Toshiba laptop cannot see my usb storage

[zorroo25]

Hello,
when i connect my transend storejet 25 to my toshiba L500 my computer does not find the drive?

 

[house70]

Is that a usb external drive/
if so, make sure your usb port on the laptop is properly powered, i.e. it can provide enough power to spin that disk. Some usb ports are, some are not. try changing the ports you're plugging that in. That hdd requires power via the usb port, as it does not have an external power brick on it's own.

 

[zorroo25]

Yes it is an external drive. I have tried the other usb connections and there is no change. I have no problem with any other computer, I just plug in and autoplay takes over. I am just baffled. I am running Norton 360 protection on this laptop, maybe it has some thing to do with it.

 

[house70]

I don't think norton has anything to do with it, but you could temporarily disable it and see what happens. Do you have a USB stick laying around, and if you do, could you see if that is recognized/played by the pc? If it does, then likely the USB ports of your laptop do not deliver enough juice to power up that drive. If it doesn't, try a different peripheral, like a USB mouse or something. If that does not work either, check the BIOS for PNP devices (enable it) and also go in COntrol panel> device manager and see if your USB ports are showing up properly.
my current hunch is that the ports are not delivering enough power. I might be wrong, though.

 

[zorroo25]

Thanks for your reply but I cannot understand that when I connect it to my asus netbook that has only 2gb ram it works properly and my toshiba has 4 gb of ram and is considered a very powerful laptop. All my other gadgets that I connect by usb connect immediately. It baffles me?

Thanks for you help

 

[house70]

Not a matter of memory, just how the USB ports are powered (or not) by design. That HDD just needs more juice than those ports can offer. On other systems the ports that work are the ones that can deliver. Not unusual to have it work only on one port but not the others on the same system. If there are other peripherals that hook up to the laptop at the same time, it could be that by design these ports are actually linked in parallel, meaning acting like a USB hub. They all would connect to the same USB motherboard connector. In that case, even if it seems that you are connecting different peripherals in different USB ports, it actually connects those peripherals to the same port, as they all have to use the same power supplied by that connector on the mobo.
I don't know if that is a clear way to explain it, but i tried.
anyhow, do you have other peripherals hooked up to the USB ports at the time you are trying to connect this HDD? If you do, try disconnecting them all and then connect the HDD. Try all the available ports on the laptop. If still no luck, that's the laptop's design and there isn't much you can do, except maybe get an external HDD that has it's own power supply.
There are HDD's that require that kind of power from USB in order to run properly. I have one like that and it is a PITA to have it running on my laptop. I have one USB port on one side and 3 on the other, but it turns out that the 3 of them are hooked to the same mobo connector, and they can not run my HDD. I have to connect to the single one to make it work - even so, it sometimes randomly disconnects and reconnects, guess it's pushing my USB port to it's limits in terms of power delivery.

Hope all this helps.

 

[zorroo25]

Thank you very much for all your help. I have tried the various ports but to no avail. I do have a power cable but am on holiday without it so I will try when I get home. Thanks again for all you help

 

[house70]

No problem, glad to help. The power cable that you mentioned should be the one that came with the HDD. That provides the power needed when the USB port is not capable of doing so. Enjoy your holiday and don't worry about this stuff.

 

[zorroo25]

Hello again

Sorry for annoying you again but I made a mistake when I said I had a power cable for the HDD, I have one for an external Liteon DVD Drive which also works perfectly with usb connection with the power cable. My HDD does not have a power cable connection. It definetly looks like a power problem, when I plug it in I can feel the HDD vibrating but is just not being recognised by my Toshiba. I have tried all three usb ports and I even used 2 in tandem as my cable has a twin connection but to know avail. I think it is something with the compatibility between my HDD and Toshiba. Anymore ideas please?

 

[house70]

Does the HDD make a regular clicking sound, maybe 1-2 secs. apart, when you plug it in? Try to see if that happens, you will need a quiet environment to notice that.
If so, it is definitely not getting enough juice from the mobo. I don't know if there is any solution to that, just use it with any other device that you have but this laptop. It's not a defective unit, it's a design thing.
For practical purposes you might want to use a USB drive for backup purposes with this laptop. It should work just fine with those. That Liteon dvd drive has it's own power supply. It will work with anything. This HDD does not have one, and requires more juice than this laptop can give it through the USB ports. That being said, there may be other external HDDs out there that do not have dedicated power supplies but work with less power and might actually work with this laptop. Best way to find one would be to have the laptop with you when you're shopping for one and try it on the spot in the store. If it works, bingo!

 

[zorroo25]

Hi
Thanks a bundle , I will try your suggestion

Cheers and thanks , I will tell if I achieve anything