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General discussion

External IDE spontaneously removes itself while playing media

Mar 12, 2007 7:50PM PDT

I am using a PowerSpec external enclosure with an EIDE 250GB western digital drive and connected via USB 2.0, on my "old reliable" HP pavilion desktop, XP pro SP2... always updated.

I use synchronization software (SyncBack) to help me manage manual back-ups from time to time.

Additionally, I store all of my media on the external drive. Recently, especially when I play video files, the drive appears to spontaneously remove itself from Windows... the PC CRASHES instantly! I have to use a soft reset, and the system seems fine.

I have tried several media applications. All with the same outcome.

I have checked the system hardware config. All drivers are installed correctly, and all detectable hardware seems to be fully operational.
I suspected that my PCI USB 2.0 card may be bad... so I installed a new one in an open slot yet the problem persists.

I would be grateful if anyone has an idea for me to try... I like having all of these large files on my external, but they aren't readily viewable with this happening.

Thanks!

Discussion is locked

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"the PC CRASHES instantly!" = clue.
Mar 12, 2007 11:35PM PDT

When I see that I instantly turn to investigating motherboard drivers. Tell me what make, model PC and what version driver you installed.

Bob

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PC specifications
Mar 13, 2007 9:54AM PDT

Hello,

My machine is an HP pavilion xl946, AMD Athlon 1.1GHz, 512MB RAM, DVD-rom, DVD

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Links, comment.
Mar 13, 2007 10:52AM PDT
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Hyperion 4-in-1 5.10a seems like the solution.
Mar 13, 2007 9:28PM PDT

Thank you for the helpful links.

It seems that all of my drivers were current except for the VIA AGP driver. I had v4.60a now I have 4.80a... I went through the entire hyperion 4-in-1 installation anyway.

Was this the culprit?

Nonetheless, I tested by playing several files (.avi .mp3 .mpg2 .ogm & .wmv) The system remained stable through each!

Hopefully it will remain so... Thank you!

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Updated drivers = new issue???
Mar 13, 2007 9:45PM PDT

Although media seems to play stably, now it seems that my data transfer rates are poor.

I tried to copy an ~800MB file from a USB flash to the external IDE. Both peripherals are connected through the same PCI, and the flash drive is on a 4port powered hub.

This transfer would normally take me 3-5min and now it takes 30+... almost seems like USB1.1 rather than 2.0

This has me puzzled. Any ideas?

As always, Thank you!

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Sometimes I find that...
Mar 13, 2007 9:50PM PDT

Shutting down, moving the PCI card to another slot helps this.

There are software methods to do this sort of refresh of the PCI information but I go with this since it's less work.

Bob

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windows update & relocate PCI fix!
Mar 13, 2007 10:21PM PDT

Everything seems back to expected function/performance!

802MB transfer in <3min ...files still open/play from peripheral drives!

Thanks so much!
Have a good one, Scott