external HD keeps disconnecting itself. disconnects then reconnects by itself.

are we talking usb? is it on a hub? some don't like being on a hub. happened to me that way. direct connection works fine.
the power supply could be crapping out.

when it was doing it to me on the hub it also messed up the directories a bit even though it didn't disconnect while any transfers took place. i had to get disk warrior to repair it. disk utility was useless for that.

i guess then if you can hook it up to another mac and see what happens.

i don't know if all usb ports are all one or separate circuits. but i think they all go down the same pipe, so to speak. so if all your other usb drives are working then its probably not the logic board (or so i was told about my problem) but the drive instead.

in that case it could be the power or the enclosures controller circuits..or maybe the drive itself.

i've been having a problem with an ext dvd burner that first started giving me usb power messages, even tho it doesn't run off usb power. then it just would get error when i began burning and disconnect.
being told it was a power supply or enclosure, i'm on my second new enclosure with the same problem. so now it must be the burner itself (i hope) and so i bought a new 5.25" and see what happens.

$@#%&# computers <lol>

Does this hard drive have an external power source (AC adapter) or is it powered off the USB bus?

If it's powered off the USB bus, that's likely your problem. See if it came with an AC adapter (or if you can buy one) and try that. The USB bus may not be providing enough power to keep it running.

^

I had that problem early on with one of my XTHDs. If I recall, it was just a matter of replacing the USB cable. The one I had just wouldn't stay connected securely. Keep an eye on that, and the power cable as well.

I've had experiences with both cable & The need for a direct connect to the computer.
Try & borrow a friends cable to check it out.

That's a pretty awesome background. Link?

External HD disconnecting & reconnecting with firewire.

I'm finding lots of people have this same problem.

I connected my new Buffalo Combo 4 External HD to my iMac (OS X 10.4.11). I can transfer data just fine with the USB cable, but when I connect the FW 800 cable or FW 400 cable it works and then will disconnect itself after a few minutes. Then it cycles on and off in shorter cycles giving me the error message that it wasn't properly disconnected. When I shut it down and reconnect the USB cable I do not have the same problem.

So to sum it up, the USB cable works just fine. The firewire cables to not. I think it is the Mac, but I wonder if there is a fix for it. Why is it doing this? I bought a HD with firewire so I could use the firewire and it is useless as it is. I've researched this for several hours over the course of a couple of days and I still don't have a solution. I think this has everyone stumped. I wanted to post it anyway just in case there was a solution. Any ideas?

Thanks for any feedback and I think this site is great!

this happens if I use the left hand USB port on my 15" last gen MBP...right hand USB usually works except for the occasional hiccup. Both sides used to work fine, just started acting up one night . Every other device I have still works great w/ both tho.

ext hd keeps disconnecting

well it doesn't look like there's really any ready solution to this kind of quirky problem. not really a big deal as long as there isn't REALLY data being lost when it disconnects. do you guys have that problem - of data being erased? i'm very worried cuz i have gotten this problem cropping up recently and i use this ext hd for work stuff.... oh yeah, and do you guys know if it matters if you have your ext hd lying flat or sitting upright? does it make a difference to the inner workings of the beast?

solution

Had the same problem today, as soon as HD was doing something, it disconnected. Eventually formatted the disk to a mac-format instead of FAT32. Now works properly. Hope it helps!

Elizatex said:

I'm finding lots of people have this same problem.

the USB cable works just fine. The firewire cables to not. I think it is the Mac, but I wonder if there is a fix for it. Why is it doing this? I bought a HD with firewire so I could use the firewire and it is useless as it is.

I've researched this for several hours over the course of a couple of days and I still don't have a solution. !

Click to expand...

Have you ever found a solution?
I actually have this exact issue, and on several macs, but it not always, some times things work just fine on all of them, and then something changes and all macs have the same issue with all Firewire drives.

We have this problem on a Mini at work, but only when trying to put the Mac to sleep. The drive ejects/disconnects itself(ie the icons disappear form the desktop), the error message shows, and then the drive reconnects.