Okay you guru's I have another question.
Here's the story.
My motherboard on my main computer died. And in the interim before a new one is installed I bought an IDE to USB device. I'm trying to access the drive from the down computer. It's not tragic if I can't but I'd like to have this tool for future use.
With this inside
Now I followed the directions (they're very vague) and hooked up the cable to the drive I want to access, then plugged it in and then plugged it into the USB on the computer I'm currently using. Nothing.
Here's how I have the drive I'm accessing set
It's on CS.
The computer recognizes it as a "usb mass storage device" and installs the software for it. But I can't access the drive. In my computer there is no path to it. In control panel it shows it under device manager and says it's working fine, but I can't get to it at all. There's no drive designation popping up for it The instructions say "1. Comfirm (sic) device is under master mode" What does that mean? Does the drive I'm accessing have to be set to "master" or does the drive on the computer I'm using to access it have to be set to "master"????
Also, the drive I'm trying to access is XP formatted, while the computer I'm using is ME. Been told that doesn't matter.
Any ideas?
Thanks gang!
(I miss my Contour!)
Nate
I do not believe ME can read XP's tables. ME uses FAT32 and XP uses NTFS. XP can read everything before it but ME cannot read things that came after it. Read
this and it explains more, also found
this program that is freeware that will let you read NTFS in ME, 98, and 95. I am pretty sure this is what your problem is.
Move that jumper on the drive over 2 so it connects the 2 pins under where it says "MA"
Originally posted by KyleH:
Move that jumper on the drive over 2 so it connects the 2 pins under where it says "MA"
Yeah that was the other thing but I think even in CS mode it will default to Master anyway. It seems the HD is found but can't be read so ME won't use it.
Originally posted by KyleH:
Move that jumper on the drive over 2 so it connects the 2 pins under where it says "MA"
Agreed. CS does screwy stuff with this stuff. I suggest you try setting it to master. I don't seem to have good luck with cable select when i run my usb harddrive.
No effect. I downloaded the NTFS reader and switched the drive to master.
When in master it doesn't even register. Control panel shows the yellow "!" and the device has "code 10" associated with it.
When in CS it shows up and says device is working normally. However control panel shows a green "?" next to it in device manager. Checked drivers and best one installed.
When either in CS or MA the NTFS reader shows no NTFS drive installed.
I'm lost.
Side note,
Took it to work and tried on my XP computer at work. It did the exact same thing.
Any thoughts?
Try setting the drive up on your work's XP machine as a slave on the IDE bus.
It's possible that the drive got toasted in someway from your motherboard going out. If the drive works in this manner it rules out the possibility of a dead drive.
As long as the drive is confirmed as functioning okay, you can then try contacting either the support number (if it's toll free) from the literature, or alternatively take it back to where you purchased it, explain your problems, and ask them to test the cable.
If both of these show that the hardware is working fine, then the drivers on the computer can be addressed next.
**edit**
In the pic of the stuff from the box, I don't see a power connector for the hard disk ... please confirm there is one! LOL
I see the black power converter, but not sure if that is the correct adaptor from this angle.
Does the drive show up at all in explorer? Can you format it there? See if there are any driver updates or any problems with this product.
Edit: Also is the USB port USB II? Tried checking the drivers on your USB controller? Does this device work with ME? It prolly does but somethings are strange.
Originally posted by Christian:
**edit**
In the pic of the stuff from the box, I don't see a power connector for the hard disk ... please confirm there is one! LOL
I see the black power converter, but not sure if that is the correct adaptor from this angle.
Seems thats how it works.
If you say it "works" and is under control panel, then have you tried going to CP, and then administrative tools-->computer management->>then, under "storage" click "disk management".
in the colored set of graphs on the bottom, click the drive (should be "drive x", where x is a number) that correlates to your device. right click->change drive letter. change it to another drive.. see if that works?
Ray
Okay ... I did a little quick searching on this product.
It would appear that it is totally plug 'n' play once the drivers are installed (not required for XP).
This would make it appear to be a hardware problem.
We can presume that the USB connector is functioning, as it is detected.
Does the hard disk power up?
Does it sound like it's spinning normally ?
Do the LED's light up (I think it has some somewhere) ?
ALso ... if you can't take it somewhere to test it, try testing it with a CD-drive or anoter hard disk.
