USB 2 External HDD Woes 4

[Overlord44]

Here's a brain teaser for you. I've tried to figure this one out but for the life of me can't manage it.

I have an external USB 2.0 HDD - it's a drive caddy I bought with an 80Gb HDD I already had inside it.

Here's the kicker - a little while back I was using Virtual PC with Windows 95, under the host OS of Windows XP Pro SP1, while the drive was connected - it wasn't actually doing anything at the time, it was just hooked up to the system. My PC crashed. I rebooted - XP froze on boot up.

Some investigation later, I discovered the PC would only not boot if the HDD wasn't connected.

Fearing my data on the disc was corrupted, I hooked the drive up to another XP Pro SP1 running computer using a USB 1.0 interface (it has no 2.0 interface) - and it worked! All my data was there, valid, and fine.

So in sum up - the drive when connected to my PC crashes it. To any other machine (I've tried several now), it works fine.

What's up with my machine that it won't boot? Did Virtual PC (or rather, Windows 95 in it) somehow corrupt my USB drivers? My USB 1.0 memory stick stick still works, so it surely can't be a Mass Storage Device issue (and the drive follows the standard - it doesn't need drivers to run.)

Thoughts?

 

[Overlord44]

Oops.

"Some investigation later, I discovered the PC would only not boot if the HDD wasn't connected."

should read:

"Some investigation later, I discovered the PC would only boot if the HDD wasn't connected.

 

[Live2Die]

So what im getting from this is that whe you connect the external HDD your PC crashes. What it could be is that maybe something in the original PC crash damaged either the USB2.0 drivers or the USB port itself.

Have you tried to plug a different USB HDD into that port.(if accessible to one)

--------------------
Sometime overlooking the little things causes headaches that are not needed

 

[linney]

What is the Bios telling you about the boot order of drives, has the USB drive been selected as a bootable device and become listed ahead of the normal hard drive?

Are there any other settings concerning the USB in the Bios?

Are there any errors indicated in the Device Manager?

See if you can pick up the exact error causing your problem.

To get further information about any error look in your Event viewer.

Look in the System or Application folder. You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.

Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.

Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on these sites.

http://www.eventid.net/events.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/support/ee/search.aspx

Also check any "Information" line that mentions "savedump" and you should find reference to "recovered from a bug check". This is the Stop Error that caused your problem.

You can also turn off "automatically restart after an error" so it will just halt at the fault and display the full Stop Error and blue screen.

Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties .
On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery .
Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure , and then click OK . The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.

http://www.winxptutor.com/eventlog.htm

 

[tschuy]

I'd have to follow the same lines. Some ofthe newer MB's have an option in the BIOS to boot up from a device connected to the USB port. Really cool in the corporate enviroment since it means one can rebuild/image PC's rather quickly by just plugging in a USB fob which has the startup files and drivers.

Check the BIOS settings and let everyone know...

Cheers,

Tim Schuy

 

[Overlord44]

It's nothing to do with boot settings. If i startup the PC without it plugged in, all is fine - until the moment I actually DO plug in the device. Then everything freezes up.

I've tried multiple USB ports. No luck.

Also, there's no stop screen - just all sound stops, the keyboard & mouse lock up, and I can't do anything except reset...

There's no visible errors in Device Manager at all, and Event viewer doesn't seem to pick up anything either. =/

 

[Overlord44]

Oh, and i don't have another ext HDD to test on this PC, sadly.

 

[allteltec]

There are some issues with some USB2 chip sets and XP sp2. Google your USB chip set to see if it can be the problem.

 

[linney]

Here is a potpourri collection of various USB articles, I don't expect you to read them all in one go.


xp pro sp2 hangs on startup with usb
thread779-1038685

why doesnt xp pro recognize usb drives after installing SP1?
thread779-837163

xp freeze troubleshooting
thread779-935320

General USB troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310575&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

HOW TO: Disable the Use of USB Storage Devices in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q823732#3

AutoPlay intermittently does not detect removable media or digital cameras

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822660&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

314634 - Windows XP Does Not Detect Your New USB Device

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314634&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

USB device does not function after connecting device to a Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer or to a Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005-based computer

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;870893&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

A USB 2.0 hub may stop working when you disconnect a USB 2.0 printer from your Windows XP-based computer

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;895962&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

In the BIOS settings for your computer, load the 'Fail-Safe' default settings, and then reactivate the most frequently used options such as USB Support.

 

[tschuy]

I wonder if this could be hardware related? Is the system in question, one that you have put together? Reason I ask is it possible the USB data cable that runs from the case and plugs into your motherboard correctly terminated? Are the wire pin-outs in the right order. I wasn't sure if you ever had this working on the system with your initial question.

Cheers,

Tim Schuy

 

[Overlord44]

Yes, it used to work 100% OK on this system, for like 4 or 5 months before the initial trigger crash.

Linney - ouch, that's a lot of articles. I'll give them a read through now and see if any could be it.

 

[Overlord44]

OK, looked though them. I don't have SP2 or a USB printer, so it isn't anything to do with those. Autoplay is never invoked as it registers as a harddrive once active, and is used to work under SP1 - what this machine has always been.

I'm beginning to think that it's a drivers issue despite the fact my other USB devices (admittedly, all but one are 1.1 only) are working. Gonna dig my install disc out, see if that helps.

 

[Overlord44]

...OK, this is odd. I dug out my driver CD - and this is the instructions it gives for XP:

1.First,you must install Windows XP SERVICE PACK 1
2.Right-click "My Computer" icon, select "Properties".
3.Select the "Hardware" tab, and click the "Device Manager" button.
4.Right-click on the "Universal Serial Bus(USB) Controller" and select "Properties".
5.Click the "Driver" tab and click the "Update Driver" button then click "Next".
6.Select "Search for a suitable driver for my device(recommended)" and click "Next".
7.Do as the system prompted to finish.

...there is no "Universal Serial Bus (USB) option anywhere in device manager. Is it normal to have this missing? I can't remember if it was there or not when I first installed XP on this machine..

 

[Overlord44]

...I don't understand it. I tried pluggin it in on my 1.1 Hub, and it works, but rfecommends putting it in on a 2.0 Hub. Now, all of a sudden, the thing is working again!

I'm mystified, but happy. Thanks everyone, I dunno what you did but it's fixed! =D