Bus powered external DVD burners risky?

I am thinking of putting a second HD in my 1.83 MBP with the Maxupgrades kit , and getting an external DVD writer.
Years ago I had a firewire bus powered Formac DVD writer, which took too much current out of my Ti powerbook and burnt the internal firewire bus.
Are the modern generation of portable bus powered (USB2 and FW) such safe in this respect?
I see that offering includes an internal battery. Why would they do that if the no-battery ones are OK?
Thanks for any input.

so the battery is not there to prevent overload of the USB port,
I doubt it, though having a functioning battery may do so
but so that the device can be used independently (from computer)
Perhaps the drive could power headphones so you could listen to music, but the battery is there to provide additional life when you aren't plugged in. If your MBP normally gets 4 hours of life from a full charge, add that bus powered burner and it will drop - bigtime I'd expect. The extra battery in the device gives you a bit longer life.

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Bus powered external hard drives and the Powerbook G4 17 inch

Does anyone have a suggestion for a bus powered external hard drive that will work with the Powerbook 17 inch? I had purchased a Simpletech Simpledrive portable USB 100GB bus powered drive and it will not work with my 17 inch. It works with my 15 inch titanium and a G5 but not the 17 inch. Simpletech told me that it isn't getting enough power from the USB ports (I even tried using the adapter to plug it into both ports at the same time).
I am going to return the drive and probably buy a Firewire one instead since you can boot from Firewire but I am wondering if I will have the same problem with Firewire on the 17 inch and HAVE to use an AC adapter.
PowerBook G4 17 inch Mac OS X (10.4.1)

This also happens on the PB 15". It is perceived as a problem. If you check via the System Profiler you will likely see that the USB port output is 500mA. Most drives - in a USB or FW case - need 1A to boot. There are some drives that will boot with 500mA. If a 500mA drive is installed in the USB case it should boot off the bus power. If using a ext HD you can only boot the computer from the FW port and not the USB or PCMCIA slot.
The FW port will power the ext HD. I do not recommend daisy chaining unless you use a powered FW hub. I blew 4 FW ports and had to replace the logic board 4 times but Apple Care paid for all the work. The newer FW ports are more robust but it is still a chance if you try to draw too much power.
MJ

Does using two bus powered external devices MacBook Pro 13" put too much strain on the power supply?

Will daisy chaining two bus powered external devices put too much strain on my 2011 MacBook Pro 13" power supply? Specifically I would like use ProTools with a LaCie bus powered hard disc and a Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro which is also bus powered with firewire.

Hi rrlavigne,
The biggest difference between the two machines in maximum RAM capacity. The white MacBook is limited to 4GB, whereas the MacBook Pro will support 8GB of RAM. While the cost of RAM is prohibitory right now (to go to 8GB), to have that flexibility in the future will very much be worth it... especially considering you intend to install Logic.
Other than that, I think in terms of "raw performance" the machines are very equally matched. You're paying for the unibody design, backlight keyboard, SD card and new battery technology for that $200 premium (in addition to the slight CPU bump).

Bus powered external drive for MacBook

Hi,
I'm looking for an external HD to use with my MacBook, and I'm a bit confused about power. I'd rather avoid lugging around an extra power supply and international adaptor when I'm traveling if it can be avoided.
Does the MacBook's firewire port provide bus power? Is it sufficient to power a 2.5" external HD?
Is USB a better option if I want a bus powered HD? Are there any clear advantages to one or the other?

For the longest time, FireWire was the only practical solution to bus-powered hard drives. FireWire provides a heck of a lot of power (typically 7 to 8W) while USB by definition provides up to 2.5W per port (if powered). FireWire has so many advantages, but cost seems to be the consideration that's won out.
Current USB bus-powered external drives seem to be feasible because of newer 2.5" drives with reduced power consumption. Still - many drives come with (or they can be bought) cables with two male ends. One end is used for data/power, while the other draws more power from a 2nd powered USB port.
I have no problem getting a 160 GB WD Passport (Black) USB 2.0 drive to work on my iBook 1.42 or my new MacBook. It does take a while to mount in the OS though, although the same goes for Windows.
Message was edited by: ypw

External DVD Burners & iDVD Compatibility

I am looking to purchase external DVD burners for use at my school - that are compatible with iDVD.
I am running iLife 5 on many different pre-intel Tiger Macs (mostly eMacs)
I have looked for a definitive listing of burners and have been receiving conflicting pieces of information.
I understand that I students can save iDVD projects as Disk Images then burn after the fact... but it would be nice to know which External Burners are compatible with iDVD without having to go the Disk Image route.
Any assistance that you can provide me would be tremendously appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Dave

Hello Dave,
iDVD 5 does not natively support external burners. What you have discovered concerning the creation of disk images, though, is not simply a workaround, but a widely recommended procedure, as it greatly reduces the risk of burn errors.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=939694&start=0&tstart=0
hope this helps
mish

Bus Powered External Hard Drive?

