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| Thread ID: 73317 | 2006-10-15 04:26:00 | Hard drive problem | george12 (7) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 491586 | 2006-10-15 04:26:00 | Hey, I bought a 2.5" 60gb hard drive (5400rpm seagate) and a 2.5" usb caddy for it. It ran nicely for a while as I filled it with vitally important data, but began to occasionally make a beeping sound (from the hard drive if my ear is correct) and spin down for a second. It only ever did it in my PC. But now it just beeps all the time (beep ... spin-up,spin-down ... beep ... spin-up, spin-down ... etc). I can't get into it and I need the data. I bought a new caddy, no difference. My 5v rail is quite stable at around 5.5V, about 5.4 when it's plugged in. Possibly too high? Any tips? |
george12 (7) | ||
| 491587 | 2006-10-15 04:43:00 | Are you powering this external drive off USB? If so the symptoms indicate it's drawing too much for the USB port(s) it is plugged into, and unable to maintain power. A USB port (powered) will only deliver a maiximum of 250 mA, sometimes less. Caddies need dual ports to operate, but even then they can be touch and go, I always use mine with an external 5v adapter whenever possible, as occasionally it "power cycles" as you describe and will fail to read if just on USB power. Use an external power adapter? |
godfather (25) | ||
| 491588 | 2006-10-15 09:22:00 | Meanwhile its always handy to have a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter so you can connect it directly in your PC when you need to retrieve data and have no other method. I agree, it needs its own power supply, not just what it can get out of the USB port. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 491589 | 2006-10-15 09:56:00 | My 2.5" external USB caddy has a USB cable with 2 USB plugs on it. This is so that it can get power from 2 USB ports and no need for an external power supply. | CYaBro (73) | ||
| 491590 | 2006-10-15 21:21:00 | As explained in my post, even dual ports can be touch and go. Typical draw is 900 mA at 5v, which assumes that each port will deliver almost the full 500 mA (incorrectly stated by me above as 250...) but not all ports will do this. *most* times mine will work, but its occasionally a problem. Hence I use an adapter wherever possible. |
godfather (25) | ||
| 491591 | 2006-10-15 21:26:00 | I have one of these HDDs and I have found this problem on some PCs as well, also Laptops it happens the most, error comes up on the screen saying current overload or something and does not work | The_End_Of_Reality (334) | ||
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