Drive Letter Missing on USB Ext Drive at Startup

[NJay]

Hi,

I'm a forum newbie with an XP problem concerning a missing Drive Letter at startup.

I have an External Maxtor 3200 USB Hard Drive.
I'm running WinXp MCE SP3.

I have been using this device with XP as an automated system backup for over a year now. It has always been operating as drive O: and has to be at that location for Autosave.

I now find that the USB Device is recognised in XP at startup but no Drive Letter is assigned in Windows Explorer. I can force the issue by doing one of two things ....

1. Safely Remove Hardware>Unplug>Plug in
2. Use the dialog of Safely Remove Hardware in the following manner.

The "Safely Remove Har" dialog shows ....
USB Mass Storage Device -> Maxtor 3200 USB Device
(but no Generic Volume)

when I r-click on the Maxtor 3200 USB Device properties
and make a policy change I get ...

USB Mass Storage Device -> Maxtor 3200 USB Device -> Generic Volume O:

I have tried all of the following with no effect ...

• Ran Norton Anti-virus with latest definitions
• Ran Spybot with latest upgrades
• No unusal warnings from Zonealarm
• Ran Uniblue Registry Booster 2009 - no related errors found.
• Re-assigned drive letter through Administration Tools>Disk Management
• Re-assigned drive letter using Paragon Partition Commander
• Uninstalled>Boot>Installed USB Drive and all USB Hub Cascade in Device Manager
• Restored Drive and USB Drivers
• Checked all services are correctly set to Automatic/Manual/Disabled
• I am getting a LDMS error in events log (see below)
• All services dependencies appear to be correct (PnP, RPC, etc)
• Tried Ext USB Drive on another PC ..same fault at startup (missing drive letter)
• Dismantled the Drive to extract the IDE Hard Drive then ...
• ran chkdsk /r in Recovery created bootex.log (see below)
• ran GRC Spinrite at Level 4 .... disk was OK
• Reassembled ... fault still present at startup.

LDMS Error Message

Event Type: Error
Event Source: LDMS
Event Category: None
Event ID: 3023
Date: 24/11/2008
Time: 17:42:05
User: N/A
Computer: MyName
Description:
The Logical Disk Manager Service failed while registering for device handle notifications on device \\?\storage#volume#1&********&0&signaturec******offset7e00length5d26f90400#{********-****-****-****-************}. Win32 Error: 2.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp

There was also a large number of Disk error messages stating that a paging fault had occured (these have now disappeared since CHKDSK /R).


Bootex.log from CHKDSK

Checking file system on \DosDevices\O:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is MyName_1.

Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Inserting an index entry with Id 267 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 268 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 270 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 271 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 272 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 273 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 274 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 275 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 276 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 277 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 278 into index $SII of file 9.
Inserting an index entry with Id 279 into index $SII of file 9.
Repairing the security file record segment.
Cleaning up 12 unused index entries from index $SII of file 9.
Cleaning up 12 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 9.
Cleaning up 12 unused security descriptors.
Mirror security descriptor block different from that of
master security descriptor at offset 0x0.
Fixing mirror copy of the security descriptors data stream.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

390708800 KB total disk space.
206665928 KB in 33106 files.
37776 KB in 8831 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
85900 KB in use by the system.
4096 KB occupied by the log file.
183919196 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
97677200 total allocation units on disk.
45979799 allocation units available on disk.

Registry Keys examined so far

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\Vid_0d49&Pid_3200\2******E

Did have a secondary definition "2******E0" before CHKDSK was run, now gone.


HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2

All keys appear to be OK.


I have searched the internet extensively and only found people with the same problem unanswered.

I have always had the Disk Indexation service disabled, but ran it briefly a few days ago and then disabled it again (this must have produced the errors seen in bootex.log) could this also be the cause of the missing drive letter at startup?

I'm running out of ideas .... can anyone help?

