2.5 inch enclosure failure as coincidence?

[DManzaluni]

I bought a few USB 2.0 IDE enclosures on ebay for 2.5 inchdrives,
described as "new chipset" enclosures

They are very simple, and were cheap.

Curiously both have failed at the same time after about a year of not
particularly heavy periodic use. They have failed on all drives and
with similar symptoms: Both light up their green light at the front
(it never turns red to show that anything is amiss), some spin the
drive but neither turn up in Device Manager at all, not are they
recognised in systray when I plug them into an already running system
like they used to. The only slight difference is that on my Mac, one
of them showed up for a while after plugging in altohugh every few
minutes it would suddenly report that I had unplugged the device
without ejecting it properly. Neither works on my PCs at all.

Has there been some windows update which might have caused this on
Wintel machines or are they known to be endemically unreliable?

Slightly ominously, although he does sell 1.8 inch enclosures and Ipod
ones, the vendor no longer sells them?

 

[Rod Speed]

I bought a few USB 2.0 IDE enclosures on ebay for 2.5 inchdrives,
described as "new chipset" enclosures

They are very simple, and were cheap.

Curiously both have failed at the same time after about a year of not
particularly heavy periodic use. They have failed on all drives and
with similar symptoms: Both light up their green light at the front
(it never turns red to show that anything is amiss), some spin the
drive but neither turn up in Device Manager at all, not are they
recognised in systray when I plug them into an already running system
like they used to. The only slight difference is that on my Mac, one
of them showed up for a while after plugging in altohugh every few
minutes it would suddenly report that I had unplugged the device
without ejecting it properly. Neither works on my PCs at all.

Has there been some windows update which might have caused this on
Wintel machines or are they known to be endemically unreliable?

Slightly ominously, although he does sell 1.8 inch enclosures and Ipod
ones, the vendor no longer sells them?

The evidence points to an unreliable enclosure given that you
see problems on both PCs and Macs and he no long sells them.

 

[DManzaluni]

The evidence points to an unreliable enclosure given that you
see problems on both PCs and Macs and he no long sells them.- Hide quotedtext -

- Show quoted text -

I suppose anything can happen on ebay and they only cost a few bucks
each but I note that lots of other vendors sell what looks like this
exact unit even in the same blue colour at the moment, though they are
no longer called "new chipset". They all have the same basic
configuration: Leather case, screwdriver, and cuious cabling
arrangement which involves a double cable for extra power if needed
(whatever that means)

I wonder how I can avoid buying one again, or are they probably all
made by the same factory whatever they look like? The baffling bit is
how both have failed after minimal use (probably no more than about 20
hours) at exactly the same time after about a year. Can it be a
chipset problem?

 

[mscotgrove]

I suppose anything can happen on ebay and they only cost a few bucks
each but I note that lots of other vendors sell what looks like this
exact unit even in the same blue colour at the moment, though they are
no longer called "new chipset".  They all have the same basic
configuration: Leather case, screwdriver, and cuious cabling
arrangement which involves a double cable for extra power if needed
(whatever that means)

I wonder how I can avoid buying one again, or are they probably all
made by the same factory whatever they look like?  The baffling bit is
how both have failed after minimal use (probably no more than about 20
hours) at exactly the same time after about a year. Can it be a
chipset problem?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Are you using the double power. On some configurations of drive and
USB port it is important. Other times, a single USB is fine.

Michael

 

[DManzaluni]

Are you using the double power.  On some configurations of drive and
USB port it is important.  Other times, a single USB is fine.

Michael- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes, I wondered about that: But these enclosures (which are all over
Craigslist and presumably everywhere else, - for thre times the
price!) did work for about a year on the single power line. I HAVE
actually now tried them with two lines on a Mac which gives out over 2
volts on its USB plug with no particular effect. Is there a solution
or do I just have to buy these cheap things once a year or so!

Actually the vendor has now responded to me with the usual "no one
else has reported etc etc etc" line and pretending that they might
have become damp. I wonder if later models of this unit are any more
reliable based on the need to stop supplying replacements or if they
are LESS reliable based on the need to cut as many corners as possible
to maximise profits in China?

 

[Rod Speed]

I suppose anything can happen on ebay and they only cost a few bucks
each but I note that lots of other vendors sell what looks like this
exact unit even in the same blue colour at the moment, though they are
no longer called "new chipset". They all have the same basic
configuration: Leather case, screwdriver, and cuious cabling
arrangement which involves a double cable for extra power if needed
(whatever that means)

Thats for powering the drive from the USB port. Not all USB ports
have enough power to power the drive, so the extra cable allows
you to get power from two USB ports to provide enough power.

I wonder how I can avoid buying one again, or are they
probably all made by the same factory whatever they look like?

No, they arent all made in the same factory.

The baffling bit is how both have failed after minimal use (probably no
more than about 20 hours) at exactly the same time after about a year.

Thats just a coincidence, both failing at the same time.

Can it be a chipset problem?

Unlikely if everyone is still selling them.

 

[Rod Speed]

DManzaluni wrote

Yes, I wondered about that: But these enclosures (which are all over
Craigslist and presumably everywhere else, - for thre times the
price!) did work for about a year on the single power line. I HAVE
actually now tried them with two lines on a Mac which gives out over 2
volts on its USB plug with no particular effect.

It should produce a hell of a lot more than 2 volts, 5V in fact.

Are you measuring that with the drive plugged into
the USB port or with it not plugged into the USB port ?

Most USB ports do have some over current protection on the port
so if you are measuring the voltage with the drive plugged into the
USB port, all you are seeing is the effect of the over current
protection with drives that have failed in a way that trys to get
too much current from the USB port.

Is there a solution or do I just have to buy these cheap things once a year or so!

I havent had them fail that often, tho one of mine did fail.

Actually the vendor has now responded to me with the usual "no one
else has reported etc etc etc" line and pretending that they might
have become damp. I wonder if later models of this unit are any more
reliable

See if you can find them on newegg.com they have very decent customer
reviews and you should be able to see if many are getting failures.

based on the need to stop supplying replacements or
if they are LESS reliable based on the need to cut as
many corners as possible to maximise profits in China?

I've seen no evidence of that last.