I can not get the lightscribe to work. my question is I was told the unit will operate on a usb port the book says needs a usb 2 port . Now the drive works to make backups and to copy to but no lightscribe what do you think? short of buying a new comp. what can I do. I am open for any ideas.

Some older external hard drives required special USB cables with two plug-ins. This was not for the sake of data transfer, but because they needed more power than a single USB port could provide. Some older units even went so far as to have the laptop-type "brick" power supply since they needed so much power. This is probably what is wrong here. Your Mac Book probably doesn't have the current to handle the drive on the port and is protecting itself. Some units have one or two high-power USB ports. This may work if you have one. Otherwise, you'll need to download the drive another way.

Windows XP/Vista/7 operating systems have the driver for all disc drives build in. If it isn't working, then the driver is not your problem.

I assume it's a USB device.

If it does not appear in 'My Computer' as a 'drive letter' device, the most likley problem is DRIVERS = go to manufacturers web site & see if you can find a driver specirfic to your (not stated) operating system (if it's a 64bit OS you are on your own ...).

May I suggest an alternative?
Buy an external enclosure, and install the DVD R/W drive of your choice. The external enclosure just plugs into any available USB port, on your computer.

This is an example of an external enclosure for a IDE optical drive, (IDE is also known as PATA. This is to help differentiate it from SATA.
Parallel ATA. Serial ATA),

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3311744&CatId=2784

This is an example of an external enclosure for a SATA optical drive,

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4777668&CatId=2784

An example of an IDE optical drive unit, that I have used for 3 years with no problem, and have installed the same unit in a clients computer.
4 years, and all is well.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4412159&CatId=4

Actually a slightly older model version, but this one is comparable.

Info about the LightScribe Technology,
(You have to use LightScribe disks made by HP. Slightly higher in cost than non-LightScribe one's)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightscribe

I have bad news for you. The "My Book" series do not have on/off switches. If you do not see any lights on the front, it means one of three things:
1. Your A/C wall power supply is dead or unplugged. 2. The controller circuit card that connects to the internal drive has failed. 3. Your My Book is actually working, but is not currently connected to an active USB port.
Let's start with #3 is it is the easiest and cheapest to fix. A. Unplug the USB cable from the My Book. B. Unplug the power cord from the back of the My Book. C. Re-apply the power cord to the back of the My Book and look at the front panel to see if see any brief illumination, indicating that you have positively have power to the unit. Also, put the drive next to your ear and see if you can hear / feel the internal disk spinning. If so, that is also a good sign in the power department. The My Books can/will spin down and go into "sleep" mode if not connected to an active USB port. Verify that your USB cable is plugged into a known-good-working USB port on your computer, then re-apply the USB cable to the back of the My Book.
Still doesn't work? Ok, let's move on to #1.
To verify that the power supply works, you need a voltmeter or a digital multi-meter to verify that the voltage coming out of the power supply is valid and high-enough voltage to power the drive. If you don't know how to do this, go find a friend that understands electricity, or better yet, take the power supply to Radio Shack and they will be happy to test the power supply for you. If they prove that it doesn't work, they have universal replacement power supplies that they can sell you to solve this problem.
Power supply is working? Darn.
Either the controller card inside the My Book case is fried or the SATA drive inside is fried. The only way to solve the riddle now is to pull the My Book case apart, pull the internal drive out and put it in another USB-SATA enclosure. Again, Radio Shack or Best Buy can help you with a bare USB-SATA enclosure. Make sure you ask for one that fits a 3.5" drive.
Lastly, I'm guessing that you've already verified that the drive is no longer under warranty with Western Digital. Some of those My Books now have 5-year warranties.

There are a couple mini USB connectors out there, especially in digital cameras.
But what you need is the most common USB A -> USB Mini B cable, as used with many MP3 players, USB hubs, cellphones etc.
For example, a Nokia DKE-2 cable will work perfectly.

The LightScribe-enabled CD/DVD disc drive contains a special laser that pumps light into this label to create whatever designs you have created. The light from the laser causes a chemical change in the dye coating that shows up as a visible point on the disc.
The best way to add this to your new computer is to buy a Lightscribe external drive that connects via a USB port.

Normally drivers are not needed for external drives like this as windows identifies it quite well.

I devised these simple steps that tend to remedy quite a few issues with most USB portable / external hard drives and devices (though not always)

A few things to check but assumes USB and Windows for other interfaces / operating systems (mac/ Linux) similar steps may be adapted to suit.

1. Ensure it is connected directly to the computer to a USB 2.0 port not a USB 1.0 port as this can have effects on performance and reliability

2. Use only the cables that came with it NOT one that fits that may have been lying around or is longer. Not all USB cables are equal even though they should be)

3. Do not connect through an external USB HUB unless that hub is USB 2.0 AND has its own power supply.

4. Use ONLY the power supply that came with it if it has an external power supply Don’t use any other unless you know it has both the same voltage and current rating e.g. 12V 500mA anything rated below that would not work properly.

5. Always use the same port for connecting your devices. Some devices do not like being switched about. If switched they may want to install software / drivers again. This can be especially true if you move a HUB to another port

If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues then check your hardware from CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / HARDWARE.
Any exclamation marks by hardware need fixing before you investigate any further

USB flash drives can fail for no apparent reason.
Sandisk Cruzers are especially bad for this.

USB hard drives should be treated with extreme care.
This is a real hard drive ! and knocks and bumps can quite literally kill them.

It is possible to remove drives from the enclosures in most cases and connect directly inside a PC to fully check it.

Note that if you hear a drive clicking or pinging this could be the worst thing you would hear.
Known as "The Click Of Death"

I devised these simple steps that tend to remedy quite a few issues with most USB portable / external hard drives and devices (though not always)

A few things to check but assumes USB and Windows for other interfaces / operating systems similar steps may be adapted to suit.

1. Ensure it is connected directly to the computer to a USB 2.0 port not a USB 1.0 port as this can have effects on performance and reliability

2. Use only the cables that came with it NOT one that fits that may have been lying around or is longer. Not all USB cables are equal even though they should be)

3. Do not connect through an external USB HUB unless that hub is USB 2.0 AND has its own power supply.

4. Use ONLY the power supply that came with it if it has an external power supply Don’t use any other unless you know it has both the same voltage and current rating e.g. 12V 500mA anything rated below that would not work properly.

5. Always use the same port for connecting your devices. Some devices do not like being switched about. If switched they may want to install software / drivers again. This can be especialy true if you move a HUB to another port

If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues then check your hardware from CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / HARDWARE.
Any exclamation marks by hardware need fixing before you investigate any further

Dear karroll.

Im having same as you're problem. but there is solution that might help you, but didnt work for me for some reason..

enter device manager by type devmgmt.msc, select universal serial bus (USB), you can see what problem at USB, right click to conflict port delete the port who's conflict.
restart your computer.


trying to connect your ext. Harddisk again

Best regards
-evo