Do I have a dud Surface? External USB drives keep disconnecting & reconnecting

[hazymat]

What??! What do you mean you do not have a flash drive around to test??!! I can't understand how one can NOT have at least one USB flash drive hanging around somewhere.
...
How new is your machine/what's the warranty status? Hopefully it is still under warranty because the next thing I'd try if I were you is to exchange it.

Hah! I deal with large drives that can store over 1TB, I'm a professional photographer and sometimes shoot a GB per day! These 32GB things are of no use to me

The machine is a Surface Pro 2, so it's only a couple of months old. Given I'm suffering right now with the fact I can only use the Surface when it's plugged in, I almost took it back for a refund and went on the market for a Mac Air. (Actually I'd prefer a Dell tablet as I'm addicted to Win 8...)

UPDATE: I'm running a large file copy to my USB HDD dock and after 20 minutes it hasn't yet cut out. This is a record. This would be the first device I've used with a USB A to B connector (full size) as opposed to mini or micro. Not sure if that makes any difference.

 

[Nuspieds]

Hah! I deal with large drives that can store over 1TB, I'm a professional photographer and sometimes shoot a GB per day! These 32GB things are of no use to me

Too funny! :LOL:

Well, if the dock works and the HDD works via the doc, then there's definitely something quirky about an HDD directly connected via the USB 3 port.

In my case, I use a USB hub 99.999% of the time and the problem I've had is with devices on the hub randomly disconnecting and that has led me to change the brand of my hub three times. Even though my use case calls for a hub, I still have and would like the ability to use my SP's USB 3 port. As such, if you are able to exchange your SP then you should make the effort, because even if your HDDs work via the hub, it is not acceptable that they do not work when directly connected to your SP.

 

[hazymat]

Well, if the dock works and the HDD works via the doc, then there's definitely something quirky about an HDD directly connected via the USB 3 port.

So, my USB 2.0 Icy Dock with internal drive inserted doesn't exhibit this problem.

Out of interest, I noticed that despite setting the power options "Turn off hard disk" to never, I can hear the drive spinning-down and switching off after a period of inactivity.

Should that happen? Do you think it's a function of the drive controller in the dock that the HDD spins down?

 

[Nuspieds]

So, my USB 2.0 Icy Dock with internal drive inserted doesn't exhibit this problem.

Out of interest, I noticed that despite setting the power options "Turn off hard disk" to never, I can hear the drive spinning-down and switching off after a period of inactivity.

Should that happen? Do you think it's a function of the drive controller in the dock that the HDD spins down?

First, that begs the question, "When you are having that disconnect problem, is it with a USB 2.0 or 3.0 drive?"

Regarding the "Turn off hard disk" option in the Power Options, my understanding is that it is for the PC's built-in HDD and not externally-connected HDDs. I could be wrong, but that's my understanding. Anyway, when I put my ear next to my USB HDDs after they have been idle, they are completely quiet, implying that they have spun down. That's been my experience and there have been no issues.

 

[schluff]

Unfortunately I can't give you the hardware IDs. When I go into device manager and look at hardware IDs for the disk in question, there are no PIDs or VIDs listed.

You have to make the pid & vid entries in the registry. Otherwise this fix will not work.

Find the pid & vid of the usb mass storage device: In the device manager mark your harddisk and switch the view to "devices by connection". There you will find the dependent usb mass storage device. Get the hardware ids of this device and add it to the registry.

 

[schluff]

New windows update from today that seems to address the bug:

USB storage device does not work correctly in Windows 8.1 and in Windows Server 2012 R2

"Symptoms
•The USB storage device periodically disconnects and might reconnect.
•If you try to access the files on the device, Windows Explorer becomes unresponsive for one to two minutes."


Update: No, it does not fix it for my Kingston USB flash drive. At the moment the only fix is the vid/pid registry hack.

 

[JeffB_SD]

So I am not sure if this could potentially be your problem, but with my SP3, the USB port is unusually loose and allows the contacts to come loose simply by raising the screen. if I have my phone charging from the USB port and I so much as change the angle of the screen tilt, the phone connection will reset and it will ask me if I trust the computer again.

I am actually looking to see if this is systemic or if I have a one-off problem, but thought it might explain some of your symptoms.

Good luck