Can anyone recommend a good bus-powered External Hard Drive that I can use with my iMac? I really like Western Digital's MyBooks, but they require mains power and come with a big power brick, which is pretty messy. I want a hard drive that gets it's power through either USB 2.0 or Firewire. And I'd like something that has at least 250GB of storage. Any suggestions?

I bought a bus powered OWC laptop drive (100GB 720RPM) for around 170 dollars. But, that was for my laptop, as it's much easier to have a bus powered laptop drive then needing to plug it in to use it. This way I can sit somewhere, not near a power outlet, and be able to use the drive.
As mentioned in an earlier post, 3.5 Hard Drives require to much power in order to be bus powered.
You could buy a 200GB hard drive, bus powered, 4200RPM, and is a laptop drive for your iMac, but that's not the best way to go. First, the drive is going to be very expensive. You could get a 320GB 3.5 In HD for way cheaper. Second, it's going to be noticibly slower.
When I get externals, I buy the drive, and pitch in 50 bucks or so for an external enclosure. It's the CompUSA brand and they work quite well. They are not bus powered, but the Power Brick is limited in size and is relitively small. It's cheaper this way. This can be a challenge to someone who isn't really 'computer-talented.'
I'd go FireWire....It's much faster and won't slow you down while you're trying to access your files and do your work.
OWC if you really want that bus powered laptop drive.
NewEgg if you want to shop for drives, and get them cheaper. Not to mention their fast shipping.
Give it some thought.
-benny

Bus-powered external enclosure, too many choices.

Hi, I'm shopping for an external enclosure for my Macbook's Sata drive as I just ordered a 7200 Hitachi drive as a replacement, I would like the enclosure to be bus-powered, firewire is a good option but not necessary.
I noticed there are a few on eBay with those characteristics, are they any good. Checked the ones on Newegg (even though they don't ship to Canada), and they are a little more expensive. There is also one that seems nice on OWC but it's pretty expensive at 80$.
Not sure if I can trust the ones on eBay, what are you guys using/usggesting ?
Francis.

Hi
I did exactly the same thing a couple of months ago so that I could save money with the white macbook versus the black. I bought a 120GB drive for my iBook and switched it with the shipped one when the machine arrived from the Apple Store. Result = I get a better specified machine than was available on line (and in white) and a removable 60GB drive with bus power, firewire 800/400 and USB 2.0.
To get to the point buy one of these:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=736770&tstart=30
works a dream, is neat and compact, comes with useful short wires, can be powered if necessary, and looks cool.
I searched for a long time and the OWC enclosure was easily the best for me, even to import to the UK (i.e need to add on a few pounds sterling for customs - still way cheaper and better than alternatives).
David
macbook, PM G4s & G5s, PBG4, iMac G4 & G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)
PM G4 & G5s, PBG4, iMac G4 & G5 Mac OS X (10.4.3)
PM G4 & G5s, PBG4, iMac G4 & G5 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Bus Powered External Firewire (800) Drives and iPod?

I bought a WD Passport drive, and was pretty upset when i found out that the usb ports on my powerbook cannot power the drive. crap. can the firewire 800 port on my powerbook power these drives:
http://www.kanotechnologies.com/products/SF800-40.cfm
http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE-mini.cfm#Buy
I really want a bus powered drive. does anyone know if these will work with my 15" powerbook? one better than the other? oh, and i'm getting it to keep my itunes library on...so will my powerbook have any problem with reading the fw800 drive and the ipod in the fw400 port at the same time?

Well the second linked drive says it is bus powered and does not require a external power brick. Usually most of external 2.5 inch notebook drives (in a 2.5 enclosure) can be bus powered. The 3.5 inch ones are generally not bus powered.

Bus powered external Firewire drives

Most portable external drives are now bus powered, many don't even have a power input.
I wonder how many bus powered Firewire driives I can daisy-chain. Where should I place them, at the beginnig, in the middle, or the end of the daisy chain.
I have several powered Firewire drives including my Time Machine Drive.

tommmy wrote:
Most portable external drives are now bus powered, many don't even have a power input.
I wonder how many bus powered Firewire driives I can daisy-chain.
Use a powered Firewire/USB hub so there is enough power to power the port powered devices.
What happened is port powered devices are cheaper and many people opt for the lower price than the ones with their own power supplies, so it creates a problem and computer makers had to turn off ports drawing too much power from the comptuer, so people have to run out and get powered hubs.

