Top 10 SimpleTech SimpleDrive Pininfarina 320GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive - Blue Questions & Answers

I had a problem with my 320g Simpletech not showing up on my computer, I would plug the power supply in and connect the usb cable, the blue light would flash for a moment then nada. I found out I was using the wrong power adapter, you have to use the one that came with your simpletech, it is easy to mix adapters up if you have a few laying around.

I had the same problem. Since the warranty had expired I opened up the casing and found that the plastic braces from holding the harddrive had broken and the drive had disconnected from the circuit board. Simply reattaching it solved the problem for me.

the hard drive you have is plug n play.
if windows does not recognize it, you may have to uninstall the hard drive.
right click your computer. click properties.
click on the "Hardware" tab. Click on "Device Manager".
open the category of "Disk Drives".
If you see your drive with a yellow exclamation point or a red "X", continue. If it does not, either it was dropped or its a faulty drive.
Right click your drive and click "Unistall". Click OK.
Now, unplug the drive and plug it in again.
it will install by itself.
Go to my computer and check that its there. If its not, you may have a bad drive. either send it for a new one (if still in warranty) or replace it.

I have the same drive and it uses an Accurian AC/DC Adapter. It's output is 6.3V. Also the model number is XKD-C1500NHS66.3-12. I hope this helps.

I have the 320GB Simpletech External Hard Drive.
The AC adapter Model number is SAWA-05-153
The output is +12V --- 1.5A

The original power supply is "SB2D-020-1HA SIMPLETECH AC ADAPTER 12V 1.5A FOR EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE" . Just find a replacement with the correct size plug (center positive) that supplies 12v DC at 1.5amps (1500ma)

Hello

Okay , so there are some steps to figure out what is wrong with your external.

Firstly , if your computer makes a sound when you plug in your external , go to Start-Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Computer Management-Disk Management , and see if your external drive is listed here with your local drives. If it is listed , right click on the drive and change the drive letter to make it appear in "my computer".

If your drive does not make a connection sound when connecting to your computer and also does not show up , please follow the next step.

Remove the hard drive from the casing if possible and install it in your computer case or another external case.If the drive works , the problem is with the casing and you can ignore the drive.

Now , if the problem is with the casing , there are still 3 possibilities.

1. The USB cable between the drive and the computer may be damaged.
2. The circuit board which connects your drive to the interface of the external may be blown.
3. The power supply (if applicable) may have a blown transformer.

The latter is the easiest to diagnose , does your external light up at all when you plug in the power? If not , then this is probably your problem. On the bottom of the adapter is a label which you will be able to use to have a new adapter made at your local electronics shop and this will cost about $30 max. They will also be able to test the adapter with a clamp meter to see if this is really the problem and this should be free.

The second component you want to test is the USB cable. If you have a printer , swop out the cables and see if your printer functions normally. Most externals use the same connector so you should be able to test it in this manner. If the cable works go on to the last step. If the cable is defective , replace it with a new one which you can find for about $10 at most electronics and chain stores.

The last component to test is the circuit board. This is a bit of a grey zone as you probably won't be able to spot the blown component unless it failed really badly. With the casing already opened , locate the external's circuit board and check to see if you have any blackened components or fluids leaking from some components. If all the other components of the external worked perfectly , then this is the faulty part. It is not really economical to replace the circuit as most of the time it is out of production by the time you need to replace it and it still costs a lot even if it is available so if your drive is working perfectly when connected via sata or IDE on your computer , the best is to buy a new casing and place your old drive in the new casing.

A casing costs about $50 and you could get it at most tech shops and big chain stores like Best Buy.

I hope this solves your problem and please reply if you need more help.

Kind Regards
Andrea

From the SimpleTech website, according to your device's documentation, found here:

http://www.simpletech.com/support/guides/user-guides/60000-00146-001.pdf

your device does not need drivers, if you are running Windows XP or Mac.

Hope this helps.

Possibilities:
1. dead USB port on your computer -- try another port.
2. try a different USB cable.
3. try your external drive on some other computer, to see if it works at all.
4. open the casing, and separate the disk-drive from the USB-to-disk-drive adapter. Connect the disk-drive as a "slave" disk-drive, thus bypassing that adapter, to see if the adapter has failed, or if the disk-drive itself has failed.
5. Google-search for a commercial "data recovery service" -- such companies can disassemble your disk-drive, and fix it, just long-enough to copy all your photos/music onto a brand-new disk-drive.

Bill has already given you the answer.#1. If it is not being recognised then the problem is elsewhere ie the USB cable or socket. If the hard drive hasn't been partitioned it won't see it immediately.
Go to control panel/ Administrative tools/computer management/storage/disk management you will see a list of your hard drives.. Your USB drive will be there but showing as blank. Right click it and pick 'new simple volume' (left click). Agree with the size it offers you and it will then create a partition and format it for you. Close down the windows you have open and look in 'my computer' and your drive will be listed.
If this doesn't work then give a clearer description of the problem and one of us will have more chance of helping you. If we had more info on what you have already done then we have more chance of a fix.
Good luck,
Ray