Issue /W Toshiba Canvio Ext. HDD Randomly Disconnecting

Enigma

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Location
Portland, Oregon, USA
I bought a Toshiba Canvio USB 3.0 1.5 TB Black about a week ago, with the intent of using it for static data storage and system backups. But the only big issue I'm having with it is that it keeps randomly disconnecting while copying files, and even when it's not doing anything at all. I'm in the middle of copying a file, and BAM, disconnect, even though my laptop hasnt moved at all and the cable is firmly plugged into a powered 3.0 port. And it is extremely sensitive to even the slightest movement. Examples, someone bumped the leg of a table earlier today just a little bit, someone else barely placed their hand on the table a few feet away from me........disconnect. I had an external Western Digital awhile back, it rarely DCed unless the cable was jarred enough to knock it loose a bit from the port. Not nearly as sensitive as what I have now. I've tried different cables, same issue with all of them. I've also ran chkdsk on the drive, it checked out fine with no bad sectors etc.

I know that 3.0 drivers are included in Windows 8 by default and that external HDDs are typically classified as plug and play. I have searched the Toshiba website, no drivers available. I've also tried looking for 3rd party alternative drivers/solutions, etc. Windows is fully up to date. And I just checked my power settings and found something called "USB Selective Suspend", which I'm guessing is where Windows puts a drive to sleep after it's idle for a certain period. I disabled that setting so that USB devices dont "sleep". I'm not sure exactly what it means, just an educated guess is all.

Right now I'm still waiting to see if the issue resurfaces, just need a little advice/pointers on what might be causing this. A last note, the drive has 1 partition on it that fills up everything, and that partition is encrypted with TrueCrypt, so I have to enter my crypto password every time I connect the drive. Just figured I'd mention, although I doubt that's the culprit. My WD drive was encrypted and never had this issue.

UPDATE: I noticed noone has posted by now, so I figured I would add a few things. In addition to disabling USB Selective Suspend, I also opened up Device Management and checked all my installed USB devices. After reading up a bit more I found a Power Management tab in the Properties section for each device/driver, and noticed an entry there called "Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power". I disabled it in each case that it was checked. Now the drive seems to disconnect less often and doesnt seem to be quite as sensitive to movement. But yet it still sometimes DCs even when I havent touched my laptop, the drive, the cable, or the table that it's sitting on. And I've also noticed that sometimes the light on the drive goes off after awhile. Is this normal? Is it an indicator that it might be "sleeping"? Or maybe this only happens when stuff isnt being copied/moved/etc?

I've also read some complaints with others with similar or identical issues to mine and many of them stated they had the Toshiba Canvio drives. SeaGate and WD seem to have much higher ratings. One post implied that the connector board inside the shell casing (which is separate from the drive itself) might be bad .It's the piece the drive connects to on the inside of the case. I also found a HD enclosure/shell on Amazon (Amazon.com: StarTech.com 2.5in SuperSpeed USB 3.0 SSD SATA Hard Drive Enclosure: Computers & Accessories), I'm thinking that maybe if the board is faulty then I can just pop it inside the enclosure and it will work fine. It checks out with excellent SMART readings and no bad sectors, so now I'm convinced the issue isnt the drive itself. But I can never be too sure.

Well, thanks for any help!



EDIT: Well, it's been over a day now. Noone has anything to say?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64, Windows Server 2012 R2 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G700
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3632QM, 2.20 GHz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    6 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA 720M, Intel HD 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 (max)
    Hard Drives
    1 TB HDD (5400 RPM), 1.5 TB HDD (5400 RPM) installed in a 12.7mm disc drive caddy
    Case
    Lenovo
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Laptop/notebook keyboard/touchpad
    Internet Speed
    It varies, since I'm mobile most of the time
    Browser
    Chromium (the open-source browser which Google Chrome is derived from)
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky, Malwarebytes, Spybot, Privatefirewall
    Other Info
    I will add more information here later
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