Yes I have the power plug and it works. Turns on and makes a constant spinning noise. Not like it's processing, just starts up and keeps "spinning"
I think it's a USB problem... I think.
I also have a small 1GB portable harddrive which plugs directly into the USB port and in My Computer shows right up and you can access it. No problem before I got this other tool, BUT now when I plug that same 1GB drive in the USB port it's detected, but again I can't see it's drive designation in My Computer any more.
I tried just removing all the USB stuff from CP and redetecting them to clear any stuff in there, but no effect.
When I plug the 1GB drive in, in control panel is shows USB mass storage device with a green question mark by it. So it knows it's there, just doesn't know what the heck it is.
Like I said, not the end of the world if I can't access the other drive. I sure hope it isn't fried. Without a motherboard a hard drive will just spin right up correct?
Yeah it should just spin. Do you have any other USB ports?
This older computer only has two and one is the mouse. Now the computer isn't shutting down right and it's not recognizing the front USB at all.
I'm done fu_king with this portable drive sh_t. I think I'll re-image the hard drive on the good computer (after backing up mail & stuff I want to keep) then update the system to bring it current and stop messing around with the one good computer I still have!
I'm cursed I believe!
Thanks guys!
N.
This is why I hate windows. It may very well be a hardware issue but windows just goes bat-sh!t with drivers and stuff like that.
This will sound stupid, but, have you installed the driver software?
We use the same device here, and it's been flawless so far once the drivers are installed.
I'm assuming you have the pin numbers lined up (1:1, and 40:40, etc)?
Make sure the USB plug for the hard drive isn't 'reversed'. My $0.02
Originally posted by timstour:
I'm assuming you have the pin numbers lined up (1:1, and 40:40, etc)?
Make sure the USB plug for the hard drive isn't 'reversed'. My $0.02
Usuallly this cannot happen because there is a notch in the plug.
Originally posted by Wien_Sean:
Originally posted by timstour:
I'm assuming you have the pin numbers lined up (1:1, and 40:40, etc)?
Make sure the USB plug for the hard drive isn't 'reversed'. My $0.02
Usuallly this cannot happen because there is a notch in the plug.
Yeah, but there are older drives/plugs with gaps instead of pins, and the USB plug in the picture shows that the blanked socket is not being used. Maybe the other plug will allow it to be connected wrongly.
BTW, this is probably academic, if this is an XP NTFS(5) formatted disc. ME can barely read FAT32, IIRC 
Even the utilities might struggle if the disc had encryption on it...
One question before anyone goes any farther. I deal with this stuff on a day to day basis.
Does the hard drive use any type of 3rd party disk utilities on it, such as GoBack or any type of drive overlay software?
Everyone can stop with the jumper setting crap and talking about drivers.
If the device manager is showing the hard drive being present then it has nothing to do with drivers or jumper settings.
When you try it on the XP machine, right click on My Computer, go to Manage, then click Disk Management. In Disk Management you can view the status of the drive you are having problems with. It won't have a drive letter but it will say the size of the drive, status, and what type of file system it is using.
If it says anything other than FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS, then you partitioned the drive using software outside of Windows. That means the only way any computer will recognize the drive is if you install whatever software got the drive like that in the first place.
Hope this helps a little and I'll help with anything else you need to know.
Originally posted by CSVT1214:
One question before anyone goes any farther. I deal with this stuff on a day to day basis.
Does the hard drive use any type of 3rd party disk utilities on it, such as GoBack or any type of drive overlay software?
Everyone can stop with the jumper setting crap and talking about drivers.
If the device manager is showing the hard drive being present then it has nothing to do with drivers or jumper settings.
When you try it on the XP machine, right click on My Computer, go to Manage, then click Disk Management. In Disk Management you can view the status of the drive you are having problems with. It won't have a drive letter but it will say the size of the drive, status, and what type of file system it is using.
If it says anything other than FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS, then you partitioned the drive using software outside of Windows. That means the only way any computer will recognize the drive is if you install whatever software got the drive like that in the first place.
Hope this helps a little and I'll help with anything else you need to know.
Oh yeah ... Go Back is a major PITA!! I've worked on a consumers desktop with this once, couldn't do jack without it!
