Windows 8 - Hitachi Touro Pro

Anonymous
2012-10-29T18:44:53+00:00

Can anyone help me out with this.

I have 4 x 2TB Hitachi Touro Pro external hard drives. All work 100% in Windows 7.

However, they do not work under Windows 8. When connected you will hear the sound notifying you a USB device was attached but not drive letter.

After a couple of minute (2-4 minutes) a drive will appear but it you try access the drive the machine will freeze.

I have tried all 4 drives and they all show the same issue, working in Windows 7 not in 8.

This has to be a windows issue.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2013-02-23T13:31:13+00:00

Can anyone who has gotten their Hitachi Touro to work with Windows 8 confirm the USB 3.0 host controller?

After first noticing the compatibility issues when I first installed Windows 8, I traded my Hitachi drive for my brother's Seagate Expansion drive. His drive is smaller capacity, but at least I can use it with my computer.

Anyway, my brother's computer is having some issues and I was going to try reinstalling Windows 7. before doing that, I decided to do a test installation of Windows 8. His computer is running on an Intel Series 4 chipset and I have added a USB 3.0 add-on card to connect to his external drive. After installing Windows 8 to his computer, I was able to access the Hitachi Touro Pro hard drive with no issues at all.

I checked in the device manager and his USB 3.0 host controller is listed as Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller. My computer that has problems with the Hitachi drive is running on an Intel H77 based motherboard with integrated USB 3.0. The host controller on my computer is listed as Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0100 (Microsoft).

Based on this information, would the issue lie with the drivers for the USB 3.0 controller, and not the operating system? Intel doesn't provide any updated drivers for the USB 3.0 on Windows 8; only previous versions of the OS.

(Update)

I just found a thread at the Intel Support Community that has over 225 comments from users discussing this issue. Apparently the native Windows 8 drivers from Microsoft for the Intel USB 3.0 controller are causing issues with other USB 3.0 devices as well. Someone hacked the lasted Windows 7 driver for the Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller to make it work for Windows 8. It is available for download on page 16 of that thread. You must disable driver signing to be able to install the driver.

  • Hold the Shift key while selecting Restart to enter Advanced Startup Options
  • Click Troubleshoot
  • Click Advanced Options
  • Click Startup Settings
  • Click Restart
  • After the computer reboots, select option 7 to disable driver signature enforcement
  • Go to Device Manager
  • Right-click on your USB 3.0 host controller and select Update Driver
  • Select "Browse my computer for driver software"
  • Choose "Let me pick..."
  • Click the Have Disk button
  • Browse to where you downloaded the modified driver and select it
  • Click Next
  • Select the option to install when warned about digital driver signing
  • If an unknown device appears, you can install by selecting the "Browse..." option and entering the containing folder rather than having to manually pick a specific driver. This will install the Intel USB 3.0 Root Hub

Hopefully, Intel will recognize this issue and release updated drivers. Until then, this will hopefully work with no issues.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-11-05T22:30:15+00:00

    I contacted Hitachi's support over the weekend. Here was their reply:

    "Unfortunately external hard drives having issues with Windows 8 is an industry wide issue that Microsoft is working on. We do not currently have a fix for Windows 8."

    I've only seen the Hitachi drives being reported as having issues so far. I am going to borrow by brother's Seagate drive (also USB 3.0) to see if it behaves the same way as my drive.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-11-06T00:43:02+00:00

    I have managed to fix my Touro Pro 3TB drive to work under windows 8 by connecting it too a USB 3 PCI Express card. 

    Initially the drive was plugged into the Intel motherboard's USB 2 port however the drive would not appear in Explorer or disk manager and the computer would freeze if I tried to eject it using the tray icon.

    Then out of desperation I tried plugging the drive into a cheap (£9) USB 3 PCI Express card and it  started working correctly again with no problems. I haven't got a motherboard with native USB 3 ports to test if its an issue with the motherboard or USB 2.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-11-07T06:21:44+00:00

    I have encountered zero problems with my 4 bay USB 3.0 enclosure.  It's only with the Hitachi that I have issues.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-11-08T04:13:19+00:00

    I tested my old USB 2.0 enclosure with an 80GB hard drive and it works fine. I've also tested my brother's Seagate Expansion 500GB USB 3.0 drive and it also works with no issues. The Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro 750GB drive is the only external drive that I've had issues with. I have tried it with the USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports that are integrated into my motherboard, but the file explorer locks up either way.

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