Alienware M17x R4 usb 3.0 problem

Hi!

I have problem with WD 3.0 external drive...

drive constantly eject and mount itself.....

does somebody have similar problem ??

 

There are several threads about this. None of my external WD or Toshiba USB 3.0 drives will stay mounted on any of the 3.0 ports. Only my externals that are other manufacturer products will stay mounted.

 

stupid stuff......

really stupid.......

is it laptop or drivers......

I have just downloaded new drivers .... and only is changed that it don't occurred so often , but still mount and dismount it self.....

maybe bios issue

 

Yep happens occasionally on my WD 3.0 drive. Transfers usually go through fine, it's just while the drive is idling that it tends to eject/mount. Kind of a pain when I'm trying to delete a file and I get an invalid file error because the drive ninja ejected on me.

My 2.0 usb flash drive never has a problem, along with my wireless mouse, external fans, and 360 wireless adapter.

 

One way or another


that is harassment .... just from who.... chipset manufacturer... dell, or Intel driver

 

It was actually a driver issue, this should do the trick

USB 3.0 External Hard Drives not being detected on Alienware Systems

 

Thanks Luis. I'm trying out the driver right now and it's holding steady.

 

This addresses failure to detect, but not the intermittent connection some of us are experiencing. I have several self-powered drives from WD and Hitachi that will not stay connected under USB 3.0, but will if I connect on the USB 2.0 /eSata port. They connect just fine under 3.0 on a Lenovo W520.

 

I downloaded and it did not help

 

I tried this awhile back and saw no improvement in my ability to connect my drive. When I can connect it usually works great until I unplug it or restart at which point it may not show up again but it does so at USB 2.0 speeds.

 

I also upgraded drives firmware... now works a little bit better.... but nothing special.....

 

What's the model of your external drive, I'll have a closer look into that

 

Hi,

I'm having the same problem. When I plug-in my WD passport essential in a USB 2.0 port, the drive works fine. But when I plug the drive on my Alienware M17x R4 USB 3.0 port, the drive is being unmounted and mounted back automatically. It is happening quite frequently, idle or while transferring files.

I thought it's a drive problem as it is generating 2 drive errors (paging and controller errors in event logs) so I logged a case in WD. I did an extensive drive check and found nothing.

I'm using 1TB WD passport essentials with P/N: WDBACX0010BBK. Any help will be appreciated.

Regards,

 

So to follow up on my last post, the driver helped but definitely didn't fix the issue. The drive will sometimes maintain a consistent connection but frequently breaks connection in random intervals once accessed, both in and out of file transfers. After it sits idle the connection seems to stabilize. So as long as I don't use it, it stays connected.

Model: WD My Passport Essential SE 1TB (WDBACX0010BSL-NESN)
P/N: WDBACX0010BSL-01
Cable P/N: 4064-705084-016
Cable Lot: JEMSHE228111Cl

 

I have three of the 1TB WD passport essentials with P/N: WDBACX0010BBK also and they show the same inability to stay connected. I have 3 of the 500 mb version of the same series and they will not stay connected to any 3.0 port, either.

 

Hi!

Model is My Passport Essentials 750Gb

my serial number is WXN1A61E2381

 

anyone with the Seagate GoFlex external USB 2/3 drives have problem with M17X R4?

 

Thanks for the info, I'll have this escalated and keep you guys in the loop

 

Just out of curiosity, have any of you tried to plug your drive into a USB 2.0 hub, then that hub into one of the USB 3.0 ports? Might be a temporary solution for someone, if it works!

 

Hi!

I did not, I have SATA that works like usb 2.0... So I did not see any reason for that ....

 

Yes, I have one. Purchased 12/11 with an October manufacturing date on it, 500 gb capacity. It disconnects less often than the WDs, but it does not allow a multiple file copy or a backup to be done... ever.

 

So is there no any new updates regarding irritated issue.....

 

I was having the same problem even with sata. I wiped the system and put the HDD in Raid instead of ACHI and I don't see the problem anymore, it will hang on transferring for a couple of seconds then it will resume again. But I don't receive the reconnect issue.

 

Maybe new bios will fix problem

 

Any progress on this issue? Will this thread be enough for Dell to look at the problem? Hope something is being worked out for this...

 

Still waiting for feedback from engineering.

By the way, I've read on WD forums about this being fixed by flashing the drive's firmware. Have you tried that?

WD support

 

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...el®+USB+3.0+eXtensible+Host+Controller+Driver

Are you guys running the latest Intel USB 3.0 driver 1.0.5.235?

