USB Drive Not Found

[red321]

One of my external USB drives is having issues. The device connects to my machine (Windows 8.1), I get the pretty little chime...but it doesn't show up as a disk. I can see it shows up as a USB device when I go in to DeviceMgr, it even shows up as a USB Mass Storage Device. But it won't show up as a disk/volume in the Disk Mgmt Utility, ChkDsk, or DskPart.

 

Doesn't appear to want to come up on a Mac either.

 

Ideas?

 

(yes, I know...backup...blah blah blah...this is an older backup drive that I was looking for some archived data on)

 

 

[Hollyw00d]

Control + F4

[gotbeer]

Check the connections.  blow on it, jiggle it, clean it.  And no, I'm not kidding.  I have one usb stick that is really touchy feely in connecting to the computer.  It has to be connected just right in order for the comp to see it.

[red321]

I've connected it to multiple usb ports and changed cables...so it's not a connection. But thanks, that is good advice for usb devices.

[nate]

Is the device powered by USB also or does it have external power?  Try cleaning the usb port on the drive with some rubbing alcohol.  If that doesn't work it is likely not fixable.  Is there data on it you need?

[red321]

The drive boots up...and it even connects to the PC. I can hear the chime saying a USB device has been connected. So, it's not a port issue, or a cabling issue (plus, I've tried it with other ports/cables).

 

There is data I need.

[Blarg]

Is this a USB stick drive or a converted laptop drive in a case that has an external power plug? And there are compatibility problems created by using older Mac formatted usb drives in current IBM and Mac devices. You may have to borrow use of an older Mac to see if you can mount the drive.

[gotbeer]

Maybe try this?

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2474687/what-to-do-when-your-usb-device-doesnt-work.html

[nate]

The drive boots up...and it even connects to the PC. I can hear the chime saying a USB device has been connected. So, it's not a port issue, or a cabling issue (plus, I've tried it with other ports/cables).

 

There is data I need.

 

Most external drives are just internal drives in a plastic housing.  Worse case you can open it up, take the drive out and hook it up to one of the sata slots in your computer.

[red321]

Thanks gotbeer...I'll give that a closer look

 

Nate...good idea. I should have a drive cage around here somewhere I can drop that in to.

[red321]

Is this a USB stick drive or a converted laptop drive in a case that has an external power plug? And there are compatibility problems created by using older Mac formatted usb drives in current IBM and Mac devices. You may have to borrow use of an older Mac to see if you can mount the drive.

 

It's an older drive and our MacBook is about 18 months old so I'm not sure if it's inability to mount on a Mac is related to the same issue as the PC...or if there is a compatibility issue. I do run in to issues connecting PC formatted drives to Macs at times.

[gotbeer]

It's an older drive and our MacBook is about 18 months old so I'm not sure if it's inability to mount on a Mac is related to the same issue as the PC...or if there is a compatibility issue. I do run in to issues connecting PC formatted drives to Macs at times.

 

Possibly.  There is a specific format used on Macs,that is not compatible on a PC, and also a PC on a Mac.  So if the drive is in this format it won't be able to be read by the PC.

 

http://www.mactip.net/guide-how-to-format-an-external-drive-to-work-seamlessly-with-macs-and-pcs-without-third-party-software/

[Thomas]

You might try running a Linux Live CD and trying to connect the USB drive while it is running on your PC.

[red321]

What distribution would you recommend?

[nate]

Any of them honestly.  Ubuntu is one of the better ones https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

[Blarg]

Did you try this?

 

[Tank]

Did you try this?

 

 

failsafe!