2.5" Sata (Western Digital) Only connects on USB2

[pewe]

I've had a couple of problems with Western Digital Hard drives of late and this is the latest - which may or may not be attributable to the drive itself - but any guidance would be appreciated.

The drive in question is a 2.5" which has has been housed in an external caddy for at least 3 years - and I never experienced any problems.

Recently it started to play up when I connected the caddy to my laptop - it was not being recognised by the OS (Win 8). When it was plugged in to the USB port it just made a clicking noise - as if it was trying to spin but couldn't.
I took it out of the caddy and connected it to an esata port and the same thing happened.

I thought it had failed so put it to one side.

I purchased a new bare drive and new sata to usb 3 connector, along with an new USB3 expresscard.

As an after thought I tried connecting the original WD drive to the USB3 expresscard using the new USB3 cable - and once again it just made clicking noises - HOWEVER - when I connected it to the USB2 port it started and worked with no problem.
I have tried the connections several times, and the only one the drive works with is the USB2 port.

So I am puzzled.
I cannot understand why the drive functions correctly when it is connected to the USB2 port with no additional power, but when connected to the esata external power connector or the USB3 power connector it just clicks and won't start.

Anyone any ideas???

 

[Mattios]

You can read files off it when using 2.0 but not 3.0? Very strange.

Can you try it on another PC?

 

[pewe]

You can read files off it when using 2.0 but not 3.0? Very strange.

Can you try it on another PC?

Yes it is strange.

It works perfectly using just the USB2 port, but won't connect/register on the esata or USB3 ports.

Unfortunately I don't have another PC, or know anyone nearby who has an esata or USB3 port to try.

 

[pewe]

Just in case the problem was with the usb connector I purchased a new connector (usb2/3 to sata) - but the problem is still there.

 

[Mattios]

Then afraid I am at a loss. Sorry - hope someone else can help you

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey pewe. @Mattios is right, it would be best if you could find another computer to try it with, but in the meantime there are a couple of things which you can try now. This does sound like a very annoying issue. Did this happen shortly after you've switched to Windows 8? I've seen other reports about different external drives, having issues with USB 3.0 on Windows 8 and usually the way to fix it is with an update of the USB drivers. Other than that if there are clicking noises coming from your drive, this is usually an indication that the drive might be failing. Even if the drive seems that is OK when connected to a USB 2.0 port, I'd suggest that you download DLG (Data Lifeguard Diagnostic) and run both tests (the Quick and Extended) just to be sure that drive has no issues. Here's a link for the DLG software: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810
Meanwhile I would be best if you backup the important data from that HDD, just to be on the safe side.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[pewe]

Hey pewe. @Mattios is right, it would be best if you could find another computer to try it with, but in the meantime there are a couple of things which you can try now. This does sound like a very annoying issue. Did this happen shortly after you've switched to Windows 8? I've seen other reports about different external drives, having issues with USB 3.0 on Windows 8 and usually the way to fix it is with an update of the USB drivers. Other than that if there are clicking noises coming from your drive, this is usually an indication that the drive might be failing. Even if the drive seems that is OK when connected to a USB 2.0 port, I'd suggest that you download DLG (Data Lifeguard Diagnostic) and run both tests (the Quick and Extended) just to be sure that drive has no issues. Here's a link for the DLG software: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=810
Meanwhile I would be best if you backup the important data from that HDD, just to be on the safe side.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

Thanks.

I have had windows 8 running for a couple of years and the hard drive always works OK in its external usb2 caddy.

I recently bought a sata to esata cable and the drive would not be recognised by Windows when connected to that, so I gave up thinking it was the cable.

I recently purchased a usb3/sata cable and an expresscard with usb3 ports and when I connected to that I noticed the clicking and the drive was not being recognised HOWEVER as soon as I connected the same USB3/sata cable to a usb2 port it worked OK.
The drive also works when connected to a media player which uses the drive to record and play programs from the inbuilt freeview receiver.

I have already taken all the important stuff off the drive - but so far it still reads on USB2 and media player ??

The other thing that is strange is that the drive is not seen by the WDC diag tool - whereas it used to be - it is drive G: in the screenshot below.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

You got me here. It's probably due to the enclosure/SATA to USB cable, which normally shouldn't be an issue with DLG, but I can't figure out why it won't be listed as an option to be tested. Could you connect it internally and try to run the tests again? Or even better it would be great if you find another computer's USB 3 port to see if you can test it and if the same thing happens with the clicking sounds. This could also be due a power issue if for some reason there's something wrong with the USB 3 ports and the drive can't get enough power. Is the media player's USB port 3.0? If it's a power realted issue, perhaps you could try some of the options in the power settings, but then again, if it was related to some of the options it would probably also affect the USB 2.0 ports.
For now I'd say, try updating the drivers just in case and if possible connect the HDD internally or to another computer to test it with DLG.

 

[pewe]

I ran a couple of Win 8 updates which needed a reboot and after the reboot I tried the discs again.
First I tried connecting the original hard drive to the built in USB2 port with the original USB2 cable - WD Diag saw the drive (no SMART Data).
So then I connected the new drive to the original USB2 port with the USB2 cable - it was seen.
So I then connected the new drive with the USB2/3 cable - still seen.

So connecting to the USB2 port now seems to work OK with all cables and drives without additional power - as do the drives when connected to the Media Player which is also USB2.

The problem only seems to exist if I connect to the USB3 card whether I have extra power supplied to the drives or not.
The old drive clicks and the new drive just isn't seen even though both have adequate power.

So I'm baffled as I am sure you will be.

Thanks for your input and trying to help , but I have just decided to give up with using the USB3 card for either drive, as well as esata for the original drive (although I'll only use that to record stuff on the media player, which I can afford to lose).