external HDD can't be initialized "the device is not ready"

[erikegg69]

ok so i got a Seagate® 500GB hard disk
model: Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS


Im on a laptop and connecting the drives with a Manhattan hi-speed usb 2.0 to sata/ide adapter with power supply

I open disk management with either one of them plugged in, i can hear the disk is running and all, I see Disk1 appear on my disk manager screen... it says unknown and not initialized right on the left on the virtual disk manager
and when I open this screen, it prompts me to initialize the disk

It says:
"You must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it."
I mark Disk1 and select Master Boot Record as partition style, and when I click OK, there's an error message saying "the device is not ready"

it worked before, it is actually brand-new.

The first time it was used I installed it and formatted on my laptop running windows 7 64bit, then I tried it on a Mac and it wasn't readable, so it was re-formatted (the guy who did it told me it should work on both mac and windows... ), still empty... now i have this problem, I don't know what I can do.

I have the exact same problem with another seagate® barracuda but this one is 500GB 7200.11 ST3500620AS, this one isn't brand-new, it was on a desktop mac.

pleasee someone help me, I hope I made myself clear, my english is not that good.

 

[Night Hawk]

Hello erickegg69 Welcome to the Seven Forums!

From the screens you have there note the screen that actually follows the first when adding a new drive. That will provide the option for selecting a drive letter.

Before the first screen however look on the square section next to the main volume seen at the left side where it says "unknown". You first have to right click on that in order to turn the drive "online". Once that is done you can proceed to use the add new drive wizard and assign a drive letter.

Upon closing the wizard up you can then open any explorer window or Computer to see a new drive icon with the assigned drive letter you selected since the external drive will then have been initialized correctly.

For use on both Mac and Windows alike you would leave that drive as Fat32 but simply see the drive made active unless you no longer plan to use the drive on the other machine and strictly for Windows use. Once you reformatted the first older drive to NTFS it was no longer cross platform between the two OSs. This is why you had to reformat a second time back to Fat 32.

 

[erikegg69]

I'm sorry... when I right click on it the only options I get are Offline, which tells me the same "the device is not ready" msg, properties and uninstall.
I believe it is already online, so where can i open the New Drive Wizard?
thanks in advance

 

[Night Hawk]

When you right click on the center portion to the right the new volume wizard as it is called will appear. The screens here will show how that looks since one should be familiar already. These were from a guide I made up while the last shows how to mark a volume as active in case that is needed there as well.

 

[erikegg69]

yeah the problem is that it doesn't initialize, it tells me device isn't ready and stays as is. i simply cant open the drive in My Computer, or format it from the disk manager screen, cause it stays as unknown and not initialized :S

 

[Night Hawk]

The two things at the Seagate support site to look over are for new installation and previously working which seems to apply.

For new installation, External Hard Drive Troubleshooter for Windows 7 and Vista

For previously working, External Hard Drive Troubleshooter for Windows 7 and Vista

Those are for checking the drive's status in the Device Manager since you haven't been able to get anywhere in the DM as far as initializing the drive. If it was just bought and found defective I would simply say return for exchange or refund. But these will cover how it is seen in the device manager.

 

[erikegg69]

thank you for that, i followed instructions i now have my disk online in the disk management screen... now what do i have to do to be able to store data on it... (It still doesn't appear on My Computer as a drive)

 

[erikegg69]

and one more question ^^ should I make this a dynamic disk, or leave it as MBR?

 

[Night Hawk]

Once it was seen online you simply go back into the Disk Management tool there to right click on the volume in order to select a drive letter. You may possibly see the new volume wizard come up. That be seen mainly for "raw" unpartitioned drives but Windows prompt you on formatting it if you skip past that.

Once a drive letter is set and you see a auto play popup showing it being searched by Windows with the option to view files you can look in Computer or Windows Explorer to see it present. The drive will have been initialized during right click to change drive letter or new volume wizard if seen.

You wouldn't need it turned into a dynamic volume since you are not running a server OS there. Most desktops and laptops alike 99% simply see a basic volume to begin with. The wizard will be mbr by default where you would simply go onto the next screen. Since this is an external not internal being used for storage and not seeing an OS you would only need to see the few basic steps there.

You'll be surprized how fast and easy it actually is once you have it set.

 

[meem]

I have same problem with WD (Wester Digital) , 3Tb Essential.

 

[Night Hawk]

Welcome to the Seven Forums! meem

I assume you are plugging the 3tb drive in by usb and not eSata port correct? You need to see the drive initialized by paying the Disk Management tool a visit. You can opt to bring down to bring down the Action menu and click the rescan if needed. (see attached image)

But once you spot the 3tb volume in the DM you simply right click on that to use the Change Drive Letter option. Windows will then detect and mount the volume on the drive as a new logical drive using the drive letter you select and be seen in Windows Explorer. Often you may also see a flashing popup notification that a new drive had been found as well.

