My Portable Hard Drive isn't being recognised

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Finch

2836 posts

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#304377 29-Apr-2023 10:31

Hi there,

I think my portable hard drive may be dead but not 100% sure

Around 3-4 weeks ago I was transferring a file from one laptop - another. I put the file from my laptop onto the portable drive, then when I went to put the portable drive into the other laptop it wouldn't even plug in, it was like there was a wall in the USB slot. I did notice that the cable was looking a bit different on the inside, the "blue" bit wasn't covering the holes if that makes any sense.

Since then, the cable plugs in fine to any USB slot on either laptop, however neither laptop will pick up the hard drive. The light goes on on the hard drive and it's making an "on" noise (Which is normal), it's like it's connected but going into my computer there's no portable hard drive, just the C drive.

Wondering if it's the cable that could be causing a problem or more likely to be the hard drive, I'm guessing the HD? I've been told my

Also, just inserting it now into a particular USB port (Perhaps the one I originally used) is giving me this message

And this is a general idea of the cable I have, (Not sure if it's this exact one but a general idea)

PB Tech Cable

Thanks!

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Geek @ Coastguard NZ
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#3069166 29-Apr-2023 10:40

I find with some of my external drives, that they give that behavior if theyre not getting enough power from the USB port (on my desktop) - plugging into the rear USB always solves the issue.

So can you test the drive on a desktop ?

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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Finch

2836 posts

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#3069169 29-Apr-2023 10:46

xpd:

I find with some of my external drives, that they give that behavior if theyre not getting enough power from the USB port (on my desktop) - plugging into the rear USB always solves the issue.

So can you test the drive on a desktop ?

Unfortunately I don't know anyone with a desktop, not that I'm aware of!

I've just received an error which says "Device Descriptor Request Failed"

Sounds like it's just dead? Randomly?

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3069172 29-Apr-2023 11:03

Could you please post high-res in-focus shots of all the connectors? Plug and socket at drive end, plug and socket at PC end?

Definitely sounds like a mechanical issue in the plugs, which is way better than an actual faulty drive.

What brand/model drive?

Oblivian

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#3069223 29-Apr-2023 15:49

There is a downside to USB.

Pins 1 and 4 are gnd and 5v.

Guess what happens when the guide blocks are missing from your USB socket and then put it in upside down and touch raw pins.. bad things

You'll need to rule that out also.

Finch

2836 posts

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#3069329 29-Apr-2023 18:40

SomeoneSomewhere:

Could you please post high-res in-focus shots of all the connectors? Plug and socket at drive end, plug and socket at PC end?

Definitely sounds like a mechanical issue in the plugs, which is way better than an actual faulty drive.

What brand/model drive?

I created an imgur album, hopefully the pictures are decent enough, excuse the fluff and dirt in the holes lol

Imgur Album here

Finch

2836 posts

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#3069330 29-Apr-2023 18:44

Oblivian: There is a downside to USB.

Pins 1 and 4 are gnd and 5v.

Guess what happens when the guide blocks are missing from your USB socket and then put it in upside down and touch raw pins.. bad things

You'll need to rule that out also.

I feel something like this might've happened, would that explain the "wall" I was facing?

And actually today while I was trying all the USB Ports on my laptop, it went in one of them fine, then I went to plug it in another one and it wouldn't go - I looked inside the original USB Slot and it looked different, I discovered that the grey "case" (Not sure of the word?) was actually stuck inside my cable, and that was stopping it from being plugged into another port

I then plugged it back in and the grey "case" was back on the USB Port when I pulled the cable out

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3069350 29-Apr-2023 20:29

Finch:

Oblivian: There is a downside to USB.

Pins 1 and 4 are gnd and 5v.

Guess what happens when the guide blocks are missing from your USB socket and then put it in upside down and touch raw pins.. bad things

You'll need to rule that out also.

I feel something like this might've happened, would that explain the "wall" I was facing?

And actually today while I was trying all the USB Ports on my laptop, it went in one of them fine, then I went to plug it in another one and it wouldn't go - I looked inside the original USB Slot and it looked different, I discovered that the grey "case" (Not sure of the word?) was actually stuck inside my cable, and that was stopping it from being plugged into another port

I then plugged it back in and the grey "case" was back on the USB Port when I pulled the cable out

Yeah, sounds like a bad socket, possibly damaged the cable too.

