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question regarding Formatting

C

cardude03

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Messages
69
Today i decided to go get my External Harddrive. I was first looking at getting a nice little maxtor or something, but the prices were really killin me, and then the salesman gave me the bright idea of making my own external harddrive, and all i would need is the drive and a case. i found a nice transparent case with some lights and stuff for 25 bucks, and a refurbished WD160gig for 80 bucks. i put it all togethor, and hooked it up, but nothing was working, it wasnt recognizing it through the USB, after about an hour of fiddling around, i finally realized the problem was that the drive wasnt formatted. So my question is, is there a way for me to format it if it is hooked up through USB? this drive is IDE, i have formatted my other two drives which are both SATA, but im running into some problems with this IDE. i do have a DVD-RW drive hooked up with an IDE cable, and there is one more available IDE slot thingie for another drive, but im not sure if that would be considered the Primary, or Secondary, or Slave, or whatever. So, i decided to try and hookup the drive through the IDE cable just to see if i could work with it that way, but it wasnt showing up anywhere, and when i went into the BIOS, i went under slave, but it didnt detect anything.

So Bottom Line is. I want to know if i can format my new HD through USB, and if not, what do i have to do? fyi, the mobo is ECS 755-A
 
Using 2000/2003/XP?

You need to initialize the drive using the Disk Managment utility before it will show up and allow you to format it.

Click on Start, Run, type: diskmgmt.msc

On the bottom, scroll through the list and find your drive, right click on where it says DISK(x) (where x = drive number), it should allow you to initialize the disk.

After that you can partition/format it to your hearts' content.
 
sorry bout that, using XP. okay, so i tried going into diskmgmnt, but its not showing up anywhere in there, is this still supposed to work if i try doing it through USB? or is the only way for me to format it using the IDE cables (which i dont really wanna do, but will if its a must).
 
it should appear in diskmanagement as at least a drive with unallocated space
or an Unknown Disk
you can try
Action > Rescan disks

failing that
access the BIOS and review any setting related to the USB (like all the ports are enabled)
then verify that the USB controllers have no issues in the device manager

http://www.everythingusb.com/usb2/faq.htm
How do troubleshoot "unknown device" error listed in Device Manager? Add Your Notes
I wish that there was a simple, single answer for this. There's only one thing more distressing - no device recognition at all. Here are the most likely culprits:

* The USB device or the USB adapter requires it's own power source. If your USB device or adapter came with an AC power "brick", try connecting it.

* Here's a likely one - the front USB ports on your PC case may be misconnected. I've seen them that way from the factory. It's a good idea to check the connections against specifications. The standard order of connection is Red, White, Green, Black. No more than 4 wires per USB bank are needed.

* Defective device. Do not assume that all PC components work correctly out of the box. I've seen many new USB devices that do not work. If you can, try the device on another PC.

* All drivers are not installed. Some devices will require installing the driver package before plugging in the device. Some devices will also require basic USB files from the Windows CD before the unit will function. The general rule is to always follow installation directions precisely and to have the Windows CD ready.

I will now discuss how to address an unknown device problem which is caused by a driver deficiency.

1. Try to update the unknown device driver from within Device Manager. First try letting Windows search for one. If that fails, go back and choose "Select from a list" and then "Have disk". Browse to the device CD and look for the appropriate Windows folder there. Try browsing to the Windows CD (Win9x folder or i386 folder). Lastly, try updated drivers from the manufacturer's web site.

2. Try uninstalling the unknown device, unplugging the device and rebooting. Replug when back in Windows.

3. Be certain that you have the correct drivers! You may have gotten the wrong CD or a CD with drivers for more than one device on it.

4. Cleaning up in Safe Mode may be necessary. Unplug all USB devices. Reboot the PC. To enter Safe Mode, press the F8 key repeatedly while restarting the PC. Timing is important. Try to press quickly before the Windows logo screen appears. Pressing and holding the CTRL key may work too. Choose Safe Mode and open Device Manager. In Windows 2000 and XP, click View > Show hidden devices. Now locate all USB devices, HID (Human Interface Devices), USB drives and controllers/hubs. Remove all and save the USB Host Controllers for last. When done, restart and replug USB devices one at a time.
Click to expand...

how it should go if the drive is recognized by disk management
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/howto/install_xp_disk_mgmt.html

Id say trouble shoot the HDD first by using it as an IDE
once you have verified its OK and not the issue
then add the additional complexity of the USB
 
well, regarding the USB, i know the ports are alright, because i have used them for my Flashcard, and Mouse, etc. im pretty sure that the USB from the external enclosure is working, because there are some LED's that lightup when i plug it all in. i will try to setup the drive via IDE, and then see if it shows up in diskmanagement, and ill let you guys know how that works out.
 
hey guys, guess what, im stupid...today i was talking to my friend about this new HD problem, he asked me if i had checked/set the jumpers, i kinda of looked at him with a blank stare, killing myself inside. yeh, so i forgot about the jumpers.

as soon as i get home, i check the harddrive jumper, i look at it for about 5 second, and realize i dont know what to do. first of all, its a refurbished hard drive so it didnt really come with any instructions/diagrams. then i was looking online, and i was kind of stumped, because i guess i have to set it up as a slave if i have a CD-ROM already, but then when i use it as my external harddrive, will i have to replace the jumpers? and when/if i do replace it, how will that effect the drive? and also, since there were no instructions, i'm kinda stumped on how to setup the jumper, anyone wanna help a guy out?
 
set it as a Single (Master with no slave) or as a Master
then try cables select (CS)
there is a definitive number of possibilities
whatever works
 
well, i put it on CS, then i went into disk management, and it was there, and i formatted it. then i took it off the IDE cable, hooked it up to the IDE>USB thingie, plugged in the USB, but its still not showing up anywhere, if this matters, these are the possible jumper settings: CS, SLAVE, MASTER, then a blank one, and PM2. im not sure what the blank one or the PM2 one means, u guys think i have to change the jumper settings again so that it will be recognized through USB?
 
okay, today i was talking to this one guy, and he said its because i havent downloaded the drivers for that external IDE>USB converter thing, do you guys think i need a driver for this? and also, i finally found the enclosure i bought on the internet, http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0181371 , so if u can see it in the picture, u will see that converter i am talking about. i went to the AOC website, and i didnt really see anything about the drivers, but im going to call the support number tomorrow and see if that helps.
 
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