I'm lucky that the business systems don't have this stuff (and if they do it goes when I touch them). A quick question though. Would something like GoBack directly affect
the ability to read it when it's not a boot drive ? I guess it must write to the boot sector or something.
Like CSVT1214 inferrs ... XP is definitely your friend in this situation! Check you have permissions to add an external drive though ... seeing as it's your work computer there may be a policy to disable this. It's easily spotted as the policy usually locks down not only USB drives but generally the floppy drive too. I've never tested the policy myself so I don't know how it manifests itself.
Originally posted by Christian:
A quick question though. Would something like GoBack directly affect
the ability to read it when it's not a boot drive ? I guess it must write to the boot sector or something.
Simple answer , yes. If the drive is not the boot drive, and the boot drive does not have GoBack, it will not read the GoBack drive until it is installed. It actually uses a form of drivers to be able to read the partitions.
Simple explanation , that's pushing it. 
I'll try and explain it as best as I can.
GoBack makes a hard drive basically have partitions within a partition. A GoBack partition on any computer without GoBack will show up as "Unknown File System" or "Non-DOS" (if using Fdisk). Within that mystery file system is the actual partitions you created, such as FAT16, FAT32, or NTFS.
It does write to the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the hard drive. Use any program or utility you want to erase the hard drive, and GoBack will still show up on boot on a hard drive that is supposedly blank. Only a few ways to remove GoBack. The two I use are:
1. Uninstall GoBack once booted to Windows. (Only possible if the computer you are using is actually booting into Windows, obviously.)
2. Use the FDISK /MBR command at a command prompt. This will erase the MBR from the drive and re-write it with a brand new one. So bye bye GoBack.
See I tried to make that simple, but I can never do it. 
The box says ME doesn't need a driver for the IDE cable. I'm plugged in correctly too.
From control panel I'm having a green arrow show up for "USB Human Interface Device" so it's there, but unknown what to do with it.
Is calling the drive a USB mass storage device, instead of a drive... I think.
In layman terms, I think I've mixed drivers or something and messed up what the computer thinks the USB port is.
Anyway, I'm looking at it again tonight, then just stopping while I'm ahead.
Makes perfect sense to me, and I learned something new about stupid damned poxy free software on MB driver disks!!
For windows XP however, what would be the command to write a new boot record? I know you can do it through the rec. console, but FDISK is not available in XP.
Originally posted by Nate'sTour:
The box says ME doesn't need a driver for the IDE cable. I'm plugged in correctly too.
From control panel I'm having a green arrow show up for "USB Human Interface Device" so it's there, but unknown what to do with it.
Is calling the drive a USB mass storage device, instead of a drive... I think.
In layman terms, I think I've mixed drivers or something and messed up what the computer thinks the USB port is.
Anyway, I'm looking at it again tonight, then just stopping while I'm ahead.
AFAIK Windows ME requires drivers for all external storage devices. I may be wrong as I more or less never see ME around though.
Originally posted by Christian:
Originally posted by Nate'sTour:
The box says ME doesn't need a driver for the IDE cable. I'm plugged in correctly too.
From control panel I'm having a green arrow show up for "USB Human Interface Device" so it's there, but unknown what to do with it.
Is calling the drive a USB mass storage device, instead of a drive... I think.
In layman terms, I think I've mixed drivers or something and messed up what the computer thinks the USB port is.
Anyway, I'm looking at it again tonight, then just stopping while I'm ahead.
AFAIK Windows ME requires drivers for all external storage devices. I may be wrong as I more or less never see ME around though.
Sorry Nate, but you are losing me completely with what you just said. I don't know what to say now.
Christian, Windows ME has almost the same driver support as XP. External storage in Windows ME is very simple, even though ME is garbage. It's 98 and lower that is more complicated for users without computer knowledge.
Welcome to my world!
What I meant to say is that the USB "sytem" seems to be out of whack. I think I may have overwritten drivers or something to that extent.
That computer has nothing on worth saving (or copying to disk) so worse comes to worse, I reimage the drive and that'll put the USB drivers back.
I don't know enought about operating systems to keep screwing with them.
Originally posted by CSVT1214:
One question before anyone goes any farther. I deal with this stuff on a day to day basis.
Does the hard drive use any type of 3rd party disk utilities on it, such as GoBack or any type of drive overlay software?
