LinuxQuestions.org - Hard drive in USB enclosure gets "device descriptor read/64, error -71"

I have an IDE hard drive in a USB enclosure that I am attempting to connect to my laptop (which is running Slackware Linux 12.2, kernel 2.6.27.7). Other USB devices, including a USB flash drive, work fine when connected to the laptop.

But when I attempt to connect the hard drive in its enclosure, I get the following results from dmesg:

Code:

usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3

usb 1-4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice

scsi2 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices

usb-storage: device found at 3

usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning

usb 1-4: New USB device found, idVendor=0c0b, idProduct=b157

usb 1-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=10, Product=11, SerialNumber=3

usb 1-4: Product: DMI USB2.0 Storage 

usb 1-4: Manufacturer: DMI

usb 1-4: SerialNumber: 200811080585

usb 1-4: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3

usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71

usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71

usb 1-4: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3

usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71

usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71

usb 1-4: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3

usb 1-4: device not accepting address 3, error -71

usb 1-4: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3

usb 1-4: device not accepting address 3, error -71

scsi 2:0:0:0: Device offlined - not ready after error recovery

usb 1-4: USB disconnect, address 3

usb-storage: device scan complete

usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4

usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71

usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71

usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5

usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71

usb 1-4: device descriptor read/64, error -71

usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6

usb 1-4: device not accepting address 6, error -71

usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 7

usb 1-4: device not accepting address 7, error -71

hub 1-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 4

I found a few posts that referenced changing /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/old_scheme_first from "N" to "Y", but neither setting fixes the problem.

I also found a post here that suggested that the problem might be related to CONFIG_USB_SUSPEND. I was unable to create the file /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/autosuspend, it was not permitted even as root. Since lsmod shows no usb-related modules in the list, I assume they are compiled into the kernel, so I attempted to achieve the same effect by passing the options usbcore.autosuspend=-1 or usbcore.autosuspend=0 to the kernel at boot time (neither fixed it).

I have also tried using a different USB cable to connect to the enclosure (also did not work).

...any suggestions how to get this working would be greatly appreciated.