External hdd no longer usable

so I've had my day one Xbox since day one. I've had an external drive attached to it for nearly a year now but over the last few months I've been unable to actually install any new games to it.

i can see it listed when I manage storage and I can even select it as destination for all installations but it never gets used.

it always seems to revert to the internal drive.

As a test i formatted the drive and even a factory reset but despite being there the Xbox op won't use it.

whatnhave uou done in the updates to break this ?

:)

 

Digital pre order. Gimme beta keys!!!!

Yea I regret my disc purchases now that the external hdd is usable.

Why are you getting the collection on a disc? Sentimental value?

 

hard drive

There are no "files" to get. If a console HDD is formatted by a PC or via USB cable connected to a PC, it will no longer be usable on a console when connected to the console HDD port.

 

HI Pau1o88,

Sorry you're having problems with your external hard drive. First and foremost I would do a hard reset on your Xbox. With the console on hold the power button down for about 10 seconds. The console will turn off very quickly. After that power it back on
and expect a longer boot time. After it's booted see if the issue persists.

As you've already formatted it once I'm assuming you don't care about the data on it. If that is the case, To test the hard drive itself I would first unplug it, plug it into a Windows machine. Format it NTFS, and make sure you can copy files to and from
it. If you have a large movie or something that would be great to test as it uses a lot of I/O. If you have no issues playing movies and read / writing to the hard drive, then it may not be an issue with the drive itself. Plug it into the Xbox and allow the
console to format it again.

Post back after you've done these steps and let us know if you're still having issues. Hopefully one of the two will fix your issues.

 

So I removed the external drive and connected it to the PC.

The drive didn't show up in windows at all so I had to use the disk manager program which showed the drive as completely unallocated (despite just being formated in the Xbox one)

I managed to allocate the entire disk then format it using NTFS.

However now when I connect it to the Xbox one it shows up in the storage manager as 'picture, music & video' and I have no options to use the drive at all, I can't even format it.

 

Hi Pau1o88,

Sorry if my reply was a bit confusing. The purpose of plugging the hard drive into the computer was just to see if you had any issues with it. This would let us know if there was something physically wrong with the hard drive. After you moved some media
to it, could you use it on your Windows machine with no issues at all? When it is plugged into your Windows box, go ahead and try to watch the video, pictures, or music you copied to it. If you could use it with no issues, then go ahead and format it again
with Windows as NTFS. Plug it back in, and then follow the link below to get it setup with the Xbox again. After this let us know if it's working ok, or still having issues. Also check with the maker of your external hard drive and see if there are any firmware
updates.

Link to setup external storage

Link to troubleshoot external drive detection

Hope this helps.

 

Sorry for late response, so I did as you requested and the drive works flawlessly in the computer and Xbox one whist watching movies etc. I can also transfer files to and from it.

However, once I've formatted it to NTFS and reconnected it to my Xbox one it only shows and Music, Pictures. I don't have any format options or Install Games here option.

 

OK, so just read this in another post, which is my exact problem too.

"Hey I just bought a seagate backup plus 3tb and it was only going to media and not storage for games it wouldn't even let me format it on Xbox one so I called xbox and they said it's not compatible with the xbox it has to be a seagate expansion not a backup
plus because it just backups files and doesn't let you put games and apps into the storage just media and pictures and music"

Is the correct, if so why did my drive work for so long and now refuses to be available for game storage.

 

Hey there. You can use it for game storage OR use it for media. However, you cannot do both. If you follow that link. On how to troubleshoot game storage you can use that for games. Sorry but it can't be both. Xbox doesn't recognize NTFS for installing
games. If it's working now for media, you should be able to use it again for games. The troubleshooting was basically to start over with the drive so you could use it again for installs.

 

Reread your post. If you used it before you should be able to use it again. Try using it blank if you have media on it. You can try cleaning it using Windows commands, but you have to be EXTRMELY careful as that's an advanced windows utility that can wipe
another disk if you're not careful.

 

OK I get it. But how do I now format the drive so I can use it for games.

I've tried formatting in NTFS and exFat 32. I've even tried deleting all partitions, having the drive unallocated. Everything without success.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 

Please don't say "via the console" as I don't have any options on the console.

 

Well, I believe something is certainly wrong with my console !

I just took the drive around to my neighbors house and borrowed his sons Xbox one and guess what...

the drive was recognized and allowed me to format it first time.

So, whilst the drive is now working I would like to get to the bottom of why I couldn't do this on my own console ?!

 

Hey there.

Follow the link below. If it doesn't work, then hard reset your Xbox by hiding the power down for 10 seconds while the xbox is on. It will quickly shut off. Then turn it back on and try again.

support.xbox.com/.../console-doesnt-detect-external-storage

 

Oh one more thing while looking at this. If all fails use this link to reset your console to factory. As long as your Xbox had been connected tor the Internet all your tiles, background, and saves will still be there.you will however need to reinstall all
your games and apps.

support.xbox.com/.../reset-console-to-factory-defaults