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ICYBOX IB350 USB2.0/SATA External Hard Drive Enclosure

Daniel Pass July 16, 2004 2:38 AM ET in Tech

The ICY BOX promises to change the way we look at personal external storage. The ICY BOX is an external hard drive enclosure designed to be driverless*, portable and provide fast connectivity. External hard drives are very convenient but aren’t as fast as the same hard drive that is connected internally and directly to a PATA or SATA header, however, the ICY BOX may just change that by bringing SATA connectivity to the table.

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42 Comments:

  1. Unregistered
    Guest
    20 Jul '04, 4:12 pm

    My only problem is, I cant find where to buy one from!! Any one help? dan@citrusdesigns.co.uk

  2. Daniel Pass
    Sniping teh enterpwise!
    20 Jul '04, 4:14 pm

    My apologies, I shall add that to the review as the edit was lost in digital hyperspace

    www.thecoolingshop.co.uk
    www.micro-logic.com

    Both will have stocks shortly

  3. Unregistered
    Guest
    12 Aug '04, 1:14 am

    [quote] The enclosure may not stay ice cool but it was certainly never hot enough to warrant any concern. The drive itself was only warm to the touch after 5 hours constant usage.

    Did you by any chance monitor the SMART temperature setting? I have a Maxtor HDD which registers 5C above ambient when in use.

  4. Gargoyle
    We can't stop here...
    12 Aug '04, 1:18 am

    Looks JUST like my Speeze "Metal Gear Box Substance," except mine is USB/1394. Runs great too. Whoever is actually making these has a good, affordable product.

  5. Unregistered
    Guest
    11 Oct '04, 4:36 am

    My icy box does not work with my computer. I have windows2000 and xp.

  6. Daniel Pass
    Sniping teh enterpwise!
    11 Oct '04, 4:47 am

    Which interface do you use?? USB2 or Serial ATA

  7. Gargoyle
    We can't stop here...
    14 Oct '04, 3:20 pm
    Quoting Gargoyle

    Looks JUST like my Speeze "Metal Gear Box Substance," except mine is USB/1394. Runs great too. Whoever is actually making these has a good, affordable product.

    I take it back. My Speeze enclosure crapped out. Doesn't work anymore.

  8. Unregistered
    Guest
    22 Dec '04, 2:05 pm

    i'm using the same drive as in this review but a 2mb cache version. i am connecting through usb. the drive seems to disconnect and reconnect itself for no reason sometimes. has anyone else had this problem? REALLY annoying!

    oh... and mesh sides for cooling?! mine has lights, hence reflective panels that cover up the mesh sides on the inside... :\

  9. Unregistered
    Guest
    19 Jan '05, 3:39 pm

    I have exactly the same problem, it keeps disconnecting me. I keep all my documents on there, so when i'm listening to some music or watching a movie, it f***s up in the middle of it.

    Really gets on my tits..

  10. Unregistered
    Guest
    16 Feb '05, 4:30 am

    Hi all,
    I have problems with both of my HDD using these Icy Box enclosures (model IB-350_IL USB2 + FW400). They seem to run good until all of my backups dissapear from the HDD. I experienced this phenomenon on Win XP as well as on Linux with kernel 2.6.8.
    All the datas are simply whiped out when using FW400 or USB ports.
    I've seen that the drivers are from Prolific (!?!?!?!) and had some problems with a Prolific driver for a USB to serial adaptor.
    I will not recommand buying these Prolific bullshit to anyone! You get less than you pay for...

  11. Unregistered
    Guest
    8 Mar '05, 5:58 pm

    Be very careful using the icybox as your data backup. I bought one with USB2 and FW400 PATA box. It regularly corrupts the data, or it disappears completely. Only the folders can be seen. After copying the data, when you want to access it WinXP tells you that the drive is not formatted (which of course it was, when the data was copied). This is a terrible product, and I am sending mine back to where I bought it from. Hope this helps those who were thinking of getting one.

  12. Gargoyle
    We can't stop here...
    8 Mar '05, 7:46 pm

    There you have it folks - the ICYBOX and its rebaged bretheren are not to be relied on.

  13. redemption
    New to the neighborhood
    13 Mar '05, 10:47 pm

    hello
    I have had no problems with the ICYBOX at all, under multiple XP machines and in 2 different linux distros (RH and FC3)
    I have even accidentally pulled the power out and the data was fine.
    I therefore recommend the IcyBox (USB) !

  14. Unregistered
    Guest
    23 May '05, 7:23 am

    Hi all

    Would you Please anybody give me any alternative product, which is working perfect.
    Kamal

  15. Jimborae
    He ain't mad, just English
    23 May '05, 8:16 am

    My Iceybox (PATA, USB 2.0) works great, never had a any issues with it what so ever.

