Hi there,

I've been experiencing a strange problem that I've never came across.

Whenever a Cubase project has an audio channel (audio samples from the external HDD), the external HDD starts to disconnect and connect after a while.

I already run a few type of tests that made me sure it only happens when a project includes audio samples thar are located in the external HDD.


The external HDD is new and the problem has been appears for a while.

Thanks in advances for advices.

 

can be just a more or less power-demanding device, so:

make sure USB Selective Suspend is disabled in Windows Power Settings,
also check BIOS for EHCI and xHCI handoff and whether BIOS or OS controls power management
last but not least, make sure only this HDD is connected to a certain USB bus, so it's not bottlenecked by some MIDI controller or audio interface sharing bus lanes

 

I already did all of these things.

I would like to point again that the external HDD disconnects and reconnects only when a Cubase project has audio files that are located in the external HDD.

It doesn't disconnect and reconnect when a Cubase project has only midi or instrument channels, but only when a project includes audio files / samples that are stored in the external HDD.

 

There is not enough power. Could be it is enough when the disk is idle, but not when it starts reading data.
Maybe try an active (powered) USB hub?

 

Last edited: May 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM

Possible solutions

• Disable power saving mode for USB devices and hard drives in the Windows power options.
• Use a different, shorter, and higher-quality USB cable.
• Connect the hard drive directly to the PC, not via a hub.
• Check that the hard drive is receiving sufficient power (using a power adapter or active hub if necessary).
• Test the hard drive on another computer to rule out a hardware defect.
• If the problem persists, consider switching to an SSD or a different hard drive.

Reasons why your external hard drive only disconnects when playing audio samples in Cubase

1. High streaming load and hard drive speed
When Cubase plays audio files (samples) from the external hard drive, it creates a high and continuous data load. External hard drives, especially via USB, are often slower and less stable than internal drives. If the drive can't handle the data rate, it can freeze or lose its connection.
This can lead to crashes, especially with many simultaneous audio tracks or large sample libraries.

2. Power management and power saving mode
Many external hard drives go into standby mode when inactive or when the power supply is too low. If a large amount of data is suddenly accessed (such as when playing audio in Cubase), the connection can be lost because the drive isn't responding quickly enough or Windows classifies it as "no longer connected."

3. USB Cables, Ports, and Power Supply
Poor or overly long USB cables, defective ports, or insufficient power supply (especially with 2.5" drives without their own power supply) frequently lead to connection drops under heavy load.

4. Difference between Audio and MIDI/Instrument Tracks
MIDI and instrument tracks require little hard drive access because they either run in RAM or transfer only small amounts of data. Therefore, the problem only occurs with audio tracks that actually stream large amounts of data from the hard drive.

5. Incorrect Driver or Buffer Settings
If the audio driver or buffer size is not optimally configured, problems accessing the hard drive can occur under heavy load. This then manifests itself in crashes or crackling.

Source KI

 

Do you save all your projects on the external hard drive too? as normally with Cubase when creating a Project it will copy all the audio samples used in the song to the Audio Pool and the Project Folder.
Does changing the Power Scheme in Cubase make any difference?
Studio Setup> Audio System > □ Activate Steinberg Audio Power Scheme
In Device Manager also check > Universal Serial Bus Controllers
Double click each one and select Power Management [Tab]
and uncheck/untick 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' if ticked

 

Hard Disk
There are a number of reasons why you don’t want Windows to turn off the hard disk.

1. Mechanical hard drives can take a few seconds to spin up.
2. If you’re recording audio to, or streaming audio from (including using large disk based
sample libraries) you need the hard drive running continuously.
3. A hard page fault (discussed later) on a powered off hard drive can completely stall
audio processing until it’s fully powered up again.
4. Even for hard drives that you’re not actually using during performance, just the act of
shutting down or powering up a drive can stall other processes.
Set “Turn off hard disk after” to 0 minutes to prevent Windows from doing this: See Attached Picture

USB Suspend
Almost every computer used for music performance is going to be using USB devices. Whether
that’s music related devices like audio devices, USB/MIDI keyboards or typical PC devices
like a keyboard or mouse you really don’t want these devices to be suspended while you’re
playing.

Even if you’re not using USB devices, you still should make this change. In fact it’s probably
even more important– if you’re not using USB it’s more likely to be suspended and giving
the device driver the opportunity to shut down could cause an undesirable stall.
In “USB Settings” -> “USB select suspend setting”, change the setting to “Disabled”.

Source: Don't let audio glitches ruin your performances! www.cantabilesoftware.com/glitchfree/

 

But it only happens when a Cubase project has audio files that are located in the external HDD.

It doesn't happen when a Cubase project file has a large amount of Kontakt libraries that are located in the external HDD.

