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General discussion

Western Digital My Book - Delayed Write Failure

by mep916 Aug 16, 2007 2:03PM PDT

Recently, I purchased a Western Digital Premium ES 500gb external hard drive. I formatted the HD from FAT32 to NTFS, and reinstalled all the original software that shipped with the device.

Transfering files from my PC to the My Book works fine. However, when I attempt to transfer large files (usually above 2gb) from the My Book to my PC, I receive a "Delayed Write Failure" error message. The device stops responding, and I have to power it down and restart it. I am running Windows XP SP2, and Vista Ultimate. I have experienced this problem in both operating systems.


The device is connected to a USB 2.0 PCI controller card I purchased two years ago. All the ports have worked fine in the past, and I have never had problems with other peripherals connected to the port. All connections appear to be secure.

Microsoft KB article 908673 discusses this issue and is releasing a hotfix (KB908673) w/XP SP3. I found and installed the hotfix, and continue to have the same problem.

Has anyone experienced similar problems with an external hard drive? Does anyone know of a solution for this issue?

Thanks,
Michael

Discussion is locked

10 Posts
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Mine did that (different model drive.)
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 17, 2007 1:41AM PDT

But after it annoying me and finding how to fix it temporarily (chkdsk on boot) I moved the USB 2.0 connection to another make PCI card and it hasn't happened since.

USB 2.0 cards are cheap at geeks.com and newegg.com so the issue may be some will get hung up that the existing card works sometimes and they won't try another card.

And there is no guarantee this will fix yours but it did mine (and others.)

Bob

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Yeah...
by mep916 Aug 17, 2007 1:47AM PDT

it's possible that the PCI card is crap. The other peripherals I've connected to this card have not transferred a lot of data to the PC. I'm also looking at SATA controller cards with eSATA inputs.

Any suggestions for a good eSATA card?

Thanks Bob.

Michael

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eSATA is suffering....
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 17, 2007 5:25AM PDT

eSATA is suffering support woes. The reasons are many from no support to talk to, to XP not having native SATA support and the list goes on. If you are self supporting and will research how to install XP with SATA drivers and know about the XP SP2 CD requirement I think you would be fine. However better than 1/2 of the owners should avoid this type of connection.

Bob

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That sucks...
by mep916 Aug 17, 2007 5:51AM PDT

...I bought the ES because of its eSATA support! Guess I should have carefully researched the eSATA technical issues.

Anyway, with the SATA controller, I do consider myself self supporting, and I enjoy researching PC technical issues. These forums, in particular, are very helpful. I look forward to the day I can dispense some useful advice! I'm not familiar with the XP SP2 CD issue you mentioned. Would you care to elaborate?

Thanks,
Michael

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It's a crazy world.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 17, 2007 10:31AM PDT

I can't tell why but some SATA drivers do not work when I install with XP SP1 or a "XP" (no SP1 or SP2) CD. Because of this you'll see me note you want to approach SATA with a full XP SP2 CD.

If you don't have one you can create one. How? Type AUTOSTREAMER at google.com

Bob

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Slipstreaming Rules!
by mep916 Aug 17, 2007 10:42AM PDT

I do have a slipstreamed copy of XP SP2; updated as of June 2007. So, as long as I have SP2, I'm okay?

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OK if...
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 17, 2007 12:33PM PDT

You have been reading articles about HOW TO INSTALL XP TO A SATA DRIVE since this is what we need to do to add sata support to a machine that they forgot to install the OS proper.

The real problem is Microsoft. It's something I wish they'd issue. A XP CD with SATA support.

Bob

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(NT) Okay, I understand
by mep916 Aug 17, 2007 1:15PM PDT
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My story...
by Szasza_boy Sep 3, 2007 4:19AM PDT

I tried to use an ATA HDD as an external drive w USB. I always received write delay errors. Today I checked the jumper settings. It was set to 'cable select', and I modified it to 'slave'. Then suddenly everything was OK. I was able to copy huge files without any problem.

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Well...
by mep916 Sep 5, 2007 11:17PM PDT

I replaced the USB PCI card, and I am no longer having problems.

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