Connecting External Hard Drive Causes Xbox One Not To Connect To Xbox Live

Here is a relevant note from the known issues summary, I hope you find it useful

Wireless Networking:

You may encounter a “wireless network hardware on this console is not working” error when connecting to Xbox Live with a wireless connection.

Your Xbox One console may be unable to detect a wireless connection while an external hard drive is plugged in. Workaround: Unplug the external hard drive, hard reset the console, connect to WiFi, then connect the external hard driv

1. Plug external hard drive into Xbox One with good connection.

2. Download games.

3. Unplug external drive.

4. Take external drive to Xbox One with bad connection.

5. Plug external drive in.

6. Play games.

7. Say thank you.

Note: External drive needs to be USB 3.0 and have 256GB of free space.

Are you on Preview system updates (Insider Program)?

Are your hard drives powered externally, or through the USB port?

Are your hard drives connected to a USB hub instead of directly into the Xbox USB ports? (hubs may possibly cause the connection to be "weak")

hello again Gus

The fact that your controller stops unpairing and your games load smoother when your external hard drive is disconnected suggests that the external hard drive might be causing the issues you've been experiencing.

Here are some possible explanations and next steps:

Possible explanations:

Overworked USB port: Connecting an external hard drive draws additional power from the USB port. If the port is overloaded, it might be causing the controller to disconnect and games to lag.
Incompatible hard drive: Not all external hard drives are compatible with Xbox consoles. An incompatible drive might cause performance issues and instability.
Hardware issues: The hard drive itself might be malfunctioning or experiencing hardware failures.
Next steps:

Test with another USB port: Try connecting the external hard drive to another USB port on your Xbox. This will help determine if the issue is specific to a particular port.
Format the hard drive: Reformatting the hard drive can fix any corrupted data or file system issues that might be causing performance problems. However, remember that this will erase all data on the drive, so back up your important files before proceeding.
Use a different external hard drive: If you have another external hard drive, try connecting it to your Xbox and see if the issues persist. This will help determine if the problem is specific to the original hard drive.

I hope this helps! Don't hesitate to ask if you have any further questions or need additional clarification.

Yes, you can play Xbox One games on your Series S from an external hard drive without causing problems. Just make sure the drive is a USB 3.0 hard drive with a minimum capacity of 128 GB, you can go up to 16 TB if you wish. You can also connect up to 3 external hard drives to your console as well.