"NJay" <NJay.3jeezb@DoNotSpam.com> wrote in message
news:NJay.3jeezb@DoNotSpam.com...
>
> Hi,
>
> I'M A FORUM NEWBIE WITH AN XP PROBLEM CONCERNING A MISSING DRIVE LETTER
> AT STARTUP.
>
> I have an External Maxtor 3200 USB Hard Drive.
> I'm running WinXp MCE SP3.
>
> I have been using this device with XP as an automated system backup for
> over a year now. It has always been operating as drive O: and has to be
> at that location for Autosave.
>
> I now find that the USB Device is recognised in XP at startup but no
> Drive Letter is assigned in Windows Explorer. I can force the issue by
> doing one of two things ....
>
>
> - Safely Remove Hardware>Unplug>Plug in
> - Use the dialog of Safely Remove Hardware in the following manner.
>
>
> The "Safely Remove Har" dialog shows ....
> USB Mass Storage Device -> *Maxtor 3200 USB Device*
> (but no Generic Volume)
>
> when I r-click on the *Maxtor 3200 USB Device* properties
> and make a policy change I get ...
>
> USB Mass Storage Device -> Maxtor 3200 USB Device -> *Generic Volume
> O:*
>
> I HAVE TRIED ALL OF THE FOLLOWING WITH NO EFFECT ...
>
>
> - Ran Norton Anti-virus with latest definitions
> - Ran Spybot with latest upgrades
> - No unusal warnings from Zonealarm
> - Ran Uniblue Registry Booster 2009 - no related errors found.
> - Re-assigned drive letter through Administration Tools>Disk
> Management
> - Re-assigned drive letter using Paragon Partition Commander
> - Uninstalled>Boot>Installed USB Drive and all USB Hub Cascade in
> Device Manager
> - Restored Drive and USB Drivers
> - Checked all services are correctly set to
> Automatic/Manual/Disabled
> - I am getting a LDMS error in events log (see below)
> - All services dependencies appear to be correct (PnP, RPC, etc)
> - Tried Ext USB Drive on another PC ..same fault at startup (missing
> drive letter)
> - Dismantled the Drive to extract the IDE Hard Drive then ...
> - ran chkdsk /r in Recovery created bootex.log (see below)
> - ran GRC Spinrite at Level 4 .... disk was OK
> - Reassembled ... fault still present at startup.
>
>
> _LDMS_Error_Message_
>
> -Event Type: Error
> Event Source: LDMS
> Event Category: None
> Event ID: 3023
> Date: 24/11/2008
> Time: 17:42:05
> User: N/A
> Computer: MyName
> Description:
> The Logical Disk Manager Service failed while registering for device
> handle notifications on device
> \\?\storage#volume#1&********&0&signaturec******offset7e00length5d26f90400#{********-****-****-****-************}.
> Win32 Error: 2.
>
> For more information, see Help and Support Center at
> http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp-
>
> There was also a large number of Disk error messages stating that a
> paging fault had occured (these have now disappeared since CHKDSK /R).
>
>
> _Bootex.log_from_CHKDSK_
>
> -Checking file system on \DosDevices\O:
> The type of the file system is NTFS.
> Volume label is MyName_1.
>
> Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 267 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 268 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 270 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 271 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 272 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 273 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 274 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 275 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 276 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 277 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 278 into index $SII of file 9.
> Inserting an index entry with Id 279 into index $SII of file 9.
> Repairing the security file record segment.
> Cleaning up 12 unused index entries from index $SII of file 9.
> Cleaning up 12 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 9.
> Cleaning up 12 unused security descriptors.
> Mirror security descriptor block different from that of
> master security descriptor at offset 0x0.
> Fixing mirror copy of the security descriptors data stream.
> CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
> Usn Journal verification completed.
> Windows has made corrections to the file system.
>
> 390708800 KB total disk space.
> 206665928 KB in 33106 files.
> 37776 KB in 8831 indexes.
> 0 KB in bad sectors.
> 85900 KB in use by the system.
> 4096 KB occupied by the log file.
> 183919196 KB available on disk.
>
> 4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
> 97677200 total allocation units on disk.
> 45979799 allocation units available on disk.-
>
> _Registry_Keys_examined_so_far_
>
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\Vid_0d49&Pid_3200\2******E
>
> Did have a secondary definition "2******E0" before CHKDSK was run, now
> gone.
>
>
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2
>
> All keys appear to be OK.
>
>
> I have searched the internet extensively and only found people with the
> same problem unanswered.
>
> I have always had the Disk Indexation service disabled, but ran it
> briefly a few days ago and then disabled it again (this must have
> produced the errors seen in bootex.log) could this also be the cause of
> the missing drive letter at startup?
>
> I'm running out of ideas .... can anyone help?
>
>
> --
> NJay
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> NJay's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/njay.htm
> View this thread:
> Drive Letter Missing on USB Ext Drive at Startup
>
> http://forums.techarena.in
>
I can't see where you really tried to determine the cause of the failure of
the Logical Disk Manager Service . The corrections that chkdsk made happen
all the time and are no indication of trouble.

