USB2 drive case- no 48 bit support?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Impmon
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Impmon

I have a few 200GB and 250GB drives that I wanted to put in external
USB case but it seems none of the hard drive works with the USB. The
USB Mass Storeage does show up in hardware profile but with a ? on it
and when I checked it, it shows the device cannot start error. And
they don't show up in Computer Management so I can't even partition or
format the hard drives.

I'm just wondering if the USB hookup needs to have 48 bit LBA support
for those large drives or if it's something else. Because if it's the
USB, I'll have to take it back for a different one. Also is there a
way to tell if the case supports 48 bit LBA (>137GB) if the package
and manual doesn't state that?

TIA
 
Impmon said:
I have a few 200GB and 250GB drives that I wanted to put in external
USB case but it seems none of the hard drive works with the USB. The
USB Mass Storeage does show up in hardware profile but with a ? on it
and when I checked it, it shows the device cannot start error. And
they don't show up in Computer Management so I can't even partition or
format the hard drives.
Click to expand...
I'm just wondering if the USB hookup needs to
have 48 bit LBA supportfor those large drives
Click to expand...

Nope, you should be able to see something drive wise without it.
or if it's something else.
Yep.

Because if it's the USB, I'll have to take it back for a different one.
Click to expand...

What are you doing about power for the external USB case ?

You'd get those symptoms if the power isnt sufficient
to spin the drive up. Is the drive spinning up ?
Also is there a way to tell if the case supports 48 bit LBA
(>137GB) if the package and manual doesn't state that?
Click to expand...

Not easily. If you can work out what
bridge is used in the case, that will tell you.
 
Previously Impmon said:
I have a few 200GB and 250GB drives that I wanted to put in external
USB case but it seems none of the hard drive works with the USB. The
USB Mass Storeage does show up in hardware profile but with a ? on it
and when I checked it, it shows the device cannot start error. And
they don't show up in Computer Management so I can't even partition or
format the hard drives.
Click to expand...
I'm just wondering if the USB hookup needs to have 48 bit LBA support
for those large drives or if it's something else. Because if it's the
USB, I'll have to take it back for a different one. Also is there a
way to tell if the case supports 48 bit LBA (>137GB) if the package
and manual doesn't state that?
Click to expand...

Actually USB uses the SCSI storage command set, i.e. it has 32 and 64
bit sector addresses available (PC small is 24 bit), so USB is not
the limitation. 48 bit sector addreses are only for IDE/ATAPI storage
and are not supported on USB.

However on the HDD side you are correct to observe that 48 bit sector
address support is needed in the HDD (it is not strictly LBA, since
that is a BIOS concept). The only way to check is to see what the
vendor claims to support in maximum HDD size. Vendor websites are
useful for that. If you shop offline, the information is often found
on the box.

Arno
 
Because if it's the USB, I'll have to take it back for a different one.
What are you doing about power for the external USB case ?
Click to expand...

There is a power supply that provided 2A on each 12v and 5v, more than
twice the required current on all of the hard drives.
You'd get those symptoms if the power isnt sufficient
to spin the drive up. Is the drive spinning up ?
Click to expand...

All spins up. The 7200 rpm drive feels like it'd float in the air by
gyrosopic effect.
Not easily. If you can work out what
bridge is used in the case, that will tell you.
Click to expand...

The bridge is under the black epoxy blob with no marking. I can't
even tell who made the USB adapter at all though the manual that came
with the drive are in English and Chinese so my bet's on the Chinese
making the USB adapter. The manuals' no help since it's full of
Engrish, badly broken, and very unhelpful.
 
Impmon said:
There is a power supply that provided 2A on each 12v and 5v, more than
twice the required current on all of the hard drives.


All spins up. The 7200 rpm drive feels like it'd float in the air by
gyrosopic effect.


The bridge is under the black epoxy blob with no marking. I can't
even tell who made the USB adapter at all though the manual that came
with the drive are in English and Chinese so my bet's on the Chinese
making the USB adapter. The manuals' no help since it's full of
Engrish, badly broken, and very unhelpful.
Click to expand...

Maybe the drive isnt jumpered the way the bridge wants to see it jumpered.

See what the manual has to say on drive jumpering and if it doesnt say,
or doesnt say clearly, try the obvious alternatives, cable select and master.
 
Arno Wagner said:
Actually USB uses the SCSI storage command set, i.e. it has 32 and 64
bit sector addresses available (PC small is 24 bit), so USB is not
the limitation. 48 bit sector addreses are only for IDE/ATAPI storage
and are not supported on USB.
Wotanidiot.


However on the HDD side you are correct to observe that 48 bit sector
address support is needed in the HDD
Click to expand...
 
The USB chip can usually be determined with Astra32: astra32.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for the software link, it was identified as Myson-Century with
CS8818 chip. I can't get much more out of that or from the web site
so I still can't tell if it's a driver issue or large hard drive
issue. They do offer drivers but only for older OS like 98 and not
for recent OS.
 
The Myson does not need driver in ME/2000 and XP:) And the drive has to be
configured as master:)
 
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