Low power on USB port for external hard drive

Hi all!
I'm new here and I have some question about my brand new hybrid - HP Envy x2.
Couple days ago i found an issue that usb ports are powered by from motherboard even when tablet with dock is turned off or in hibernation mode. This is problematic when I leave device with plugged usb hub, external HD, speakers (powered from usb port) and mouse. After 8 hours in work when I go back home I saw that battery is about 10-15% lower than before leaving Envy x2. I disabled USB charge mode in BIOS, but after that I have problem with working of my external HD.
When I try to attach hard drive to computer and then I try to turn it on nothing happens - looks like system (Windows 8.1) can't boot. But after immediate unplugging HDD from USB system goes to procedure of starting. I also tried to plug Toshiba HD after turning on my Envy x2 and being in desktop, but nothing happens. Light on HD is blinking, I can hear from it sound like clicking (trying to start?). Also HD is visible in Device Manager but not in My Computer (as additional partition).
I have tried to change boot options in BIOS by positioning of devices (priority to boot from CD ROM, HDD, OS etc.) but did not fixed problem.
After couple of tests provided to found why my HD did not work properely in disabled USB charge mode I know that USB port did not give minimum value of power from supply. I found cable with one plug on one side, and with two plugs on other side (like "Y" type). Then i plugged one end into first USB port, then second end in second USB port and finally - last end of cable to m HD and booooom! It works!
Here is my question: Is there any ability to change that kind of power supply on USB ports? I want to power mu external hard drive from one USB port, not from two. I have USB hub but don't want to use two USB ports (on the opposite positions of docking station) and additional USB cable. I have the most recent BIOS (F12) and all fresh drivers installed on my computer.
Any solutions?

I am not going to take credit for this. I had a similar problem, but all of my USB ports stopped working for EVERYTHING! You were right on track, and here is the final bit of information that you needed: Microsoft Surface tablet External USB hard drives auto-sleep in Windows 8.1 Posted on November 4, 2013 After upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 Pro, my SeaGate Expansion 2TB hard drive always runs to sleep mode automatically and then disappears if no file transfers occur. when I try to access its stored files, the File Explorer will be unresponsive. Changing the power options is not working. In Windows 8.1 the external USB hard drives and USB flash drives are configured with a low power state by default. That causes USB massstorage devices auto-sleep or file transfers stop unexpectedly. You could change the hardware ID of USB storage device in the registry to resolve the problem. * Updated to the latest firmware for the device to check if it is fine. * From Start screen, open the Search charm, type regedit, right-click the regedit icon from result, and select “Run as administrator“. * In the left pane of Registry Editor, navigate to the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\usbstor * Right-click the “usbstor” and create a key with the following key name: apricorn (aegis padlock) 09840315 buffalo external hdd 500gb 04110105 cavalry dual bay dock 152d2352 diskgenie usb device 09840092 hitachi touro 3.0 4tb usb 3.0 49711015 kingston datatraveler hyperx 3.0 usb device 256gb (dthx30/256gb) 0951162b lacie 2tb usb drive 059f1018 mediasonic h82-su3s2 probox 152d0539 multi-drive enclosure connected 15200551 seagate expansion 2tb 0bc23320 seagate expansion desk 3tb 0bc23312 seagate fa goflex desk 2tb 0bc25071 verbatim store ‘n’ save superspeed 3tb 18a50400 western digital elements desktop 2tb 10581021 western digital my book 2to 10581140 * Now right-click the new key, create a DWORD entry named DeviceHackFlags with 400 hexadecimal value. * Make a reconnection for the device. RELATED POSTS How to Disable SkyDrive Integration in Windows 8.1 Install Windows 8.1 from USB flash drive Error Code 0xc1900104 Windows 8 gps receiver for Surface Pro Fix Stylus/Pen not working bug on Surface Pro Windows 8 app not sync with Google Apps calendar Create Windows 8.1 Bootable USB Flash Drive This entry was posted in Windows 8 and tagged issues, USB, Windows 8.1 by Windows 8 rt/pro. Bookmark the permalink.

