USB ports recognize all devices except external hard drives

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ilovepancakes

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Dec 29, 2014
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I have four usb ports (2 2.0/2 3.0) from my ASUS A78M-A motherboard that function properly with all my usb peripherals except my two external hard drives. I am running windows 7 and have updated all drivers, as well as uninstalled and reinstalled them.

The usb 2.0 ports work fine with usb keyboard, printer, and several different flash drives. I haven't been able to test the 3.0, because my only 3.0 device is an external.

My two external hard drives are a 500 GB WD 2.0 and a 1 TB WD 2.0/3.0. When plugging either into a usb 2.0 port or the 1 TB into the 3.0 port the following happens: the device is not recognized at all, including device manager and disk management OR the device is recognized but I can't access it OR the device is recognized, I can see the files and folders but can't access them. In either situation where I can see the drive, if I try to access it the system freezes and I need to close it via task manager or sometimes reboot. Both drives have power and are spinning. Both drives work fine when plugged into the usb 2.0 ports built into the case.

 
Solution
D_Know_WD
Hi there ilovepancakes,

It is possible that the USB ports do not supply enough power. You can try the ones on the back of the case. They tend to provide more power. Also, attaching the drive with a Y-type of USB cable might be a good idea as well.
Have you tried the HDDs on another computer? This way you will be a 100% sure whether the issue is caused by the drive or your system.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
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popatim

popatim

Titan
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Dec 2, 2009
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I moved this to Motherbds as this does not appear to be an issue with the drives themselves.
My first suggestion would be to make sure you have the latest bios and drivers which you can get from Asus's website here:
http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/A78MA/HelpDesk_Download/
 
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ilovepancakes

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Dec 29, 2014
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I have updated to the most recent BIOS, but still no change. Also, I forgot to mention, that sometimes when I the drive is recognized and I try to open a file instead of freezing I get the message "The request could not be performed because of an I/o device error".
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hi there ilovepancakes,

It is possible that the USB ports do not supply enough power. You can try the ones on the back of the case. They tend to provide more power. Also, attaching the drive with a Y-type of USB cable might be a good idea as well.
Have you tried the HDDs on another computer? This way you will be a 100% sure whether the issue is caused by the drive or your system.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
 
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Solution
I

ilovepancakes

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Dec 29, 2014
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Both HDDs are fine when connected to the usb ports built into the case. It's the usb ports from the motherboard that are the problem. I will get a y-type usb cable to try and rule out a power issue and then post an update. Thanks.

 
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