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Problem with USB hard drive after recovery

Wolsink
Level 2

situation:

 

SBS 2003 sp1

hp ML110 G4

when I connect a USB external hard disk drive (WD my book 320) the external disk drive is visible as a disk 1 but does not show volumes in the logical disk management. It shows the correct size but it does not get a drive letter. when u try to get the properties of the volume it gives a error: "The operation was canceled due to an internal error". If u try to change the drive letter it gives the following message. "the operation did not complete. Check the event log for more information on the error. close the disk management console, then restart disk management before retrying the operation." and u will get this error every time u try this. when u try to delete the partition after a long time it will give a timeout.

In the device manager all devices are installed ok. no errors in the logbooks.

 

Things I tried:

when the disk is connected to a other computer it works right away and the partition is visible.

updating and downgrading drivers from usb and disk. the tape drive is connected to the same usb hub and is working properly. also tried other usb ports.

when I connect any memory stick on the same usb port it works.

when I connect a MY BOOK 500GB it gives the same error. (also a WD HDD)

when I connect a "120 gig WD HDD IDE" through a ide to usb converter it gives the same error.

deleted all traces of de western digital disk in from the memory.

 

how did I manage to get this strange problem.

we restored the old server (HP ML110 G3) to the new server (HP ML110 G4) with Symantec system recovery 7.

while restoring I used the option restore anyware to ensure maximal compatibility with the new server. (tried without restore anyware option but it gave some problems)

all works well. all the hardware is functionally good. also the databases, exchange server, backups all working without any problems. it’s just that this external backup disk used for backup to disk is not recognized. which is strange because i restored the server from the same USB hard drive.

 

I hope someone has any ideas or has had the same problem? because I got stuck with no more good options left.

1 REPLY 1

David_F
Level 6
Employee Accredited
I suspect that during the Windows plug-n-play (PnP) detection - that occurs upon initial boot-up after the restore to the ML 110G4 system - that a device driver or system environment changed preventing the WD drives from working properly on the ML110 G4.
Since the drives work properly on other systems, that the specific drive in question worked as the storage media for the recovery point image, that the drive would likely still work on the previous ML 110 G3 system as well as this G4 system in the recovery environment again, the driver/change would had to be introduced to this new system after the reboot (e.g. since during the retargeting phase BESR focuses only on the HAL, Network, and mass-storage drivers needed to get the system to properly reboot) during PnP phase.
Have you tried:
- Removing the software for WD carried over from the previous machine and see w/ or w/o it can you see the drive properly?
- During this new system’s maintenance window use the MSCONFIG utility to selectively startup non-essential services and startup items to rule out possible changes to 3rd party applications.
- Have you, during this new system’s maintenance window, removed any security software that may detect, due to a change in it exception list, the WD software typically on the drive as a threat.
- Restored the recovery point image to an off-line different model system to see if you have similar symptoms; if you do not you may need to obtain the chipset and other essential drivers packaged for the ML110G4 specifically from HP to see if it corrects what would then seem to be a hardware induced issue.
- Running the Partinfo utility which typically located in the \Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec System Recovery\Utility sub-folder. Does the partinfo.txt file that gets generated report any errors for any other drive on this system?