Question GODO SATA USB External HD Enclosure

Christophe516

Commendable
May 2, 2022
132
15
1,585
System Specs:
Model: Lenovo 510a-151cb
HD: 1TB HD(Internal)
RAM: 32GB
Backup: 2TB Passport(External)
Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy Rx
Video: (generic internal video card)

The enclosure has an internal 1TB HD, that is identical to the system HD, and has power. But the HD doesn't show up in the Disk Management utility. So, I can't format it.

Any Ideas?
TIA
 
When the power is turned on, can you hear the disk spinning up and can you feel the disk vibrating in the enclosure? (This product seems to be similar to the Orico enclosures I use so you should be able to hear and feel the drive when its on).
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
Important question: does this enclosure have a socket on it where you plug in a power supply cord? Does it come with a "power brick" to plug in there? Are you using that?

In general, there are NO standard SATA HDDs for desktop systems that can run on the power available from a USB3 port. The "Laptop Hard Drive" units sold as a complete unit (not just an enclosure) to work with USB3 ports have special low-power HDD's in them designed to work more slowly so they just CAN work within the limit of power from USB3.
 

Christophe516

Commendable
May 2, 2022
132
15
1,585
When the power is turned on, can you hear the disk spinning up and can you feel the disk vibrating in the enclosure? (This product seems to be similar to the Orico enclosures I use so you should be able to hear and feel the drive when its on).
Yes, I can feel it running, and the enclosure is warm.
Important question: does this enclosure have a socket on it where you plug in a power supply cord? Does it come with a "power brick" to plug in there? Are you using that?

In general, there are NO standard SATA HDDs for desktop systems that can run on the power available from a USB3 port. The "Laptop Hard Drive" units sold as a complete unit (not just an enclosure) to work with USB3 ports have special low-power HDD's in them designed to work more slowly so they just CAN work within the limit of power from USB3.
Yes, the power is connected. But, But how would that keep it from being seen in the Disk Manager? My system is a Tower, not a laptop.
 
Last edited:
Yes, I can feel it running, and the enclosure is warm.

Yes, the power is connected. But, But how would that keep it from being seen in the Disk Manager? My system is a Tower, not a laptop.
You'll probably have to resort to a third party program since Windows keeps failing. I personally prefer Gparted but any third party software that deals with disk partitioning should help to see if the disk responds and if you can create a GPT partition table header.
 
System Specs:
Model: Lenovo 510a-151cb
HD: 1TB HD(Internal)
RAM: 32GB
Backup: 2TB Passport(External)
Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy Rx
Video: (generic internal video card)

The enclosure has an internal 1TB HD, that is identical to the system HD, and has power. But the HD doesn't show up in the Disk Management utility. So, I can't format it.

Any Ideas?
TIA
Does this ext work on a different pc?
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
You said, "Yes, the power is connected. But, But how would that keep it from being seen in the Disk Manager? My system is a Tower, not a laptop."

1. Your system cannot "see" that drive in the enclosure if the drive unit cannot spin up and perform a normal read / write operation as it starts up. That is part of the POST process of the disk unit, and it must be able to report successful start-up to your mobo hardware. IF the power being supplied to the disk unit in the enclosure is NOT adequate, typically what you see is that the lights are on and it looks OK, BUT when it is required to actually spin the disks and move the heads, the power is not enough and it can't do that, so it fails. Thus, Disk Manger can NOT find a valid disk to work with.

2. A standard USB3 port can supply power to an attached device at 12 VDC up to 0.9 A max current. An enclosure can be used for various types of storage units. It happens you are using a 2½" SATA HDD. SOME such units are particularly designed to be able to work properly with no more than 0.9 A power supplied. Such units come with NO port to add extra power and rely entirely on the USB3 port supply. That type is always used in those complete "Laptop Hard Drives for USB3", and normally they work just fine. (There have been cases in which the USB3 port in use actually is NOT up to standard and fails to provide that minimum power.) BUT common HDD's used in many places, including desktops, are NOT designed for such low power. So when you mount one like that in an enclosure and try to use it with any USB3 port WITHOUT adding a connection to other power, the disk unit cannot operate properly. That is why such an enclosure MUST provide a separate power supply module AND a port on the enclosure to plug that in, and you must use it. If you think you are doing that, you may need to verify that the power supply module IS doing its job.