Furthermore, a page fault is not a disk error. The name "page fault" is an
synonym for "translation not valid fault". Such faults happen when the
virtual address which the cpu is trying to access reference a page of
addresses which are not in physical memory. The cpu can only address
physical memory. Furthermore, the addresses all lie within the program or
one of the libraries which it calls.
The reason that you didn't see any page faults on the second run is that now
the virtual addresses translate to data which is in physical memory.

It would be a good idea to run sfc/scannow because the LDMS may be
corrupted.
It would also a good idea to run David Lipman's Multi-AV product.
As you can no doubt see, I only know of things that I would try primarily
because I have never had this problem.

Jim

"NJay" <NJay.3jeezb@DoNotSpam.com> wrote in message
news:NJay.3jeezb@DoNotSpam.com...
>
> Hi,
>
> I'M A FORUM NEWBIE WITH AN XP PROBLEM CONCERNING A MISSING DRIVE LETTER
> AT STARTUP.
>
> I have an External Maxtor 3200 USB Hard Drive.
> I'm running WinXp MCE SP3.
>
> I have been using this device with XP as an automated system backup for
> over a year now. It has always been operating as drive O: and has to be
> at that location for Autosave.
>
> I now find that the USB Device is recognised in XP at startup but no
> Drive Letter is assigned in Windows Explorer. I can force the issue by
> doing one of two things ....
>
>
> - Safely Remove Hardware>Unplug>Plug in
> - Use the dialog of Safely Remove Hardware in the following manner.
>
>
> The "Safely Remove Har" dialog shows ....
> USB Mass Storage Device -> *Maxtor 3200 USB Device*
> (but no Generic Volume)
>
> when I r-click on the *Maxtor 3200 USB Device* properties
> and make a policy change I get ...
>
> USB Mass Storage Device -> Maxtor 3200 USB Device -> *Generic Volume
> O:*
>
> I HAVE TRIED ALL OF THE FOLLOWING WITH NO EFFECT ...
>
>
> - Ran Norton Anti-virus with latest definitions
> - Ran Spybot with latest upgrades
> - No unusal warnings from Zonealarm
> - Ran Uniblue Registry Booster 2009 - no related errors found.
> - Re-assigned drive letter through Administration Tools>Disk
> Management
> - Re-assigned drive letter using Paragon Partition Commander
> - Uninstalled>Boot>Installed USB Drive and all USB Hub Cascade in
> Device Manager
> - Restored Drive and USB Drivers
> - Checked all services are correctly set to
> Automatic/Manual/Disabled
> - I am getting a LDMS error in events log (see below)
> - All services dependencies appear to be correct (PnP, RPC, etc)
> - Tried Ext USB Drive on another PC ..same fault at startup (missing
> drive letter)
> - Dismantled the Drive to extract the IDE Hard Drive then ...
> - ran chkdsk /r in Recovery created bootex.log (see below)
> - ran GRC Spinrite at Level 4 .... disk was OK
> - Reassembled ... fault still present at startup.
>
> <snip>

Though spinright may have found no problems

I'd still try the mfg's diagnostic.

It's also possible the problem is with the USB interface
within the enclosure.


When in doubt however, I'd err on the side of caution
and replace the drive

[NJay]

Thanks for the advice Jim,

So far I have found ....

I have run sfc /scannow
and got some irregularities that come with Win XP MCE
missing .dll's that relate to MCE eHome
but nothing relating to dmadmin or the LDMS service..

USB Interface inside enclosure
This is OK because I am getting the same fault using Easy-IDE (a stand alone IDE/USB adaptor).

Mfg's Disk Checking Utility
Being Maxtor I have to use Seagate Seatools with generic only tests.
It passed OK on fast and extreme testing. (The drive inside is actually a Seagate 400Gb Barracuda IDE).

So far the fault appears to be the drive itself. It's only 14 months old works fine as soon as I trick it into being seen in Explorer.

I was wondering if there is a VB script that I can run at startup that will replicate my use of the "Safely Remove Hardware" dialog? It would be wanting to tell the drive to change removal policy...

[NJay]

PROBLEM

USB Hard drive not assigned drive letter in Explorer at startup.

SOLUTION

I have finally found the fix ...

1. Boot into Safe Mode
2. Open Device Manager
3. Select View>Show Hidden Devices
4. Open tree "Storage volumes"
5. Uninstall all Generic Volumes that are "greyed out" (i.e. not installed)
6. Reboot into Normal Startup

It appears that one of the old Generic Volume definitions was confusing LDMS and causing the event log error message.