Gaming Computer Won't Recognize Hard Drive

[alejolink11]

My brother gave me a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 80 GB hard drive. He used it for his hacked PS3.
I assume since I have a hacked Wii he used it for game storage and its in another format I.E. WBFS.

Well I want to use it for music storage.
Problem is whenever I plug it into my laptop with Windows 7 OR My old laptop with Windows XP neither even recognize the device being plugged in, much less give me an option to format it. I know it would usually ask since ever ytime I add games to my Wii's hard drive it asks to format it and I say no. However it fails to do this with the Momentus.

Can anyone help me figure out what the problem is?

 

[Hakoda]

Are you plugging it in internally or external enclosure?

 

[alejolink11]

It's internal, converted into an external.
It was internal but its in an internal enclosure.

 

[Nimbus]

Has it been formatted to a filesystem that's usable with Windows or whatever OS.

That would be your problem if it isn't. Winb...I mean Windowz doesn't natively support WBFS.

 

[Hakoda]

What file system do back loaders on the PS3 use? They initially used NTFS I believe but I have no idea what file system they use now.

The OP said "i.e" as in he assumes it's in a different file system but he has no idea what. And even if it was in WBFS, you would get the icon in "Computer" and when you doble-clicked on it to browse, it would say that the file system is not recognized and needs to be formatted.

From the OP"s description, he's not getting the above message. Which means its the connection. Was this HDD always in this particular enclosure?

 

[Originality]

I can't remember what format internal drives in PS3 uses (some special Sony format) but drives connected by USB had to be in FAT32 or (more recently) NTFS (if you configured the settings properly in MultiMan). wii supports FAT32, NTFS and WBFS (there's actually little reason to use WBFS since FAT32 works so well now).

If the drive can't be recognised by Windows, there's usually one of 3 problems. Firstly, check that it's getting power. Make sure the cables are in properly and, when turned on, make sure that you can hear it spinning up and not making some weird clicking noise. Second, secondly, make sure the controller works (if you're using internal, that means swapping the SATA port. Of you're using an enclosure, that means swapping the USB ports). When plugged in, you should be able to see an entry in the device manager (even if it just says unknown USB/SATA device). Thirdly, make sure the drive itself isn't dead (this happens all too often with SeaGate drives, especially ones that have been used externally, especially the ones that have been used externally on game consoles). That means trying to plug it into every internal SATA port you have and any external enclosure you have on every computer you have. If nothing works, the drive is likely dead in which case you're SOL and have an ugly paper weight on your hands. I have several such SeaGate drives.

 

[alejolink11]

It doesnt have any external power outlets other than the USB. Hmm, now that you mention it the enclosure it;s in isnt seagate... its i Micro...its basically an internal in a case turned into external. I'm gonna assume it's dead.. because comparing it to the sound my Passport makes it's obvious.

Thanks guys.

 

[alejolink11]

Wait actually it has a converter on the part where the power and data cables go to make it USB compatible. The converter seems to be alittle damaged. That could be a problem right?

 

[Hakoda]

Wait actually it has a converter on the part where the power and data cables go to make it USB compatible. The converter seems to be alittle damaged. That could be a problem right?

I'd go ahead and try it internally if you a slot open.

 

[Nimbus]

Wait actually it has a converter on the part where the power and data cables go to make it USB compatible. The converter seems to be alittle damaged. That could be a problem right?

I'd go ahead and try it internally if you a slot open.

I'd say that's probably a reasonably good reason for it not to work. A broken connector/converter will obviously cause problems.

Try getting a new enclosure and see if it works with that. Just make sure you don't get one of those 'dock' styled ones where everything is exposed (Seriously, why do those sorts of enclosures even exist!?)

 

[Originality]

They exist for people like me who needs a quick way to check if a drive is faulty or not. Just take the drive out of the enclosure, dock it, turn it on, and see what happens. Quicker than having to fish out an extra SATA data and power cable for use inside my computer, and useful for the large number of people who come to me because their external drive stopped working.

If you don't have a spare enclosure, the fastest way to check if it works is to plug it in internally into your computer.

 

[FAST6191]

You seem to have it narrowed to a faulty adapter but in the future remember "diskmgmt.msc" (can't remember offhand what the vista one is). It will list all the drives and their partitions (or at least say unknown). Far more useful than hoping straight up explorer will do something worthwhile.

 

[Originality]

Disk manager only works when Windows detects a data storage device. If there's a faulty USB/SATA controller, or if the PCB of the drive itself is fried, disk manager won't even register it. Fortunately disk manager will register a drive if it's spindle has broken or if it's just corrupted.