USB 3 ports and Portable hard drive suddenly stopped working

kpvithanage

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My laptop has 4 USB ports. 2 of them are USB 3.0 ports. Today I connected my WD 2TB portable hard drive to one port and another hard to other USB 3 port. while copying a large file (3GB) copying process suddenly freezed. then windows explorer stopped working. after that I unplugged the portable hard. then I tried using a pen drive. but those 2 usb ports were not working. But I'm more worried about my hard. It's not working either. I tried plugging it in to several computers. But it's not working. I'm expecting the worst. Can anyone help me??

PS: after some time...
It spins and get powered up. sometimes (once every 5 minutes or something) I hear some sound like when hard drive is shutting off...., and After that I connected it to my laptop (working USB 2 port), then I waited for like 10 minutes. then it asked the password to the hard drive (as usual) then it to 10 minutes to load the hard. To my relief it showed the files in it. But it's extremely slow. when i click on a folder it takes 40 seconds to go into it. so I tried copying a file, just to be sure if it can be done. to my amazement it did, at first very slowly (3KB/s) then got the speed (24MB/s). Then I safely removed it. I dont have any big memory to back it up. so to do it later I removed it. I was a little bit relieved. But still those 2 USB ports in my laptop do not work.
 
Solution
Hey kpvithanage. Sorry to hear you're having issues with your HDD. I understand that it doesn't work with any of the computers you've tried, but does that mean it's not recognized or it doesn't spin up at all? Is there any indication at all that the drive is powered up and if "yes" do you hear any unusual sounds/noises? I'd suggest that you try the drive with a different cable as well (not longer than 12") because the USB cable itself might have gone faulty.

Hope that helps. Let me know how things go.
Boogieman_WD
Hey kpvithanage. Sorry to hear you're having issues with your HDD. I understand that it doesn't work with any of the computers you've tried, but does that mean it's not recognized or it doesn't spin up at all? Is there any indication at all that the drive is powered up and if "yes" do you hear any unusual sounds/noises? I'd suggest that you try the drive with a different cable as well (not longer than 12") because the USB cable itself might have gone faulty.

Hope that helps. Let me know how things go.
Boogieman_WD
 
Solution

kpvithanage

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@Boogieman_WD: thanks for the reply. It spins and get powered up. sometimes (once every 5 minutes or something) I hear some sound like when hard drive is shutting off...., and After that I connected it to my laptop (working USB 2 port), then I waited for like 10 minutes. then it asked the password to the hard drive (as usual) then it to 10 minutes to load the hard. To my relief it showed the files in it. But it's extremely slow. when i click on a folder it takes 40 seconds to go into it. so I tried copying a file, just to be sure if it can be done. to my amazement it did, at first very slowly (3KB/s) then got the speed (24MB/s). Then I safely removed it. I dont have any big memory to back it up. so to do it later I removed it. I was a little bit relieved. But still those 2 USB ports in my laptop do not work.
 

Stingerxxx

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The most likely cause of this is driver failure. It' is strange that this would happen while the computer is powered up and the drive is active., but it is possible, and the symptoms are in line with what you would experience if this was the cause. It isn't too hard to rule out either. Just a few simple steps and you will know whether or not it fixes it.

1) Obtain the USB 3.0 driver from your manufacturers website.

2) Attempt to locate the device in Device Manager. My 3.0 device driver is called ASmedia xHCI Controller. Just a fancy way of Intel labeling their 3.0 device. Yours should be similar, it might even say on their website when you obtain the original driver. If it is there, right click on it and select uninstall. After installation is completed, reboot.

3) Upon reboot, the New Hardware Wizard will most likely automatically locate and install a driver for the 3.0 ports. Whether it does this or not, navigate to the folder in which the driver you downloaded is located and use the .EXE to install the driver. If the wizard asks you to install the driver upon boot, giving you the "Automatically search for driver" or "Locate the driver manually", simply close the wizard. After the driver is successfully installed, the 3.0 ports may or may not be working yet. This is normal. One more reboot and you should be good to go. If this is not the case and the ports still do not work, it may be that there is a further driver issue beyond the driver directly installed for the ports, such as a hub driver. It would not hurt at this point to install the remaining USB drivers from the manufacturers website, following the same procedure as you followed when installing the 3.0 driver. If this still does not fix the issue, you may be dealing with something further then a corrupted driver, but we can tackle that if and when it appears.

4) Now on to the drive itself. Either way you look at it, the drive was interrupted while performing a task, and it seems apparent that some degree of corruption occured. The simplest and highest recommended fix is using chkdsk. Open Command Prompt as administrator (Win 7/8 use search,type cmd or command prompt, when Command Prompt or cmd appears, right click on it and select run as administrator) and type chkdsk Z: -f (replacing Z: with the letter that corresponds to the letter Windows has assigned to your drive.) -f stand for Fix, which will automatically correct errors when they are revealed. This *should* resolve any issues you have experienced and restore the drive to the quality of operation that you have previously experienced.