Tape over the socket and don't use it. Try a replacement cable to connect to the drive. You can also use the old micro-USB cellphone cables; they'll just operate a bit slower.

Finch

2836 posts

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#3069879 1-May-2023 11:04

Thanks for the reply,

When you say socket do you mean USB Port? I have 3 on my laptop and it's only the portable drive that doesn't seem to work, my mouse for example will work in all. I can see the light is turned on on it, it's making an "on" noise, everything is pointing towards it working except it's just not coming through on the laptop

Finch

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#3069890 1-May-2023 11:29

Well I managed to source another cable, funnily enough there was one on my desk lol

Anyway, I plugged it into a USB Port, which I should've taken advice from and tapped over because now there's something inside the port, which came from the cable, I also can't put the cable into any other slot because I'm facing the "wall" and it wont go in - *Facepalm*

How can I get this out of the slot? I'm assuming some tiny pliers? I've tried about 100 times plugging the cable back in and out of the slot hoping it will join up, but no dice

Finch

2836 posts

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#3069898 1-May-2023 11:47

Well I've managed to get it out, am trying other USB Ports now on two laptops using both cables, but it's still not popping up

Safe to say it's dead? (Despite the lights and sounds being on)?

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3070555 2-May-2023 17:07

It might be live or you may need to open up the case. What model drive is it?

You really need to use a known good - think brand new in box - USB cable and socket at this point.

Finch

2836 posts

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#3070659 2-May-2023 21:55

SomeoneSomewhere: It might be live or you may need to open up the case. What model drive is it?

You really need to use a known good - think brand new in box - USB cable and socket at this point.

Transcend TS1TSJ25D3, you really think there's still hope? It doesn't have screws on the back of it either

Have tried in 6 different ports across two laptops, don't see how it would be any different, but I'm the one asking for advice so don't know

Link to the specs of the drive

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3070678 3-May-2023 00:42

Connector issues are like STDs. Plug a bad plug into a good socket, and that socket is now bad. Plug a good plug into a bad socket, and the plug might be bad. If a piece of plastic has broken off, the connector is permanently broken. You need to start fresh on both.

As the errors all appear to be USB level, it's likely that the drive inside is fine and you're having plug/socket issues.

These usually (can't find for this specific model, but an older Transcend does) have a separate USB-SATA converter, and then a laptop drive. Even if the USB-SATA board is dead or damaged, you can get another case or stick the bare drive in a PC.

If there's anything really, really important on it, you should probably send it to someone professional.

Finch

2836 posts

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#3072053 3-May-2023 22:14

SomeoneSomewhere:

Connector issues are like STDs. Plug a bad plug into a good socket, and that socket is now bad. Plug a good plug into a bad socket, and the plug might be bad. If a piece of plastic has broken off, the connector is permanently broken. You need to start fresh on both.

As the errors all appear to be USB level, it's likely that the drive inside is fine and you're having plug/socket issues.

These usually (can't find for this specific model, but an older Transcend does) have a separate USB-SATA converter, and then a laptop drive. Even if the USB-SATA board is dead or damaged, you can get another case or stick the bare drive in a PC.

If there's anything really, really important on it, you should probably send it to someone professional.

I really don't think it's the USB/Cable/Port issue, I genuinely think the Hard Drive is just dead, but again that's why I'm asking the question. Thank you very much, I'll look into buying a new cable, have to try and find someone who will allow me to plug the USB into their computer as well

Has photos/movies/pictures/CV/Other documents on it, so fairly important I get it back but not the end of the world if I don't, need/want it back more than I don't though if that makes sense

Finch

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#3073305 7-May-2023 11:36

While I haven't bought a new cable yet, I did just plug in something else with both cables and it worked fine. I'm not sure exactly what it's called (The name of this object is escaping me right now), but I think I have a previous Laptop/PC hard drive in this "case".

As the cables are working fine, I think this narrows the problem down to my portable hard drive being the issue and not the USB Port/Cables?

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