Plugable usb 3 docking station problem

I just purchased a plugable usb 3 sata docking station. I connected it to my pc’s usb 3 port with the blue connector cable, plugged in the drive and turned on the docking station. Windows gave me a message saying that I needed to format the drive before I could use it. The drive I plugged in has data on it that I want to copy to my new pc. It also gave me a message something to the effect that the usb 3 cable was not plugged in. Does the drive have to be formatted in the dock or can you plug in an already formatted drive and access the files? I am running Windows 7 home premium 64 bit.

Hi Gary,

Thanks for posting! You don’t need to (and shouldn’t) format the drive when you already have data on it. That’s only needed for drives that have never been formatted before.

First, something quick to try to isolate if this might be a USB 3.0 specific issue: does the dock and drive work as expected when you switch over to using the USB 2.0 cable between the dock and PC?

Thanks - we’ll get the problem figured out!
Bernie

Yes it seems to work fine with usb 2.

When I reconnected it to the usb 3 port, the drive first showed up fine, then it diconnected, showed backup up, displayed the message about needing to format the drive and then repeats this sequence over and over.

Hi Gary,

It sounds like there are some USB 3.0 transmit errors (which is not uncommon with USB 3.0 cables and controllers today). We have a firmware update (from LucidPort, the chipset maker in this dock), which resolves these problems in most cases.

Just reconnect via USB 2.0 and run this firmware update:

http://plugable.com/2011/02/08/firmwa…

After rebooting the dock and connecting USB 3.0, let us know here if all’s well then with the USB 3.0 connection.

Thanks for your patience!
Bernie

Ok installed the firmware update. So far so good. The device shows up and I can access the files. Not getting the format message and drive not disconnecting. Thanks for your help.

Great, glad to have you up and running!

I have the same problem where is the update on your website