Can't access drives in external USB 3 enclosures

rivre said:

I just came across that same exact review while searching through Newegg's review hoping to dig up some clues. I'm going top contact Icy Dock this morning when they open but this doesn't sound good. I have 3 of those and together they cost over $450! And now they don't seem to work on Windows 10 through USB 3.0. I have no idea what to do now. I already have a 2-port esata card in my new PC to support a couple older e-sata enclosures. They are in use. That's why I bought these Icy Dock enclosures - I needed USB 3.0 support.

Unfortunately, like most such reviews, there is no structure and so it is not possible to discern what OS or USB ports the reviewer was using. The fact that the docks work for most folks but not others suggests that they may be using different OS, system and USB drivers; also that there are QC issues with the docks or undocumented differing hardware versions that affect the compatability of the USB interface.

In the case of a single-drive enclosure that stopped being recognized for me after upgrading from Windows 7 to 8, I went for broke - disassembled the enclosure and determined the exact bridge chipset by direct inspection. I then searched around for firmware updates for that chipset - very hard, and carrying inherent risk of bricking the hardware for good. I ended up with a working enclosure, but at the cost of a non-functioning access LED and dramatically reduced throughput vs. the Windows 7 compatible firmware. I you strike out totally and decide to go that route, one place to look for firmware is the French web site, station-drivers.

Yeah, I'm not up to that level of expertise. I'm really disappointed that these are advertised as USB 3.0 yet don't work with Windows 10 over USB 3.0. I don't understand how they can sell these and not have something on their site addressing Windows 10 support. I noticed their site has no forum.

At this point it's either:

A) Buy the seemingly only 4-port esata card in existence from Newegg - cost: $100

B) Buy all brand new enclosures - out of the question due to finances.

I already have one 2-port esata card in my system to support my older enclosures that only support esata. I can't believe I have to buy another 4-port card. Both my current 2-port and the 4-port on Newegg is by Highpoint (rocketraid) but I hope there isn't some compatibility issue with running both cards together. I'm really upset Icy Dock has put me in this mess. I really can't afford $100 right now for a new card. Note I'm not running RAID - I just use them as single drives for storage and backup.

Well I just talked to Icy Dock's tech support over the phone. We went through a basic set of troubleshooting, but he said this shouldn't be happening. He said they have one running with no issue with Windows 10 and this is the first time they have heard of this being an issue with Windows 10. So he said he'll contact the support team and get back to me.

rivre said:

Well I just talked to Icy Dock's tech support over the phone. We went through a basic set of troubleshooting, but he said this shouldn't be happening. He said they have one running with no issue with Windows 10 and this is the first time they have heard of this being an issue with Windows 10. So he said he'll contact the support team and get back to me.

Thanks for the followup - please post the eventual outcome.

I'll post the email response once I receive it. Meanwhile, if anybody else has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Did you check Diskmanager to see if thery are listed ,as suggested a few post back ... good luck getting it fixed ,,.
I don't get the need to spend 450.00$ to store files ,are you running a business that generates that much ,or it just downloading stuff from the net ,,,


edit -there web site has FAQ and they are 6 years old ,and there question answer ,5 years old ,, good support for sure

caperjack said:

Did you check Diskmanager to see if thery are listed ,as suggested a few post back ... good luck getting it fixed ,,.
I don't get the need to spend 450.00$ to store files ,are you running a business that generates that much ,or it just downloading stuff from the net ,,,

edit -there web site has FAQ and they are 6 years old ,and there question answer ,5 years old ,, good support for sure

What difference does it make why I have the storage I do? Everyone has different storage needs. I backup all my blu-ray discs for starters. That takes a ton of space. Plus I gather tons of crap just surfing, random Youtube videos, 4k clips, etc. - plus I try to store all my music and important stuff on multiple drives in case of disk failure. Multiple backups chew up disc space real fast.

I already tried the disk manager suggestion. Nothing. When I first fire up the enclosure, the discs start to spin up and the LED indicators flash briefly, like they do when it starts up normally, but then all the drives immediately spin down and Windows never sees them.


Their FAQ is useless. Hasn't been updated in ages.

bro67 said:

Find someone who has a computer with Windows 10 to test the device. We cannot contribute anything other then keep repeating the same troubleshooting steps over and over.

bro67 said:

Those of us that use a NAS, use them for backups and offline file storage. You do not have to spend $450 for a decent network storage. As for the OP. If they are not going through the troubleshooting steps, just making calls and posting back, we are stuck in an endless loop.

This is not helpful. I don't know anyone with Windows 10 at home. Thus why I'm asking in a tech support site for help.

I've done all kinds of troubleshooting. You're just ignoring that for some reason. I've tried several things.

- I swapped cables.
- I've tried both my built-in USB ports and my USB 3.0 add-on card.
- I've tested the esata and confirmed esata works.
- I've tested a USB 3.0 thumb drive and confirmed it works.
- I tried checking disk management.
- I tried booting the PC with the enclosure running.
- I called their tech support line.
- I confirmed they worked in my old PC.

Why are you so quick to dismiss my problem? I don't mean to be rude but if you can't help me, just leave it for someone else to try and help. Everyone has different experiences with their PC and maybe somebody else has come across this issue. Again, that's what these forums are for, no?