dell not recognizing usb external hard drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter DP
  • Start date Start date
D

DP

I've got a Dell Inspiron 8200, XP, not USB 2.0 though. I recently bought a
brand new Fantom 250 gb external hard drive but it is not recognizing it. It
shows up in "safely remove hardware" and in device manager but not in disk
management or in My Computer. Any ideas on downloads or updates or changes I
should do to help this thing show up?
Thanks,
Drew
 
More than likely the external drive is a USB 2.0 device and won't be
recognized until you add USB 2 capability.
 
DP said:
Hmm, other 2.0 drives (mp3 player) work fine...how do I add 2.0?
Click to expand...

Does the drive have external power? Your USB might not have the required
power to actually spin the drive.

Q
 
DP said:
I've got a Dell Inspiron 8200, XP, not USB 2.0 though. I recently bought a
brand new Fantom 250 gb external hard drive but it is not recognizing it.
It
shows up in "safely remove hardware" and in device manager but not in disk
management or in My Computer. Any ideas on downloads or updates or changes
I
should do to help this thing show up?
Thanks,
Drew
Click to expand...

Have you formatted the external drive? It may need to be formatted before it
is seen by My computer.
Leana
 
You can add USB 2.0 with a PCI card [$25 to $40]. These are available at
Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.
 
Leana said:
Have you formatted the external drive? It may need to be formatted before
it is seen by My computer.
Leana
Click to expand...
I don't think I can format it until I can see it.
 
Jonny said:
Did you plug in and energize the power supply?
Does the provided manufacturer's software show anything there?
Are you using the provided USB cable or your own?
Are you plugged into a USB hub?
http://www.fantomdrives.com/specs/tfdu25072.php4
-- \
Click to expand...

Power supply has been plugged in, blue light on the front. Using the
provided cable, plugged into the usb input on the back of the laptop, not a
hub. Fantom thinks it has something to do with Dell, apparently they've had
problems with Dell and appropriate updates, drivers. I'm a little frustrated
with them. I had to send it back for repair straight out of the box, they
had to replace the bridge. Not sure how that got out of the shop without
being checked first. I received it back this week and now this. They want me
to take it to work and see if it works on my Compaq to see if it's a Dell
issue.
Thanks,
Drew
 
Gene K said:
You can add USB 2.0 with a PCI card [$25 to $40]. These are available at
Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.
Click to expand...


Drew:
Isn't your machine a laptop? If so, you'll need a USB 2.0 CardBus designed
for a laptop. You really *should* obtain a USB 2.0 adapter rather than
trying to fix your present presumed USB 1.1 capability even if it is
"fixable". Even if you're able to achieve USB 1.1 capability you'll find it
glacially slow with your USB 250 GB external HD and you're sure to be
disappointed with that data transfer rate.

But before you go out & purchase a USB 2.0 CardBus, it might be wise to
first check with Dell to see if they anticipate any particular problems or
issues with your machine re upgrading to USB 2.0 capability.
Anna
 
Drew:
Isn't your machine a laptop? If so, you'll need a USB 2.0 CardBus designed
for a laptop. You really *should* obtain a USB 2.0 adapter rather than
trying to fix your present presumed USB 1.1 capability even if it is
"fixable". Even if you're able to achieve USB 1.1 capability you'll find
it glacially slow with your USB 250 GB external HD and you're sure to be
disappointed with that data transfer rate.

But before you go out & purchase a USB 2.0 CardBus, it might be wise to
first check with Dell to see if they anticipate any particular problems or
issues with your machine re upgrading to USB 2.0 capability.
Anna
Click to expand...

I'll probably up to the 2.0 card, makes sense. This is not a 2.0 issue with
the drive though, I tried it on my work computer that is 2.0. I'm sending
back to the manufacturer for a replacement.
Drew
 
DP said:
Power supply has been plugged in, blue light on the front. Using the
provided cable, plugged into the usb input on the back of the laptop, not
a hub. Fantom thinks it has something to do with Dell, apparently they've
had problems with Dell and appropriate updates, drivers. I'm a little
frustrated with them. I had to send it back for repair straight out of the
box, they had to replace the bridge. Not sure how that got out of the
shop without being checked first. I received it back this week and now
this. They want me to take it to work and see if it works on my Compaq to
see if it's a Dell issue.
Thanks,
Drew
Click to expand...

The "bridge" is a translation device between the USB and ide interface for
the external enclosure. If that's broke, XP ain't gonna see the hard drive,
just the external portion of the interface. Which in turn, explains the
symptoms you've cited. This has nothing to do with the PC or laptop make,
be it Dell or otherwise.
 
Jonny said:
The "bridge" is a translation device between the USB and ide interface for
the external enclosure. If that's broke, XP ain't gonna see the hard
drive, just the external portion of the interface. Which in turn,
explains the symptoms you've cited. This has nothing to do with the PC or
laptop make, be it Dell or otherwise.
Click to expand...
Supposedly they fixed that and sent it back to me. It didn't work on my
Compaq either so I'm sending it back and requesting a new unit.
Thanks,
Drew
 
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