Firewire External HDD

[Edward W. Thompson]

I have a 25GB IBM drive mounted into an external enclosure that is both USB2
and firewire capable. I am trying to get this drive to work with a Toshiba
Satellite 3000 laptop with WINXP Pro + SP1.

The drive works in the USB mode without problems. When connected to the
machine, the drive is recognized and I can read and write to it albeit
slowly as the ports are USB1.1. however the drive is not recognized by the
computer when connected by fire wire.

The firewire connection on the computer is by a 4 pin plug with 6 pin on the
enclosure. I have a 5V external power supply for use when firewire is used.
With the power supply connected the light on the enclosure illuminates
showing power is being supplied, however when the firewire cable is hooked
up the machine does not see the connection.

Device Manager shows the IEEE 1394 Bus host Controller as Texas Instruments
OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Controller and I have removed and reinstalled this
controller. There are no indications that the controller is not healthy.

I have spoken to the local Toshiba helpline who tells me I need to connect
the drive via a firewire hub as the power supply to the enclosure only
powers the HDD and not the enclosure "electronics". This makes no sense to
me.

I am looking for guidance. The questions I would like answers to are:

1. Should the drive work when hooked up to the machine with a 4 pin to 6
pin cable and powered by an external power supply?
2. If the answer to 1 is "Yes", as I suspect, how best to go about
troubleshooting the problem. As I see it the problem is either the firewire
part of the enclosure electronics, the cable or the computer firewire port.

The cable is new but I am getting another cable to try. I am very doubtful
the problem is with the cable. The problem could be with the computer port
I suppose but without another healthy firewire device how can I verify the
port is healthy? I suppose I could find someone with a laptop and 4 pin
plug port and see whether I can get the enclosure to work on another
machine.

Anyway if anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate some help
here.

[Fender]

I believe you are correct in thinking the external power supply must be
connected. 4-pin connectors can only pass through data -- not power. Is
this a 3 1/2 inch drive or a 2 1/2 inch drive? Did the power supply you're
using come with the hard drive enclosure? Also, are there any '!' in the
Device Manager? When using a USB or FireWire device, you must have the
drivers installed for whatever bridge the enclosure is using. Windows XP
Service Pack 1 comes with a number of USB 2.0 bridge drivers so I'm not
suprised the USB portion is working. However, for FireWire you usually have
to manually install the bridge drivers. This should be supplied by the
enclosure manufacturer. Chances are, the bridge chipset is an Oxford911.



"Edward W. Thompson" > wrote in message
...
> I have a 25GB IBM drive mounted into an external enclosure that is both
USB2
> and firewire capable. I am trying to get this drive to work with a
Toshiba
> Satellite 3000 laptop with WINXP Pro + SP1.
>
> The drive works in the USB mode without problems. When connected to the
> machine, the drive is recognized and I can read and write to it albeit
> slowly as the ports are USB1.1. however the drive is not recognized by
the
> computer when connected by fire wire.
>
> The firewire connection on the computer is by a 4 pin plug with 6 pin on
the
> enclosure. I have a 5V external power supply for use when firewire is
used.
> With the power supply connected the light on the enclosure illuminates
> showing power is being supplied, however when the firewire cable is hooked
> up the machine does not see the connection.
>
> Device Manager shows the IEEE 1394 Bus host Controller as Texas
Instruments
> OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Controller and I have removed and reinstalled
this
> controller. There are no indications that the controller is not healthy.
>
> I have spoken to the local Toshiba helpline who tells me I need to connect
> the drive via a firewire hub as the power supply to the enclosure only
> powers the HDD and not the enclosure "electronics". This makes no sense
to
> me.
>
> I am looking for guidance. The questions I would like answers to are:
>
> 1. Should the drive work when hooked up to the machine with a 4 pin to
6
> pin cable and powered by an external power supply?
> 2. If the answer to 1 is "Yes", as I suspect, how best to go about
> troubleshooting the problem. As I see it the problem is either the
firewire
> part of the enclosure electronics, the cable or the computer firewire
port.
>
> The cable is new but I am getting another cable to try. I am very
doubtful
> the problem is with the cable. The problem could be with the computer
port
> I suppose but without another healthy firewire device how can I verify the
> port is healthy? I suppose I could find someone with a laptop and 4 pin
> plug port and see whether I can get the enclosure to work on another
> machine.
>
> Anyway if anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate some help
> here.
>
>
>