  16. bugmenot
    Banned
    16 Aug '05, 12:12 am

    guys if your want a really nice enclosure case you need to buy this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817145369 BYTECC ME-740U2SI Aluminum 3.5" USB + SATA External Enclosure this baby sure is a good product I benched marked her at 115MBps using the sata connection and she has yet to give me any problems.. she also has an aluminum casing keeping the hard drive nice and cool.. the only time she really gets hot is when I am running games off of her... but in the process of hooking up some external water cooling to her... hands down really good product....oh yea I am using a maxtor 7200rpm 15mb cache 200g hard drive........

  17. Barbs05
    New to the neighborhood
    23 Jul '08, 2:10 pm

    I would appreciate some advice about my new IcyBox which I received today. I have an Apple Mac machine, I connected my external hard drive to the Icybox and then to my Apple Mac. I then got a message saying that my computer was unable to read the disk and it gave me the option to 'initialize', 'ignore' or 'eject the disk. I do not want to lose the data on the disk so I chose to ignore. Previously the disk was in a Lacie enclose and a few months ago all four partitions (icons) of the disk just suddenly disappeared from my desk top. I then decided to buy a new enclosure yesterday. Can you give me some help, as in the manual which came with the Icybox, it says to make sure that the HDD jumper is set to 'Master', and I am not sure how to do this.

    If anyone can help me to get my disk to work or offer any advice I would be more than grateful.

    Regards

    Barbs05

  18. CB
    Doktor Schnabel von Rom
    23 Jul '08, 5:41 pm

    To jumper a drive into Master mode.

    Look on the rear of the drive, near the power connection:

    You should see a series of jumpers labeled Master, Slave, and Cable-select Like this:

    M S C
    : : :
    You should move the jumper tab to the ones labeled M, if it isn't already:

    -M S C
    [:]: :

  19. Leonardo
    F@H Reign of Terror is back!
    24 Jul '08, 1:02 am

    Shorty, one positive you missed - maybe you didn't have a long enough testing period - is the case on the IcyBox has excellent cooling properties. I've got a very similar unit based on the very same case. You can torture that drive for hours on end, and if it's deployed standing up, the heat radiates into the aluminum walls and into the air very efficiently. It's a winning, attractive design. The one I have, purchased about six years ago, is branded "Metal Gear Solid." I use at work with an old laptop to run a slide show of my photo collection.

  20. fatcat
    sasquatch wannabe
    24 Jul '08, 1:16 am

    2004 was a good year.

  21. Barbs05
    New to the neighborhood
    24 Jul '08, 4:49 pm

    Thanks, however, not sure what your message is in response to my query.

  22. legweak
    Getting settled in
    3 Sep '08, 7:53 am

    I have an icy box ib-mp302. can anyone tell me how to set it to master? the instruction booklet was written by the chinese and it looks like it. they are as clear as mud.

  23. Buddy J
    Dept. of Propaganda
    3 Sep '08, 1:11 pm

    This one?
    http://www.raidsonic.de/en/pages/pro..._objectID=5071

    Welcome to Icrontic legweak.

  24. Your Amish Daddy
    Banned
    3 Sep '08, 1:42 pm

    It means the hard drive set to master, you use the jumpers in the back. Check the label for your drive for more information on jumper positions.

  25. legweak
    Getting settled in
    4 Sep '08, 2:51 am
    Quoting Buddy J

    This one?
    http://www.raidsonic.de/en/pages/pro..._objectID=5071

    Welcome to Icrontic legweak.

    I have hitachi deskstar 500gb HDP725050gla360 hd. there is nothing on the label about "master" and there was no instructions in the box. Any suggestions about the cables?

  26. legweak
    Getting settled in
    4 Sep '08, 2:52 am
    Quoting legweak

    Thats the one. I have hitachi deskstar 500gb HDP725050gla360 hd. there is nothing on the label about "master" and there was no instructions in the box. Any suggestions about the cables?
  27. Your Amish Daddy
    Banned
    4 Sep '08, 3:20 am

    Quoting yourself doesn't get you faster results. If you look at the back of the drive on ALL hitachi's, there's white sticker above the I/O ports. If you read it, you'll know everything you need.

    EDIT:// In case you didn't figure out already, it's talking about the hard disk itself, not the actual enclosure.

  28. Buddy J
    Dept. of Propaganda
    4 Sep '08, 11:29 am

    That's a SATA drive. SATA drives don't need jumpers. Is your Icybox the SATA or IDE model? You aren't trying to put an SATA drive in an IDE Icybox, are you?

  29. Kwitko
    Sheriff of Dicktown
    4 Sep '08, 11:42 am

    With IDE enclosures, many times you need to remove the jumpers from the drive to get it to work.

