Ok, I've got a WD External Firewire drive that seems to be malfunctioning.
Now Western Digital Support is telling me that the Firewire Drive is plug &
play and that windows should already have the driver for it. HUH, since when
did Firewire become plug & play? I've got Yellow Exclamation marks in device
manager. Doesn't that mean that there isn't a proper device driver installed
for the drive?


Thank you for any comments/suggestions/clarifications.



I'm thinking WD support is giving me the run around and need answers as soon
as possible before my warranty runs out. Thank you very much for any
assistance.

Lonnie wrote:

> Ok, I've got a WD External Firewire drive that seems to be malfunctioning.
> Now Western Digital Support is telling me that the Firewire Drive is plug &
> play and that windows should already have the driver for it. HUH, since when
> did Firewire become plug & play? I've got Yellow Exclamation marks in device
> manager. Doesn't that mean that there isn't a proper device driver installed
> for the drive?
>
> Thank you for any comments/suggestions/clarifications.
>
> I'm thinking WD support is giving me the run around and need answers as soon
> as possible before my warranty runs out. Thank you very much for any
> assistance.
>

The yellow exclamation icon in Device Manager usually means that
a driver is missing or faulty. Firewire drivers are supplied by
the maker of the Firewire peripheral card (e.g., Adaptec). Or the
drivers is supplied by the maker of the motherboard for on-board
Firewire. If the cdrom containing the Firewire drivers cannot be
found, visit the website of the peripheral card maker or the
motherboard maker or even the Firewire chipset maker. All of the
information can be found in the Device Manager listing.

Thanks for the reply.


The exclamation mark (yellow) shows up only after plugging in the firewire
drive. Prior to plugging it in, I can see a listing of the firewire port, so
it seems as though the Device is what's causing the exclamation mark and not
the lack of a driver for the port. So what do you think is going on? Any
more suggestions/comments will be appreciated.

"GHalleck" wrote:

>
> Lonnie wrote:
>
> > Ok, I've got a WD External Firewire drive that seems to be malfunctioning.
> > Now Western Digital Support is telling me that the Firewire Drive is plug &
> > play and that windows should already have the driver for it. HUH, since when
> > did Firewire become plug & play? I've got Yellow Exclamation marks in device
> > manager. Doesn't that mean that there isn't a proper device driver installed
> > for the drive?
> >
> > Thank you for any comments/suggestions/clarifications.
> >
> > I'm thinking WD support is giving me the run around and need answers as soon
> > as possible before my warranty runs out. Thank you very much for any
> > assistance.
> >
>
> The yellow exclamation icon in Device Manager usually means that
> a driver is missing or faulty. Firewire drivers are supplied by
> the maker of the Firewire peripheral card (e.g., Adaptec). Or the
> drivers is supplied by the maker of the motherboard for on-board
> Firewire. If the cdrom containing the Firewire drivers cannot be
> found, visit the website of the peripheral card maker or the
> motherboard maker or even the Firewire chipset maker. All of the
> information can be found in the Device Manager listing.
>

Lonnie wrote:

> Thanks for the reply.
>
>
> The exclamation mark (yellow) shows up only after plugging in the firewire
> drive. Prior to plugging it in, I can see a listing of the firewire port, so
> it seems as though the Device is what's causing the exclamation mark and not
> the lack of a driver for the port. So what do you think is going on? Any
> more suggestions/comments will be appreciated.
>

Is this the first time that the Firewire port is being used? Or
has it been used successfully with other Firewire devices? Also,
test with a different Firewire cable.

Yes it is. I've had the blasted computer for years, and just recently
decided to go with an external drive, and this happens. Funny thing about
this is, although I get that yellow exclamation mark, I can use the drive.
Isn't that a little weird? When I plugged it in for the first time on this
system, windows said it found new hardware, but because I didn't have a
driver installed for it (nor could the system find any driver), that it may
not function properly. I purchased this darn thing for backup purposes BUT
because of what is going on right now, I do NOT trust it enough to hold my
important files .. full system backup etc.


In regards to it possibly being the cable, well, the fact that I can use the
drive (but I don't trust it) would mean to me that the cable is fine. Oh I
just remembered, I've used the firewire port before with my Sony Camcorder -
I never had any yellow exclamation marks.


I don't think I'll EVER purchase another external firewire drive.

Thanks for the reply. Any further suggestions/comments will be appreciated.


