Ext hd is remounted all over the time

[sonicboy]

Hi,

I have an e-sata ext hd 1TB of verbatim. Since the last weeks, I have a very annoying problem. At random points in time it is unmounted and then re-mounted again. Sometimes, this is after 30 min, but more and more this time span decreases towards a couple of minutes. Of course, this is very annoying since in this way it is impossible to read or coppy large files to it. I have it only for less than a year, so it couldn't be because of heavy usage. I also tried it on a different (linux)pc and had the same problems with it so i guess it isn't because of the drivers.

Could someone help me? I hope it ain't broken?

cu

 

[sub mesa]

Does your external drive casing have separate power adapter?
If no, then it could be a power problem. If yes, then you should try replacing the SATA data cable.

Also, make sure your HDD is without any (surface) errors. Meaning you do some surface tests to make sure its okay. Also, you can post the SMART output here so we can see if anything appears wrong.

 

[sonicboy]

Yes, it has a separate power adapter and i've tested in windows for any disk errors, so that should be ok( i think you mean this with surface tests)

I use it with a normal usb cable since i don't have a e-sata port on my pc. Should i replace this as well?

Could you help to post a SMART output since i don't know much of the technical details?

thanx,

Wouter

 

[sub mesa]

How did you test for disk errors? A simple 'filesystem check' is not enough.

Thin USB cables cause these kind of errors; ive had them too. You need high-quality, thick, and not too long USB cables.

SMART posting can be done with HDTune. Download HDTune and check the health tab, then press print screen and post the screenshot somewhere so we can see.

 

[sonicboy]

Hi, I've made an output with hd tune

see: http://my.opera.com/wouter205/albums/showpic.dml?album=1943971&picture=28721461

To me, it seems ok, but who am i to say this

A previous disk check was indeed done with the standard windows filesystem check (right click on disk, extra tab and check disk or something)

I use the standard, thin usb cable. Maybe you're right and is this the cause of my problems. What do you think based on hdtune screenshot?

cu

 

[sub mesa]

The screenshot is fine, you can try the error scan also, it will scan all sectors on the HDD. Probably your HDD is fine though, and this is some other problem related to communication via USB.

I'm assuming you connect the USB cable directly to your motherboard's back USB ports without sharing a USB port with another USB device, right? USB shares 1 channel with 2 ports (so each 2 ports are like 'tied' to eachother).

 

[sonicboy]

Yes, right now I'm scanning it for errors but that could take a while. But for the moment, no errors occurred.

I think it is directly connected to the usb from the motherboard. I don't see any split cables to merge 2 usb-ports to one.

 

[sub mesa]

Here's what i mean. You see the motherboard USB ports here. Each USB channel has 2 USB ports.

You should connect a high-performance device to a USB channel without other devices being connected to that channel. Meaning, do not put two cables in the same USB channel.

 

[sonicboy]

Ah ok, then I was wrong in the previous post. My mouse was connected to the usb port next to the port of my hd (I'm assumming that on the picture, the two blue usbports are on the same channel, same for the two black ones?). Maybe that could be the problem. I will look to it how it behaves now.

 

[sub mesa]

Yes, so the picture shows 2 USB channels. You can connect up to 4 devices to it, but that means that all devices share their USB connection and bandwidth.

It also means that your mouse will cause the external USB casing to downgrade its speed from 480 megabit to 12 megabit - unless your mouse is USB 2.0 compatible but many are not.

 

[sonicboy]

I don't think that my mouse is usb2.0, just a simple and cheap logitech.

But one question suddenly popped up in my mind. I also have the same problem when I connect my hd to my laptop. Since there is no other usb-device connected, it could not share the same usb-channel.

Anyway, I will see how it reacts now. For the moment, my hd is being scanned for one hour now and did not have any disconnection problems (will not say this too loud,, otherwise it could have problems now :lol: )

In the case I still have problems, what would you recommend? Buy a new cable?

thank you very much for your help!

 

[sub mesa]

I would indeed try a fresh and high-quality (thick!) USB-cable. It solved the disconnect issues i had with my notebook USB drive.