Everyone can stop with the jumper setting crap and talking about drivers.
I do the exact same thing- IT manager for a company in Boston. In fact, I've used that exact hardware a few times, and as I said before, it did NOT work correctly until the drivers were installed properly.
It does not have GoBack, it is a driver for the ide-usb bridge. It will NOT work otherwise.
Originally posted by bishop375:
Originally posted by CSVT1214:
One question before anyone goes any farther. I deal with this stuff on a day to day basis.
Does the hard drive use any type of 3rd party disk utilities on it, such as GoBack or any type of drive overlay software?
Everyone can stop with the jumper setting crap and talking about drivers.
I do the exact same thing- IT manager for a company in Boston. In fact, I've used that exact hardware a few times, and as I said before, it did NOT work correctly until the drivers were installed properly.
It does not have GoBack, it is a driver for the ide-usb bridge. It will NOT work otherwise.
I'm not following you. You say it does not have GoBack, but how do you know if his hard drive has GoBack?
If the device is requiring drivers for it to operate correctly, why is Windows not asking him for them? First thing the device will do when plugged in is show "New Hardware Found", then it will attempt to install the drivers for the device if Windows has them already. If not, it will prompt for device drivers.
I sell devices like this all day everyday, and not a single computer that I plugged them into with Windows XP has ever asked me for a driver. They are true Plug and Play with XP.
It didn't ask us for drivers, either. It saw the USB mass storage device, but would do nothing with it.
We had to install the drivers manually, and it immediately gave us access to the drive.
This was also on a brand new Win XP Dell laptop recovering data from his old hdd.
Originally posted by bishop375:
It didn't ask us for drivers, either. It saw the USB mass storage device, but would do nothing with it.
We had to install the drivers manually, and it immediately gave us access to the drive.
This was also on a brand new Win XP Dell laptop recovering data from his old hdd.
Then I would say that's a first for me. Anytime I see "USB Mass Storage Device" and it continues without asking for drivers, it has always worked. Never had to load anything after if it didn't ask for them.
Did you make sure the drive is assigned a disk letter manually, through disk management, as I suggested?
Ray
Believe me, it was a first for me, too. I didn't believe the kid who'd used it before me- he warned me about installing the drivers first, but, he was right.
Nothing like having the new guy show up the manager.
Well I reimaged the HDD last night on the old computer I'm using until the motherboard comes in. It's all back to normal now and the USB ports are factory set.
I'm not going to screw with this one good working computer! I'll just wait until my motherboard comes in.
Actually, I need to start saving for a mulitmedia pc. I want:
1: TV tuner built in with MPEG2 or higher compression for recording
2: Dual Layer DVD burner & CD burner
3: USB ports galore!
4: Surround sound
5: Best graphics card
6: Best sound card
7: Huge HDD or maybe two HDD's
8: 3.0 Ghz or higher
9: wireless mouse & keyboard
That'll do me just fine!
On a side note;
HAS ANYONE EVER BOUGHT A PC OFF EBAY. IS THAT A GOOD IDEA??? I SEE SOME REALLY COOL SYSTEMS ON THERE IN EBAY STORES THAT ARE A LOT CHEAPER THAN RETAIL???
E-bay isn't my favourite place to buy PC hardware from ... it's pretty hit and miss. Follow the general rules for buying from e-bay and you'll be fine though.
A couple of thoughts I have about your list.
1: TV tuner built in with MPEG2 or higher compression for recording
ATI & Matrox both make some decent cards.
2: Dual Layer DVD burner & CD burner
Watch out for escalating costs for DVD burning software ... try and find a 'complete package' to save yourself some cash.
3: USB ports galore!
The easiest part .. USB hubs are dead cheap.
4: Surround sound
Tip ... run cables to your sound system ... will save you the cash you would spend on PC speakers.
5: Best graphics card
Tip ... don't go for the 'best' go for the 'second best' and buy it off e-bay ... many power-gamers rotate their graphics cards constantly and you can pick up some awesome deals!!
6: Best sound card
Best for what ... are you planning to do studio work?
7: Huge HDD or maybe two HDD's
8: 3.0 Ghz or higher
AMD with ABIT motherboard
9: wireless mouse & keyboard
One answer ... logitech, always make sure you have spare batteries handy though ... get bluetooth too, less interference.