Optical Drive Caddy Windows 7 Not Visible Missing Laptop

[Psyringe]

I grabbed a Protonix Caddy Super Slim.
| http://www.amazon.com/Protronix-Optical-Drive-Universal-12-7mm/dp/B004XIU4T2/

Plugged it into the laptop. Windows 7 Ultimate. Up to date, gaming/producing machine. Limited bios.

The device worked fine on first install - copied data to the installed hard drive (400gb). That data is still in-tact. The laptop sleeps by closing the lid, after wake Intel Rapid Storage Technology informs me that the drive was disconnected. (This is the first and only time I've ever seen a Desktop Popup from this software.)

- Light on the device is blue and powers with the laptop.
- The device is not visible in Bios. By device - I mean the Hard Drive in the caddy.
- The device is not visible in Computer / Manage / Disk Management.

I poked around the mobo and everything looks fine, inspected the connections, tried swapping out the harddrives in the caddy, reinstalled all chipset/related drivers from the manufacturers website.

Worked once then stopped.
I want to think it's Windows.
I'd hate that it requires advanced bios. (worked once, right?)
There's not much data on the issue I can find - but it's an issue that exists.
Wont be long until I open the caddy up. 9$ science project.

Is there a common software fix?

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Faulty caddy maybe?, quality control can't be very hot for a $10 device.

It may not have made a good connection inside.
Try giving the front of it a firm push inwards towards the concealed laptop connector strip at the back.

I've seen this even on factory-fitted optical drives. They can separate from the rear connector just a tiny amount but enough to make it invisible to the system.

 

[Psyringe]

Yea, I've tried a few different "tight connection" methods. The outer plastic face is off the caddy - pushed all the way in. The HD itself is insultated into position. Checked the mobo and structure - twice.

I opened the caddy. It's a fairly simple device, it connects the lines of a dvd-rom slime drive to that of a sata hard drive using a single 5cm by 2cm board (guesstimation). Really not much to it - looked in-tact, solder points looked legit. Put it back together - same behavior.

But I did make a small breakthrough;
- Tried uninstalling Intel Rapid Storage Technology. Same behavior. (Reinstalled)
- Important: When the device is plugged in - Rapid Storage Technology reports an empty internal slot.
When not plugged in, all I see is my laptops os hard drive.

I'm backing up one of my hard drives completely, will perform a series of formats, and see if that makes a difference. The first install had a fresh default NTFS drive.

It's an odd hunch. But sometimes gadgets go for stuff like that.
Could be a broken caddy.
Either way, thanks for the reply.

 

[Psyringe]

Didn't work.
It's as if the caddy is detected, but the drive isn't booting up.

I'll try to re-solder some points, might work. But it's probably broken.
Still open to answers.

 

[Psyringe]

Fixed Results;
Wow. Ok.

Here's whats up:
- 4 of the Sata Pins route to Holes on the Circuit Board - which are then met on the reverse side to connect to the DVD Slim variation.
- 3 of the 4 connections still had visible holes on the SATA HDD connection; as if the solder was on the surface, or dipping into the hole, but *potentially* not completely connecting. Techy intuition.
- 1 of the holes on the reverse side was still covered - but likely a cosmetic manufacturing issue.

So;
- Patched the 3 holes with resin core solder on the front side. (tight fixes, use caution)
- Cleaned up the reverse side of the circuit board.
- Popped the device into my computer without even putting all the screws back in - and bingo - there's the drive.


Allow me to explain the potential error in these devices;
When I pick up my laptop, it's at the corner where the Caddy is. My laptop may have bent slightly, causing friction between the hard drive and the caddy, thus causing a disconnection at this point. This is just a theory. Also, there was slight brown and black around the soldering points -- this could indicate heat - maybe from manufacturing. Can't be sure.

The device is cheap. Along with the 3 points of error, one of the light wires was soldered poorly; as if by hand quickly. The room for error at the 10$ price range is pretty big. I imagine this is 90% of the similar users errors.

If your caddy is having the same issues; it's best to get your hands dirty, send it back, or keep it in the computer for durability. There is no magical software solution, these are plug and play. You get what you pay for, unfortunately.