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Can't use front USB port for external Hard Drive

I have had some problems for about the past year with the front USB port on my 2009 13in Macbook Pro 5.5.
As you know, there are 2 USB ports on the left side on a 13inch Macbook pro. The one closest to me (the front one) works fine when I use it with a flash drive. But when I connect my external 7200RPM external drive to it, after about a minute, it ejects then re-recognizes the disk.
I video edit with FCP and use the external as one of my scratch disks.
At first I thought maybe it was the cord or the drive that was messed up. But then I connected my other external drive to this port and the same thing happened.
But when I connected it to the back USB port, everything works fine. I haven't had any trouble. So i make sure it's connected to that port when using the external.
Why would this be happening. It only screws up when using a standard external drive but not flash drives or any other peripherals.
Thanks
Brandon

Exactly what Ogelthorpe mentioned.
I bought a Seagate 500GB 7200RPM and bought an external case from Staples that has a big fancy led to show HD activity. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
Tested it on my PC and it works all the time so it got me stumped. Thought it was my MB.
Decided to try another external drive drive on my MB and everything works. So I returned the fancy external enclosure and bought the simple $10 one.
Now everything works fine.
Maybe changing your external case might help you.

With the original ATV is there a way to use the usb port with external hard drive?

Is there a way to use the usb with ATV1 and external hard drive?

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AC cords for external hard drives?

okay! everyone uses external hard drives, yes?
It's great that they connect to computers via standardized ports & cables: USB, firewire, eSATA.
but why is it that the power cords for external hard drives are completely unstandardized?
I have an external USB enclosure that I can't use because I misplaced the AC cord (my bad!)
my question: is there a chart somewhere that shows the different types of power cords for hard drive enclosures (they're the same batch of options for monitors, external CDR burners etc, optical drives etc.)
thanks
Will

I think nerowolfe was referring to the types of AC "mains" appliance power cords, specifically to the connector on the end that attaches to an AC powered device like a computer or power brick. While there are a lot of connectors used for this, there are only a few commonly used in the computer industry. The two most common are the "universal" 3 blade ones used on Mac & most PC desktops & the "figure 8" two pin ones used on many laptop power bricks, as shown below.
It would be no problem to find one of those at a Radio Shack or similar store, but as Network 23 says, most external hard drives use separate DC power supplies, & they can be fitted with one of many types of small plugs. Gumsie's advice more or less applies to these, with the following important exceptions:
• Most drives require DC, not AC power. (Thus the plus & minus polarity markings.)
• The DC power supply characteristics are not completely specified by voltage & current numbers. Some power bricks supply a well-filtered, electronically regulated voltage that doesn't vary with the current drawn from it; others a poorly filtered voltage with substantial AC "ripple" components and/or an unregulated voltage that varies from well above the rated one at zero current down to the rated voltage at the rated current. The second type is intended for devices that do not have critical voltage requirements or contain built-in filtering & regulation. They will most likely damage or cause mis-operation in voltage-sensitive devices like hard drives even if their nominal ratings are correct.
• It is not always easy to tell the two types of power bricks apart but in general the regulated types use switching supply technology & as a result are much lower in weight than the cruder ones, which use relatively heavy iron core transformers. Also, because switching supplies can easily be made that accept a wide range of mains voltages, essentially all of the "universal" power bricks rated for 100 to 220 VAC inputs use switching supplies & often are fitted with a "figure 8" type mains connector so the same brick can be sold in different countries with a mains power cord supplied with an appropriate plug for that country's wall outlets. Typically, cheap "wall wart" supplies like those sold at Radio Shack are not the regulate kind & should be used with caution with sensitive electronics. It is especially important when using them to match both current & voltage rating as closely as possible to avoid the over-voltage problem.
• A few of the more sophisticated external supplies have special features like "fold-back" current limiting. In most regulated supplies, if an over-current situation is encountered, the supply limits the current by reducing the voltage to whatever level causes its maximum rated current to be supplied. This protects the supply but not necessarily the powered device, which may be damaged by a sustained low voltage condition. (This is particularly true for electric motors.) Fold-back current limiting basically shuts down the supply until the over-current condition is corrected, which protects the powered device more completely.
• Because of all of the above, it is always safest to use the power brick furnished as original equipment with the drive or to obtain a new one as a replacement part from the vendor. If you use anything else, you do so at your own risk & you may very well damage the drive if you are unlucky enough to make a bad choice.
• A little humor to lighten this up a bit: Did you know that all electronics devices are really smoke-powered? It's true! This explains why, if you let the smoke out, they quit working!

