Anyone having any issues with external drives?

Discussion in 'Acer Aspire One' started by MorePortable, Nov 16, 2008.

  1. MorePortable

    MorePortable

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    So far I've been able to connect plenty of thumb drives, external wireless mouse, Sprint broadband card, etc. However, I have a drive that simply does not get recognized by the AA1 - in fact XP sort of just "locks up" while I have the drive connected to a USB port until I pull the cable out.

    The external drive has it's own power supply, so it doesn't need any power from the USB connector. Works fine on my other laptop.

    Anyone have suggestions on how to diagnose this?

    Acer Aspire One / AOA150 / XP / 160GB, 6-cell
     
    MorePortable, Nov 16, 2008
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  2. MorePortable

    donec

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    What are the details of the drive and does the drive work for other computers and systems?
     
    donec, Nov 17, 2008
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  3. MorePortable

    ahovis

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    I h)ave a external drive that works on my big (Lenovo T61) laptop but not on my Acer. It has a special usb cable which I never use that plugs into a second port for additional power. I tried this cable and now the drive works fine. I wonder if the power available from the Acer usb port is deficient for some drives?
     
    ahovis, Nov 17, 2008
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  4. MorePortable

    rbil

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    If you have one of the split cables, it's always good to plug in both to get the additional power.

    Cheers.
     
    rbil, Nov 17, 2008
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  5. MorePortable

    Tamrac

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    Try using a USB split cable just like the poster above. To make sure enough power gets into the drive. Some drives require more power than others. Some will work just by switching out to a higer quality(usually shorter) USB cable. The older WD passports were notorious about this issue, using longer cables and the drive will not work well.
     
    Tamrac, Nov 17, 2008
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  6. MorePortable

    MorePortable

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    As described in my first post, the drive has its own power supply. Not sure where the suggestion of using a split cable are coming from - that might be the case with a drive needing power from the USB port.

    Also, I do use the drive on other systems, even another laptop, without problems. Again, mentioned this in my first post.

    I don't know the brand of the drive - it's got a generic case with no brand markings.

    I've tried another large capacity dself-powered rive with the AA1, and it works fine.

    Anyone know a practical means to diagnose this? A way to figure out exactly where in the process the AA1 may be hanging up? I could move all the data to the other large drive, which is currently empty, but my other one is a seagate that winds itself down a lot and I prefer drives that don't "shut off" when not accessed for a short time.
     
    MorePortable, Nov 17, 2008
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  7. MorePortable

    Grim Squeaker

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    SystemS and LaptopS - plural ? That was not mentioned and is significant.

    Is the disk formatted NTFS ?
    Do a chkdsk /r in any case (on the pc where it works)..
     
    Grim Squeaker, Nov 17, 2008
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  8. MorePortable

    MorePortable

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    Huh? I said "Works fine on my other laptop." in my first post. I tought it was odd people suggesting to try it on another computer when I already said I did (saying it works on another laptop).

    In any case...

    Yes, it's NTFS. I'll give that suggestion a try.
     
    MorePortable, Nov 18, 2008
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  9. MorePortable

    MorePortable

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    Before I tried the chkdsk route (I have a huge mountable encryption file on the drive, and didn't want to risk corrupting the data), I tried a different USB cable and, guess what? It worked.

    It seemed the AA1 didn't much like the other cable, perhaps has something to do with length.
     
    MorePortable, Nov 18, 2008
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  10. MorePortable

    Tamrac

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    I believe I mentioned this on my previous post wherin you corrected me about the split cable.... ;)

     
    Tamrac, Nov 18, 2008
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  11. MorePortable

    Grim Squeaker

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    That is ONE other computer. I have had NTFS drives fail to work on any system save one several times - it seems to be an error in NTFS when combined with a rather shoddy portable harddrive (e.g. the ones made by Lacie). chkdsk tended to solve the problem.

    If however the drive works on many computers but NOT on the One you have a different problem.
     
    Grim Squeaker, Nov 18, 2008
    #11
  12. MorePortable

    glasshock

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    Initial post seems interesting ..... spoiled by OP attitude.

    I wonder if you will receive any more advice? ....hmmmmmmmmmmmm :roll:
     
    glasshock, Nov 19, 2008
    #12
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