Drives not recognized, re-format drive message!

1

Hi!

I have a 10-port Plugable hub, and I have had problems with it for awhile. It worked okay at first, though it seems slow. I am running Windows 7 and have three hard drives and a few other devices like a webcam and mp3 player sync cable connected to it. the problem is that a drive will randomly disappear and I find out about this when get a message prompting me to re-format the drive. I find this very alarming, to say the least!

I have looked in Device Manager, and the hub is seen, but as an unknown device. Right now I have only one hard drive connected to it, and it is not recognized at all. I unplugged the drive’s power source and plugged it back in and it was recognized for a moment, then disappeared and I got the re-format message again.

Thanks in advance,
~Nemea

2

Hi Nemea,

Thanks for all the great information about your drives not recognized problem, I can imagine that reformat message is alarming. We’ll be able to help! Let’s start with a few troubleshooting steps to verify the hub and narrow down the possibilities. Also, just to be sure I’m clear on what’s happening, are all of the drives having this issue, or just one?

First, with nothing except the external power connected to the hub, does the light stay lit when you unplug the USB cable? This will indicate that if the external power is working.
Next, can you plug the drive that’s having the issue directly in to the computer, does it stay stable that way?
If you reboot the machine without the hub connected, and then connect it while having only the power supply plugged in to the hub, does Windows recognize it?

Thanks for taking these steps to help me understand the situation better, your answers will determine next steps.

We’re here to help!
Jerome.

3

Thanks so much, Jerome.

It has happened with all of the drives at various times.

The light stays lit under those conditions.

The drives all work fine when plugged in directly to the computer.

I am trying the re-boot now!

~N

4

I unplugged everything from the hub except the power cable, unplugged the hub from the computer, re-booted, then when the OS was fully reloaded I plugged the hub into the computer. The device manager still has it down as “USB Input Device”, with no identifying markers.

Before I did this I had all three drives recognized, then one of them gave me the “format drive” message again.

~N

5

Hi Nemea,

It’s a little confusing that the hub would be listed as an Input Device. I’d like to verify that the device manager listing for the “USB Input Device” is the 10 port hub. It should come up as a “generic USB hub”. If you unplug the hub while looking at Device Manager is the USB Input Device still there? If you expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section, are there generic USB hubs listed there? And do any of them disappear when the hub is disconnected.
Again, I just want to verify this as a sanity check so we can get you up and running as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience,
We’re here to help!
Jerome.

6

I’m having this same problem with the 7 Port USB 3 Hub. A drive that works fine plugged directly into the computer displayed as needing to be formatted