  30. Your Amish Daddy
    Banned
    4 Sep '08, 3:48 pm

    So wait, he's trying to put a SATA drive in an IDE enclosure? Because he said the one that was linked was the one he had, and it's IDE.

  31. Buddy J
    Dept. of Propaganda
    4 Sep '08, 5:07 pm

    There are two versions of what he linked YAD. One is IDE and one is SATA. He didn't give us the full product code to differentiate between the two. I'm only guessing that that's what our hero is trying to do.

  32. legweak
    Getting settled in
    6 Sep '08, 4:28 pm

    It says 3.5" sata hdd on the box. I have been in touch with hitachi and they say that it does not need to be set to master or slave (these new hdd do not need it). They suggest that i install it through bios. Now how the hell does that work? I am not very technical when it comes to the workings of a computer, I just know how to use the programmes. Any help (and diagrams) would be very much appreciated.

  33. Gargoyle
    We can't stop here...
    6 Sep '08, 4:39 pm

    "Installing through BIOS" doesn't mean anything to me; the Hitachi rep could have been confused and thought you weren't using an enclosure. Exactly what problem are you having? I'm not sure setting the drive to Master (which, if it's an SATA drive, there is no setting to be changed) is what you need to be doing.

    When the drive is installed in the enclosure and you plug it in to your running computer, what happens? Are you running Windows or Mac OSX?

  34. legweak
    Getting settled in
    6 Sep '08, 5:19 pm

    Wheni attached the icy box thru usb my laptop (windows xp pro) it loaded drivers. My hdd dows not show on My Computer but does show in Control Panel (Devices). No matter what I do it will not come up and I need to partition and format the drive for it to work. This for for running all formats of movies thru my tv. I told hitachi that their hdd was in an Icy Box enclosure. I am beginning to think that I have spent over £100 on something that is never going to work. If it is to work thru BIOS then I need to know how to do it.

  35. Thrax
    Cad
    6 Sep '08, 5:30 pm
    Quoting legweak

    Wheni attached the icy box thru usb my laptop (windows xp pro) it loaded drivers. My hdd dows not show on My Computer but does show in Control Panel (Devices). No matter what I do it will not come up and I need to partition and format the drive for it to work. This for for running all formats of movies thru my tv. I told hitachi that their hdd was in an Icy Box enclosure. I am beginning to think that I have spent over £100 on something that is never going to work. If it is to work thru BIOS then I need to know how to do it.

    What hitachi told you is wrong. There's nothing you need to do in the BIOS. Disregard all their comments on that. You said the HDD shows up in device manager... Have you initialized the disk?

  36. legweak
    Getting settled in
    7 Sep '08, 7:50 am
    Quoting Thrax

    What hitachi told you is wrong. There's nothing you need to do in the BIOS. Disregard all their comments on that. You said the HDD shows up in device manager... Have you initialized the disk?

    Thank you for your advice, it WORKED. My Icy Box is now up and running. I cant wait to transfer my movies. Again many thanks.

  37. Thrax
    Cad
    7 Sep '08, 12:27 pm

    Glad I could help. Thanks for coming to Icrontic, Legweak. Stick around.

  38. xpolar
    Guest
    20 Nov '08, 6:15 pm

    Hi, I just bought an Icy box 351 SATA drive case with a seagate Barracuda drive and Win XP can't find it. I've tried it on another PC and exactly the same. I have an older Icy box IDE that works fine. There's no drivers on raidsonic site that are for this case. Do I need to update the motherboard drivers to get this working? Thanks.

  39. Leonardo
    F@H Reign of Terror is back!
    20 Nov '08, 6:47 pm

    You should not need to manually load drivers. The drivers already native to Windows. Look at posts 36 and 37 above.

  40. Soup
    Guest
    7 Feb '09, 10:54 am

    Hey, I've had the same problem with My Computer not showing the hard drive but it shows up in devices, Disk Management says its healthy and it works in my old ibook but not a g4 or my pc. I've followed all advice from troubleshooters and i followed the advice from here to initialize it (really helpful by the way, thanks ) but it doesnt give me any options other than help. Is there anything i can do further to this? Thanks.

  41. Tinkerbell
    Guest
    9 Mar '09, 1:20 pm

    The same thing happened to me. You have to insert the hard disk in a computer and format it from there and then insert it back in the icy box and it should work

  42. Catman
    Guest
    7 Sep '09, 10:42 am

    I am using the icy box ib318stus2b with a Seagate barracuda 7200.10 500GB disk and a usb connection. When I connect it to the pc (2 x Vista, 1 x XP) and it will not even be recognised (no "found new hardware" dialog appearing"). Any ideas what could be wrong?

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