Bought a SATA / IDE docking station

I bought THIS UNIT and when it arrived I set it up. It will recognize USB data sticks and SD cards but it does not recognize any HDD whatsoever. I want to be able to read and write to the drives from my PC and use it as an extended HDD storage space. Unfortunately, it is not recognized.

It had a mini disc that had cloning and backup software on it but I am not interested in cloning. I already have backup software that works fine with then unit I already have mentioned below.

I am running Win 8.1 on an HP PC with 8GB ram.

I have THIS UNIT which is wonderful. It is immediately recognized and I can read/write to the drive with no problem whatsoever. The problem is that this is a sealed unit that takes some effort to change an HDD.

Does anyone know why this unit is failing to be recognized?

 

I have the identical docking station as your first link shows and have no problems with it in XP or Vista. I would contact the ebay seller because there is apparently an issue with the electronics of the docking station. Get an RMA and either exchange it or get your money back. Did you notice that the power switch on the back of the docking station or the labeling is reversed?

 

When I get 5 of this type of unit, I invariably run across one DOA, then another one fails within a few uses, and perhaps a 3rd unit fails before 10 uses.

I don't like these "sled" designs because there is no way to visually align any slight deviation between the SATA connectors. While these look cool, the hand-plug-in connectors give me greater alignment assurance.

 

I don't think it fair to judge all docking stations (never heard of "sled designs") based on experiences with other models. I have had this Thermaltake SATA Docking Station for about 3 years now and have never had any issues with it using either eSATA or USB.

If you are having alignment problems when inserting drives then it is a design flaw of that particular docking station model, not the entire category of external drive interface devices.

 

I think that most of my problem might be that I upgraded to Win 8.1. At the point that I did so everything started tanking. I am now considering going back to Win 98.0.

I did contact the seller and they issued an RMA#. I need to send the offending unit back and they will send me another one which hopefully will work.

 

There really is no reason 8.1 should have done this so I think it was just bad timing, or something else.

Win98? That would be a big mistake. W98 was good in it's day but obsolete and insecure today (not to mention, getting W98 drivers may be impossible). If you meant 8.0, then you might try that but I suspect it will not correct your problem - and besides, part of staying secure and a major part of "practicing safe computing" is keeping our systems fully patched with the latest updates and patches.

 

HAR!

Sorry about that. I guess I fat fingered two keys at a time. I meant Win 8.0.

I have used Avira Antivir (Now Free Antivirus) for fifteen years and as soon as I updated to 8.1 it failed to work. I have been unable to download or install updates or new signatures. Not so in 8.0 or prior. When I installed 8.1 it had a warning that some applications will no longer work. I have completely uninstalled Avira and reinstalled it to no avail. I can run without a docking station but I cannot run without virus protection.

 

Do the drives show up in disk management? Maybe they just need a drive letter changed.
Sometimes windows assigns the same letter so the drive never shows up in "My Computer" or Explorer.

 

Note this:

 

Digerati, by "sled", I mean any of these housings where the drive is slid down over the connectors, plunging into them and there's no way to see 'the fit' of the connections. A sled, therefore.

I "get" to deal with dozens of drives - sometimes during a single day - and relying on a drive's Genuine Plastic Parts (the SATA plastic guides - those L-shapes that support the metal feeds) is NOT my favorite way. I'd much rather eyeball the connections in to ensure there's no misfit, not bends, twists or someone's jammed in peanut butter - eww - the crunchy stuff!

Actually, these 'housing' devices are never my worry. I couldn't care less about THEIR connectors' lifespan. It's the drive's connectors that are the key issue. Break the plastic guide off of those, and NOW I'm in for an adventure not for the faint of heart... fortunatley, God's invented those Sata Duo-Connectors where the Data and Power Connector share one double-wide 'head'.

 

Well, you "slide" things like drives and notebooks into "docking stations". So while "sled" may be descriptive, "docking station" is the accepted term.

The key distinction with a drive docking station is that you do "slide" the device into place - as opposed to permanently "mounting" with screws and brackets and cables.

I have never even seen an SATA drive where the connectors or connector "keys" or guides broke. IMO, they are very robust. That said, you don't toss or jam a drive into a docking station, or computer. Drives are rugged devices but you still need to take care, pay attention, and not be hasty when connecting.

 

Yes. I understand that.

 

All of a sudden the program is working. The program has updated itself apparently and looks like this now:

Product version 14.0.2.286 12/9/2013
Search engine 8.02.12.174 1/15/2014
Virus definition file 7.11.125.204 1/20/2014
Control Center 14.00.02.220 12/9/2013
Config Center 14.00.02.254 12/9/2013
Luke Filewalker 14.00.02.254 12/9/2013
Real-Time Protection 14.00.01.519 12/9/2013
Filter 14.00.02.236 12/9/2013
Web Protection 14.00.02.254 12/9/2013
Scheduler 14.00.02.180 12/9/2013
Updater 14.00.02.246 12/9/2013
Rootkits Protection 14.00.02.180 12/9/2013
Local Decider 14.00.02.254 12/9/2013
​

Fourteens everywhere. Works for me!

Thanks for the response.

 

I don't know where "Disc management" is in 8.1. It's like trying to navigate a jungle without a machete.

 

Under CONTROL PANEL, I often change the VIEW BY (in upper right corner) to SMALL ICONS, and then I see the individual Service Icons, including ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS...

...which leads to COMPUTER MANAGEMENT...

...which leads to DISK MANAGEMENT...

The "small icons" view can be more familiar as the 'classic' Control Panel view.

 

Winkey+r

Diskmgmt.msc.

 

Okay. I reinstalled the unit and watched the drive allocation in the drive manager. When I plugged the unit in with no drives installed it allocated the drive letter to F:. That is correct. F: is the drive letter that the working unit I have gets assigned when I activate it.

I also used the same USB port that I use for the working unit instead of using the front USB ports.

The message that I get is "Disk 1 - Removable (F: ) - No Media." When I install a HDD it does not change although the drive spins up.

I then inserted an SD card into this unit with no HDDs installed and it was shown to be the F: drive. I then installed two thumb drives and they were assigned G: and I:. This is correct.

I then installed a HDD after I had installed the SD and thumb drives and I get no change.

So I do not appear to be getting drive allocation errors. I just do not have data I/O.

 

By the way, I have ordered DIFFERENT DOCK that takes two drives to see how that works out.