code 10 ?? external usb maxtor 120 gig hard drive won't work.

[zb1979]

I have a maxtor personal storage 3000LE 120GB external usb hard drive that in device manager, under usb controllers, it says "device cannot start (code 10)".

Does anyone know what this means?

I have deleted the driver and xp automaticly installs, all good, but then go to see it in my computer and it's not there. Go back to device manager and it's the same as before.

Got me confused.

[UtwigMU]

There are 4 possible points of failure:
- drive
- enclosure
- connection
- drivers

Key is to check things one by one. First check drive directly connected to computer, if it works, then drive is OK.

Then check enclosure with known working drive, to make sure enclosure is OK.

Finally check enclosure with existing drive and also check enclosure on another system.


First remove drive from the enclosure and connect it directly to IDE cable on the motherboard.

Here are some tips:
- shut down system, unplug power chord, ground yourself to discharge any static electricity
- handle drive carefully at all times
- if your motherboard has a spare IDE channel, connect it as master, if not, connect it on some existing IDE cable next to your optical or hard drive
- make sure drive is jumpered correctly as master or slave (usually there's a chart on drive)
- make sure other drive on the cable (if you connect it so) is jumpered correctly. For instance WD drives have single drive mode, while Maxtors, Seagates, Hitachis and Samsungs have only master and slave
- make sure cable is properly oriented, today cables and sockets are notched. Generally the cable needs to be turned so, that pin1 on drive (the one near Molex power connector) is connected to pin1 on motherboard, hence IDE cables have red stripe along border
- make sure you use ATA66/100/133 80-conductor cable. Today generally all cables are such, although some cheapskate builders plug CD-ROMs on ATA33 cables. The 80-conductor cable has much thinner wires than 40-conductor cable
- connect power connector from PSU
- plug power chord and power on system, enter BIOS (main, basic, general section usually) and set it to detect hard drive

If the BIOS can see/detect hard drive, it's OK, make sure, existing drive is set as boot drive.

If not, the drive might be deffective. Check also if you hear it spin up and do anything on powerup.

Proceed into Windows and right click on my computer on desktop or in start menu (Windows XP), choose manage.

Go to disk management and create partition, assign drive letter and format the drive. Don't do quick format as you want OS to check entire drive.

If format completes and no bad sectors are reported, drive is OK. You can also download tools from Maxtor site to analyze drive.

If drive is OK, enclosure, cable or drivers are the culprit.

If not, go to Maxtor site and check for warranty, if the drive is still under warranty, RMA it, if not, then you'll need to buy a new drive.

To test enclosure, find a known working drive (not your system drive as you want your OS to boot), format it and insert it in enclosure. Make sure it's jumpered as enclosure requires. Otherwise, just jumper it to cable select.

Connect enclosure to PC and make sure it's powered.

If it works, it's OK, if not, it's either faulty or you have some other problem.

Another problem could be power: Is enclosure powered of USB connection or does it come with power brick? Some enclosures powered drives from USB or Firewire, however this was bordering on bus capabilities. One drive working and other not, could also point to this.

The last thing to try is to try enclosure with drive on friend's system.

[zb1979]

i just opened it up and the plate that it is screwed to has a burn mark on it. the chip above that also has a burn mark on it. i think the drive might be broken. can you buy the chips? i can solder without a problem.

[Tjalfe]

I would suggest returning it under warrenty, if possible.. soldering surfacemount chips is tricky enough, but desoldering the old parts, without damaging the board is the hard part.

[UtwigMU]

Yeah, you can solder capacitors (I did this), but for soldering chips you need some high end gear.

Like tjalfe said, you should return it.

If the drive was bought separately, check warranty here:

https://www4.maxtor.com/en/support/service/rma/create/

Here if the drive was bought within Maxtor enclosure

https://www4.maxtor.com/en/support/service/rma/create/index.cfm?dt=ext

Also, be careful, since you don't know what fried the drive.

I'd buy inexpensive 2nd hand 5-10GB drive to test enclosure, before installing replacement or new drive.



If it's out of warranty, just purchase a Seagate drive (they have 5-year warranty now). Just make sure, you buy it from Seagate channel (ask about warranty before buying).