Portable HD not recognized.

LaCie Rikiki 500gb external drive, powered through USB cable (same one data flows through).

Had it for a year, used off and on. A week ago I backed up most of my family pics on it.

Yesterday... disaster struck!

Tried on 3 separate computers running Vista, XP and Win7. On all the computers it brings up a message USB Device Not Recognized.
The power ON light is not indicating a problem. From how it sounds, it spins up almost noiselessly, and then keeps spinning quietly, like it used to when it was working.

It does NOT show up in Drive Manager, so the drive letter assign fix cannot work. Tried that.
In Device Manager it shows up as Unknown Device on a USB hub, the scan for hardware changes fix doesn't work either. Tried that too.
Drivers aren't an issue because, first of all, I never needed one before for this drive, and second, the driver auto fix doesn't work.

Can't even run recovery software because it doesn't show up as a drive (or anything).



I'm at my wits end with this; you are my only hope!

 

I googled your usb drive and went to the web site of the company that made your usb drive and found these programs http://www.lacie.com/support/support_manifest.htm?id=10460 did you try any of these or did your pc still not recognize you drive?
also did you try what it's company maker suggested to to try to fix the problem your having??http://www.lacie.com/support/support_manifest.htm?id=10460&guideid=10168

 

Yes, I tried switching cables and computers.

The three downloads they have there are for extra functionality. Backup assistant turns the HD into a backup disk, private-public is for sharing, and USB boost is for USB boosting.

 

Try connecting the drive directly to the computer. The problem may be the USB hub and not the drive. It's getting power but not data connectivity

Also, I recently had the same type of problem with my external drive which I DO connect directly to my computer — it turned out that the cable had developed a break or short somewhere in the wires. New cable - problem solved!

 

What do you mean directly to the computer?

 

Like via a dock or adapter?

 

When that happened to mine, I jiggled the USB cord attached to device - recognized again.

 

Yes. If you carefully open up the LaCie external case, there is a standard SATA hard drive inside. You can purchase a new external case like this:

http://www.directron.com/ims25satab.html

If you want something that will connect both 2.5" and 3.5" SATA or IDE drives, look for an all-in-one adapter like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002

Hope this helps.

 

Plug the "B" mini male connector on the cable into the USB port on the external hard drive and the "A" male connector on the cable into a USB port on the computer instead of going through a hub.

 

Thanks! I'll try this.
Are you sure about the internal drive being SATA? I might just buy a new enclosure and plug it in, if that's the case (pun unintended). If it's still not working that will pretty much rule out the controller right?

I'm going to go ahead and order one anyway since they're so cheap.

 

If the drive was made in the past six years, it'll be SATA.

If the new case/adapter still doesn't work, it points to a problem with the internal drive itself.

 

And if the problem is with the internal drive? I suppose my only option would be sending it to a data retrieval place, and those guys make you pay through the nose....

The enclosure is on the way, I'll post here if it works or not, for posterity.

 

I know it's been awhile since my last post.

Solution has been found.

Since all software avenues were explored, I determined it was a hardware issue. Upon replacing the enclosure the drive functioned again.

Examination of the controller board from the previous enclosure showed a misalignment and possible hairline crack.