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Thread ID: 115663	2011-01-28 23:38:00	External HDD hangs on folder recognition	BBCmicro (15761)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1173478	2011-01-28 23:38:00	I have a WD external 500GB HDD (2.5" form factor - the same item that Noel Leeming will be selling on Monday only for $88) connected to the USB port on my PBR-500 media player. It has 290 GB and 180 GB partitions (wouldn't work as one partition). I tested it with a couple of files in each partition and all worked fine. Then I loaded 300GB of files in several folders, a job of many hours. The drive no longer works on my media player. (It's still OK on my Win7 machine.) The media player recognises it and it whirrs away, but it 'clicks' every 2 sec and if I try to access it the media player says 'loading' but hangs forever. I have changed all the folder names to 2 or 3 letters (ie, no spaces or odd characters) but no joy. I'm wondering if 'System Volume Information' or the Recycle Bin are causing the problem?? I'm not even sure that these are true folders on the HDD?? I tried the media player with another HDD (actually a 3.5" HDD inside a MediaGate media player - a player which has both host and device USB ports) and it saw the folders OK and played the files OK. I'm not sure of the file OS in the PBR-500 but it looks kindof 'linux' (which I don't know anything about). Advice appreciated	BBCmicro (15761)
1173479	2011-01-29 00:17:00	What do you mean "no longer works"? It doesn't see the drive at all or it can't read the files you put on it? What format are these files, are they in folders or on their own?	pctek (84)
1173480	2011-01-29 00:59:00	"It no longer works" means that as soon as I click on the USB icon in the media player, it says "loading" but hangs. If the drive is not plugged in, clicking on the USB icon does nothing (does not bring up the "loading" message) I can hear the drive start up as soon as I plug it in. I can also hear it "click" every 2 seconds. The files are regular .mpg etc. The file system on the external HDD is NTFS. To correct something in my OP: I said the WD 500 GB drive would not work as a single partition. Now I'm thinking that when I tested it as one partition it was loaded with the same folders that are giving me trouble now. In other words, the problem was the folders, not the partition size.	BBCmicro (15761)
1173481	2011-01-29 03:30:00	Does the external HDD have a separate power supply or does it take it from the USB port(s)? Try using a powered USB hub.	feersumendjinn (64)
1173482	2011-01-29 04:44:00	The external HDD does not have its own power supply and I don't have a powered hub. The HDD uses the 'micro' USB connector and I don't have a 'Y' cable for that. What you say (a power problem) remains a possibility and I will try to check it further. But it doesn't have that 'feel'. In the last hour I've formatted an 8GB flash drive with NTFS and created folders and filenames with 50 characters including lots of spaces and transferred some of the files that won't play. All the files play perfectly. At this stage I'm thinking that it's a basic incompatibility of the HDD with the media player... ... one of the things the fine print warns about. I note that Windows Explorer lists System Volume Information and RecylceBin on the HDD whereas it doesn't on the flash drive. I'm wondering if that's the crucial difference	BBCmicro (15761)
1173483	2011-01-29 09:09:00	I've had the problem with a 2.5" ide drive (connected with a multi-interface HDD usb adapter, no other power supply apart from the usb port supply) with exactly the same symptoms, The media player recognises it and it whirrs away, but it 'clicks' every 2 sec and if I try to access it the media player says 'loading' but hangs forever. as soon as I connected a powered usb hub, it worked. I would assume the Win 7 machine must have a higher current output on its usb port than the media player does. I would also say that a 500GB HDD would draw more current than a flash drive :)	feersumendjinn (64)
1173484	2011-01-29 20:42:00	I' as soon as I connected a powered usb hub, it worked It's more evidence - thanks . Your advice also fits in (sort of) with the fact that our daughter's WD drive, which was the 300GB model, worked perfectly fine . (Her 300 GB model used to be mine . It worked fine with folders and just the one partition . She asked me to buy her one for Christmas but I bought the 500 GB model and gave her the smaller one . She's now back overseas and I can't swap . ) "A power problem" might also explain why the 500 GB drive worked when I first tested it (on a couple of files not in folders) . It worked because the power supply is "sitting on the edge" and sometimes it will work and sometimes not . . . well, that's the theory Anyway I'm now convinced that I should try a powered hub . Many thanks	BBCmicro (15761)
1173485	2011-01-30 04:46:00	Well, I've now tried a powered USB hub and the news is mixed. The good news is that the clicking on the HDD has gone and the drive whirrs like it should. So you guys might have diagnosed correctly. (The hub drops the HDD if I pull out the power cord ie, the hub agrees that the HDD is too thirsty.) However, the HDD still doesn't work through the hub (with power attached). A USB flash drive sort of DOES work through the hub (and it doesn't need the hub power cable to be connected.) I say 'sort of' because it didn't work when formatted NTFS and when it included folder names of 50 characters incl 20 spaces. Even though NTFS with those filenames worked direct onto the media player (not through the hub). I reformatted the flash drive FAT32 and put a regular folder and root files on it and it works. I'm not sure what to conclude from this. I'm thinking that I might be able to solve the power problem with a 'Y' cable and thus avoid the hub. Then solve any incompatibility problem by formatting the HDD FAT32?? I will ask about a 'Y' cable in a separate thread	BBCmicro (15761)
1173486	2011-01-31 01:08:00	How many devices have you got plugged into USB ports which draw their power from the computer?... You may have saturated your 5v rail which would explain why the HDD runs better when connected to a powered USB Hub!	SolMiester (139)
1173487	2011-01-31 01:40:00	when formatted NTFS and when it included folder names of 50 characters incl 20 spaces . I reformatted the flash drive FAT32 and put a regular folder and root files on it and it works . With the NTFS vs FAT32 thing, does it have the same files on the drive, or is it that the NTFS formatted drive has 4GB+ files? My conclusion to it all is that media device is a piece of **** .	pctek (84)
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