USB Hard Drive Problem with X60s and X6 Ultrabase

[JPOESQ]

I usually keep a 40GB USB hard drive attached to the ultrabase for daily backups. However, when I upgraded to a 100GB drive, the drive clicks and the indicator light flashes on and off during boot. My external USB keyboard will not function either.

I then tried a 250GB Seagate USB drive and experienced the same problem.

BTW, all of the drives work find during boot if connected directly to the X60s instead of the slice. This sounds like the slice cannot provide sufficient power for the drives, or perhaps a bios problem. Any ideas?

[bill bolton]

This sounds like the slice cannot provide sufficient power for the drives, or perhaps a bios problem. Any ideas?

Does the external USB enclosure work on any other systems? Also how old is it?

It might be a limitation, in respect of drive capacity, with the external drive enclosure electronics!

Cheers,

Bill B.

[JPOESQ]

Hi Bill,

The 40GB drive that works fine is an older IBM/Hitachi 7200 rpm drive from a T40p that put in a USB enclosure. This is self-powered from the USB port.

The 100GB drive that does not work when booting in the ultrabase is a newer 7200 rpm IBM/Hitachi drive from a T41p that I put in the same brand/type USB enclosure. This is self-powered from the USB port It works fine when connected directly to the X60s or any other computer. In fact, I'm using it temporarily on an HP server with only USB 1.1 ports for nightly data backup.

The 250GB drive that does not work when booting in the ultrabase is a brand new 5400 rpm Seagate Passport. It is self-powered frorm the USB port.

Since everything works fine on every computer, including the X60s, I can only assume that the limitation is with the ultrabase. Either the ultrabase is defective, or is not capable of sustaining operation of an external USB hard drive during boot.

I'm not trying to boot from the USB drive, I only use it for daily backup. It's also way down the list of boot devices. The only other items connected to the ultrabase are my USB IBM keyboard and my Microsoft wireless mouse. Removing them has no effect on operation of either of the USB hard drives that I have tried during boot - the drive will just sit there clicking and/or power cycling.