Firewire drive disappears

[Mitch Gallant]

Dell laptop C800 XP Pro sp2 fully updated:
My external LG SuperMulti RW dvd drive connected to
firewire IEEE 1394 port often just disappears. I need to power the
drive on/off to have the drive detected by XP again.
I have the latest firmware installed for that DVD drive.

Anyone else seen this type of problem?

- Mitch

 

[Bob I]

Is Power Management turned on for that port/drive? Look in Device Manager.

 

[Mitch Gallant]

I don't see any evidence for power management in DM.
I think it might be an intermittent connection on the firewire connection in laptop.
(the firewire connector is the smaller (4 pin?) laptop type.
Thanks,
- Mitch

 

[Jonny]

Firewire cable too long, in vicinity of RF intrusion, or defective.

 

[Mitch Gallant]

Cable is short (< 3 ft) and has been changed .. no difference.
I'm pretty sure it is the Firewire connector on the laptop (Dell Latitude C800).
Also, when I hibernate the laptop, and when I resume the desktop, if
the Firewire drive has lost "connectivity" ... it causes a whole slowdown
in the OS ... as if the system is trying to find the Firewire drive continuously.
- Mitch