External hd advice please!

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Rex · #1 Post by **Rex** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 2:39 pm

Have sort of managed to solve the problem from my thread earlier today in as much as I have managed to partition and format my new external hard drive and copy some files to it.

But a new and 'interesting' problem has arisen. Using a Thinkpad T22 with W2k and an external Sata enclosure that is connected to the laptop via USB. The drive is sort of accessible. Using the laptop's USB1 post, I can access the hd, but using a PCMCIA USB2 card, it is not. Constantly get a 'Unsafe Removal of Device' message. Have looked at the problem and it seems to be usbstor.sys. But that file exists in the correct place. Have replaced it but the problem still persists.

Sometimes, the 'Found New Hardware' message flashes up, the computer goes through the process and then the 'Removal' message reappears.

Have managed to put some image files onto the hd, but they are more or less unavailable because of this problem.

The enclosure is an Icy Box 351 for SATA hd's with USB and SATA interface; the hd is a 160 gb Hitachi T7k250.

Really grateful for any advice.

Rex

Bgradid · #2 Post by **Bgradid** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 4:03 pm

Sounds like your pcmcia card may not be able to deliver the power needed to run the drive

Rex · #3 Post by **Rex** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:02 pm

Bgradid,

Thanks for your reply. Didn't think of that and although I understand what you say, what exactly does it mean? The card has no problems with other USB2 devices, specifically a CD burner and 2.5" external hd.

If what you say is correct, why is it likely that a USB2 card would not have the power but the T22's USB1 does?

Is there a way around my problem?

Rex

#4 Post by **Kyocera** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:54 pm

Do you have an external power supply for the enclosure? I had to get one before my HD enclosure would work with my pcmcia firewire card.

Rex · #5 Post by **Rex** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:08 pm

Yep; has an external power supply.

It is running just fine, al be it slowly from the T22's USB1 port but not from the PCMCIA USB2 card.

Rex

#6 Post by **schen** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:26 pm

This sounds really strange, in that the only time that current draw should come into play is with one of those external enclosures that has NO power supply and draws it's power from the bus. I ran into this on my 2.5" drive enclosures and have just learned to live with the slower USB 1.1 on my T23. However on my 3.5" Ex Drive, I used my Adaptec USB 2.0 adapter with no signs of trouble what-so-ever. But, that's with a PATA drive. I'm wondering whether the differences between SATA and PATA makes a difference or you've tested it on other machines to see if you simply have a bad enclosure.

Rex · #7 Post by **Rex** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:04 pm

My PCMCIA card as a power socket, so I plugged that in and attached the SATA drive. At first I thought the problem had gone away but unfortunately, no. The 'Unsafe removal' message pops up every few seconds.

I have resolved the problem but it is not really satisfactory. My t22 only has one USB1 port, and I usually have the mouse in it. But since the SATA drive works fine from that port, that is where I will put it and just have to tolerate the slower speed.

My mouse can live in the USB2 PCMCIA port. I am intending in the future to get a desktop which will be able to take the SATA hd internally and/or externally.

May be my problem is with the card itself? But I am not going to change it just to find out.

Many thanks for the replies,

Rex

wrfalk · #8 Post by **wrfalk** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:20 pm

I have a T22 with IBM USB2 In one slot and my Netgear wiFi card in other... have linked to a powered USB2 Hub and am running an external harddrive, an external DVD writer and my scanner all from the Hub... all external devices have own power source and the Hub ia also powered and all work great!! Have USB1 keyboard attached to my port rep. and another USB 1 powered Hub from the keyboard which drives my mouse and printer... all work like a champ!! So i know it can be done... maybe your card or the lack of a hub... you could try a powered Hub off your USB2 card and see if it solves your proble... if not you can be sure it is your USB@ card!!

Rex · #9 Post by **Rex** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:33 am

As I mentioned a bove, I did provide power to the USB2 card but the result was the same; Unsafe Removal of Device message. However, my CD writer and an external 2.5" hd, run just fine from the card without power, althought they are seperately powered. The mouse runs just fine without power.

Think the problem is with the card, but don't know,

Rex

External hd advice please!

External hd advice please!

Ex HDD w/ USB 2 Card

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