Local Disk (F:) weirdo

[#1]

I have a usb SATA/IDE caddy.... When it works, it works fine..... It is about 5 years old... and used to give no problems.  HOWEVER !!!!!

recently, in the past 6 months or so..... plug in a hdd.... plug in to a USB port....  and wait.....   naff all shows....  on pulling the plug, suddenly it shows  !  ... but... "GOTCHA" takes over... and because I pulled the plug... it is not showing.   nor... does it "re-show"  when plugged back into the USB slot.

I have gripped the small usb connector, on the pcb, with a pair of long nose pliers, to make it a more "firm" hold/connection... which seemed to have worked..... HOWEVER ! ! ! !.

after it has been showing, and in use for a while...( say, about an hour )... it suddenly disappears... No... it has not been moved, so it is not a "dodgy" usb connection...    If I unplug it.... when I plug it back in again... it gives a message..... USB DEVICE NOT RECOGNISED  ! ! !   WOT  ?   it was recognised and in use for the last hour... so  ? ? ?  [-Censored-] ? ?    again... unplug... try anothe usb port...   not recognised.

leave it plugged in.... naff all... unplug it again.... same usb port... wait a while, and   HEY PRESTO !... it shows and is working... .... as before... after a while it disappears... then re-appears  without doing anything to it whatsoever...

So.... anyone any ideas what is happening.....  ? ?  and how to ensure it works as it should do...i.e. "plug n play"....  ? ?

   oh ... just so you know... this was on a "new install" of Windows 7 Professional in January this year....

and again... on a new hdd... new install Yesterday... all drivers downloaded and installed from Dell...

And I have used different USB connector cables.... same problems... ! 

[#2]

Presumably when you pull the plug you are using Safely Remove Hardware and Media before doing so? Is the HD USB 2.0 or a 3.0. I've found sometimes just swapping it from one to the other gets the computer in a twist, such it wants to re-install the thing. Just pulling it out can corrupt things, even more so if it is still writing to it.

And I know I have a USB port that is, to put it mildly, slightly worn. I did it the other way, closed up the socket, however it isn't a cure all. Move the phone and all I get is disconnect, connect, disconnect noises. I've toyed with renewing the socket but I have plenty of others to play with.

[#3]

No,... I have always pulled the plug... it`s supposed to be "hot" to do it with this thing... so no problem in the past ....  it is supposed to be USB 2.0   but I also have a USB 3.0 slot... and it works ( when it wants to ) in either...    as a matter of fact, it is in the USB 3.0 slot now, and still seems to be working.... as the title says.... "weird"  ! ! . 

[#4]

The USB HDD caddy might be on the blink. Best check it out next, either by trying another disk installed or trying the disk in a different caddy (if you have one).

[#5]

@shutter

Does the USB caddy have its own standalone power supply?  If so, that could be failing, it's 5 years old and some things don't last as long as they should!.

I know my Inateck 2xSata docking station has quite a hefty PSU, which I have sometimes used as a substitute when checking to prove/disprove other suspected PSU failures (e.g.routers etc.).

[#6]

@RobPN No, it does not have a separate power supply.... there is a facility to power it using a usb power cable.   I have tried using that in conjunction with the usb signal cable, but made no difference to the "not recognised" or "not seen"  situations.. 

Another "weirdy"  I forgot to mention.... sometimes when I plug it in... ( as I have just now )...it gives the message

"You need to format the disk in drive F: before you can use it.  

Do you want to format it"! 

Format Disk   Cancel..

Just showed me 8 of those messages.... so I unplugged it, and re plugged it... and get the"Autoplay" window about  Viewing files & folders  ! !

Obviously it has "seen" the disk.... so it is "recognised" ! ... and No... I don`t want to format it... cos I know it`s OK and I want to get the info off it first, thankyou very much ! ! ! !>

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[#7]

Have you tried the disk in a different PC or laptop?

Also, why does it say drive F?

[#8]

I would agree the caddy could be on the way out.

Usual sugesstions is make sure all your data is backed up. etc.

Try a different cable to rule that out. Other thing to try is the mobo USB port. Try a memory stick and see if that causes any intermittent problems.

[#9]

It shows as disk F: because I have other drives in use ... not connected with this problem.

The whole idea of having the caddy and the hdd in it, was so that I could transfer all the stuff on it, onto a new install of Win 7 pro... and that would make the caddy/hdd the "back up"...

I did purchase another "similar" caddy because I thought it may be faulty,... but that one failed to show when connected to any usb port... it had a driver disk for W95 ... so I told the seller, and he has said to send it back... waiting now for the refund.

[#10]

Caddy's don't need drivers - do they?

[#11]

Maybe it was a USB driver. We are talking 23 years ago.

@shutter

The drive may well be capable of 'hot swapping ' but I wouldn't care do it with memory devices that might be writing in the background.

Have you considered updating/reinstalling your USB driver?

[#12]

@VileReynard 

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@VileReynard wrote:

Caddy's don't need drivers - do they?

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I didn`t ask for stupid comments either... please desist... you are not funny.

[#13]

@Baldrick1  Yes, indeedy.... all my drivers have been updated... I have just done a "Clean Install" of Win 7 Pro from a dvd... and all updates have been installed... Also, I have been through the "system" list and double checked all the drivers are the latest versions installed.

Having tried various combinations of usb input points, and various ( miscellaneous ) cables, checking against other usb hardware, I have come to the conclusion that the caddy must be faulty, and have just ordered another one from eby... Hopefully, it will arrive on Monday/Tuesday next week,... and I can finally ditch this troublesome unit ! ! ..

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions and information.... to those people,. Much appreciate your time and effort..

consider this now closed.

[#14]

Moderator's note:

Topic locked at OP's request.