Toshiba external HDD not being recognized!

BlackBlaster111 · Mar 17, 2013

From a couple of days back, whenever I plugged in my "Toshiba 1TB Stor.E Canvio 2.5" USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive" whether on the Desktop or a Laptop, it would refuse to show up in "My Computer". I've had this [the product, not the problem] for just over a year, so I know that it worked beforehand.

I know that it’s getting power because the LED light on the front of the case is lit and I know that the HDD is not being read because that same LED light is not blinking in regular intervals and whenever I physically feel it there’s no rumble feeling of parts moving inside.

I have a general suspicion that it’s the USB cable since after a few attempts of plugging in the Micro B part of the cable to the ex. HDD it would suddenly be able to boot up, though this victory is short-lived as whenever I take the USB cable out the computer and plug it back in it suddenly stops working again.

However I'm also wondering, could it be a problem with the Ex. HDD itself? Like the Micro B port got knocked loose v.slightly out of alignment, so it’s not making a proper connection and that's causing it not to get read.

So have you had any similar problems and if so how did you go about fixing it?

edogawa · Mar 17, 2013

Can you see this drive in disk management? Or in the bios?

BlackBlaster111 · Mar 17, 2013

edogawa :

Just checked, and I do not spot the external HDD listed in disk management, just the ones that are stored in the laptop.

edogawa · Mar 17, 2013

Alright, check the bios, if it's not there report back.

BlackBlaster111 · Mar 17, 2013

edogawa :

How may I do that?

edogawa · Mar 17, 2013

Since you do not know how to do that, lets try something else first.

Turn off your PC, unplug the USB cable to the external.
Now unplug power cord from the external for 10 seconds.
Turn on your PC, plug the power cable back into the external, once to the desktop plug the cable in(try different ports if needed).

And you sure it wasn't listed under disk management?

Worst case scenario is the drive is dead too, you may need to pull it out of the enclosure and test it in your PC.

BlackBlaster111 · Mar 17, 2013

edogawa :

Did as you said and that worked, and yes it wasn't listed under disk management whereas now it is.

So what do you think the cause of this would be?

edogawa · Mar 17, 2013

BlackBlaster111 :

edogawa :

Did as you said and that worked, and yes it wasn't listed under disk management whereas now it is.

So what do you think the cause of this would be?

Can't say specifically, but the good news is that it works. If it does it again, you know what to do.

hassan64 · Jul 4, 2013

BlackBlaster111 :

From a couple of days back, whenever I plugged in my "Toshiba 1TB Stor.E Canvio 2.5" USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive" whether on the Desktop or a Laptop, it would refuse to show up in "My Computer". I've had this [the product, not the problem] for just over a year, so I know that it worked beforehand.

I know that it’s getting power because the LED light on the front of the case is lit and I know that the HDD is not being read because that same LED light is not blinking in regular intervals and whenever I physically feel it there’s no rumble feeling of parts moving inside.

I have a general suspicion that it’s the USB cable since after a few attempts of plugging in the Micro B part of the cable to the ex. HDD it would suddenly be able to boot up, though this victory is short-lived as whenever I take the USB cable out the computer and plug it back in it suddenly stops working again.

However I'm also wondering, could it be a problem with the Ex. HDD itself? Like the Micro B port got knocked loose v.slightly out of alignment, so it’s not making a proper connection and that's causing it not to get read.

So have you had any similar problems and if so how did you go about fixing it?

edogawa · Jul 4, 2013

hassan64 :

Open your own thread, do not ask your own question in another persons thread.

ratii · Dec 15, 2013

edogawa :

can i ask, which one is the power cord?

timegberts · Jan 18, 2014

edogawa :

I've had the same problem, your solution totally works.
Thank you very much!

kinghenriIV · May 6, 2014

edogawa :

I have been experiencing the exact same problem but my hdd doesnt have a power cord. just 2.5" toshiba 500gb portable hdd with data usb cable? it used to work on the tv but stopped after i started a large transfer over usb 3.0 and felt really hot to the touch and started to disconnect. after letting it cool, i plugged it back in and it would work for a short interval (i could view and copy files across) before disconnecting again. Now it doesnt even work on the TV. what should i do? its not mine to make things worse

JX7000 · Aug 27, 2016

I know this is late but I just resolved a similar problem with my "Toshiba 500GB Canvio 2.5 USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive" running in a Win7 32- and 64-bit PCs and also my old WinXP. The Toshiba used to work just fine on all-three PCs and then wouldn't at some point, soon after I plugged it into an older Android 4.0.4 tablet (Toshiba AT100).

My exHDD only has the "SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type A to Micro-B" cable and HDD--no external power source. Apparently, there's something wrong with the cable, and after much searching, I discovered that a plain micro-USB in place of the Micro-B cable, plugged into the exHDD will work believe it or not. This was just to confirm for me that my exHDD wasn't dead--the thing appeared right away on my PCs. So I'll be getting a new "SuperSpeed USB Type A to Micro-B Cable" as a permanent fix.

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Toshiba external HDD not being recognized!

BlackBlaster111

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edogawa

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BlackBlaster111

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edogawa

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BlackBlaster111

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edogawa

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BlackBlaster111

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edogawa

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hassan64

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edogawa

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ratii

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timegberts

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kinghenriIV

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JX7000

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