Dear All, thank you for the previous problem - it was solved. Now there is a another one problem that need your fantastic brain power. Whenever they plug in a portable external HD (2.5" that runs off the USB power), no drive letter for external hard drive is seen in my computer or Windows explorer. All 2.5" drives are recognised as they are seen in disk management, a green ticked arrow in the system tray, I can feel the mechanical HD moving in my hands & it is seen in the bios. I have to right click & use the option change drive letters and paths. Then the HD is seen in my computer & Windows explorer. This is a long way to access a 2.5" HD. But a desktop 3.5" is seen automatically. I have tried all USB 2.0 7 3.0 ports on the computer. All the 2.5" are working fine on my Dell L502x XPS laptop. Thanks to all.
Possibly there is a drive letter conflict. For example, if you already one drive labelled E: and you connect an external USB drive with the same letter, it won't appear in Windows Explorer - you have to go into Disk Management and assign it an unused letter. I have lots of drives and try give them all a unique letter. But if I plug one in and it doesn't appear, assigning it a new letter always works.
Posting from work - so have to be quick. Thanks a lot I will try all your suggestions. But - why is this a recent issue? As all drives were recognised before. Amanda
When you replaced the power supply cmos may have cleared and bios is now at default settings .. Were things set up for AHCI? and are they currently set up for AHCI?
In looking at the manual for this board I noticed it has an e-sata port on rear I/O that would be the preferred choice over USB 3.0 .. It will give you faster speeds .. according to manual
Hello all, I have just checked & the bios is set to AHCI mode & the JMB storage controller item in the bios is also enabled. Same problem
QUOTE=l33tissw00t;876734]Try going to Disk Management, selecting a volume, and manually assigning a drive letter.[/QUOTE] I already do that - but I just want to plug in a HD & auto run starts, then an option of opening the contents comes up. This is normal - but I do not have this option.
Does the "JMB storage controller" have the driver needed ? Check to see in device manager (computer management --> device manager) .. Are you still plugging in 2.5" drive to USB or e-sata ?
Dear Redroad, yes the correct driver is installed & I checked in device manager & there are no yellow symbols over the respective hardware. I am plugging a 2.5" USB 2.0 & 3.0 hard drives. I have tried to plug in directly into the motherboard USB ports with the same effect. I am using a powered USB 3.0 hub. Regards Amanda.
This is puzzling given it worked previously I will give it some more thought over dinner and be back in about an hour ..
Ok back .. What is the drive that's not working as it should? Have you tested the 2.5" drive internally by temporarily connecting like an internal 3.5" ? I am thinking for whatever reason this drive is not getting enough power could be cable or condition of drive etc. Try to test it by connecting internally like 3.5" drive ..
Thanks .. Yes I remember that "All the drives are recognised normally on my Dell XPS L502X. " This is why I suggested to hook up drive internally so we can eliminate any any hardware related reduction of power to the drive when connected via USB .. If your problem with the drive is eliminated when connected this way then we know it is a power issue related to USB and possibly number of USB devices drawing on USB hub etc .. If the drive acts the same way we must conclude that something in configuration has changed on this machine given it worked previously on this machine and it works as it should on your laptop .. That is my thinking on it at this time anyway My thoughts may change after I've had my second cup of coffee
I avoid coffee as it stops me from sleeping well - enjoy yours . I cannot open up most of the drives as they are sealed from manufacturer. I have to add that my external bd-rw works fine on these USB ports.
Hitachi 1TB, core 120GB, Seagate 750GB, 250GB 1.8" Toshiba & some generic 2.5" hard drives cases. All 2.5" in size.