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USB HDD Not Recognised

C

CHE

pfm Member
I have a WD Elements HDD that I use for backup duties. Plugged it in yesterday on a W10 laptop and it came up with 'USB device not recognised'. I couldn't see any way to cajole it to work.

Is it worth taking the HDD out and trying it in another enclosure with other connection gubbins, or is the problem most likely in the disc package itself ?

Any suggestions most appreciated.

CHE
 
CHE said:
I have a WD Elements HDD that I use for backup duties. Plugged it in yesterday on a W10 laptop and it came up with 'USB device not recognised'. I couldn't see any way to cajole it to work.

Is it worth taking the HDD out and trying it in another enclosure with other connection gubbins, or is the problem most likely in the disc package itself ?

Any suggestions most appreciated.

CHE
Click to expand...
Have you run Computer Management as admin and clicked on Disk Management to see what it says?

Cheers,

DV
 
Try another USB port, having taken a small brush and vacuum to all the ports to make sure that dust n dirt are not the problem. Switch the machine off first, though. Inspect ports and plugs with magnifying glass or similar.
Try it with a different computer

As suggested above, look for it in Disk Management even if the main interface rejects it

Does it make any noise when connected? Is there an activity light on it, and does that show anything?

Is it a USB-powered drive, or is it one of those with a separate power supply?

If all else fails, take the casing apart to get at the actual drive, and mount that in an empty USB caddy of suitable size and format; if it's the electronics in the casing at fault, this will bypass them
 
Tumeni Notes said:
Try another USB port, having taken a small brush and vacuum to all the ports to make sure that dust n dirt are not the problem. Switch the machine off first, though. Inspect ports and plugs with magnifying glass or similar.
Try it with a different computer

As suggested above, look for it in Disk Management even if the main interface rejects it

Does it make any noise when connected? Is there an activity light on it, and does that show anything?

Is it a USB-powered drive, or is it one of those with a separate power supply?

If all else fails, take the casing apart to get at the actual drive, and mount that in an empty USB caddy of suitable size and format; if it's the electronics in the casing at fault, this will bypass them
Click to expand...
In general yes but some WD Elements HDD contain a white drive and this won't work without a mod as they won't power up.

Cheers,

DV
 
Thanks for the suggestions, some answers below :-

W10 Disk Management doesn't show the drive.
Drive light flashing blue.
HDD powered via USB port.
Locks up a Win7 PC if attached.
Leopard-skin accessories.

Looks like I should take it apart then ?

CHE
 
If you shuck the drive from the caddy and it is a white label as DV says you may need to mod it and fix the 3.3V pin issue, lots of guides if you google. Some external caddies and things like QNAP NAS boxes will work OK but some can’t power the white label disks up. People realised an 8TB USB was cheaper than a bare SATA 8TB so started dismantling them, WD made the white label change to combat it. Don’t think 2TB are white they started at 8TB, may have worked down though. Dunno if true I was told whites are reds than have been refurbed/repaired.
 
Amber Audio said:
If you shuck the drive from the caddy and it is a white label as DV says you may need to mod it and fix the 3.3V pin issue, lots of guides if you google.
Click to expand...

OK, it is a white label drive but doesn't have the pin outs as shown here :-

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Fix-the-33V-Pin-Issue-in-White-Label-Disks-/

so I don't see how I can solve the 3.3v pin problem. To clarify, it's an 500Gb external HDD in a dedicated WD Elements enclosure. I can't post photos so can only describe the pins as being a set of 6 round pins, then the USB style connector, then two more pins. Doesn't look as though I can swap any parts over.

CHE
 
CHE said:
OK, it is a white label drive but doesn't have the pin outs as shown here :-

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Fix-the-33V-Pin-Issue-in-White-Label-Disks-/

so I don't see how I can solve the 3.3v pin problem. To clarify, it's an 500Gb external HDD in a dedicated WD Elements enclosure. I can't post photos so can only describe the pins as being a set of 6 round pins, then the USB style connector, then two more pins. Doesn't look as though I can swap any parts over.

CHE
Click to expand...
Sounds like it’s bog standard and a normal USB SATA adapter/caddy will work. Unless you need data off it you’d be as well buying a new bigger drive imo.
 
CHE said:
OK, it is a white label drive but doesn't have the pin outs as shown here :-

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Fix-the-33V-Pin-Issue-in-White-Label-Disks-/

so I don't see how I can solve the 3.3v pin problem. To clarify, it's an 500Gb external HDD in a dedicated WD Elements enclosure. I can't post photos so can only describe the pins as being a set of 6 round pins, then the USB style connector, then two more pins. Doesn't look as though I can swap any parts over.

CHE
Click to expand...
From this description it appears to be an old USB only WD HDD i.e. it has the SATA interface and encryption chip built into the drive. You can say goodbye to your data unless you want to dismantle the circuit boards etc. Its not for the faint hearted and with no guarantee of success.

Cheers,

DV
 
Darth Vader said:
From this description it appears to be an old USB only WD HDD i.e. it has the SATA interface and encryption chip built into the drive.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is how it looks to me so a new HDD has been ordered.

Thanks for all replies.

CHE
 
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