Maxtor Extrenal HD Problem

Alan153

Folks,
Any help with this would be much appreciated. This morning I was working on my computer as normal but when I tried to access my Maxtor 300gb Extrenal HD I was given the standard error that the device was unavailable. I did all the usual checks:

1. Made sure the cables were all connected
2. Rebooted PC to check if that would help...No joy
3. Uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers and software..etc

However, nothing has worked and I still get the same error when I try to access it. I have an awful lot of stuff on it that I cannot lose...PLEASE HELP:(

spartacus93

Thank God for backups eh!

I have a 160gig one of these and I've gotten that kind of message before. It was solved by plugging it out, and leaving it for a while. I didn't have to do anything drastic to get it going again, maybe I was lucky... Try different USB ports too, or a different computer.

Alan153

I'll try that but any more help is much appreciated:(

TempestSabre

Its probably a USB problem. Disconnect the drive. Try removing the USB controller from the device manager. Reboot the machine. Then add back the drive. try using a different USB port, front back. Sometimes USB port won't plug and play properly. Dunno why. I had two identical USB drives. One was always giving me USB problems, could take 10mins of connecting and reconnecting to get it to mount. The other was always perfect. I returned the faulty one and the replacment has been perfect.

Alan153

I have tried everything. The computer is recognising it as working properly in the device manager but when I double click the icon to access it I still get the unavailable..jibberish.

I tried it out on a laptop withthe same results which would lead to the conclusion that the drive itself is at fault. But why? it was working perfectly and just stopped..!!

PLEASE HELP..!!

PauloMN

Funny, it's a Maxtor external drive giving me problems at the mo, although it's working ok, just cancelling out my card reader.

Only thing I can think of is maybe the power supply is busted. Does it power up, do the LEDs come on and can you hear it spinning? Aside from that it must be a problem with the disk, if you've tried it on another machine.

WizZard

Does it register as a disk in Device Manager -> Disk Management ?
If so use Maxtors Disk Tools on it to test if it has a fault.

Alan153

WizZard: The disk does register in Disk Management but with a small yellow dot. However, it does not register in My Computer or in Maxtor's own software. This is really wrecking my head. The disk is getting power as the LED's are all lit and the disk is spinning.

Lush

A yellow dot you say... Go into the device manager and see if its there. Look at the error message.

Go into the event logs and read your error messages in the system logs. They should give you some usefull information.

Alan153

Lush wrote:

Go into the event logs..

Where do I find these error logs?
I will check out the device manager when I get home. Cheers.

Alan153

The Device Manager is now saying that the device is working properly buy it still doesn't show up in My Computer.

EDIT: The little yellow dot with the exclamation mark is showing again. When I right click the drive in the device manager window and select properties i get the following:

"This device is not working properly because the controlling firmware is reporting the resources for the device incorrectly. (Code 9)"

PLEASE HELP AS I NEED THE INFO ON THIS DRIVE ASAP

PS: I KNOW I'M SHOUTING

Alan153

Does anyone know what this Code 9 error means and how to fix it?

WizZard

I Googled that text and was led here.

Have you contacted Maxtor yet?

Alan153

I submitted a request for tech support on the issue as I really don't want to lose my digital photos that are on the drive. I will see how that goes.

In the meabtime, any suggestion are welcome on how to fix this.

Stephen

You could try taking the disk out of the USB casing and installing it in your PC - afaik those maxtor drives are just standard IDE disks. Careful though, this may invalidate your warranty.

Alan153

Can anyone else verify what Stephen has posted about the drives just being stanrd drive in a fancy case.

By the way Stephen, I agree that Louis Walsh deserves to suffer.

EOA_Mushy

All packaged drives i have come accross to date have been one of the bus types inside a platic/metal case.... just easy accessibility through the usb. (usualy)