Buffalo HD-CE500U2-EU Hibernation Issue

Although I appreciate the forum is US based I'm hoping someone can help with the following. I've had the above external USB drive for about 3 years now and until today it's been fine. I normally switch the drives power off when not in use and today when I switched it on I was puzzled as to why it wasn't showing in Windows Vista. Tried it on another machine with same result. I then noticed that when I switched to PSU on the drive led showed green but within about 10 seconds it switched off and when placing my hand on the case it was clear the drive wasn't rotating. I have done some searching on Google and it seems this is know as the drive going to sleep/hibernation. There is a firmware patch on the Buffalo Inc. USA web site that is supposed to cure this but it's dated 04-09-2008 so would have expected my drive firmware to be more current. Also as I can't keep the drive running I can't apply it anyway. There doesn't seem to be any UK support for Buffalo products. I can get a replacement compatible PSU for about £10 but no point in doing that if it's the drive itself. So my questions are: How can I test if its the PSU or drive that is faulty. If it's the drive I assume the date is probably still in tact so is there anyway I can get the drive looked at and hopefully repaired or at least get the data transferred to a replacement drive. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Hi OW, The actual hard drive in an external HD enclosure is just the same as any HD you might install directly into a computer. What makes the External HD different and "portable" is that the enclosure also contains a circuit board between the HD and the USB cable, which makes it possible to connect externally to your computer via USB (and in some cases via other connecting protocol) It is that circuit board that contains the firmware that may give the Buffalo any proprietary features. _____________________ What worries me, is that you mention routinely turning off the power to the external HD when not in use. USB Devices must be handled "carefully" and cannot be turned off and on or have their USB cable unplugged without using the Windows feature of "Safely Remove USB Device" which can be found in the notification area of your Desktop. Unplugging a USB Device without first allowing Windows to sort out and close the connection, is one of the quickest ways to corrupt a USB connection and the Device connected to it……… Including all of the Data that may have been saved to the HD. Turning off the power at the convenient power switch on the External HD has an effect similar to unplugging the device without using "Safely Remove USB Device". If the above applies in your case, you may have corrupted the External HD's ability to correctly connect via USB cable, and "may" have corrupted the data on the HD as well. Fortunately, the HD can be removed from the enclosure by a competent tech, and data recovery software may be capable of retrieving the valuable data on the HD. Sorry to hear of your troubles. I hope the above gives you some clues. And "off-topic" some of our best Techs live so close the the Meridian, that their GPS address is neither East nor West. We value our Members who reside in Great Britain, even if they don't speak "real" English the way we do.

Hi OW,
Can you borrow a good working power supply and try that? (make sure the output voltage is compatible)

Don't work on the 230v end and don't try and open the power supply (there are lethal voltages involved)

If its a "single" contact small plug on the output (non 230v end) then if you put a voltmeter Red +lead down the centre and the negative/return (Vne or Black) on the exterior of the plug you should get a reading of around 12v

If its a 6 pin plug…. then with the notch uppermost (at the 12 o'clock position) then the bottom 2 pins (left and right) are +12v
The 2 pins to the left are earth (ground)
The 2 pins to the right are +5v
NOTE If you are not used to handling a voltmeter or are not sure of the personal safety requirements needed… or have anything less than a perfectly steady hand…do not do this test….. as its possible to make a mistake and either do yourself harm or your equipment….

Substituting a known good working and compatible power supply is usually the better option.
Regards
paws

Hi, thanks for the replies. I am pleased to say that as a result of your comments and some Googling I have cured the problem. I have an old Tandy multi voltage adaptor and when I connected it to the drive the power led stayed on but the drive wasn't "seen" my Windows. Then did a bit more Googling and found several threads with exactly the same problem and in all cases the solution was to split the case open with a screwdriver, remove the drive and power pcb, then remove the power pcb and reinstall the drive in a drive caddy. I have a USB 2.0 SATA/IDE power adaptor that I have used over the years when messing about with tower PCs. Removed the drive and connected with the afore mentioned adaptor and bingo Windows recognised the drive and all files intact. It seems that the Buffalo power pcb is prone to failure and Buffalo don't sell it as a separate component, not even in the USA, so unless you can get it repaired that's it. Fortunately, I also had a 3.5" SATA drive caddy with an old drive that I don't use much so rather than buying another SATA caddy for the time being I swapped the drives over. I also have a Toshiba external drive which is 300GB (the Buffalo is 500GB) and I copy important files to both drives as a belt and braces exercise. Might have to consider getting another external drive as it's shown how things can fail. Thanks for all the help and glad to know that "proper English" is still understood across the pond!!!!!

Good work!, OW ! Glad you got it successfully sorted. And we very much appreciate that you posted the solution that worked for you. Others will likely benefit from your consideration. Doug