Question I/O Device error intermittantantly on External Drives

[keanedeco115]

I Dell XPS 15 l502x laptop running windows 10.

I use external hard drives a lot as I am a photographer and have a lot of photos. I have an intermittent problem whereby the hard drives randomly disconnect, by which I mean after a while when I try to access them windows explorer loads for ages and then I get a i/o device error. If I wait long enough the hard drive often disappears from My Computer if I unplug the hard drive and plug it back in it works fine again for a while.

I know it is not the hard drives as it happens with any of my 4 external drives and I have run various tests checking the hard drives have no issues. I also can use the hard drives on another computer without any issue.

This problem began a few years back when I clean installed windows 10 after upgrading from Windows 7. I had the same issue at the time but after reinstalling the manufactures drivers especially the chipset ones the problem disappeared. It was working perfect for about 2 years and then the computer got a big update back in August and the problem has reared its head again.

I've tried reinstalling the chipset drivers again but the problem persists. The dell drivers are only for windows 7 and 8 but I was able to fix it before. I just can remember exactly what way I did it. Any ideas anyone? Any tips on installing the chipset drivers properly?

I have gone into device manager and removed all drivers relating to the chipset and then installed the drivers but jo difference. I've also tried doing this innsafe mode too but no luck. It is driving me crazy. Is there any error logs I could check to see what is causing the drives to get the i/o device errors? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Ralston18]

Are the external drives USB?

If so, do the external hard drives have their own independent power supply or do they simply rely on power via the hosting PC's USB port(s)?

What might help is a independently powered USB hub. I.e., the hub has its own power source.

Plug the hub into one of the hosting computer's USB ports, plug in the hub's power, and then connect the external drives to the hub.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I use external hard drives a lot as I am a photographer and have a lot of photos. I have an intermittent problem whereby the hard drives randomly disconnect

Do they disconnect, if you touch USB plug?
That would indicate broken/damaged USB port on your laptop.

 

[stonecarver]

I don't know your Dells service tag number so you will need to go to Dell and input your service tag and go to your computers page a see if Dell was nice enough to have newer drivers.

If not you still might be able to get older drivers to work but first see if Dell has what you need first.

Also is the inside of laptops USB port gunked up with dust and oxidation.

 

[keanedeco115]

Are the external drives USB?

If so, do the external hard drives have their own independent power supply or do they simply rely on power via the hosting PC's USB port(s)?

What might help is a independently powered USB hub. I.e., the hub has its own power source.

Plug the hub into one of the hosting computer's USB ports, plug in the hub's power, and then connect the external drives to the hub.

I actually use a powered hub some of the time and it happens with that too.

 

[keanedeco115]

I don't know your Dells service tag number so you will need to go to Dell and input your service tag and go to your computers page a see if Dell was nice enough to have newer drivers.

If not you still might be able to get older drivers to work but first see if Dell has what you need first.

Also is the inside of laptops USB port gunked up with dust and oxidation.

No unfortunately no newer drivers. No no dust or oxidation. Happens in at least 2 of the 3 usb ports not sure about the 3rd as all I have connected to that one is a wireless keyboard and mouse. They are USB 3.0 ports.

 

[Ralston18]

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes and warnings that correspond with or precede the disconnects.

Reliability History is more user-friendly than Event Viewer so start with Reliability History.

Event Viewer takes more time to "figure out" and learn your way around the logs.

For the most part you can right click on any given errors to get more information. Error codes of any sort can be googled but the actual meaning can be vague.

You can also use Task Manager and Resource Monitor (just one at a time) to observe system performance. Especially if you are doing nothing but file transfers and know that eventually there will be a random disconnect. The main objective to determine if some task starts taking over the system leading to the crash. Or some bottleneck develops.

And you may be able to repair some damaged Windows 10 files via "sfc /scannow" or "dism"

Reference:

https://www.howtogeek.com/222532/ho...-system-files-with-the-sfc-and-dism-commands/

You can easily google for and find more information about sfc /scannow and dism.