Originally Posted by Drybonz

I have been having problems with a USB 3.0 external drive. When I reboot Windows 8, the drive is not recognized each time, and I have to remove the USB plug and re-plug it to get the drive to be recognized. After that, it works fine, but I have to do this each time I reboot.

Anyone had a similar issue or know of a fix?

Thanks!

Hey Drybonz,

I've had a similar problem with a Western Digital Passport 1TB external, where it wouldn't pick up unless you remount (unplug then replug) the cable.

What model is yours, and does it show in Disk Management? That'll help find answers to it

If it shows in Disk Management when you first insert it, then it could be a USB port error or a malfunction with the drive etc.

Regards,
CJ

[QUOTE=Drybonz;164314]

Originally Posted by CeejayMode

Originally Posted by Drybonz

What model is yours, and does it show in Disk Management? That'll help find answers to it

If it shows in Disk Management when you first insert it, then it could be a USB port error or a malfunction with the drive etc.

Thanks for the replies.

The drive is a Seagate GoFlex Desk model. I haven't had any problems with it previously. Upon rebooting Windows 8, it does not show in device manager. If I look in my notification tray right after rebooting, the icons are all jumping around as the device manager repeatedly tries to identify it.

After unplugging and re-plugging the device, all is normal... and it shows in the device manager.

Could be a problem with device incompatibility on Windows 8, or maybe a driver error? Did it come with any software that Seagate designed for managing it? There might be extra drivers or such that may help. As far as I know though, it could be a problem with the hard drive itself, but more than likely a driver or Windows 8 compatibility problem.

Hi there
Sometimes the BIOS doesn't recognize the controller or thinks its a legacy USB device !!!!. Only when you re-plug the device does windows get an interrupt for "Check Hardware" and it dynamically loads the USB3 driver.

Go into your BIOS at boot with the USB3 device plugged in and see what the BIOS reports.

Also make sure you have the correct USB3 drivers for your computer. Windows 8 has a basic USB3 driver but your computer should have the correct one.

I've had this problem randomly -- but I now use a powered USB3 Hub on my laptop -- then Windows boots up just fine and recognizes the USB3 device(s) attached to the hub.

@drybonz -- probably by putting the device INTO the computer as an internal drive the computer thinks its a SATA drive so it will work just fine provided the connections from the disk to MOBO are OK.

However this solution while it works in your case rather loses the flexibility of having a fast external drive which you might want to attach to another machine. (USB3 devices are generally downward compatible with USB2 ports - although then they will only perform at USB2 speeds).

Cheers
jimbo