'Unsafe Removal' Message Hot-Undocking with USB Device Attached to Dock (281435)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
This article was previously published under Q281435
If this article does not describe your hardware-related issue, please see the following Microsoft Web site to view more articles about hardware:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/w98?sid=460

SYMPTOMS

If you have a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device (such as a USB floppy disk drive) attached to a USB port in a docking station or port replicator, and you eject the portable computer while it is still running (known as "hot-undocking"), you may receive the following error message:
Unsafe Removal of Device

You have unplugged or ejected a device without stopping it which can cause your computer to crash and lose valuable data.

Please use the hotplug icon in the status bar to safely remove devices before unplugging them.
Unless the USB storage device is actively being written to, or you have files open on the USB storage device when you hot-undock the computer, there is no known effect of this behavior.

If you suspect that data was not written correctly to the USB storage device because of an unsafe removal of the device, reconnect the device and either copy the data to the USB storage device again, or read the data from the device and examine it to verify that it was written correctly.

CAUSE

This behavior may occur in hardware configurations in which the dock does not contain a separate USB controller (that is connected to the PCI bus through a PCI docking bridge), but instead contains a downstream USB hub that is connected to the USB root hub through the docking connector. In this hardware configuration, there is no direct hierarchical relationship between the docking bridge and the USB device that is connected to the dock.

The behavior described in this article occurs because Windows Millennium Edition (Me) does not correctly process Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) namespace objects for USB devices. In particular, properly defined _EJD objects in the ACPI namespace are not correctly processed.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, use the following steps to eject a computer from the dock while the computer is still running:
  1. Before you undock the computer, click the Hotplug icon on the right side of the taskbar, and then click a USB device that is attached to the docking station. Repeat this step if there is more than one USB device attached to the dock.
  2. After you have stopped all of the USB devices that are attached to the dock, click Eject PC on the Start menu to eject the computer from the dock.
If you suspect that data was not written correctly to the USB storage device because of an unsafe removal of the device, reconnect the device and either copy the data to the USB storage device again, or read the data from the device and examine it to verify that it was written correctly.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

The following computers and docking devices are known to be affected by this problem::
  • Toshiba Tecra 8100 with Toshiba Netdock Port Replicator, Toshiba CardDock Port Replicator
  • Toshiba Portege 7200 series with Toshiba DVD Network Dock
  • Toshiba Portege 3400 series with Toshiba Media Port Replicator, Toshiba LAN Port Replicator
  • Toshiba SatellitePro 4200, 4300 series with Toshiba Notedock IV Satellite Enhanced Port Replicator
For additional information about symptoms that may occur when you hot-plug or unplug USB floppy disk drives, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

277763 Problems Hot-Plugging USB Floppy Disk Drive

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/8/2006
Keywords:kbHardware kbprb KB281435
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