is picked up in the BIOS, and it's in file manager (just can't assign a drive letter).
I honestly don't have the free cash to shell out for a paid software to try and fix this so I'm hoping there are some free solutions. Thanks!
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Is recuva finding anything? You could also try photorec from the test_disk author and see if it can find anything. Also try partition find and mount and se if it can find the partition and mount it as a drive letter to allow you to copy the data off.
Is recuva finding anything? You could also try photorec from the test_disk author and see if it can find anything. Also try partition find and mount and se if it can find the partition and mount it as a drive letter to allow you to copy the data off.
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Recuva doesn't even see the extra drive. I'm trying a different program right now - seems more promising, but it's in the middle of scanning. Either way I think I'm leaving it alone after the scan tonight. I'll take a look at your suggestions afterward though, for sure!
Recuva doesn't even see the extra drive. I'm trying a different program right now - seems more promising, but it's in the middle of scanning. Either way I think I'm leaving it alone after the scan tonight. I'll take a look at your suggestions afterward though, for sure!
Re: Problem w/ External Hard Drive
Wow, wish I knew about Partition Find & Mount a while ago!! It worked perfectly - mounted it to V:/ and am copying the files.
However, one quick quesiton - it's read-only; I didn't have time to explore this fully (i.e. could be a setting in properties somewhere, I'll have to check), but after getting my gf's files off - you think it would be easier to delete the partition and just wipe it clean?
Wow, wish I knew about Partition Find & Mount a while ago!! It worked perfectly - mounted it to V:/ and am copying the files.
However, one quick quesiton - it's read-only; I didn't have time to explore this fully (i.e. could be a setting in properties somewhere, I'll have to check), but after getting my gf's files off - you think it would be easier to delete the partition and just wipe it clean?
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