Samsung External Drives

[AJFish]

I bought this disk for a NAS box backup disk but after a couple of months it failed and had to be replaced. Since then the NAS has gone and I am using this disk for a Server backup disk on a Windows 2008 server machine.

This is fine, the disk is recognised and performs well. However, if I shut the server down and then restart it leaving the Story Station disk attached (with its power knob left turned on) then when the server is booted the disk is not seen. Turning the Story Station off and back on does not solve the problem. What I have to do is unplug the usb cable, plug it back in and then the disk is detected.

So, I know what you are thinking, it's some setting on the server, maybe I have got boot from USB set etc. etc. Well I moved the disk to a Windows XP PRo machine and it does the same thing on that. Attach the Story disk to a Windows XP machine, turn it on and it's detected fine. Shutdown the Windows XP box, restart without touching the Story disk and it doesn't start up. No white light , no disk spining. As soon as you unplug the the USB cable and plug it back in, then the disk starts up, white power light is seen and the disk is seen in explorer.

All other USB disks get recognised on server / machine power up, even those with a separate power supply.

The Samsung Story disk is no use to me if it behaves like this. I cannot trust unattended backups to it if the server, at anytime needs a remote restart and the Story Station doesn't wake up.

Please can you tell me if this really is designed to behave like this or that there is a fault with the Story Station controller.

I have tried a shorter USB cable.

Please don't send me a list of things to try in order for the disk to be seen by Windows. The disk works as soon as the USB cable is plugged in. It's not a problem with the OS unless of course you suggest there is an issue with 2TB drives over 1TB drives. I have an existing Seagate 1TB drive which works fine on restart.

Please advise.

Andrew

[AskTheLeaf]

Is the drive seen in Disk Management? If so, how is it listed? 

- Right-click MY COMPUTER > select MANAGE > open STORAGE > open DISK MANAGEMENT

Is the drive listed with NTFS or RAW, or is it not listed here at all?

Are you able to try connecting the drive to another NAS to see if it's accessible at that point?

[AskTheLeaf]

Here is additional information for you to try:

Temporarily move the data to another location, then reformat the drive. Make sure the drive is converted to a basic, not dynamic disk and see if it now works.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314343

[STX_Monk]

AJFish,

Check the post listed below as well. Updating the USB chipset drivers may resolve the issue by providing the proper initialization of the bus on system boot. The default drivers that ship with Windows may not be initializing the bus properly, thus the Story Station isn't providing it's identifier string to Windows at the right time.

Communication Issues

(http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Peripherals-Lounge/Communication-issues/m-p/113704)

[dippo1975]

I have the same issue as AJ Fish and found my drive to be basic and NTFS and unable to access the link mentioned in your post.  Fix would be greatly appreciated as very frustrating issue.

[Webdesign]

Wow!!! Thanks this was very useful to me.  I was facing the same problem. Now its perfectly fine.

[AJFish]

Ask TheLeaf,

The disk isn't seen in Disk Manager, that is the problem. It is only seen on a cold restart once the usb cable is unplugged and plugged back in again.

Also, I don't intend to format the disk as explained in the MS TechNote you gave a link to. This behaviour happens on both XP and Windows 2008. Why would I need to do that to get this to work. Presumably Seagate don't expect all XP users to reformat their disks on receipt just so that the disk is seen from a cold restart?

STX_Monk,

The link you have posted that seems to fix the problem, as other posters have mentioned, no longer seems to work. Can you give a link that works?

I got so frustrated with this issue that I have logged a trouble report with Seagate who have asked me send the drive back. It's due back this week. (9th Jan 2011). I will update you all with a status then.

This is the second time I have had to send this drive back (the first failed after 2 months). Not impressed so far!

AJ

[AJFish]

Right an update to this issue.

Yesterday I received a disk back from Seagate. It wasn't the Samsung Story Station I had sent, but a 2Tb FreeAgent GoFlex disk with the dock which comes with that. While I am okay with the outcome this leaves me with the feeling that there is an inherent problem with the Story Station not powering on from a cold boot. I have had to return the original Story Station twice to Samsung (Seagate) and as a result I am out of pocket to the tune of £12 for courier costs.

My advice to anyone who is experiencing this issue is to get the unit back to Seagate in the hope that they will send you the GoFlex equivalent. I already have one of these units which is performing well.

If I wanted to comment on Seagate's customer service it would be that it's not the fastest (about 2 weeks to get a disk back to me) and no explanation of what the original fault was.

AJ