Hope this helps

H
 
Follow @Stingerxxx's advice, although this could be also due to a hardware problem with the motherboard and the USB connection, though it is unusual that it would affect both ports and having in mind it is only the USB 3.0 ports, he's probably right. I don't know what OS you are using but I've read about problems with laptops in particular and USB drivers with Windows 8, so hopefully Stingerxxx's solution will do the trick. As for the drive I'd suggest that you download DLG (Data Lifeguard Diagnostic) and run both tests to see what they show and if the drive is working properly. Here's a link for DLG: Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows
Please give me your feedback on the test results once they are completed.
 

kpvithanage

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@ Boogieman_WD & Stingerxxx :
Thanks guys for the great help. I guess both my problems are solved. USB 3.0 ports started working after re-installing drivers. But I do not know how it went wrong after 1.5 years.
and thanks boogieman_WD, It was the USB 3 cable. there is something wrong with it. I connected it with a USB 2.0 cable and it worked fine. then I found a USB 3.0 cable and tried it. it all worked fine. I'm immensely relieved. Thank you both for the help and replying me when I was in need of advice. I think I'm in debt. :)

and sorry the page does not allow me to make both of your answers as the solution. So I only put boogieman's answer

PS: I guess the sound I heard from the hard previously when it was powered up, has something to do with less power coming out of USB cable. Am i right? so is the problem solved? or do i have to be concerned?
 

Stingerxxx

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It would make sense that the sound you heard previously was due to the bad cable. This actually gives me a few ideas on an issue of my own.... But that's for another day :p

I would say the problem is solved and be free of worry. Keep an ear out, but don't expect it to start acting up again.
 
Does that happen with other computers as well? Perhaps something might be wrong with the drive itself, but you'll have to test it with DLG from my previous post and share the results with us so that we see what's going on. Other than that if you haven't tested this with another computer, I'd suggest that you do, so that you can isolate the problem depending on the outcome.
 

Stingerxxx

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I definitely second Boogieman there. Try another PC, see if it still does it. Then test with DLG and see what it says.

You could also get a version of linux and boot from that, then begin copying a decent sized file. Open up the native performance manager (most distros come with a simple one, usually command line based. I believe Ubuntu has a fancier, GUI based one.) and see what the read/write speed is. That would rule out windows or further driver related problems, as linux uses its' own drivers.
 

kpvithanage

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@Boogieman_WD : Ok, there is definitely a problem with my portable hard drive. I tried DLG software as you said. Unfortunately I cannot perform the quick test, because some error occurred. Full test is taking like 20 hours and before that I have to backup the data I have on it. So I will post some photos I have taken so far. I will do the full test and post results ASAP.

1.This is the dos checkdisk results

vjrpAKz.png


2. This is the DLG screen. It says S.M.A.R.T failed.

xbDXqF7.png


3. This is the quick test failed screenshot.

B3lB9XJ.png


4. This is the smart drive information screen. It says relocated sector count is failed. And could you please explain to me, what is the last column named "warranty" means? It has 1 and 0 for its values. what does it mean???

J9W1KXu.jpg
 
That's not good. Is your drive still under warranty? The column you are referring to shows if the specific attribute qualifies the drive for RMA if the values do not match the threshold limits. Unfortunately I can't see the screenshots for some reason... perhaps you could try uploading them on imgur.com or someplace else.
But from what I understand the drive is not in a good shape so I'd suggest that you backup your data and contact our customer support to see if you qualify for RMA (if the drive is still under warranty). It's a good thing you already have your DLG test results, because they'll need that as well. Here's a link where you can contact the WD customer support: http://support.wdc.com/contact/index.asp?wdc_lang=en
Here you can check the WD warranty services: http://support.wdc.com/warranty/index.asp?wdc_lang=en

Good luck with your drive.
 

kpvithanage

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I hope you can see the links to photos now.
anyway, I'm still under warranty, It has 3 year limited warranty. I'm still on the 9th month.
again could you please explain to me, in the 4th picture what the last column named "warranty" means? It has 1 and 0 for its values. what does it mean???
 
Yep, I can see them now and I'd suggest that you use the link from my previous post to contact customer support and provide them with this data and see if you qualify for RMA. And please remove the images or re-upload them without the serial numbers (for security reasons, especially when your drive is still under warranty). Sorry that you have to go through that with your HDD.
 

kpvithanage

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ok. thanks, but i have to ask you something. can you tell me what the values under the warranty column means? 1 and 0? does it say that I can claim under warranty for that error?
 
Yes, I think that with the data you've showed me from the DLG software, you will qualify for RMA and get your disk replaced. It's as I said it in my previous post
The column you are referring to shows if the specific attribute qualifies the drive for RMA if the values do not match the threshold limits.
Don't worry just contact customer support and provide them with the info you gave me and they will give you further instructions on the procedure.
 
Well you could always try with data recovery software if it is able to recognize your drive recover the data. Here's a link to a thread which might be helpful: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html
You could also try to access the drive with Linux Live CD/USB and retrieve your files.
And there's always the option for a professional solution like a data recovery company, but that can often be a bit expensive. Here's a link to our data recovery partners if you decide to go this way: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp?wdc_lang=en
 

kpvithanage

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@Boogieman_WD

I came here to tell you that I sent my hard drive to WD company directly and the sent me a replacement, no questions asked. That might be because I went through the support case. and before it was sent I was able to copy all data. like a miracle It suddenly worked for one or two days in perfect condition, so I could copy all the data. After I copy the data, when I unplugged it and replugged it was not working again. Anyway my problem is over. Thanks to you and other who helped me. Cheers! :)