"Mistoffolees" wrote:

>
> Lonnie wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the reply.
> >
> >
> > The exclamation mark (yellow) shows up only after plugging in the firewire
> > drive. Prior to plugging it in, I can see a listing of the firewire port, so
> > it seems as though the Device is what's causing the exclamation mark and not
> > the lack of a driver for the port. So what do you think is going on? Any
> > more suggestions/comments will be appreciated.
> >
>
> Is this the first time that the Firewire port is being used? Or
> has it been used successfully with other Firewire devices? Also,
> test with a different Firewire cable.
>

"Lonnie" <Lonnie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1FEABC40-BAC2-4DE2-B429-07604818DA13@microsoft.com...
> Ok, I've got a WD External Firewire drive that seems to be malfunctioning.
> Now Western Digital Support is telling me that the Firewire Drive is plug
> &
> play and that windows should already have the driver for it. HUH, since
> when
> did Firewire become plug & play? I've got Yellow Exclamation marks in
> device
> manager. Doesn't that mean that there isn't a proper device driver
> installed
> for the drive?
>
>

Firewire is most certainly plug and play and no other drivers should be
required under XP. If the firewire device has a yellow ! over it, something
is not quite right - but it doesn't usually mean that there is no driver
(That scenario would generally report the drive as an 'unknown device').
First thing to try is to right click the device and uninstall it. Now
reboot windows and allow it to rediscover the drive and install it. If that
doesn't work try it on another PC just to check that it isn't the drive.

Thanks for the reply.

I just don't understand this then if "No other driver(s) are needed". I
went ahead and tried what you suggested about uninstalling the device. The
New Hardware Wizard started and everything, I told the wizard to look at the
windows update site....etc, so it did, and it looked all over my hard drive &
also I decided to put in the system disc just in case .... and all it did was
tell me the hardware couldn't be installed and that it may not work properly.
It is shown in Device Manager under "Other devices", which you probably
already know has a yellow ?, and then it is listed as "WD External HDD Button
& Lights", and this is the type of drive it is, but AGAIN, there is a yellow
!. As mentioned in my other posts, I can see the drive, I can view
contents, I can copy to/from, but I DO NOT TRUST IT because Windows tells me
it may not function properly because of NO DRIVER.

Any other thoughts/comments/suggestions are welcomed. I appreciate
everyones help on this, I just wish I could get it resolved. Thanks again.


"M.I.5¾" wrote:

>
> "Lonnie" <Lonnie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1FEABC40-BAC2-4DE2-B429-07604818DA13@microsoft.com...
> > Ok, I've got a WD External Firewire drive that seems to be malfunctioning.
> > Now Western Digital Support is telling me that the Firewire Drive is plug
> > &
> > play and that windows should already have the driver for it. HUH, since
> > when
> > did Firewire become plug & play? I've got Yellow Exclamation marks in
> > device
> > manager. Doesn't that mean that there isn't a proper device driver
> > installed
> > for the drive?
> >
> >
>
> Firewire is most certainly plug and play and no other drivers should be
> required under XP. If the firewire device has a yellow ! over it, something
> is not quite right - but it doesn't usually mean that there is no driver
> (That scenario would generally report the drive as an 'unknown device').
> First thing to try is to right click the device and uninstall it. Now
> reboot windows and allow it to rediscover the drive and install it. If that
> doesn't work try it on another PC just to check that it isn't the drive.
>
>
>

On Apr 14, 8:38*am, Lonnie <Lon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> I just don't understand this then if "No other driver(s) are needed". *I
> went ahead and tried what you suggested about uninstalling the device. *The
> New Hardware Wizard started and everything, I told the wizard to look at the
> windows update site....etc, so it did, and it looked all over my hard drive &
> also I decided to put in the system disc just in case .... and all it did was
> tell me the hardware couldn't be installed and that it may not work properly.
> *It is shown in Device Manager under "Other devices", which you probably
> already know has a yellow ?, and then it is listed as "WD External HDD Button
> & Lights", and this is the type of drive it is, but AGAIN, there is a yellow
> !. * As mentioned in my other posts, I can see the drive, I can view
> contents, I can copy to/from, but I DO NOT TRUST IT because Windows tells me
> it may not function properly because of NO DRIVER.
>
> Any other thoughts/comments/suggestions are welcomed. *I appreciate
> everyones help on this, I just wish I could get it resolved. *Thanks again.
>
>
>
> "M.I.5¾" wrote:
>
> > "Lonnie" <Lon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >news:1FEABC40-BAC2-4DE2-B429-07604818DA13@microsoft.com...
> > > Ok, I've got a WD External Firewire drive that seems to be malfunctioning.
> > > Now Western Digital Support is telling me that the Firewire Drive is plug
> > > &
> > > play and that windows should already have the driver for it. *HUH, since
> > > when
> > > did Firewire become plug & play? *I've got Yellow Exclamation marks in
> > > device
> > > manager. *Doesn't that mean that there isn't a proper device driver
> > > installed
> > > for the drive?
>
> > Firewire is most certainly plug and play and no other drivers should be
> > required under XP. *If the firewire device has a yellow ! over it, something
> > is not quite right - but it doesn't usually mean that there is no driver
> > (That scenario would generally report the drive as an 'unknown device').
> > First thing to try is to right click the device and uninstall it. *Now
> > reboot windows and allow it to rediscover the drive and install it. *If that
> > doesn't work try it on another PC just to check that it isn't the drive.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Firewire "hosts" drivers appear to be "built-in" XP thus the rason why
"no other driver" required. However, this does not mean that the
driver files can not be "damaged" since these are still standard XP
files. You can try to run "sfc /scannow" to try to have XP repair
these files.

