After installing the drive into the bottom of the unit, I still have the same issue with the drive not ejecting from Engine or the PC. I turn the Prime 4 on, place it into PC mode, the computer recognizes the drive. I can open and see the music files. I open Engine Prime it sees the drive and works fine. I try to eject the drive to close Engine and I still get an error message that the drive is in use by another program. If I try and power off the Prime 4 I get a message that the drive must be ejected properly on the unit. I try and place the unit into the play mode it goes into a loading type screen that won’t complete the task it doesn’t time out and must be powered off. When powering off the unit gives me a message that the drive must be ejected properly. With the Prime 4 and Engine software off, the drive still shows up on the PC that it’s still connected. If I plug the drive into the PC it works fine and can be ejected properly, it is only after it is connected to Engine that there is a problem.
What’s up @DJNightmre,
Sorry you’re having issues. My recommendation:
Installing a hard drive in your Prime 4 is a ‘nice idea’, and at first I did, but quickly found it inconvenient as I had to bring my laptop over to the the P4 in order to update/revise that hard drive. I quickly decided to remove the hard drive and install it in an external hard drive enclosure.
Now I do my updates/revisions anywhere (desk, sofa, coffee shop, plane,… you get the idea). This also allows me to use the same hard drive with my other equipment.
This is just a recommendation. Good luck!
Off-topic, that’s a weird USB3 connection on the case side. I would expect USB-C, USB-B or USB micro-B etc.
What’s up @Reese,
I actually chose this enclosure because of the USB 3.0 connection. It comes with a USB 3.0 to USB 3.0 cable. In the past I’ve had inconsistent reliability from Micro B connections (picture below). In my opinion the USB 3.0’s are more sturdy.
Also, having a USB 3.0 connector on the enclosure will allow you to swap in a UBS 3.0 to USB-C cable.
Ah understood, but a USB-A to USB-A isn’t really standard if you’d forget it to pack. And yes, the smaller the connector, the smaller its reliability indeed.
True, it’s not standard.
So do like I do; Before you walk out the door, do a nervous-a$$ double-check on EVERY cable, etc. you’ll need for that gig!
Or just buy a bunch of the cables
- Like 2 never leaves the dj bag
- I also have a bunch of spares for all sort of cables in the glove compartment
My issue has never been with any plug or cable. It was recommended by this community that I install the hard drive. I had the drive installed when I first started using the Prime 4. But I, like you didn’t care for it. The hard drives work fine as long as I don’t use Engine
I’m still very new to the Prime ecosystem but I got an SSD for my Prime 4 and updated it in Engine DJ. I had this same issue. Fortunately I’ve had enough experience with this to know that, generally, you can yank most USB connections while they’re still mounted without doing any damage. As long as it’s not actively writing to that drive. So after being unable to eject the Prime 4 from Windows I just switched back to standalone mode from the Prime 4 and it was fine. It gives you a warning that you could damage things but again, I’ve been yanking mounted USB drives for years with no issue. I still think Denon should address this but it’s ultimately OK.
I would be very careful about just unplugging the drive with it not being ejected, they are easily corrupted. You can’t rely on the Engine software to have a back up. It lost all my tracks (5,000+) twice, all cue points, loops everything.