I am using the UltraPak with the external USB hard drive. Lately Win7 pro has not been detecting the drive consistently. Maybe 1 in (5 to 10 times) it does not find it.
After inspecting the HDDscan 4.0 (Hard Disk Drive Scan) website http://hddscan.com/ which has some help I am currently running the available tests on the drive. This utility was recommended by my computer service person. The first read test looked good. I am running the RD-read test and watching the details. So far no sectors are bad. There is 1 more test I can run. The smart test is unavailable for external USB drives.
Currently I am reading this guide found through google. I need to find some time to read it slower. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/external-drive-not-recognized-this-is-how-to-fix-it-in-windows/ Unfortunately the issue is intermittent. The article suggests one problem might be the USB port itself. However when the problem first started I was using a port at the back of the computer and I decided to start using a different port at the front so I can unplug the drive when not in use. I get the same intermittent problem with the front port.
I have backups of the external USB hard drive in two places. I am thinking of buying another external USB hard drive and copying everything to it but I am not sure if that is necessary.
I was wondering if anyone has any similar experience and any thoughts on this issue.
First thing that comes to mind; are you changing which physical port it is plugged into sometimes?
The operating system may remember this external drive as being plugged in to one certain slot, and changing this may cause the issue. Usually whenever I have drive recognition issues (not just with BiaB) it's because I've moved things around.
If it's a drive 'power' problem, that's another possibility. Does the drive appear to turn on? Any indication of activity from the drive when this happens? Does it make any noise at all, or lights, or bells or sirens?
When it does fail, take a second to see if the drive itself is alive. Then we can move on to connection and OS possibilities.
If you have 2 backups copies, you are likely fine there. Plus in your PGMusic account you should have links to re-download everything you need anyway.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
good question. I don't actually know. I attached the list showing in the device manager. Not sure how to read it (I am more of a programmer than a hardware guy).
I am wondering how I would know which port it is currently using.
I do know it was running maybe 2 years without problems on the back port and this issue started maybe 2 months ago.
First thing that comes to mind; are you changing which physical port it is plugged into sometimes?
The operating system may remember this external drive as being plugged in to one certain slot, and changing this may cause the issue. Usually whenever I have drive recognition issues (not just with BiaB) it's because I've moved things around.
If it's a drive 'power' problem, that's another possibility. Does the drive appear to turn on? Any indication of activity from the drive when this happens? Does it make any noise at all, or lights, or bells or sirens?
When it does fail, take a second to see if the drive itself is alive. Then we can move on to connection and OS possibilities.
If you have 2 backups copies, you are likely fine there. Plus in your PGMusic account you should have links to re-download everything you need anyway.
To answer each question; I am trying to remember what I did when it first occurred in the back port. I think the first thing I did was unplug it and plug it in a different computer and it found it. Next just after doing that I plugged it back in the same computer and it found it. So after that each time it happened again I just unplugged it and plugged it back in and it found it. Eventually I decided to unplug it and plug it in the front port to save me work. It found it. Of course if I unplugged it and it was visible I used the utility to shut it down before I unplugged it but if it was not recognized I just unplugged it. As mentioned above it does it about the same amount in the front port as the back port. To finish that question I never change the port unless it does not recognize it.
I do not remember if I checked the drive before I unplugged it each time. I do not think so. I will have to remember to check that from now on if Win7 can not find the drive.
Since I started unplugging it when not in use I have had to plug it in each time I want to use it. Only once has it not recognized it when I plugged it in while the machine is already on (tonight actually). So tonight BIAB actually locked up and I thought maybe it was because the drive became unrecognizable during operation. I could not kill BIAB with the task manager so I shut the machine down. At the moment it is recognizing it but I decided to plug it into the 2nd port on the front.
Thanks for letting me know about this "Plus in your PGMusic account you should have links to re-download everything" Where is my account...lol. I am looking right now to see if I have a log in...lol. All I ever log into is the forum :-) Found it. it worked. Amazing...lol. Thanks Rharv :-)
In addition to rharv's comments, does this problem arise after the computer has gone to sleep and it reactivated?
Regards, Noel
The ports have blue inside the socket so they are USB3 then.
I have the computer set so it does not go to sleep. It is the machine I trade on and it can't be allowed to go to sleep or it screws up my datafeed processing. I do the same on the notebook where I run BIAB for the jams to give count in and to use as backing tracks when players are missing. The other desktop does not have BIAB installed. That ones goes to sleep.
To access download files, log-in into your Sales account and you'll find them under "My Products". If they are not appearing, it means that you haven't registered your latest version of the software. If this is the case, simply register the software and the files will appear.
