USB1 Drive Disappears

[Pahlmla]

   

Hi.  New guy here.  I have a LinkStation Model LS-WS500GL/R1 with Firmware rev 1.06.  This unit has worked well with my 3-PC home network for backing up each PC's files.  I normally use the Auto select function on the unit and it worked nicely for a while (e.g.. last PC shut down, unit turns itself off; first PC on, unit turns itself on).  My problem has been with my Seagate 1T external drive I have connected to the LinkStation USB port. 

 

When I setup my Seagate drive, I simply plugged its USB cable into the LS USB port.  I powered-up the Seagate unit and formatted it via the LS Advanced Settings using the default XFS file system .  The LinkStation then recognized it as a drive (USB1) and I could read/write files from any of my PCs thru my home network.  Unfortunately, this setup has not been stable.  Here are some of the problems I have encountered over the past 4 to 5 months:

 

1. Off/On/Auto in Auto: LinkStation and Seagate power-down when last PC is powered-down.  LinkStation and Seagate power-up when first PC is powered-on.  Everything is OK.
2. Off/On/Auto in Auto: LinkStation powers-down, but Seagate doesn't when last PC is powered down.  LinkStation powers-up when first PC is powered-on.  Seagate no longer is recognized on the network.  Powering Seagate off and on again solves the problem.
3. Off/On/Auto in Auto: Same as 2 above except powering Seagate on and off doesn't solve the problem.  Disconnect / Reconnect USB cable solves the problem.
4. Off/On/Auto in Auto: Same as 2 above except re-powering Seagate nor USB re-connecting do not solve the problem.  Forced to re-format. Seagate now recognized again, however, all files on Seagate were gone.
5. Off/On/Auto in On:  Power on LS and Seagate remain on when last PC is powered-down.  Seagate still recognized as network drive upon PC(s) power-up the next day.  However, on many occasions, when Seagate is first accessed, "No Files" are shown until a "re-fresh" is performed.

It might appear obvious to stop using the Auto function of the LS.  However, I just had the Seagate "disappear" again even when I used the On function on the LS (i.e.. I never powered-down either the LS nor the Seagate when I powered-down the last PC.  It seems that while I may have a better chance of my Seagate being recognized as a network drive if I avoid using the Auto function of the LS, even leaving the power on to both the LS and the Seagate is no guaranty that the USB1 connected Seagate drive won't disappear again and that a re-format will be required.

 

Any suggestions before I give up using the LinkStation's USB port?

 

Thanks,

Larry P. - Fayetteville, AR

[cessna1466u]

   

Larry I too have a Seagate but I have it attached to a linkstation Live, I had that disapearing act happen once and all I did was to restart the Linkstation. I know this doesnt solve your problem but the reason I am writing is because every time I try to write large amounts of info from my linkstation to my seagate I get 20-30 error messages saying that my Seagate is bad. I have reformatted and to no avail. I am wondering if maybe Seagates are not compatible with the Buffalos. I know its just a USB drive and once formatted its just a drive. One thing you might want to look at is that the Seagate came with a program that you set set it to shut down or (spin down) when not in use. I know you formatted your drive with the Buffalo but any chance this setting is still on in the USB drive?

[Pahlmla]

   

Thanks.  Since Seagate Manager doesn't recognize the Seagate drive when it's configured to the LinkStation's USB, I had to switch the Seagate drive over to a USB port on my PC.  I then changed the Power Management setting for the Seagate drive to "Never" (i.e. never turn off/spindown).  I then switched the Seagate drive back over to the LinkStation, and, for the umpteenth time, fomatted the drive w/ XFS file system.  The Seagate drive is now recognized again as a read/write drive on my home network.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.