Boot Problem with External WD HD

Dear All:

I always have a failed boot-up when my external 1TB Western Digital HD is installed to the USB port. The boot-up will start normally if the external HD is unplugged. WD site informed me to disable the boot from the USB source,

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc...3RleHQ9Ym9vdCB1cCBwcm9ibGVt&p_li=&p_topview=1

However, the external HD is not even recognized in my BIOS. I believe the P5PEVM ASUS motherboard does not support USB drives greater than 500G. Should I partition the external drive to smaller sections? What should I do? I'm lost. Thanks in advance.:confused

Mongoosba

 

That is normal. USB drives will not be detected by the bios in the same way as SATA/PATA drives.

I am not sure what leads you to that conclusion. I cannot see that being the case.

1. Is this a retail purchased complete external usb drive or a DIY ie you purchased the external enclosure and hdd separately.
2. In your Bios do you have an entry listed as boot to a USB drive or something like that. If so disable it.
3. I came across a thread on another forum with someone who had a problem identical to yours. He then tested his external drive in a friends pc and it did the same thing. He then inserted another usb drive / flash (it was a memory stick) into his pc and the pc booted up fine.

The end result was that his external enclosure's chipset was causing the problem.

Good Luck

 

Hello There,

I have too a external hard drive and the only way round it is to switch off the power to the external drive when you boot up the computer it should load up windows then you can switch back on the external.

I have the same problem with the external drive and it wont go off the logo screen before bios settings or anything.

 

Dear Risk_Revesal,

This a complete external USB and the drive cannot be accessed without breaking the cover



2.

I believe there is a section that says you can boot from a removable drive but the boot device was not activated. This is what I have

Boot Device Priority
1st boot device [SM-Sony-DVD-RW]
2nd boot device [3M=WDC-WD800JD-COM]
3rd boot device [disable]





3.

Should I try this?

Thanks.

 

Dear All:

Placing an additional USB pen drive with the 1TB does not solve the boot-up problem. However the booting is fine with an external 500G (hard casing that cannot be opened) without the 1TB. What do you think?

Mongooseba:-o

 

Have you set this value to disabled irrespective of whether that boot device features in the boot order or not.

So without the 1TB unit and solely with another usb / flash drive connected the pc boots correctly ie no pause or error. Is that correct?

For clarity if boot from a removable drive is disabled and the pc boots fine with ONLY another usb / flash drive connected, then I think the issue probably relates to the WD's chipset. As final proof and to confirm this, the troublesome external hd can be connected to another pc and should display the same error.

Good Luck

 

Dear Risk_Reversal,

The 3rd boot device has been set to disabled.

Without the 1TB, the normal USB flash drive will not affect the boot-up process. Once the 1TB is placed, the system will not boot correctly. However, if the 1TB is placed on a different computer (VIAO laptop) the booting is fine. Is there a BIOS setting within the ASUS computer that is causing this booting process to fail? Enclosed is the manual.

http://download.cceinfo.com.br/drivers/P5PE-VM.pdf

Could not upload b/c of file size limit.

Thanks.

Mongoosebarolleyes

 

Odd set of results but I guess par for the course with computers.

In the Manual>Chapter2>P2.2>2.4.5 - Header UBS Configuration>Legacy USB Support. What is that value set to ie Auto,enabled,disabled.

Describe the boot sequence that you see and at what point it halts, ie you see the post screen, the bios beep....

Good Luck

 

Dear Risk_Reversal,

The value is set to "AUTO"

When the 1TB is attached on the computer the following occurs:
1. Computer starts to boot
2. Asus screen appears with no beep
3. This Asus screen will hang
4. No windows screen appears

Do you think the computer is detecting the 1TB USB ext drive as a start-up disk with an operating system? If so, how do you disable this? As a side note, the 1TB drive will work if it is connected to the USB port after a normal boot-up.

Thanks.
Mongoosba :confused

 

Set this value to DISABLED and then connect the external 1TB and then reboot your system.

When Legacy USB Support is set to either enabled or Auto, the bios detects any usb devices which are attached and these will be listed on the post screen.

On my Asus mobo (which has the same bios entry), if I want to boot from a usb device this value is set to enabled. When enabled there is a function within the bios to set the boot order and I can then select my external drive as 1st boot drive ie I can boot from my external hard drive.

Note I think that Legacy USB Support should be set to enabled or auto when using usb mouse or keyboard. I have no experience of this as I soley rely on ps/2 connections.

Good Luck

 

Dear Risk_Reversal,

Do you think it will be problem if I use a wireless keyboard and mouse if the "Legacy" is disabled? What do I do if the boot-up fails and I cannot access the BIOS with the wireless keyboard? Should I have a PS keyboard ready? Thanks.

Mongooseba

 

Well searching brought this thread
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t113994.html
The post by mdg (3rd one). Now this is from a mac forum but I would guess that this would also apply to you.

I am guessing at this stage that you want to know what the solution to the problem is. Once this has been ascertained, it may well be that the solution is not to your liking ie the external 1TB works with 'legacy USB support' disabled but your wireless mouse & kb now fail.

I suppose that if you are going to disable usb legacy support it would probably be better to have a ps/2 mouse & kb installed in the first place.

The following article is also of interest

http://errantmind.wordpress.com/2008/01/12/boot-with-usb-wireless-devices/

scroll down to the heading

CHANGE USB SUPPORT SETTINGS

and more specifically to the last 2 lines (in italics) in that section

There are also some user comments if you scroll down the page. The conclusion appears that disabling Legacy USB Support, may or may not disable your wireless kb & mouse. Par for the course for pcs really.....

Good Luck

 

Dear Risk_Reversal,

Yeah! You solved it.

I did prepare with a PS/2 KB and mouse just in case I'm stuck. I disabled the "Legacy Support" in the USB section and the computer boot fine either with the USB wireless or PS/2 KB and mouse. The 1 TB drive is functional. Thanks for researching the information. I'm sure a lot of people will be thanking you for solving this in the future.

On the side, what the hell is "Legacy Support" used for?

Kudos.

:-D:-D
:wave

 

Glad it worked for you.

Well my understanding and the way it works on my Asus is that if you want to boot from an external usb device this setting should be set to Enabled (or at least Auto).

What happens then is that when the system boots the usb bus initialises and the usb device is so to speak detected. The bios will detect the usb drive and it can be found and placed in the boot order ie 1st. This will be the case in your system too ie if you set USB legacy device to enabled and then look in the boot order you will see it.

Disabling this feature does not strictly mean that usb devices are not recognised (as you discovered). I was not sure how it would perform with wireless devices such as mouse or kb but on my system if I boot say to BiNG or Puppy and connect a usb device, it is recognised.

I am sure that a more knowledgeable person or more searching on the internet would yield a more lucid answer.

Good Luck

 

Dear Risk_Reversal,

Thanks again for all your help.

Moongooseba:-D:-D:-D