USB drive not recogized in windows server 2012 after unplug and pluuged back in

Have you tried uninstalling and then installing the driver from the Manufacturers website? In some cases windows will recognize a device moved to a new USB as a new device and will want to auto install the drivers. This seems like it is waiting for the reboot to recognize the devices. Test the manufacturers driver and we can go from there.

Is this a USB3.0 drive?

I downloaded different drivers from the dell website and installed them.  Since Dell preinstalled the OS the drivers all seem to be up to date from what I downloaded.

They are USB 3.0 drives.

Well the server doesn't have 3.0 is that why you were asking @ noxcho ... would that cause an issue since @author said that the USB drives are 3.0? They should be reverse compatible. Here is a link asking about using USB 3.0 cards in this server if this is the issue you could use this as an option possibly:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/956/t/19503054

I am thinking if he is using PCI card for USB3.0 extention. The error message says about SCSI interface.

these did work with an old windows 2003 server that had USB2.0.   I am not sure.  But we actually have two identical servers.  both preloaded OS by dell and they are both doing the same thing.   The only thing that I have not tried is to go into Devices and printers and first tell it to eject the disk(it is a usb device) and then unplug it from the server and see if I can then plug in the next drive.  Although this is the first USB device that I have had to actually tell it to eject.

I will let you know the results.

try safely remove; it handles plugging and unplugging problems for a small fee :   http://safelyremove.com/?pid=1

So you are connecting these drives to USB2.0 onboard USB ports, am I right? If yes then yes you need to use safe remove or configure the drives for quick remove.

Tried using windows safe remove(Eject).  waited for message that it was safe to unplug.  unplugged drive and then re plugged drive in.  Same result.

I will try safelyremove

no go with safelyremove either.  same issue.  somewhere that driver is stuck in memory after initial load.

Are you using USB2.0 ports?

yes USB 2.0 ports

drives are usb 3.0 but my understanding is that they are backward compatible.

something so simple should not be this hard.

may i ask - did you try the program i suggested - or just the safely remove option from windows?
if the latter - try the software - it is made for such problems

I tried the program from safelyremove.com

Ok, then please try the following. Let's find out if the problem occurs with 3.0 USB drives only. Find a USB2.0 interface drive or USB stick and connect it to this server. Remove it either by Safe Remove or simply disconnecting and see if the problem remains.

looks like it might be specific to USB 3.0.  plugged and unplugged several times USB 2.0 drives with no problem.

Ok. Do these drives have their own power supply? Or do they get the power from USB ports?

ok..looks like a Seagate firmware problem.  exactly my situation.  looks like I have to figure out how to update the firmware on the Seagate drive. I am using Seagate External Backup Plus 4TB Hard Drive

http://www.dell.com/support/Article/us/en/04/SLN268363/EN

Seagate External USB 3.0 3TB, 4TB HDD fails to get detected

You may experience a situation where an externally plugged in USB 3.0 Seagate External Backup Plus 3TB or 4TB Hard Drive will not get detected in My Computer.

Seagate has determined that it is an issue with the Firmware of the USB 3.0 Seagate External Backup Plus 3TB and 4TB Hard Drive. You may ensure the following as a recommendation:


•Any other external hard drives are getting detected on the USB port.
•Run a Diagnostic Test on the USB port to ensure that the ports are working fine . ◦Select Hardware and then under Diagnostic Selector choose USB.

•If a hard drive replacement is required, Contact Seagate Support or Seagate - Desktop External Backup Plus Hard Drive Support.

Good. Didnt Seagte share a manual how to update it? Or maybe you give them a call and ask this directly?

I entered a support request to Seagate.  I will close this as solved.   thanks for everyones help

I've requested that this question be closed as follows:

Accepted answer: 0 points for gmerilli's comment #a40540499

for the following reason:

discovered this on dell support site

Well, who helped you to narrow the prpblem to USB3.0 drives?

Seagate's response to my request .
Thank you for contacting Seagate Support.

I understand you are needing assistance with using your external drives on your server.  Unfortunately, we do not test our external drives on servers.  The external drives are meant to be used on a desktop or laptop.  Since the drives seem to be working correctly, I would recommend checking with Microsoft to see if there are any possible updates to correct the issue you are having with the driver.  

For additional assistance, feel free to contact us at: www.seagate.com/about/contact-us/technical-support/


Regards,

Scott
Seagate Support

1st Class Email Support
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Thats pretty silly answer. What are you going to do next? Switch to USB2.0 drives?