Weird poblem with external USB HDDs

[Remyx]

I have several external USB HDDs.

They work fine on my Dell laptop and work computer. But not so fine on my home PC.
All systems are WinXP SP3.

When I connect them to my home system, the USB disks make some clicking noise, sometime they start spinning, but stop after a little while.
The motherboard is an Abit IP35, and I also have a PCI USB2 controller. I tried connecting the drives to both, with similar results.

My USB drives are 2-1/2 laptop drives, they get power directly from the USB port.

I am not sure what to do next. Any tip would be appreciated.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> My USB drives are 2-1/2 laptop drives, they get power directly from the USB port.

Sounds like neither is delivering enough power. Do you have a powered USB hub (with its own AC adapter) that you can plug into the desktop? Does the external drive have a power brick that you just aren't using?

 

[Remyx]

I certainly agree it sounds like a power delivery problem.

I do have a USB powered hub (USB1 unfortunately). I tried that, one disk never started, the other one worked sucessfully several times, but failed also to start a few times.

I find it odd that my desktop feeds less power that my laptop. Could it be the number of other USB peripherals I have connected (mouse, keyboard, webcam, 2 joysticks) ? None of them should be really power hungry.

Thanks,