USB Problem

[kbrown100]

Hello,

My new surface book keeps disconnecting my external hard drive every few minutes and telling me that the usb is not recognized by windows. It reconnects when I manually attach to it thru the library but since it keeps doing that when I use some programs it won't recognize the drive when it is doing that. It is fine at start up but starts happening about 3-5 minutes after turning on the computer and then it does it all day.

 

[hughlle]

Welcome kbrown.

I can't really offer a solution, but is it possible that the harddrive is drawing more power than the usb port can provide? Is this a new drive, or did it previously work and is now messing around? I've an sp4 and upon plugging my new samsung s7 into it, it works just like yours. Works fine for 3-5 minutes, and then rather than windows saying the device is not recogized, the phone cuts the connection and a popup appears saying it is an unstable connection. Unplugging it and plugging it back in and i'm good for another 3-5 minutes. I can only assume it is due to power requirements

 

[kbrown100]

Hello, according to everything I have read it's possible it's a power problem. Do I need to go buy a new hard drive that uses less power? Can I change the power requirements on the USB port? It's not a new drive, I used to use it with my HP split and never had this problem.

 

[hughlle]

I'd wait to hear from a more qualified individual before buying anything (although you can of course return if it doesn't work). But there have been many instances of the surface line not being able to power up certain USB devices. My partner was unable to use her old iPhone with her sp3 for this reason. When I mentioned new/old hard drive, I was really asking whether it ever worked with the surface, which it sounds like it hasn't.

As I say though, might be wise to see if anyone else chips in. I occasionally find that a USB stick or mouse plugged into one surface is absolutely fine, and yet plugging it into another and I get the malfunction message.

 

[kbrown100]

ok thanks maybe I'll try to plug it into the other usb port on the surface book.