[Katheryan]

Hi All,

Okay, So I own a Western Digital 120 GB External Hard Drive. This hard drive has always worked fine for me until I plugged it into my computer and a message popped up that said "Power Surge on Hub Port" I clicked the little box for details, and it came up as.

USB Root Hub (6 ports)

Unknown USB Device
Unknown USB Device
Unknown USB Device
Unknown USB Device
Unused Port
Unused Port

Also, I have plugged in an Ipod and a printer, and they both worked. So if possible please help.

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Well a power surge is when you get a big jolt of power from somewhere, such as a thunderstorm. The standard voltage in a typical house is around 120 volts. So from that, if a thunderstorm or something pushes it above that you get a power surge and it basically fries the wiring inside something, causing it to mess up or wear down over time.

I'm not SURE if this is your problem but since it's saying 'Power surge on Hub Port' it's pretty straightforward. That's the only reason something may not work properly, since everything else seems to be fine. Also, your iPod and printer works with the USB so it's obviously something wrong with just your USB hub.

[Joeturf]

Well a power surge is when you get a big jolt of power from somewhere, such as a thunderstorm. The standard voltage in a typical house is around 120 volts. So from that, if a thunderstorm or something pushes it above that you get a power surge and it basically fries the wiring inside something, causing it to mess up or wear down over time.

I'm not SURE if this is your problem but since it's saying 'Power surge on Hub Port' it's pretty straightforward. That's the only reason something may not work properly, since everything else seems to be fine. Also, your iPod and printer works with the USB so it's obviously something wrong with just your USB hub.

[Katheryan]

intresting... all i know is, it worked, I unplugged it, and the next day when I plugged it in again it did not work. And there hasn't been thunderstorms in months... I'll ponder.... Thanks!

[Joeturf]

Okay, read these (edited) articles it might fix your problem.

Work-Around for Your Problem

Work-Around for Your Problem #2

Edited by Joeturf, 15 January 2006 - 04:29 PM.

[Katheryan]

Yes, I get that but it still does not run my external drive.

[Joeturf]

Well from reading those two articles it sounds like you're harddrive isn't getting enough power to run correctly I don't have much knowledge to shed light on this area as I am just giving suggestions. Is there anywhere on your external drive where you can plug in an AC Adapter somewhere? If you are wondering what that is it is this :

AC Adapter

The skinny end would connect to your hard drive and the big end into a nearby outlet, it would help to get more power. If you don't have anywhere you think that would connect to your hard drive, you should wait for a staff member then.

Good luck!

[Katheryan]

Yes, I have that plugged in, but it's always required to be plugged in. Could it be because it is plugged into the surge protector.

[Joeturf]

It shouldn't be, the surge protector serves to protect against power surges. So it can't be that you got a power surge. In summary, your problem is that your hard drive is taking too much power off your USB than your USB can supply. I'll try to find some more things to help.

Edited by Joeturf, 15 January 2006 - 04:57 PM.

[Katheryan]

I read somewhere that I could get a cored that splits into 2 USBs so it would plug into two different ports, would that work?

Edited by Katheryan, 15 January 2006 - 05:13 PM.

[Joeturf]

Before you try anything else, you should try this.

1. Click on Start

2. Right-Click on My Computer

3. Click on Properties

4. Click on the Hardware Tab

5. Click on Device Manager

6. Expand Universal Serial Bus

7. Right-Click on Intel® Universal Host Controller and view Properties

8. Click on the Advanced Tab

9. Click on the Don't Tell Me About USB Errors box

10. Reboot!

Then see if it works then.

Edited by Joeturf, 15 January 2006 - 05:14 PM.

[Katheryan]

I tired that, but it still didn't find my hard drive.

[Joeturf]

Is your error message gone though? Since this hard drive has worked before, I suspected it would just be a problem with the bubble message that's showing up. It's a little confusing how it would work before and suddenly have problems with it :/

Have you always used the hard drive on that same computer or did you just plug it into a new desktop/labtop ?

Edited by Joeturf, 15 January 2006 - 05:35 PM.

[Katheryan]

The message is gone... still nothing, and I've always used it on this computer

[Joeturf]

Okay I think we've found the solution.

You said earlier about a wire that splits into two USB ports. According to this article you need to get that, and apparently it will 'work like a loco.' So try that, this is the only way I can think of. Good luck on that!

Edited by Joeturf, 15 January 2006 - 05:56 PM.

[Katheryan]

Awesome, do you know where I could get one of those?