Computer Help Again

Could be a resources sharing issue or a power issue. How many USB ports do you have? Are you trying to chain these together? Using a powered hub?

 

Does the external hard drive have its own power supply? If it's relying on the USB to supply power, then I agree with Mike, it sounds like a power issue.

 

im not sure if this is an answer you are looking for but when i ran my music from my external i had to keep library files on my computer and just move the actual music, maybe this will help maybe not

i believe this is the right article
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305451

 

do you have all your music in the itunes folder on the external?

 

Is one of them maybe USB 2.0 and the other USB 1.0? I dont know how that works - I know USB 2.0 ports are backwards compatible to 1.0, but I dont know what would happen if you put a 1.0 and 2.0 device on the same bus. If the 2.0 device did not support 1.0 (as I imagine a hard drive would not) then I would guess they would just both not work, even though they work seperately. Other than that, if it's not a power problem and if it's not a driver problem (since they work individually) it would have to be a resource sharing issue.

Check to see if the laptop is USB 1.0 or 2.0, and also the USB version of the HDD and MP3 player and let us know

 

if they both work just not together then i dont think the problem would be the usb ver, im curious as to how you have itunes set-up as you need to have all your music in one folder

 

Something you can try is to delete your Temp Folder and reboot the computer before trying again.
Delete your Temp Folder by doing this:

In Windows Explorer go to a folder called:
- C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Temp

Note: you may have more than one user defined on your PC. If so, the "\User\" part of the path name could be your specific User Name. Verify that the "My Documents" folder under the "User" folder is the same set of files you see in Windows Explorer when you click on "My Documents" at the root level.

Select all the files and folders under the "Temp" folder and click control-A (this does a select all).
Make sure you are only selecting the files and folders BELOW the Temp folder!
Hit the Delete button (this deletes all the files but they are still in your recycle bin).

Now reboot and try connecting the HDD and iPod.

Test your other software products. If all okay, clear out your Recycle Bin.
You shouldn't need anything in your Temp Directory.

These steps will free up a lot of space and, for some reason, it appears iTunes and the iPod connection can get confused if certain remnants are left in the Temp Directory. You'll see some references to it if you Google search the topic.

Hope this helps.

 

this is why i love my macs

 

Does the USB 2.0 bus run at 2.0 and 1.0 simultaneously? If not, then plugging in his USB 1.0 device may cause the whole shebang to run on USB1.0 and the HDD may support 2.0 only.

As for why it would work with the mouse, are you sure that's 1.0?

If I were having this problem, I would first try it on another computer. If it works there, then its definitely an issue on your laptop only. I would then re-install the drivers. I would also try swapping around whats plugged into what USB port. Maybe you have a bad port? Move the devices around and see if the problem moves with the HDD and MP3 player, or if the problem stays with a certain port. That would help narrow it down also to a device issue vs. a laptop issue.

 

maybe the laptop doesn't generate enough power supply for all?

 

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/153714.html

Try this link, it had alot of useful info.

 

No need for payment. If you just have to pay somebody, then donate the money to the Salvation Army.

Glad it worked. (And in typical Windows / Microsoft fashion, no one knows exactly why. LOL).