Re: Problems connecting 3.5" WD1000bb HDD to new laptop via USB connector

Pat wrote: 
Hello All,

  Just got a new laptop (Dell Inspiron 6000), and I'm trying to connect
my Western Digital hard drive from my old desktop to the laptop via a
generic USB 3.5" converter, and it's not working.  The converter
recognizes the drive, but when I connect it to the computer via the USB
cable, the light goes from green to orange.  When I look in the device
manager, it sees the USB Mass Storage Device, but it has an error (code
10: the device cannot start).

  I tried the converter with another HDD (not a western digital), and
it worked just fine.


Any suggestions as to how I can fix it?  I've scoured the net and the
WD website, but can't find any answers/updated drivers.

Thanks for the help!

-Pawt

Does your USB drive have an auxillary power input? USB doesn't have a lot of power available and the amount varies in different implementations. When your system recognizes the drive but reports it can't start, it is most likely a power issue.

Some drives have a separate wall socket power supply. Or yours might have a ps2 port power input.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cannot mount 2.5" drive in USB 2.0 case!!
    ... >>>backup the whole disk. ... Hence the usb IDE interface case. ... see if applying power via ... I have no luck at all running laptop drives from unpowered USB ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: Time Machine & Laptops.
    ... I use a Seagate USB 2.5" drive all the time and it works great. ... these drives come with USB cables that split off into a Y and take up ... two USB ports on the computer so the drive gets enough power. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: Target Disk Mode not working?
    ... portable hard drives, paranoia is the only sane option. ... power, which is odd - I'd have expected autosensing, like mine do. ... 'good' for video editing then hooking up a FW camcorder or high speed ... than USB under most conditions. ...
    (uk.comp.sys.mac)
  • Re: HELP: External 250G USB screwed with GParted
    ... USB 2.0 cable, but would with the supplied WD cable. ... All the USB 2.5 inch adapters that I'm ... and check the power capacity of the port prior ... SATA drives (not all; in their wisdom, ...
    (Fedora)
  • Re: Poer surge on Hub Port
    ... When I plug it into my laptop and try to copy something to it, I get a dialogue box that says "Power Surge On Hub Port, A USB device has malfunctioned and exceeded the power limits of it's hub port. ... Some 2.5" hard drives, ... cables to "current hog", and one connector might still draw ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)