Troubleshoot USB error - External HDD works, suddenly throws error 43

Hi there,

I have 2 external LaCIE Samsung HD154UI 1,5 TB USB harddrives.
I am experiencing strange behaviour with both of them on a specific laptop (Dell latitude E7240).

Since both HDD's are working fine on other laptops (testet on 2 other laptops), I suspect that this is a driver related issue on this laptop.

Setup:
The HDD is connected directly to the laptop USB port with a USB A to USB B data cable and has an external 12V 2A power supply.

Behaviour:
When I connect the HDD, I hear a windows sound indicating that a new device has been connected and the file explorer pops up showing the contents of the HDD. I can access files and see what is on the device.

For some time the HDD works well. However, if I transfer files to it, at some point an error kicks in.
This is when I hear a windows sound similar to the one that plays when a new device has been connected, and then this message pops up:


The same thing happens if I try to run Crystal Disk Info to diagnose the HDD. If I run the program, then I hear the windows sound and the error message pops up.

If I then turn off the power to the HDD and turns it on again, it shows up as normal and is recognized.

When the error is present I get this information:

Device manager:


Device info:


Event viewer info 1:


Event viewer info 2:


Event viewer info 3:



And this is the information that I am seeing when I just access the HDD without transfering files to it - it seems like it is recognized correct, so that the HDD hardware seems OK:

Disk management view:


Device properties 1:


Device properties 2:


Device properties 3:



Recently a BSOD error happened for the first time. It COULD be related to this, but I am not confident in reading the results.
The Nirsoft BSOD viewer gives me this info (log file attached).


Win version:



What I have tried:

- Reset BIOS.
- Run the laptop manufacture drivers tool to detect if there are driver updates including BIOS.
- Run Snappy Driver Installer to detect if there are driver updates.
- Run Windows update.
- Upgrade from Win10 to Win11.
- Remove all USB devices from the device management.
- Download LaCie thunderbold driver for Windows.
- Restart, remove battery and cable.
- Connect to different USB ports.
- Uninstall device from device manager.
- Disable / enable device from device manager.
- Modified Power saving settings to not turn off USB devices and set other settings for best performance.
- Gone through Dell's USB troubleshooting guide (https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/e...oot-usb-issues) and tried everything - except to perform a windows restore and resetting the computer to factory defaults.

Any idea what could be wrong and how to troubleshoot this?

did you try a different usb port ?

I suppose on a laptop there arent many.

It sounds like the two external LaCIE enclosures are housing Samsung HD154UIs from the Samsung EcoGreen F2 range.

Although you have amended Windows' USB power-saving settings, you may be running into the Samsung EcoGreen's own power-saving settings embedded in the firmware... which you cannot amend AFAIK.

The symptoms sound like the HDDs are powering down (as they are designed to, aggressively, in order to save energy) but their slow spinning platters (5400 rpm) are not spinning up fast enough when Windows probes for availability, hence the error.

I have the same issue with an external HDD caddy so I use a small, free third-party utility - KeepAliveHD - to keep drives in the caddy 'alive' by writing then deleting a tiny text file at regular intervals. This has worked very well for me; maybe it might help you too.

PS - Your screenshots show Windows 11. This is a Windows 10 forum... although, IMO, your issue is not actually OS-related.

Hope this helps...

bro67 said:

Sounds like the external device has died. Only thing to try is a Linux USB live distro and see if it will find the drive. If not, the drive is dead.

How do you explain OP's statement:

If I then turn off the power to the HDD and turns it on again, it shows up as normal and is recognized.

SIW2 said:

did you try a different usb port ?

I suppose on a laptop there arent many.

Yes - I tried all USB ports on the laptop (4 pieces - 2 in the back and 2 in the side).
Same behaviour with all ports.

- - - Updated - - -

RickC said:

It sounds like the two external LaCIE enclosures are housing Samsung HD154UIs from the Samsung EcoGreen F2 range.

Although you have amended Windows' USB power-saving settings, you may be running into the Samsung EcoGreen's own power-saving settings embedded in the firmware... which you cannot amend AFAIK.

The symptoms sound like the HDDs are powering down (as they are designed to, aggressively, in order to save energy) but their slow spinning platters (5400 rpm) are not spinning up fast enough when Windows probes for availability, hence the error.

I have the same issue with an external HDD caddy so I use a small, free third-party utility - KeepAliveHD - to keep drives in the caddy 'alive' by writing then deleting a tiny text file at regular intervals. This has worked very well for me; maybe it might help you too.

PS - Your screenshots show Windows 11. This is a Windows 10 forum... although, IMO, your issue is not actually OS-related.

Hope this helps...

Thanks Rick - but as mentioned, both HDD work perfectly fine on other laptops.

The error happens after some time when transfering files to the HDD (during the transfer), so it is not idle at the moment that the error kicks in. Also the error happens if I run Crystal Disk.
In both of these situations the HDD is at work / not idle, so I do not think that the eco green would power them down during operation and hence not the problem. Thanks for the insight though!

- - - Updated - - -

bro67 said:

Sounds like the external device has died. Only thing to try is a Linux USB live distro and see if it will find the drive. If not, the drive is dead.

No they have not. As mentioned, they work perfectly fine on the two other laptops that I have tested them on. So this I think there is definately nothing wrong with the HDD themselves.

- - - Updated - - -

Nobody got any clue on this?
Or any idea where there might be someone able to help?

Megahertz said:

Did you try the high performance power plan?
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options

Yes, unfortunately that did not fix it.

- - - Updated - - -

Samuria said:

The Code 43 error is one of several Device Manager error codes. It's generated when Device Manager stops a hardware device because the hardware reported to Windows that it's having some kind of unspecified problem
something to try Error Code 43 - How To Fix USB Device Not Recognized - YouTube

Thanks for the reply.

I have tried most of these solutions, and today I tried the CMD scan. Errors were found, but unfortunately the error is not fixed.

Any idea what the next step could be?