To access download files, log-in into your Sales account and you'll find them under "My Products". If they are not appearing, it means that you haven't registered your latest version of the software. If this is the case, simply register the software and the files will appear.
Regards, Noel
Thanks Noel. I found them and left myself a reminder in my database reminder system they are there.
Download USBdeview, and remove all USB drivers not in use any more. !!! DON'T remove your eventual keyboard and mouse drivers BTW !!!!
Widows updates screws this up every time: So again switch off Power Management here for all USB drivers called hub:
Thanks Fiddler2007. I installed USBDview and also turned off the power management checkbox. Great utility.
So am I correct in assuming you are saying?
Any USB port in the USBDview display list that says "No" under the connected column can be highlighted and I can click the "Uninstall Selected Devices" button.
The assumption being that when I plug the device in again it will reappear in the list as in use.
Download USBdeview, and remove all USB drivers not in use any more. !!! DON'T remove your eventual keyboard and mouse drivers BTW !!!!
Widows updates screws this up every time: So again switch off Power Management here for all USB drivers called hub:
Thanks Fiddler2007. I installed USBDview and also turned off the power management checkbox. Great utility.
So am I correct in assuming you are saying?
Any USB port in the USBDview display list that says "No" under the connected column can be highlighted and I can click the "Uninstall Selected Devices" button.
The assumption being that when I plug the device in again it will reappear in the list as in use.
Yep, and you can delete the white ones, the green ones are in use ...
So here are the results of my 3 HDDScan tests. http://hddscan.com/ 1/ Verify - read data without transfer (no bad sectors). 2/ Read - read data to the host (no bad sectors). 3/ Butterfly - read data to the host with seeks (there was a mass of bad sectors at the very end).
So after seeing such a large number of bad sectors in the 3rd test which seemed out of place compared to the other two tests I checked the drive and Rharv's suggestion appeared (the drive light was off). So I guess the drive shut down during the Butterfly test. I plugged the drive in again and it is fine at the moment.
So I guess I buy a new drive today :-) Well I have a bit of a happy emotional problem so it should be :-(
I think what I will do is I will keep the new one unplugged except when in use. Hopefully that will make it last longer than 2.5 years (I registered it July 27th 2016).
P.S. I am wondering which way I should load the new drive (downloads, copy from old drive, copy from one of my backups). I guess it makes sense to copy from one of my backups for three reasons. 1/ it will be the fastest, 2/ it might be most likely to be good and 3/ since that way I can test my backup. I will leave myself a reminder as to where I loaded it from. Another option might be to use this drive until it stops completely then do one of those choices.
If it's f.i. your BIAB audiophile drive, type WD My Passport USB 3.0, you might still have warranty. I found them very reliable sofar. You could run a checkdisk routine from Windows, and mark 'fix bad sectors' doing that. Takes some time, but might repair your drive.
Important: Usually USB drives themselves are not the cause, but misuse. You cannot unplug them un-punished, with out using a proper eject routine from within windows.
For copying files i'd prefer FastCopy (freeware) or Teracopy, has some verifying options. -F
If it's f.i. your BIAB audiophile drive, type WD My Passport USB 3.0, you might still have warranty. I found them very reliable sofar. You could run a checkdisk routine from Windows, and mark 'fix bad sectors' doing that. Takes some time, but might repair your drive.
Important: Usually USB drives themselves are not the cause, but misuse. You cannot unplug them un-punished, with out using a proper eject routine from within windows.
For copying files i'd prefer FastCopy (freeware) or Teracopy, has some verifying options. -F
Thanks Fiddle2007, I will check into the warranty.
I suspect the problem is not sectors since the first two tests did not have bad sectors. I will run the 3rd test again to see if it completes without bad sectors. I think it just shut off much like it shut off when I was running BIAB before I decided to create this thread. The thing is the 3rd test takes longer so it is more likely to shut off.
The only time I unplug it without the correct procedure is if I cannot find it in the "Safely Remove Hardware" list (no choice).
Sometimes, if you have multiple USB devices plugged in, you can use too much power and the drive does not perform properly. Also, on some systems, some USB ports have more oomph than others. I have had luck by using powered USB hubs.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA
Sometimes, if you have multiple USB devices plugged in, you can use too much power and the drive does not perform properly. Also, on some systems, some USB ports have more oomph than others. I have had luck by using powered USB hubs.
Very true, and why i invested in a Freslogic 4 controller USB 3.0 card in my desktop. In my case especially for an external audio interface. Usually a laptop has only one or two contoller chips for USB.
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