Disaster! 3Com 10/100 Mini PCI and a SAMSUNG SP1203N IEEE 1394 SBP2

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul
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P

Paul

Hello helpful people,

I recently switched from XP Pro to XP Home (never mind,
its a long story, viruses etc. forced my to format my
harddrive and start from scratch) and now I can't get
access to my external hard drive (Which is full of good
stuff, you know). The drive won't even show up on
the 'My Computer' window, let alone enable access to the
drive.

I have a Firewire/USB 2.0 Acomdata external hard drive
that reads (for some reason) in my device manager as a
SAMSUNG SP1203N IEEE 1394 SBP2. I'm running Dell's stock
network adaptor from 3Com called the 10/100 Mini PCI.

Before the OS change, I could access it with plug-n-
play, but now, all I get is that "BONK" sound that
signals something new to the system.

That means the computer knows its there, but won't let
me access it...

Please help, I've downloaded the most recent drivers
from Dell and have every update Microsoft has put out.
I've run all the diagnostics and troubleshooters that are
available in XP, and I've searched both Dell and
Microsoft's knowledge bases extensively.

XP Pro and XP Home wouldn't read that drive in
different ways, would they?

Why can't I use my external hard drive?

thanks in advance,
p
 
Paul said:
Hello helpful people,

I recently switched from XP Pro to XP Home (never mind,
its a long story, viruses etc. forced my to format my
harddrive and start from scratch) and now I can't get
access to my external hard drive (Which is full of good
stuff, you know). The drive won't even show up on
the 'My Computer' window, let alone enable access to the
drive.

I have a Firewire/USB 2.0 Acomdata external hard drive
that reads (for some reason) in my device manager as a
SAMSUNG SP1203N IEEE 1394 SBP2. I'm running Dell's stock
network adaptor from 3Com called the 10/100 Mini PCI.

Before the OS change, I could access it with plug-n-
play, but now, all I get is that "BONK" sound that
signals something new to the system.

That means the computer knows its there, but won't let
me access it...

Please help, I've downloaded the most recent drivers
from Dell and have every update Microsoft has put out.
I've run all the diagnostics and troubleshooters that are
available in XP, and I've searched both Dell and
Microsoft's knowledge bases extensively.

XP Pro and XP Home wouldn't read that drive in
different ways, would they?

Why can't I use my external hard drive?

thanks in advance,
p
Click to expand...

Are you connecting the drive using USB and have you applied SP1 yet? Without
SP1 there is no support in XP for USB2 devices, although it should be usable
as a USB 1.1 device.
Yes, of course you've applied SP1, you hinted as much. But does your
motherboard support USB 2, and did you have the drive plugged in when you
applied SP1?

Personally, I find that such drives work much more reliably using Firewire,
but this may not be an option for you, although Firewire cards are dirt
cheap now.

As to why the drive is detected as a Samsung, it's simply because Samsung is
the actual manufacturer and XP is detecting this by reading the ID string in
the drive's firmware.
 
Yes, I am using it in firewire. To clarify my earlier statements, I believe the problem could be related to the drive having information already on it that was copied from XP Pro, and now I'm using XP Home. Maybe that or I have a simple setting set the wrong way...could be anything though...thx
 
XP Home could be FAT 32 and the XP Professional installed HD could be
NTFS - don't know if it would make any difference but it could cause a
conflict - I think NTFS can see FAT32 but not the other way round - not sure
perhaps someone could correct me on this...

--
HTH - Any Advice Appreciated - Please Reply To Newsgroup Only

jel183(UK)

Paul said:
Yes, I am using it in firewire. To clarify my earlier statements, I
Click to expand...
believe the problem could be related to the drive having information already
on it that was copied from XP Pro, and now I'm using XP Home. Maybe that or
I have a simple setting set the wrong way...could be anything though...thx
 
In
jel183(UK) said:
XP Home could be FAT 32 and the XP Professional installed HD could be
NTFS - don't know if it would make any difference but it could cause a
conflict - I think NTFS can see FAT32 but not the other way round -
not sure perhaps someone could correct me on this...
Click to expand...



Sorry, this isn't at all correct. First of all, note that neither
NTFS nor FAT32 see anything. It's the operating system that sees
files, not the file system.

Windows XP, both Professional and Home, can see NTFS, FAT32,
FAT16, and FAT12, in any and all combinations, regardless of what
file system it itself is installed on.
 
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