External USB Drive Disappears

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Hello Again,

I have an external USB drive that – after an indeterminate period of time – will simply stop working until I unplug it and then plug it back in to the USB port again. Once I do that it will work with no issues or problems and then I will go to access it some time later and it is no longer visible in Windows Explorer until I unplug and plug in again. A check of Device Manager when this happens shows an error under the USB Controllers. The exact error is:

“Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)”

The drive is actually a USB enclosure with a 2.5″ HDD that goes by the brand name “HotDrive”. It uses dual USB connectors to provide both power and connectivity to the device. I have had it plugged into the USB ports on the side of my monitor for quite some time now but for the purposes of testing and this thread I have moved it over to a powered USB hub. I don’t have any more open ports on the back of my computer to plug it in to and even if I did I seriously doubt that the cable is long enough to allow me to position the drive anywhere usable.

I will run through a series of tests, e.g. rebooting, and see if that has any effect on the drive and report back. In the meantime if there is any other information that you need please let me know and I will reply as soon as I can.

Thank You All So Much,

Val

Oh, one other thing, why is it that when I tried to use the Bold command on the text entry box to bold the error message it made the entire post bold? All I had highlighted was the error message and that worked previously. Must just be a fluke I guess. We’ll see after I reboot…

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Many monitors with built in USB hubs power the hub down if the monitor powers down. I see that you have the same issue if you plug it into your USB hub though. That usb hub is plugged directly into a port on the computer and not into one of the monitor ports?

Can you plug some other drive into the USB hub at the same time (such as a usb thumb drive) and see if it exhibits the same symptoms. (This would be to a try and determine if the USB subsytem is the problem or if it is the drive itself that is throwing an error.)

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Yes, I agree, plug your drive in somewhere else; On your computer’s USB hub would be preferable.
If you have a USB mouse try it on the monitor instead.

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You can always get a longer USB cable if that’s a problem. I also would plug into the USB hub or directly into a port on the PC.

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Well, as I mentioned in my first post, for testing purposes I moved the drive to a powered USB hub to see if that made a difference and so far so good. The drive has not disappeared or powered down or anything of the sort so it seems like that may have taken care of the problem. I have had a thumb drive plugged into that hub for months now and it still shows in Windows Explorer.

I’m so sorry to have wasted everyone’s time with this. If I had just moved the drive to begin with then none of this would have been necessary. Nonetheless thank you all so much for your advice and input.

Val

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Posting a problem and the solution is never a waste of time as someone else out there is having a similar problem and may read this thread and discover a solution for their problem.

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The power down happens because the device is passive for a set period of time and because the unpowered hub is also passive device as well, Windows thinks nothing is attached. By default, Windows shuts off USB ports after a set period of time to save energy.

To change this behavior, go into the Device Mgr>Universal Serial Bus Controllers. You will see several root hubs. Right click on one and choose “properties” > “power management” and remove the check mark from “allow computer to turn off device to save power”. Do this for each roothub.

Voila! Is fixed.

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~slowly shakes head…~ You know, I’ve been doing this for going on 9 years now and in that 9 years I’ve seen things – as I’m sure all of you have – that will make you laugh so hard you cry because your side hurts so bad, will make you wrinkle your forehead while at the same time your jaw falls slack and agape in utter awe and amazement at something someone either says or does or says they did, – you know what I mean – we’ve pretty much seen it all or so we think. Anyway, back on point, I’ve been doing this for this long, and I’ve seen that setting time and again, and yet in this instance I didn’t even think about it…

Thanks Christian for reminding me about that and thanks again to everyone else for all of your input and suggestions.

Merry Christmas to all!

Val

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Good idea to express here what else can cause USB devices to go “offline”. Self powered USB devices like HDD’s, scanners, etc. require somewhere around 500 mAmps PER DEVICE. I see that a lot of “Hubs” sold come with 4-6-8 USB slots but with a skimpy 500 mAmp power supply which will maybe run ONE USB self-powered device and if you plug in a second USB self-powered device, neither of them work as the adapter just doesn’t have the output. So when shopping for USB hubs that you intend to use to power external USB devices like HDD’s and scanners, make SURE that the power adapter output is able to provide 500 mAmps PER SLOT… you will see that a cheapo at around $5 will come with an inadequate power supply, and the $20+ ones will have a two pound power adapter with it that will probably be able to power 2-3-4 external HDD’s/Scanners, etc. with no problems as its output will be around 500 mAmps for each slot.

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