Zen mkiii not recognising USB Drive

[Trooper]

Hi,

I am trying to back up my files from my Zen to a USB drive. I have tried two drives, both USB 3, but the Zen keeps saying no USB drive found.

Does anyone know what the problem might be?

 

[Stephen Healy]

Can you let me know the models of the USB drives, and what version of Sense you are running?

 

[Trooper]

I have attached photos of both drives.

I am using version 1.5.0 of Sense.

Thanks

 

[Stephen Healy]

Seems a coincidence that both drives do not work. A couple things to check:
Have you tried both Backup but also DAC ports on the ZEN? The DAC port can still be used for backup, hopefully the Backup socket has not been shorted.
Do either of these drives have any password protection on them at all?
You could also take one of the drives and make sure it is formatted first to EXFAT format, if it is not already in that format?

 

[Trooper]

Seems a coincidence that both drives do not work. A couple things to check:
Have you tried both Backup but also DAC ports on the ZEN? The DAC port can still be used for backup, hopefully the Backup socket has not been shorted.
Do either of these drives have any password protection on them at all?
You could also take one of the drives and make sure it is formatted first to EXFAT format, if it is not already in that format?

Hi, thanks for your answer. The same happens with the DAC port.

Both drives I am using are NTFS format according to the Properties when I connect them to my laptop. Could this be the problem?

Neither drive is password protected.

I am not sure how to format them to FAT32...

I also should have mentioned, when I connect the drive to the Zen the light comes on on the drive to indicate that it is connected to another source.

 

[Trooper]

I have now managed to reformat one of the drives to FAT32, but the Zen still doesn't find using either the backup port or the DAC port.

 

[Stephen Healy]

Out of curiosity, is this the first backup attempt you are making, or has there possibly be one before on the ZEN? On the Backup menu, do you have the option to RESET BACKUP CONFIGURATION before you then go to CONFIGURE BACKUP -> USB?

 

[Trooper]

I bought the Zen second hand so I am not sure if there has been a previous backup. I have not done one before.

Yes there is an option for Reset backup configuration. Should I do this?

 

[Stephen Healy]

Ah...that would explain it.
Yes, you will have to Reset the backup configuration - the reason your current drives are not being detected is because the system is looking for a previous USB drive that the previous owner would have been using.
If you RESET CONFIGURATION, then go through the process of configuring a new USB backup, you should be absolutely fine.

Backup To External USB Drive - Innuos - High-Fidelity Digital Music Servers and Streamers

You can back up your Sense library in two ways: either directly to an external USB drive using one of your device’s USB ports, or to a NAS (Network Attached

innuos.com

 

[Trooper]

Ah...that would explain it.
Yes, you will have to Reset the backup configuration - the reason your current drives are not being detected is because the system is looking for a previous USB drive that the previous owner would have been using.
If you RESET CONFIGURATION, then go through the process of configuring a new USB backup, you should be absolutely fine.

Backup To External USB Drive - Innuos - High-Fidelity Digital Music Servers and Streamers

You can back up your Sense library in two ways: either directly to an external USB drive using one of your device’s USB ports, or to a NAS (Network Attached

innuos.com

That worked perfectly, all sorted now. Thank you very much for your help.

 

[hoku]

Aloha, I am also unable to reconfigure the USB as the mk3 does't recognize the USB... it is as if there was no device inserted, just keeps spinning and showing "Not finding any USB drives... Please make sure your drive is connected"

Also noticed in the first page after selecting backup, it shows an empty Library... very odd

It actually worked initially, but after a few hours and at 46% of 179.4gb it simply failed and didn't proceed any longer. I removed and tried again to no avail. Am updated and using software version 3.2.0

The next time I inserted the USB, it couldn't read it to reconfigure and couldn't read it to proceed.

 

[Stephen Healy]

Aloha, I am also unable to reconfigure the USB as the mk3 does't recognize the USB... it is as if there was no device inserted, just keeps spinning and showing "Not finding any USB drives... Please make sure your drive is connected"

Also noticed in the first page after selecting backup, it shows an empty Library... very odd

It actually worked initially, but after a few hours and at 46% of 179.4gb it simply failed and didn't proceed any longer. I removed and tried again to no avail. Am updated and using software version 3.2.0

The next time I inserted the USB, it couldn't read it to reconfigure and couldn't read it to proceed.

Have you connected that drive back to a PC to see if behaves normally? I am almost wondering if it has encountered a fault of some kind

 

[hoku]

OK, checked that drive, not registering on the PC either so perhaps is the drive - because it was configured and failed to backup on my Innuos Mk3, wondering if that could have messed it up, or it was simy not co.patible to begin with.

Any suggestions for types/brands of flash drives that work well with Innuos?

Also, My Zen Mk3 is 2T, but am only at 179gb so was usung a 1T flash drive for now - should I match the flash drive to total capacity instead?

Mahalo

 

[Stephen Healy]

The capacity of the USB backup drive does not need to perfectly match the Innuos capacity, but it doesn't hurt.
I would say there would have been an initial compatibility, and as part of the backup process the Innuos will completely re-format the USB drive anyway. But i do wonder if a subsequent corruption or failure occurred.
For USB drives, I always the simpler and more basic the better. I have been using a WD My Passport for several years and it has never let me down.