USB 2.0 hard drive not working with my T42

[primedude]

OK, so I have this USB 2.0 hard drive that I've gotten to work in the past. However, now when I plug it in, I get a bubble popping up that says "This device can operate faster" (or something to that effect.) And indeed, it only transfers data at one meg a second (USB 1.1 speeds). Clicking on the bubble gives me access to a list of devices attached to my computer's USB 2.0 hub, but there's nothing listed there.

I've tried updating the chipset drivers, but that didn't work. I already have SP2 installed, which is what Microsoft recommends to solve this problem. Anyone observed this before? Any advice?

[awolfe63]

I recently had a drive do this on several machines including the T42. It seemed to be drive or cable related - not T42 related.

[Marc_G]

There have been some documented cases of motherboard failure resulting in an inability to recognize some or all devices at the proper USB 2 speed.

I would try removing the hub from the path and plug the device directly into your USB port. See if it is detected as USB2. If not, try another known USB2 device. If it too is not properly detected as USB2, then you've got either a software or hardware problem with the laptop itself.

If the software patches/updates don't fix it, it may be time for a repair. By any chance do you have the ability to revert back to the factory preload? I kep an old HD around with a copy of the preload so that if I need to diagnose something like this, I can quickly rule out that it is software that I have added to the computer that is responsible.

Marc

[JHEM]

It's a known problem with XP, not the Thinkpad.

Uninstall and reinstall the USB ports will sometimes correct the problem. But there are hundreds of reports of the problem in the MSDN XP forums on every type of platform, not just laptops. I've seen the same thing on my desktop on several occasions.

Regards,

James

[primedude]

Uninstalling and reinstalling the USB ports didn't help. I'm considering doing a system reinstallation and seeing if that fixes it. I'd been meaning to do one for a while, and had hesitated because I don't have some of my softwear with me right now, but I'm going to have access to it in a couple weeks, and I can definitely wait that long.

[JHEM]

Primedude,

Another thing you might want to check is the connecting cable that you're using, if any.

If it doesn't say "Hi-Speed Certified" or "USB2.0 Certified" on it, replace it with one that does.

I had this recently happen with the cable that came with a new scanner and it drove me nuts. For whatever reason I tried swapping the cable for one of the "Certified" ones and it's been working great ever since.

Regards,

James

[primedude]

James, that will almost certainly be my next step, even though this is the cable that shipped with the drive. I just finished with the system restore, and the problem persists. I'm starting to wonder if this drive ever worked correctly with my computer.

I'm 98% certain this drive has worked at high-speed with another computer. I'll try to verify that in the next few days, and buy a new cable if the drive doesn't work with another computer. This is getting to be very frustrating.

[behdadb]

Sorry to tell you that but it's an hardware problem.

My t40p had the same issue , I send it to ibm who change the motherboard.It's a well known problem .

[awolfe63]

BTW - I got mine to work with another computer - same cable. It happened on some machines - not others - almost at random.

[thinkker]

you must replace you mainboard,or replace the 82801DBM chip on the m/b, it's just a hardware problem.

[DaniWurf]

I talked to IBM support about this issue today. I have the same problem. They confirmed that this is a known hardware fault. I will have to send the machine to them for a motherboard exchange. The repair is supposed to take about 5 days....

[ctay]

You have got to be kidding me?

I just received a T42, 2373-8ZU and it refuses to work in USB 2 mode with my external HDs. I've got both Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image and was trying to create images of the factory drive before using and/or wiping for my own build. I have two different external HDs that operate just fine everywhere else in USB 2 mode, but they are obviously in USB 1.1 mode with the T42. That just sucks.

I'm hoping this is only a non-Windows issue being that I'm booting off the backup utilities' CD and it may not support the T42's USB chipset. Hopefully WinXP will.

Perhaps a minor annoyance in this particular case. Otherwise, the T42 is looking very nice. I'm anxious to begin using it, but having to wait several hours to backup the factory load first. Oh well ...