I use a GoFlex Pro (USB 3.0, 750GB, 02.1.0 firmware, 0.1 Family) on a USB 2.0 laptop through a Seagate ExpressCard (FreeAgent® GoFlex™ Upgrade Cable Kit — USB 3.0 STAE101). I never had any trouble until today, but all the hours of troubleshooting I did cannot resolve this problem.
Simply, the drive is not detected when connected through the Seagate USB 3.0 PC Card. Steps to reproduce the problem are as follows:
1- Insert the ExpressCard
2- See the hub's red light turn on
3- Connect the hub's power USB
4- See the red light turn green, and Windows successfully detect the root hub.
5- Connect the Seagate drive to the hub
6- See the HDD light come on, and hear the drive spin up
7- The drive does not appear anywhere in Windows (Computer, Device Manager under HDD or USB, Disk Manager, etc) or Seagate applications (SeaTools, Dashboard, Drive Settings).
For troubleshooting, I :
1- Uninstalled/reinstalled all the related drivers and software, and rebooted several times.
2- Ran all the basic HDD diagnostics bundled in Windows and Seagate products, which returned no errors.
3- Connected several other hardware to the PC card (flash disk, iPhone 4, Logitech G700gaming mouse), all of which functioned completely, including detection, read/write, recharge.
4- Went ahead and upgraded the NEC Electronics drivers to the latest Renesas Electronics v2.1.28.0 (same chip, new name after merger) from Intel's official support site.
5- Updated the NEC/Renesans USB 3.0 chip inside the Seagate PC Card to v3028 (I was most hesitant, but the upgrade was supposed to be foolproof in that it simply wouldn't install to an incompatible chip, and bricking was impossible). It turned out alright for all other devices, but no change in GoFlex.
6- Turned on/off power settings for USB through Device Manager, Power Options, and the new 3.0 driver function.
After all the troubles and unofficial updates, everything still works flawlessly on the PC card, except the Seagate drive, which is not even detected. What's wrong?
