'Logical Disk manager - The device is not ready' error

[ps3ud0]

Guys,

Having an issue with a 2.5" external USB caddy where when it connects to my PC its recognised by Disk Management but shows up as 'Not Initialised' - when I attempt to initialise it I get the error message 'The device is not ready'.

Ive tried this on 2 different PCs so trying to isolate if its the caddy or the actual HDD (HDD was pulled out of my PS3 from new so never really used).

Bit of an annoyance as I needed for backup purposes, hoping its just a failure on the caddys behalf (connected it without the HDD installed and the same error in Disk Management occurs) rather than the HDD itself.

Havent had much luck with caddies lately as I think my 3.5" one has died aswell this week :/

ps3ud0

 

[d_brennen]

Perhaps, if possible, connect it up via internal SATA/ESATA on your PC and format it? Sounds like the caddy from the last bit of your post, but would confirm the drive is ok

 

[eddyr]

Does sound like tha caddy, you tried it with a diff hdd in?

Bit of a faff, but for the time being you could connect the hdd to your board if you have a spare connector.

 

[ps3ud0]

With the 3.5" thats fine, Ill give that a try as Im pretty sure its the caddy thats gone (definitely powered, but no light at the front).

I dont think I could do that with the 2.5" drive without some form of caddy? Unfortunately I dont have another 2.5" drive to try in it.

Ive done some googling and it definitely seems a widespread issue when it comes to external HDDs, I just cant see why it would be the HDD at fault.

Just annoying both caddies have gone as Ive probably only used them a handful of times (both are 4years+ old ) - any recommendations on replacements? Tempted to get one of those slot in ones that deal with both 2.5" and 3.5" drives to make it a bit simpler...

Ta to both btw...

ps3ud0

 

[d_brennen]

Screenshot of Drive Management?

 

[eddyr]

The slot in ones are usefull, if your unlikely to have to transfer to other PC's or laptops a 5" bay one is handy and saves clutter.

About the 2.5 inch drive, do you mean about connecting it to the board? Sit it on any surface inside, or on its back/sides if you dont want the PCB getting contact or dusty, and it will be fine.

Strange for both to go one after the other. I have an external hdd dock thats taken some battering and has worked fine so far (despite the rattling of internal components when I shake it, have no idea why I keep doing that).

 

[ps3ud0]

Screenshot of Drive Management?

Damn just packed everything away - Ill make sure to do it tomorrow. It just shows the disk as not initialised - dont think it says offline or online at all...

The slot in ones are usefull, if your unlikely to have to transfer to other PC's or laptops a 5" bay one is handy and saves clutter.

About the 2.5 inch drive, do you mean about connecting it to the board? Sit it on any surface inside, or on its back/sides if you dont want the PCB getting contact or dusty, and it will be fine.

Got any links to the 5" bay one? I so rarely use external HDDs and now Im hoping to move over to a NAS proper for backup anyway.

With regards to the 2.5" SATA drive, I assumed you cant connect it to a normal PC without a caddie - does it just use a standard sized SATA data and power cable? Not really mucked around with laptop drives before, but I remember the PATA ones used to use a different sized ribbon cable...

Strange for both to go one after the other. I have an external hdd dock thats taken some battering and has worked fine so far (despite the rattling of internal components when I shake it, have no idea why I keep doing that).

The 3.5" caddy was left on at the mains for a few days when I forgot about it (it was switched off from the back of the caddy though) and when I tried it again it just didnt work. The power adaptor lit up but the front of the caddy didnt as it normally does. To me that sounds like a failed caddy as its not recognised at all by windows or disk management.

With the 2.5" caddy Ive obviously getting the original problem and unsure exactly what to pinpoint as the issue. When I first used it this week it worked fine and the HDD was recognised in disk management but had to be reformatted (as was formatted for PS3 use) and I was able to copy files over to it. Since then though I just cant get it to work in windows - its recognised as a usb device and as a drive in drive management, but cant be initialised to be used/formatted. Hoping again thats a caddy issue rather than HDD.

So one seems to be a power issue, the other a connection issue I guess - both made by Akasa

ps3ud0

 

[AbsenceJam]

2.5 and 3.5" SATA drives use the same connections.

 

[d_brennen]

Does it allocate a drive letter even though it can't initialise? Laptop drives can be connected directly to a normal PC SATA port and power supply just fine btw

 

[ps3ud0]

2.5 and 3.5" SATA drives use the same connections.

Does it allocate a drive letter even though it can't initialise? Laptop drives can be connected directly to a normal PC SATA port and power supply just fine btw

LOL I didnt know that - Ill try both in my main PC tomorrow - is it worth trying these drives under Ubuntu or Mac OSX to try and kick them alive?

It doesnt allocate a drive letter at all - stolen these images as an example:

All Ive done is right clicked the name of the disk where it says 'Not Initialised' then choosen 'Initialise' but it comes out with that error straight away (though Im sure mine says Logical Disk Manager). Obviously Ive choosen MBR rather than the other option.

ps3ud0

 

[ps3ud0]

Better late than never with an update - looks like the 3.5" HDD survived as it just popped up in Vista when I connected it via SATA and it still had stuff on it that wasnt corrupted. So I guess the enclosure died there, must have been when I left it connected to the power

Sadly the 2.5" I think didnt make it (still trying stuff), BIOS doesnt find it (well the Intel Matrix manager doesnt and BIOS mentions something about a SATA issue and it makes windows take ages to boot up, though it does pop up with device drivers and the correct name of the HDD which is strange). Hoping a reboot allows me to find it and format it as Im guessing it being a PS3 formatted might be the issue...

So thanks for the help - but now Im after a new caddy - does anyone recommend one of those docking stations? Seem less fiddly, Im only on USB2 but might just get a USB docking station and a PCIe USB3 card...

ps3ud0

 

[ps3ud0]

Hmmm getting a new error with the 2.5" drive - Logical Disk Manager sees it as an unallocated space but when I try to make it a simple volume it gives the error Ive had before regards the HDD not being initialised, so when I attempt to initialise it in LDM it now gives the error (after a while) 'The semaphore timeout period has expired'

Any ideas? Thinking I should just give up but like to understand the error messgaes Im getting as all Ive done with it ever is pull it out of my PS3 and whack it in the caddy which I dont think Ive ever used - I have tried it back in the PS3 a couple of months back but I dont think even that saw it so Im guessing its deffo dead!

EDIT: Paused BIOS and it eventually picks up the HDD at POST but Intel Matrix Storage Manager doesnt - what I have now found out is that the 2.5" drive (Toshiba MK1255GSX) has a SMART rating of BAD. LOL If I had seen that the first I wouldnt have bothered trying stuff . Oh well, its going in the bin!!!

ps3ud0