New external HD causing USB power surge

[locutor]

I just bought a new WD external HD, but when I plug it into my VIA USB 3.0 PCI card, Windows gives me a “power surge on hub port” error message and disables the port. I have three other external drives (all with their own power) connected to this 4-port card and they all work fine. The USB card itself is also powered. I tried connecting this new HD to a second computer (my laptop) and it works fine, which rules out the drive and cable. Nor can the specific USB port be the problem because I’ve successfully connected devices to it before.

I’m stumped. Anyone know what might be going on here?

Dell XPS 8300
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

 

[Kisianik]

Lets try something quick first.

Try this, shut down the PC, unplug the power cord for the power supply from the wall outlet. Now press the power on button on your case and hold it for a couple of seconds. The power Led should lite up briefly and then fad out. Now plug the power cord back in and power up normally. With a little luck the USB port will be working again.

As far as USB ports go, they are overload protected. If a device tries to draw more than 500 MA in current the port will shut down. The only way to reset the fail safe circuit is to completely remove all power from it. PC power supplies have an Auxiliary +5v supply in them that is always on, even if the PC is powered down. The Aux supply is what is used to power the motherboards start up circuitry and may do other things as well. Unplugging the power supply and then pushing your case power button drains any residual power and drains the Aux +5V supply as well. With all power removed the USB ports reset themselves.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, locutor!

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with the WD external drive! 🙁 However, @Kisianik is right! You shouldn't be worried about a 'power surge' caused by the USB devices as most computers allow them to draw a maximum of 500 mA as it was already mentioned. This message shouldn't affect the functionality of the USB port or the external HDD itself, regardless of the error message. Here's a tutorial from our kb that explain how to prevent it from popping up again: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=YvXHXG

Hope it helps. Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Kisianik]

Hey there, locutor!

I'm sorry to hear about your issues with the WD external drive! 🙁 However, @Kisianik is right! You shouldn't be worried about a 'power surge' caused by the USB devices as most computers allow them to draw a maximum of 500 mA as it was already mentioned. This message shouldn't affect the functionality of the USB port or the external HDD itself, regardless of the error message. Here's a tutorial from our kb that explain how to prevent it from popping up again: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=YvXHXG

Hope it helps. Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

That would be my second option, was waiting for response. Anyway, if this is not going to work, I have the last solution, but this was created for WinXP Dell users for exactly the same issue, would it work for Win7, have no clue, would strongly advise to create System Restore point prior trying:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/drivers/driversdetails?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&driverid=r89758

I am not sure what else can be done, if above 3 options would not help.

 

[locutor]

Thanks, Kisianik and SuperSoph_WD. My problem is now solved, although I’m embarrassed to say what it was. I plugged the USB cable in the wrong way. I flipped it and now all is well. I know the USB port design is supposed to only allow cables to be plugged in the right way, but I’ve found earlier that some ports will accept them the wrong way without much force. This port is on the back of my tower just above the floor and hard to see, so I went by feel. That’s an explanation, not an excuse – I’ll be more careful next time!

 

[Kisianik]

Thanks, Kisianik and SuperSoph_WD. My problem is now solved, although I’m embarrassed to say what it was. I plugged the USB cable in the wrong way. I flipped it and now all is well. I know the USB port design is supposed to only allow cables to be plugged in the right way, but I’ve found earlier that some ports will accept them the wrong way without much force. This port is on the back of my tower just above the floor and hard to see, so I went by feel. That’s an explanation, not an excuse – I’ll be more careful next time!

That was easy, congratulations and good luck.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Happens even to the best of us, locutor! 😀

Best of luck from me, too!
SuperSoph_WD