Re: HELP: External 250G USB screwed with GParted

Hi Mikkel,

2008/1/20 Mikkel L. Ellertson <mikkel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
André Costa wrote:

I've read some reports about the same error messages suggesting they
could be caused by insufficient power on the USB ports (looks like it
really fluctuates, and that external drives demand more power than
usual USB devices). Initially I wouldn't consider this an option on my
case, since the drive already worked on this same port I am trying now
before the failed GParted session. However, I don't know if the drive
is now in a weird state in which more power is needed...

WD sells a "power booster cable" for USD 9.99, but they only sell it
on the US =/ I'll try to buy a AC powered USB hub, this should ensure
all the power needed and get one variable out of the equation.

I have 2 2-1/2" USB drives that get their power from the USB bus.
They both draw more power then one USB connection will easily
supply. The computer end of the cable has 2 USB plugs, one that is
only a power connection. To make the drives work right, you have to
plug in the power-only plug first, wait 10 seconds for the drive to
spin up, and then plug in the data connection. If you plug them in
at the same time, or only use one plug, it will sometimes work, but
it will usually have problems.

Thks for the tip. USB is trickier than I thought... all these
requirements takes all the fun out of it =/

One other thing to keep in mind - if the drive drew too much power,
the USB port may have shut down. I know some kernels enforce the
power limits, but I don't remember if the current kernels do. There
was debate about this, but I don't remember reading about the final
decision. Moving to another USB port may fix the problem. (I don't
remember how to reset the port.) This shotdown may also be BIOS
dependent. On my laptop, I get overcurrent warnings when waking up
under Windows sense updating the BIOS. I have not tested this under
Linux yet.

Mmmh... didn't know about it. However, I've already rebooted the
machine a couple of times, and even booted it on WinXP. I also tried
some other ports, no luck. My guess is that the HDD got stuck into
some inconsistent state, which is in turn confusing the SATA --> USB
logic (don't even know if this makes sense). If that's the case, I
will have to open it up and plug the HDD directly to a SATA controller
to see if it's possible to do any kind of rescue procedure. I already
started looking for it on the web (this was encouraging:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ0bgz3tyNk).

But, before doing that, I'll see if I can try an AC-powered USB hub,
so that I could really confirm that this is not the problem.

Thks for your help.

Regards,

Andre

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