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[Mejilan]

Hi folks. You may remember me a couple of days ago inquiring about USB2/Firewire cardbus adaptors for notebook computers, and/or asking about external HDD solutions.

Weeeell. I have an iPod I connect through my new cardbus' firewire port. I also have a new internal hdd + enclosure that seems to successfully connect through one of the USB2 ports on the same adaptor.

Would it be possible to mount the iPod (firewire) and the HDD (usb2) simultaneously, and upload music from the new HDD to the iPod? Or will I still have to use my much tinier laptop's embedded hdd as a go between?

Thanks!

 

[Scoobert]

You may remember me too, lol.

Yeah what you want to do will work just fine.

 

[Mejilan]

Excellent, thank you.

Now. Is there any particular reason why the new disk is listed as "unreadable" and when formatting, it hits a 100% and tells me that it did not complete successfully, to either close and restart Disk Management (Win XP Pro Administrative Tools) or restart the computer?

 

[Scoobert]

Hmm...I have no idea. Have you tried plugging it in and out? I'm not sure.

I have a laptop with USB2 ports and an external hard drive set up like you. For what ever reason, when I have my mouse connected it can't read the hard drive. But if I disconnect the mouse, then the hard drive everything works fine. I could even re-plug in my mouse.

I'm guessing the errors are some sort of bandwidth limitation at first, because the USB port has to read the entire hard drive when it's first connected.

 

[Mejilan]

Just deleted the partition and will try to reboot and reformat.

I did get the new drive (F: ) to show in My Computer...

 

[Mejilan]

Errrm. Primary Partition, Extended Partition, or Logical Drive (unavailable to me.)?

I tried primary partition last time, twice, and that's what failed. I set it as Extended this time, and now am formatting it as a Logical Drive (F: ). Man, I hope this works!

 

[Mejilan]

Blue screen of death when it hit 100%. That can't be good.

 

[Mejilan]

For kicks, I currently have the hdd hooked up to my embedded usb 1.1 port (not part of the new cardbus adaptor) and it's formatting, slow as fuck.

If it succeeds, which I suspect it will (iPod refused to mount via USB2, but it DID mount and format through the trusty 1.1) then I guess that means I got a half-jacked adaptor, right? Firewire on it DOES work, but not USB2, apparently.

 

[tenchir]

You are suppose to format it as primary. Did you quick format it or a normal format? Did you install SP1 for Windows XP(if you are using XP)? Check if the right driver is installed right. I had the same problem with my USB2, it install as USB1 so I have to manually updated the driver to USb2.0.

 

[Mejilan]

Win XP Pro SP1 FULLY patched through Windows Update.

I tried using the Win XP Pro USB2 generic drivers, as well as the Ali drivers included on the disc that came with the card. I'm taking the card back to the store today and trying a new one.

I took an hour instead of 10 minutes, but the USB1.1 format WORKED. So, I know that my internal hdd + enclosure installation (my first ever) is correct.

 

[Scoobert]

It has to be the PC Card. If your normal USB port works but the USB2 from the PC Card doesn't, I assume its that.

Doesn't hurt to try a different one, hopefully you get one that works great.

 

[Mejilan]

Trying to get my hands on an Adaptec Duo Connect, heard amazing things.

Don't think this store has them, however, and availiabity in NY is surprisingly non-existant. Will try to exchange this one for another model of same, or different product entirely if they have.

 

[Mejilan]

Well, the store I went to doesn't offer another company's firewire/sub cardbus adaptor for notebooks, so I exchanged it for another of the same model.

Same exact problem. iPod will mount on the firewire port, but not USB2.
New HDD (which is USB only) only mounts on my old USB1.1 not the new card's USB2.0.

Is it even possible to have a computer that's somehow incompatible with USB2? Ugh.

 

[Scoobert]

Could it be driver issues? Did the PC card come with a driver disk? You might not have usb2 drivers installed.

What is your pc card called? Name, brand?

 

[Mejilan]

I tried using the generic Win XP Pro SP1 drivers and the ones included with the card. Loading up the card drivers DOES allow me to mount the iPod via Firewire, fortunately.

ADS Dual Link Cardbus for Notebooks (O2Micro chipset.)
http://www.adstech.com/products/DLX181/intro/DLX181intro.asp?pid=DLX181

Here is a VERY intersting URL, but unfortunately, their solution didn't help me. And yes, I do have a Dell Inspiron 2650.
http://home.insightbb.com/~scottlandon/

I greatly appreciate all your efforts in helping me.

I am considering dropping this enclosure for a firewire one, and dropping this card for another that offers 3 firewire slots, and dropping usb2 altogether.

Decent idea? Any suggestions on hardware?

 

[Scoobert]

Maybe you should just go all firewire then. That obvisiouly is working for you, but USB2 isn't. Just go all out with firewire. Screw the USB2 if it isn't working. It shouldn't be this difficult.

 

[Mejilan]

Agreed. Already got my RMA from Newegg to refund this enclosure. Didn't even wait for my refund before placing an order for a similar firewire/usb2 enclosure. Should have done that the first time, methinks.

Is the Adaptect 3-port Firewire cardbus adaptor a good one? I've heard good things.

Thank you, Scoobert, for trying to help me all this time. And thanks to the rest of this forum for putting up with the bumps.

 

[Scoobert]

Not sure about the Firewire, but I do like Adaptec's products.

I can't believe USb2 didn't work though. It had to be a drivers issue though. Sometimes usb works, sometimes it doesn't. It's never consistent. Sorry, I should have recommended a firewire enclosure from the beginning.

You could always get a SATA enclosure instead lol.

 

[Mejilan]

SATA?

 

[Scoobert]

I was just kidding. Sata is the newer hard drive types. Much better bandwidth than what we've had for years. You can now get encloser kits for them, plus sata pc cards.

It's a nice option, but too expensive at the moment.

 

[Mejilan]

Good to know. Thanks.

Much appreciate all of your help... MSIE FANBOI!!!

(j/k) ;p