 

Yes, I have downloaded the latest driver, and its just not the WD HD, I have 2 Seagates that are doing it. Well one now that the PCB burned out.

 

We already talked about that, I did..... and nothing changed....

only I need to check maybe they have new firmware.....

 

Thanks for the update. I did flash the firmware before logging the case to WD but didn't help. Let us know...

 

Try downloading the latest driver for the intel USB 3.0 frm Intel. I received my R4 in June. The driver is from Jan/Feb. The new one has some bug fix.

 

I try


http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...ldID=21129&lang=eng&OSVersion= &DownloadType=

and problem is still here......

 

Send me a PM with your service tag and your external drives that don't work. I'm requesting an update but I need specific cases to get an answer sooner.

Also, if you have replaced any internal components be sure to mention them

Thanks

 

Try installing a fresh copy of windows on a raid partition. Once I did that, I haven't had any issues.

 

PM sent! Hoping this is my issue! A tech is coming out Fri. to replace my mobo on my 2hr old laptop otherwise. lol Not wanting to return this new baby!

 

Raid partition??

I cant mess here (APO) with new installations.....

I have to wait until end of September for that (HOME)

then I will try to do something .... and I believe that technicians from Alienware will then already solve problem...

because by.... many other www, that is general problem.....

 

My M17x-R4 came with a RAID partition and not an AHCI one. Any and all WD 3.0 drives, including 500gb and 1tb My Passport series as well as 3.0 bare drives (Caviar Black) in 500 gb capacities in a USB powered "base" will not maintain connection with the laptop during any file operation. They even drop when reading a larger directory listing.

Fujitsus, Toshibas and Seagates all work. I have no Samsungs, so that is one that I can not speak for.

 

My external hard drives are powered down not disconnected

 

Im looking at buying an Alienware m17x r4 and will this hard drive here Seagate Expansion Portable 1TB USB 3.0 Drive [STAX1000302] - $125.00 : PC Case Gear work with the Alienware without any issues/problems?

Also i forgot is this issue only occuring in the US or is this a worldwide issue?

 

I have the same issue here with my WD essiential sexternal hard drive. It will mount and unmount several times and errors out on file transferres. Very frustrating

Im in the UK btw

 

Does the Alienware m18x r2 have the same issue?

 

good question ....????

by chipset it should.....

 

Damn, I'm not even excited to get my new computer this week anymore. I'm more anxious to see if everything I paid for will even work the way it's supposed to lol. So is this a driver issue or a hardware issue?

 

My new M17x R4 (<1 month old) has the same symptoms as mentioned above. I also have 2x WD 3.0 external drives (7200rpm), including 500GB Scorpio and 2TB Caviar Black. It seems as if both drives power down or enter a state of endless sleep during the transfer of large files (VMware images file sizes range from 500KB to 2GB). Once the drives enter this state of "sleep" the only way to revive them is to power them down or restart my Alienware laptop. Strangely the same VMware images are easily transfered to and from these same WD drives using my old Alienware M17x R2 with USB 2.0 ports (slower, but working). This is extremely frustrating as I'm soldout on my Alienware laptop systems and desperately need to test the running of the VMware images from the laptop's internal drive compared to running them from the external drives via USB 3.0

 

I have been talking to Dell Australia Tech support about this and they are waiting for Intel and Dell's engineering team to come up with a solution. Moreover according to there records no Alienware m14x R2 has the problem and the m18x r2 has a different chipset than the m17x R4.

 

At lease something is in motion.....

 

Here's another thing there even checking to see if its a really widespread problem. This could turn into the recall of all Alienware m17x R4's coz this isn't the first time Dell/Alienware did a recall either.

 

problem.... to many problem.....

I hope that won't happen like that.....

 

So far I see people complaining around the same issue..but no one is listing exactly what....Some say random disconnect and connect...some say endless sleep ( what the heck does that mean? )...Lets for starters list down exactly the symptoms.

I have two 1 Terabyte 2" External hard drives using usb 2.0 casing. and one 500 GB Seagate Portable Extension drive also Usb 2.0

Do they disconnect at any time randomly? No they never do get disconnected.

I was once synchronizing files to the External Drive, and when I woke up they system had gone to sleep interrupting the file transfer process. Reason for sleep was because of idling. This was strange as file transfer was not detected as an activity. However I am told this is a quirk in Windows OS. So I have set the comp to never sleep when connected to mains. I dont have similar issues now.

But I dont have specific external hard drive issues. If this is a hardware issue namely chipset, shouldnt each and every one of our system have this problem? Or am I missing something?

 

This is how i'm starting to feel after reading some of the stories i've read on this forum but hopefully it will come like it's suppose to.