Topic: USB Storage Device is not connected.

Hi guys I really need your help this time.
I was playing some Alien Isolation and I had to turn off my PS4 so I pressed the home button "Turn off PS4". When I came back to play again whenever I press the Alien game or even other games on the hard drive it simply says that usb is not connected, even though I never disconnected the device and everything is the same way as it was.
When I go to settings "usb storage device" it simply says that "USB storage device is not connected". I tried turning off PS4 and storage device and same thing happens.
The device is a Seagate Expansion 4TB and it worked 100% perfectly up until now!

What can I do?
Thanks

Did you try to switch USB port?
If you connect the hard disk to a PC what does it say?

Also guys my HDD turns on when I plug it, but the PS4 doesn't recognize it

@andreoni79 If I connect to pc I get nothing but I read somewhere it is normal since the PS4 format is not recognizable by the PC.
Like I said when I plug it in the PS4 usb port the disk does indeed light up but the PS4 still says it's not connected

If the PC can't read it, it means it's still formatted as a PS4 HD. If it lights up, it means HD and cable are fine.
I hope you don't have to format it again...

@andreoni79 so what can I try?
I have like 2tb or more of games there and I sure hope I don't have to download it again

Sorry but I have no clue. Try and ask to @WanderingBullet how he solved his problem.
https://www.pushsquare.com/forums/ps4/ps4s_not_recognizing_my_...

EDIT: I only use a pendrive to backup saves, while you use the HD to install games too, then it's a different thing.

@WanderingBullet how did you fix your problem mate? Maybe it has a similar solution

@AFCC If you go to Setting -> Storage what do you see? Just "System Storage" or something else?

@andreoni79 just system storage

I did "Rebuild Database" and the only thing it did was remove the icons from the menu lol -.-

@AFCC Did you turn off the PS4 from the home button menu while the game was running or did you exit the game first?
And do your games load up fine that are on your internal HD?
And are your Alien Isolation game save files (and your other game saves from the games on the external drive) still there?

@Th3solution hello! Thanks for trying to help!
I shut off ps4 whilst the game was running yeah I was stupid!

But hry I figured out a solution! All I had to do was let the power drain from both ps4 and the hdd by unplugging them and leaving it for some minutes!
After that the hdd started loading the games when I turned the console on and plugged in the hdd! Now I only have to arrange folders

Thanks to you and @andreoni79 for helping

@AFCC Interesting. Glad it worked out for you. Yeah, I wonder if it had to do with shutting down while the game was running. I suppose this should be a cautionary tale to the rest of us to exit the game first, then shut the power off.

@Th3solution I always do shut off the game first and then shut the ps4, but this time I was in such a hurry that my brain completely forgot -.-
So yeah guys, don't do it!!

@AFCC Sorry, I didn't manage to to find a solution unfortunately. I only have two external hard drives and both already had files in them which is why I didn't want to try reformatting them.

@WanderingBullet so what happened? Did you buy a new one?

@AFCC No, I decided using an old FlashDrive instead - just to backup game saves.

@WanderingBullet ah yeah, that's easy to solve! I have like 10 usb flash drives around the house, the only problem is finding them lol

Hi sorry I'm late to this topic but I'm hoping I can solve someone else's problems doing so if they search. If the drive is lighting up like theres power going to it but ps4 is not recognising the drive is connected, I can almost guarantee your drive and everything on it is fine! What you actually need to do is replace the USB cable. There are cheap replacements on Ebay. Once you get a new cable replug it all back in and your ps4 will automatically prompt a repair. Hope this helps 👍🏻