Home > Support > FAQs: Combo Hard Drive, Combo Hard Drive II and Combo Hard Drive 25

Combo Hard Drive switch setting

• Setting all three switches to the left will be Internal Mode setting with DMA support.
  (Picture Shown Above)
• Setting all three switches to the Right will be External mode.
• The Power Switch (from the above picture) is a 3way switch.
  Setting it in the middle will be the neutral position and power will be turned off.
  Setting for the power switch should be either all the way to the left or all the way to the right for the drive to function properly

Combo Hard Drive II switch setting

• Setting all three switches to the left will be Internal Mode setting with DMA support.
  (Picture Shown Above)
• Setting all three switches to the Right will be External mode.
• The Power Switch (from the above picture) is a 3way switch.
  Setting it in the middle will be the neutral position and power will be turned off.
  Setting for the power switch should be either all the way to the left or all the way to the right for the drive to function properly.

Note:
We recommend setting the hard drive to MASTER mode/setting at all times

Q. Why does the computer not recognize my Pocket ExDrive and Combo Hard Drive?
A. Check the Power Switch, Jumper Settings, Power Source.
Make sure all cables are properly connected.
If you have a PCMCIA interface cable, make sure that the PCMCIA card is fully inserted into the computer's PCMCIA socket.

Q. I connected my ExDrive or combo drive kit to my computer, drivers installed fine. I have power to the drive and all cables are connected properly however I do not have a drive letter for the hard drive to access it?
A. Make sure that the hard drive you connected is already partitioned and formatted. If the hard drive came from a Windows NT machine, check to see if it is using an NTFS partition. You will need to repartition the drive in order to access it from windows 98, SE, Me. For more info about partition and format, go to http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q255867

Q. My Windows 2000 machine installed and recognized my drive from device manager
However there is no icon.
A. Go to control panel, administrative tools, computer management and disk management. You should see a DISK 1 or DISK 2 depending on how many drive is connected to your computer. Double check the size and brand of the hard drive that you are using. Most of the time if there are only 2 hard drive connected to your computer, DISK 1 will be the external drive. Right click on the DISK1, click on create signature then create a partition then format the drive.

Q. I have a drive that is more than 32G however Windwos 2000 only allows me to partition at maximum of 32G.
A. Under Windows 2000, the limit for a FAT32 partition is only 32G. If you want to partition a drive more than 32G, you will need to use the NTFS partition.

Q. Do I need to use FAT32 file system? Can I use FAT16 instead?
A. No, you do not need to use FAT32 However, if you use FAT16 you are limited to a maximum size of 2 GB per drive partition. That is why the FAT32 format was created in the first place. Note that if you do use FAT32, then you cannot use the same drive with older Windows 3.x, Windows 95, or Windows NT 3.x systems.

Q. Can I partition my 3.5" drive with multiple partitions?
A. Yes, you can by using the FDISK command.

Click here http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q255867 to learn more about partition and format.

Note: for hard drives that are 80 GB or higher, Windows Fdisk command may not see the right size of the hard drive under Win98 and Win98SE. This is due to Fdisk Command Limitation. Under Windows environment, the size of the drive should be OK.

Q. How do I set a CardBus/PCMCIA cable if I have one?
A. You might have a dual-mode Addonics PCMCIA/CardBus adapter. Look at the top of the card label, does it say "CARD BUS" under the Addonics logo? Both the Combo Hard Drive and the Pocket ExDrive must have an external power adapter attached for the CardBus mode to work. Luckily, this adapter can be used in either CardBus or PCMCIA mode.

You need to make sure that the card is operating in the appropriate mode by checking the tiny switch in the base of the adapter cable:



This switch needs to be in the correct position for it to work properly:

Near BUMP is CardBus mode; this mode will always require power adapter connected to the drive..
Away from BUMP is PCMCIA mode (on many systems, the drive can be powered directly from the PCMCIA slot).

Q. Does the USB Combo Hard Drive kit works under Windows 95 and Windows NT?
A. No, the USB Combo Hard Drive does not work under Windows 95 and Windows NT.

Q. Does the USB Combo Hard Drive runs without external power?
A. No, external power is always required for the Combo Drive kit.

Q. Is the Firewire Combo Drive Compatible with iLink port?
A. Yes, it is compatible as long as the computer is running Win98SE or higher.

Q. My Computer comes only with a 4 Pin IEEE 1394 or Firewire Port but the Addonics has a 6 Pin connector, how do I connect it?
A. The Addonics Firewire cable has a Standard 6 Pin Connector, you need to get a 4 pin to 6 pin Firewire adapter to work with the kit. Click to see a sample picture of the adapter. You may purchase the adapter at www.cyberguys.com under cables-adapters.

Q. Do I have to use a specific brand hard disks to use the Combo Drive kit?
A. No, you do not need to use a specific brand of hard disk to use with the Combo Drive kit.

Q. Where can I purchase some accessories for my Combo Drive kit or Pocket ExDrive?
A. You can purchase them 24/7 at www.storageusa.com

Q. What is the correct jumper setting for the Combo Hard Drive?
A. See jumper setting below.

Use as internal hard drive with DMA enabled:

Jumpers

Factory Default Setting. Can be use as Internal and External Setup. Under this setting, there is no DMA support when used as an internal hard drive.

Jumpers