Thanks for the reply.


Ok, I don't know what's going on but I certainly appreciate everyones help.
I'm getting a little tired of nothing working. I think it's a little weird
that the drive is "Technically" recognized, but I still have a yellow ? and
!. Smlunatick, I gave your suggestion a try sfc /scannow and it seemed to
pull a lot of stuff off of the original systems disc, but after rebooting,
there was still no changes.

To me this is very puzzling, but I'm not going to continue to dwell on it
soooo much. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this drive though. I'm
surely NOT going to buy another external drive - too much of a darn headache.

"smlunatick" wrote:

> On Apr 14, 8:38 am, Lonnie <Lon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> > Thanks for the reply.
> >
> > I just don't understand this then if "No other driver(s) are needed". I
> > went ahead and tried what you suggested about uninstalling the device. The
> > New Hardware Wizard started and everything, I told the wizard to look at the
> > windows update site....etc, so it did, and it looked all over my hard drive &
> > also I decided to put in the system disc just in case .... and all it did was
> > tell me the hardware couldn't be installed and that it may not work properly.
> > It is shown in Device Manager under "Other devices", which you probably
> > already know has a yellow ?, and then it is listed as "WD External HDD Button
> > & Lights", and this is the type of drive it is, but AGAIN, there is a yellow
> > !. As mentioned in my other posts, I can see the drive, I can view
> > contents, I can copy to/from, but I DO NOT TRUST IT because Windows tells me
> > it may not function properly because of NO DRIVER.
> >
> > Any other thoughts/comments/suggestions are welcomed. I appreciate
> > everyones help on this, I just wish I could get it resolved. Thanks again.
> >
> >
> >
> > "M.I.5¾" wrote:
> >
> > > "Lonnie" <Lon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > >news:1FEABC40-BAC2-4DE2-B429-07604818DA13@microsoft.com...
> > > > Ok, I've got a WD External Firewire drive that seems to be malfunctioning.
> > > > Now Western Digital Support is telling me that the Firewire Drive is plug
> > > > &
> > > > play and that windows should already have the driver for it. HUH, since
> > > > when
> > > > did Firewire become plug & play? I've got Yellow Exclamation marks in
> > > > device
> > > > manager. Doesn't that mean that there isn't a proper device driver
> > > > installed
> > > > for the drive?
> >
> > > Firewire is most certainly plug and play and no other drivers should be
> > > required under XP. If the firewire device has a yellow ! over it, something
> > > is not quite right - but it doesn't usually mean that there is no driver
> > > (That scenario would generally report the drive as an 'unknown device').
> > > First thing to try is to right click the device and uninstall it. Now
> > > reboot windows and allow it to rediscover the drive and install it. If that
> > > doesn't work try it on another PC just to check that it isn't the drive.- Hide quoted text -
> >
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Firewire "hosts" drivers appear to be "built-in" XP thus the rason why
> "no other driver" required. However, this does not mean that the
> driver files can not be "damaged" since these are still standard XP
> files. You can try to run "sfc /scannow" to try to have XP repair
> these files.
>

"Lonnie" <Lonnie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C8AE73DA-6E36-41F2-8BE1-587559E34B6D@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the reply.
>
>
> Ok, I don't know what's going on but I certainly appreciate everyones
> help.
> I'm getting a little tired of nothing working. I think it's a little
> weird
> that the drive is "Technically" recognized, but I still have a yellow ?
> and
> !. Smlunatick, I gave your suggestion a try sfc /scannow and it seemed to
> pull a lot of stuff off of the original systems disc, but after rebooting,
> there was still no changes.
>
> To me this is very puzzling, but I'm not going to continue to dwell on it
> soooo much. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this drive though.
> I'm
> surely NOT going to buy another external drive - too much of a darn
> headache.
>

Have you tried the drive on another PC? This will at least tell you if the
drive or the PC is the problem.