Bus powered external drive

I want to buy a small portable external HD (USB2 or Firewire) for my MBP; of course, the bus powered ones have the advantage of being totally portable/free of wires, but I'm wondering if either USB2 or Firewire ports on my MBP would supply enough power? Or would it drain the battery too fast? I plan to at least put the LiveType and Soundtrack files on it and have FCE use it as a scratch disk.
Would a bus powered one do or should I go for one with an adapter?

Barbara Daniels1 wrote:
I've looked at the Seagate portable drives again - none of them seem to have an external power source option.
If you read the "3.5-inch External Data Sheet", you will see that they come with a power supply (under Package Contains, on the second page). What they don't seem to have, is a bus power option. It's not mentioned anywhere.
Actually, I've never heard of any bus-powered 3.5" hard drive. I don't think the FireWire bus could power even an economical 3.5" drive, and USB 2.0 (even with double USB connection) is probably way too weak either. AFAIK, every bus-powered drives that exist are 2.5" or smaller (sometimes, a combination of two 2.5" drives can be powered by FireWire).

What's the largest capacity bus-powered external hard drive?

I realize that this isn't a Mac specific question, but I'd really like a recommendation. What's the largest capacity bus-powered (preferably USB) external hard drive available. My new MBP has a 500GB drive so I would need something with probably 640GB or bigger. Problem is I can't find anything over 500GB that's bus-powered. Everything I've found requires an external power supply which is what I'm trying to avoid. If anyone has a recommendation, please share it.

Have a search on the web for USA retailers who supply empty enclosures and drives separately. The enclosure is the physical case and the bits of circuitry and the physical ports. Tell them what you want and ask him what drives and enclosures he has to suit your purpose and if he can fit the two together for you. I have such a supplier but am in UK.
Does it have to be a USB bus? Firewire is better and gives more power. One way I power a 360GB pocket drive is to feed from TWO USB ports on the computer into one input port on the drive(now in the enclosure) you should be able to buy a sort of "Y" shaped cable with two full size flat USB connectors at one end and one single connector at the drive end. The drive end often will be a mini usb port. What you want will depend upon the size of the input into the drive.

Alternating external DVD burners

In theory, could I hook up 2 Lacie external DVD burns to the USB ports on my keyboard and alternate between the two of them while burning DVDs? I would like to do this since the internal burner is too slow and I know you're supposed to let a burner cool down after so many burns.

I still would not use the keyboard ports; they do not have enough power for burning. I tried finding any kb article on the power issue, but could not directly - the only one I found is this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3932
I don't know if the reason for this has to do with the power or not, but thought I'd link to it.
The best test might be to possibly "waste" a DVD and try it - you may wind up with a coaster but you'd know - try this at your own risk. I wouldn't do it.

Any cheaper external dvd burners out there???

Now that i've found out that my wonderfully expensive apple doesnt have a dvd burner, i have to buy an external dvd burner. I was recommended Lacie but that's too expensive. Anyone know of any cheaper ones that work fine as well??
also, do i need all of that touch8 stuff? can i just get the dvd writer without all of the extra programs?

That's the beauty of it. No drivers required when you make your own. The OS already has everything you need. There is nothing required in terms of additional downloads to make your burner work via Firewire when you install a Pioneer S-Drive into a standard 400 0r 800 firewire enclosure. It works right out of the box!
At one point in time, I too thought that whatever I build in terms of computer hardware was bound to fail. Now it turns out that the items I built, actually last the longest!
Now there is one exception to the above that comes to minds, Lacie (pre configured) ext. FW HD's may rerquire additional 3rd party drivers at times.
Don't ask me why. You'd have to check their web site for this type of support.

Any external DVD Burners out there for Dual G4 450?

Hey, I have a Dual G4 450 Gigabit Ethernet with 10.2.8 w/ firewire 1 and a meh USB2.0 from CompUSA. I've checked a couple of places for an external DVD burner but most are listing a 500mhz as a requirement. The OWC drive they're selling isn't listing a speed as a requirement, so I'm worried about ordering their drive. Does anyone have their drive and would know if it works with my speed, and is there still a drive out there that can work with my computer? Thanks for your answers.

Went ahead with another burner.

Which external dvd burners are compatible with lion?

I'm looking into buying an external dvd - dvdL - cd burner but wanted to make sure it would work with lion.. anyone ?
thanks!
H

I have successfully used apples external SuperDrive.
However, I get faster results using the Mac's built-in SuperDrive.

Bus powered external DVD burners risky?

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