I have a WD MY Passport ultra 4TB usb 3.0 external hard drive.
It does not function when I connect it to an usb 3.0 port, only usb 2.0 recognises the device.
How do I resolve this issue?
USB 3.0 hard drive in usb 3 port only recognized as usb 2 and detected only when connected to usb2
external hard drivehard driveusb-2usb-3windows 8
Related Solutions
Check the device manager to see if any unrecognized devices are attached to the computer through USB or if there are any devices that are listed as having issues. This would indicate a problem with the SATA to USB bridge.
The next thing I would try would be using a USB 2.0 cable to connect to the HDD to the USB 3.0 port. This should force it to communicate over the USB 2.0 standard. I also recommend running Seagate SeaTools to check the health of the drive. The majority of its power should be pulled through the power supply of the drive and not through the USB as it is a 3.5” external hard drive.
It does not sound like a power problem, likely an issue with the cable being broken and not allowing communication at USB 3.0 speeds, or the chip in the external HDD enclosure.
This is typically due to a power configuration option. Go into device manager and don't allow the computer to put the device to sleep!
If this doesn't work, try playing with the power options in Control Panel
Best Answer
Check if other devices are working on this port. If not you may need to install drivers for USB3.0.
If yes then check the drive on all other 3.0 ports. The ports sometimes develop mechanical fault and do not provide sufficient power for the drive to work, but will not have problem with powering a mouse, for example, or work with a printer.