 

Try a VERY LARGE data copy to the external drive - no daw's, no other apps running just a file explorer window. Do like 1/2 the capacity of the drive of any large amount of data - programs, samples, etc, doesn't matter really just as long as it has a lot to copy. If everything is correct you shouldn't have any trouble. Might take a while but it should complete without errors - if it does copy it all back to the main system. This should be a rather conclusive test of read write capabilities. My guess is that it wont complete because of some possible power issue, bad cable, misconfiguration of OS settings, etc...

 

Still, it is worth a try. I've had similar situation multiple times when a HDD or external DVD burner connected and disconnected back and forth - not enough power from USB was usually the reason. So I had to unplug everything from neighbour USB ports (as they are usually connected to the same USB constroller, anyway) or e.g. use a special cable with dual USB plugs (one for data, the other for power). Your problem looks very much like things I was experiencing.

 

Are you using a Ryzen CPU? If so, which one?

Ryzen CPUs have an annoying bug that will do this randomly. I have two PCs that do that, and there are thousands of people online with the same issue. Some people have it more than others, but as far as I'm aware, even with all the CPU Chipset and BIOS updates it's still not fully fixed. Not sure if this still affects the 7000 and 9000 series, but it is indeed a problem with earlier chipsets.

If that's your case, you should try updating the Chipset drivers and BIOS to see if it helps.

 

Windows: How to set up and optimize a Digital Audio Workstation
https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/...t-up-and-optimize-a-Digital-Audio-Workstation

 

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...em-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e

CHKDSK (short for "Check Disk") is a Windows utility designed to find and repair system errors. It checks whether a file's size, location, and other system information match the data actually on the hard drive. CHKDSK also looks for parts of the hard drive that might corrupt your data.

chkdsk /f eliminates structural problems with the file system and the directory, correcting inconsistencies between the two.
How to run chkdsk /f to fix drive

CrystalDiskInfo
The free software CrystalDiskInfo allows you to perform detailed diagnostics and analyses of hard drives, such as HDDs and SSDs. CrystalDiskInfo provides a wide range of different values and information about the hard drive that clearly illustrate its health. These include partitions, temperature, write and read error rate, rotation speed, memory and buffer sizes, firmware version, serial number, and the total operating hours of the hard drive.
https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/

Try the following: Go to Start > Settings > System > Power & sleep > under Related settings select Additional power settings > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings > expand USB settings > disable USB selective suspend setting. This setting really only makes sense for mobile devices to conserve power.

If that does not resolve, then check out USBLogView (https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_log_view.html) and look for event that coincide with when you encounter the sound. It may identify the problem device if it is a USB device causing it.

 

hmm can you observe in taskmanager/resmon if there's some excessive I/O going on in that specific situation? maybe Cubase is also reindexing the files, generating waveforms while being clashed with antivirus or system indexing?

 

Another example of a great reason to get to know Reaper, if even minimally as a second DAW. You could rule out Cubase being your problem in however long it takes you to make a quick test "track". Turn the volume down so you do not have to listen to whatever garbage you sling together in a few minutes with samples only playing back from that hard disk.

If you have one, put the same batch of samples you are using into a test Cubase track onto another external hard disk and test that.

You have ruled out whatever Cubase you have installed, the hard disk, and your system without guesswork. Then you will know what you have to actually waste the time fixing.

 

Been through this many times. unfortunately with mainly Glyph Blackbox Pro's. Hurry up and back up your drive, it's failing.
s

 

Windows updates always mess up the power configuration for me. I always have to go into device manager and click off the power saving feature for every USB hub, for every storage device. Or when I click on my "M" drive to audition a sample I can run out for a cup of coffee while I'm waiting to hear it. To Columbia and back. But when my drive kept disconnecting it was because the power adapter to my 10 port powered USB hub came out. The solid state ones seemed to get by on the power just from my computer's USB port, but the Seagate is the "spinny" type and I concluded that it must need a bit more power with moving parts inside. Unfortunately I didn't figure it out fast enough and had corrupted some files after so many times losing power/connection. A 48 hour chkdsk fixed that luckily.

 

Those can all be possible. But jumping to the drive is possibly failing; when he says it is brand new, is not a very likely. Anything can go on in Windows with USB and power, but that does not likely account for when he mentions this, either:

Sometimes you have to listen closely to what someone is telling you.

 

Very interesting problem and you diagnosed it well so it's easier to solve it. My sneaky suspicion is that the drive gets underpowered in certain conditions. Reading many WAV files concurrently from it can put it under too much stress if the power is lacking, so the drive electronics disconnect it. If you're using a USB hub make sure it's a powered kind.

Also interesting is this being a known problem with AMD chipsets. Is the problem with not enough USB power? This is the first time I hear about it. I wonder which chipsets are affected? B650? I must research it.

 

Audio samples may stress power more than Kontakt, because Kontakt buffer audio.
So Kontakt don't stress continuously the drive.

Check Cubase audio streaming from disk setting :
https://forums.steinberg.net/t/disk-cache-spikes-popping-in-cubase/845627/5