 

[Bieffe]

Hi, i have exactly the same problem as erikegg69 but for my LaCie Hard Drive, Design by F.A. Porsche, and i can't find anything on the LaCie website. Anyone can help me? I tryed everything but it always say me that the "Device is not ready".

Thanks,
Vincent

 

[Night Hawk]

Hello Bieffe Welcome to the Seven Forums!

If you just bought the drive new and it shows Windows/Mac compatible it will see an exFat 32bit factory volume on the drive you can simply reformat to NTFS and then right click on the volume in the Disk Management tool to use the Change drive letter option. Other drives may come with NTFS factory volumes you might also want to nuke off of the drive in favor of simply seeing a new NTFS primary partition put on yourself instead.

Simply doing that one thing will immediately see the drive appear in Windows Explorer or Computer. What this does is initialize the drive or in the case of a usb flash drive or memory initialize the device. The information that comes along with the drive like a quick start pamplet would explain this to some extent.

The main reason for the immediate error has nothing to do with a defective drive or Windows glitch but just the need to get the dirive initialized in order to make it available for use.

 

[Bieffe]

It doesn't work because i just can't see the drive wherever i look for it in the disk management tool...

And thank you for the quick answer and the welcome word!

 

[Night Hawk]

First you would need to look at the basic items since you are not seeing in the DM. If you simply forgot to turn it on... oops!

That happened to me when two ports on a usb hub simply gave out while having something charging by way of usb. I had forgotten that until nothing showed when turning the power on. Took a fast look to find the cord still unplugged and turned the enclosure off until plugged in.

Now if you haven't forgotten anything without realizing it and the drive is still not seen despite checking ac adapter at the wall outlet or back off drive casing, usb cord not only at the pc end but the end that plugs in at the drive end, and the on/off switch or button then you could be looking at either a bad drive if the casing has an led that comes on or a bad ac adapter if this was just bought where you can bring it back for refund or exchange.

While a bad drive should still allow it to be seen in at least the DM first before WE a totally dead drive is possible while nowhere near as likely as a DOA ac adapter! Or a contact inside the casing may have ended up with a cold solder point where the drive while enclosed there will never see power.

The "device is not ready" message definitely points to the drive being detected as an unknown device as Windows sees it but not available if the drive is not getting any power. In the Device Manager one idea besides looking under "disk drives" would be going to the menu bar>View to select the "show hidden devices" option there. If the drive is to be seen at all that would be the place to start unless you know the drive had been working before now.

 

[Kraems]

external HDD can't be initialized "the device is not ready

Dear all, I'm new here.
I had the same problem about an External HDD. All the instructions didn't help.
BUT I discovered something else. I had the HDD connected to the USB on one of the screen USB connection. When I changed the USB connection direct to the Laptop the HDD worked, and I could read all data. So I think some of the USB deliver not enough power!
kraems

 

[Night Hawk]

Welcome to SF! Kraems

Is your external drive self powered or usb powered? Most see an ac adapter so they won't pull on the usb bus. But some however are usb powered.

When starting up the laptop without the external HS plugged in and then plugging it in you should see a flashing popup as far as how the Auto Play settings in the Control Panel or need to simply take a trip into the Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management tool to simply scroll down to the new volume found there and right click to change the drive letter. Once you select a letter this will initialize the drive and see the volume on it mounted as a new logial drive in Windows Explorer with the flashing popup usually to open for viewing, etc.

 

[karthick]

hi,
i too have the same problem.
my iomega 160gb ext hd ... the device manager shows the hard disk is connected but when i try to format it using the disk management tool it shows the disk is not ready.

please help me!!

 

[Night Hawk]

Hello karthick Welcome o the Seven Forums!

When you go back into the Disk Management tool trying clicking to highlight the external drive and going upto the Action tab on the menu bar to see if the Rescan option will help. The next step if the All tasks>format option fails would be opening up a command prompt and type the following commands.

At the prompt type:

DiskPart = starts up the DiskPart partition manager
List Disk = all hard drives will be listed as Disk 0, Disk 1, Disk 2, etc.
Select Disk # depending on which will be found for that based on actual size
Clean = removes factory NTFS or exFat volume
Create Partition Primary = primary generally preferred over any extended volume even on storage drives
Format FS NTFS or Format FS=NT60 can be typed in lower case
Active = marks partition as active
Exit = closes DiskPart tool

If you see the sucessfully... type message you can close the command prompt and simply go back into the DM to right click and select which drive letter you want to have. You should then see the popup for new hardware found and possibly a prompt to scan the drive by the av program you are running.

 

[uttam]

they can see the DRIVE in the my computer but mine is completely different... i can't see the drive in my computer but it is detected ............ how can i solve this problem when i tried to put it in offline its showing "the media is write protected"....how can i solve it.....................