External 18GB 1394/USB HDD problems w/Dell C800 Lattitude...

[dcxman 0]

Morning all.

 

I've got a Firewire/USB external pocket drive which I constantly use with my Dell C800 Lattitude laptop.

 

Unfortunately the USB connection part has been giving me problems, so I've had to rely on the IEEE1394 connection.

 

The problem I have when I'm using the USB connection is that the drive constantly comes up with errors either from copying and pasting from it, pasting to it or even formatting it. I get an error telling me most of the time that "source drive is unavailable". It still appears under "My Computer" but has disappeared from "Disk Management" and the activity light on the drive is glowing red for "active" continuously.

 

By the way my laptop is a dual boot OS with Win XP Pro and Win 2K Adv Srv. I have all the latest updates and service packs for both along with the latest BIOS and chipset revisions for my laptops mobo.

 

It's not the drive as I'm able to use the USB connection on my desktops at work.

 

Has anyone else run into this problem before?

 

Thanks in advance either way as always.

[Jerry Atrik 0]

yep on my omnibook 500 (xp only)

it worked for awhile then started in with the errors mostly like the ones u have.

i reinstalled xp and the problem hasnt come back yet.

[adamvjackson 0]

Dcxman, Jerry Atrik, which service packs did/do you have installed when you had the problem?

[dcxman 0]

For Win 2K Adv. Srv. I had SP2 and for Win XP Pro. no service packs what so ever.

 

When Service Pack 1 for XP came out I updated it and right after I updated my Win 2K as well. Then I noticed my USB/1394 drive would no longer work through USB.

 

Thanks for the responses.

[adamvjackson 0]

Do you know what chipset is used in your notebook?

[dcxman 0]

I believe it's the Silano desktop chipset.

 

I think you're on the right track AdamvJackson. It was working before I installed Win2K SP3 and WinXP SP1.

 

I have a feeling if I do a reinstall w/o SP's it will work again. But it's still this is still a dilemma as I find the security updates and patches necessary from the SP's.

 

Jerry Atrik, were you able to get you USB for your drive working again after you did the reinstall with the SP.

 

Please let me know.

 

Thanks all.

[Jerry Atrik 0]

when i upgraded xp sp1 i had a problem

when i did a clean sp1 (slipstreamed) install i havent had the problem... YET!

 

the slipstreamed xp sp1 works a billion percent better than a upgrade for the machines ive worked with.

 

as for the chipset... it's an intel sunthin sunthin

prolly a 440 family (guess)

[dcxman 0]

I guess I'll have to try a fresh install with a slipstreamed install of XP SP1 from the Windows Update site.

 

But, I'm not going to proceed with that at the moment as I have a lot of apps which I cringe at to reinstall.

 

I'll just have to wait for my USB connection for my drive to become nuisance enough for me to do so. Until then I'll use my 1394 connection (100 times faster btw).

 

Thanks again all.

[adamvjackson 0]

Quote:

I guess I'll have to try a fresh install with a slipstreamed install of XP SP1 from the Windows Update site.

That's on Windows Update? I thought that .iso was only available to MSDN subscribers.

[dcxman 0]

My apologies if I've got this wrong.

 

When Jerry Atrik was referring to to slipstream, I thought he meant the the express installation of SP1 for XP off of Windows Update not the streamed version off of the MSDN subscription.

 

Hope that clarifies.

 

Jerry Atrik, could you clarify if you were referring to MSDN or Windows Update.

 

Thanks guys.

[adamvjackson 0]

Generally, one must make the slipstreamed cd themselves. This cd is an exact duplicate of the original XP cd, with all of the SP1 files added, so when the OS is installed, the SP is also installed at the same time. Excellent documented intructions can be found here. Also, if you have any questions, if you do decide to slipstream your XP install, just ask, as many of us here have created these cds.

[Jerry Atrik 0]

that is correct

there is detailed instructions on this website for making a xp sp1 install

cd. (this is a great website)

i made one and it works 100% better than a install/w web update

[dcxman 0]

Thank you guys so much.

 

Appreciate all the help and will look into making the slipstream cd.

 

You may see an upcoming posting asking for help on it if I fail to follow instructions correctly

 

Thanks again