USB 3.0 External hard drive working only as USB 2.0

Hello all.
I have a MacBook Pro mid 2012 (specs below) which has two USB 3.0 ports. I have a Kingston USB 3.0 stick and a Toshiba 1TB USB 3.0 external hard drive. With Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks, both stick and hard drive worked fine, but since I updated to OS X 10.10 Yosemite, both work as USB 2.0 devices, with slow transfer speed and, in the case of the hard drive, it has a blue/white LED that indicates the mode (blue = USB 3.0 / white = USB 2.0) and it only lights up with white color.
It's not a device problem, because both work on Windows 8.x machines. I was guessing that it was some kind of firmware or motherboard's usb driver problem but I looked for firmware updates and found nothing.
Is anyone having issues with USB 3.0 ports? Can you help me with this? Any advice would help.
Thanks a lot for your patience and help.

Hi jesusbet,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
It sounds like the USB 3 ports on your MacBook Pro are not operating at the expected speed.
The first troubleshooting step I'd suggest in this case is to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your MacBook Pro using these instructions:
Shut down the computer.
Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.
From:
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
If the symptom continues, you can also reset the PRAM:
OS X Yosemite: Reset your computer’s PRAM
These two hardware resets can resolve many unexpected behaviors that affect hardware on a Mac.
All the best,
Jeremy

I have a Seagate Slim Portable 500 GB USB 3.0 external hard drive that worked great with my Macbook Pro 13" Retina but gets ejected and won't show files on any iMac.

I have a Seagate Slim Portable 500 GB USB 3.0 external hard drive that worked great with my Macbook Pro 13" Retina but gets ejected and won't show files on any iMac. My Macbook Pro and the two different iMacs I tried it on were all using Mountain Lion, so the only difference was the iMac versus Macbook Pro.

I just tried this, no luck...
I connected a different USB cable, still the same problem. Tried both cables with the problematic hard drive on two different computers, still the same problem.
At this point I assume I'll probably need professional help in saving the files, thanks for the assistance.

Thunderbolt Dock for External Hard Drive

Hi there,
I'm trying to find a Thunderbolt Dock for External Hard Drive.
One of these http://www.topbuy.com.au/tbcart/pc/External-SATA-Hard-Drive-Docking-Station-USB- Interface-937p3180.htm
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Do these exist?
The only thing I could find close is the Seagate Go Flexi Adapter, but that only works for those drives.
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I would suggest this:
http://www.belkin.com/thunderbolt/
It will do more than you need and require, and you still would need to get an eSATA docking station, but that's what you really want anyways.
Thunderbolt is a bleeding edge tech still (as evidenced but the fact that nobody yet has a good dock for it) but if you go the modular approach you can still pickup your docking station with eSATA and FW800 and USB etc. and take it to a friend's and have more chance of being able to plug it in. and since you're getting a dock and not a drive you want it PC/Mac friendly because you can swap drives to ones formatted for the system. Plus this accessory will be really great if you ever get a Mac Book Air or Retina Display MB Pro that just don't have ethernet or eSATA or even firewire anymore.
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Hi,
I just got the same drive and was wondering the same thing. I inquired with LaCie about it and here is the response that the support people gave me:
"That particular unit does not sleep. We changed the bridge to the newer controller, which is faster and better for data transfer, but that feature was dropped from the design. I'm sorry."
Hope this helps.

Montan Lion "kick out" My usb memory sticks, external Hard drive, external DVD /cd drive and give me an error message "PowerPC applications are no longer supported."

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It does not matter what I plug in to the USB post, the results is the same ...
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Input/Output Error USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

I recently started having problems with an external hard drive setup that I did not have prior to trying to setup the drive to be compatible with Time Machine.
The hard drive enclosure that I have has 2 bays for two SATA drives. I have used this enclosure without any problems until I tried to get 1 drive to act as the backup drive for Time Machine and the other to be storage. I formatted them using Drive Genius. I used the option for GUILD or GUIL which it said was the better format for using with Time Machine.
The first problem I ran into since reformatting the drives is I got an "input/output" error the first couple times I connected the drive via USB to my Mac. I could still use the drives but I got weird errors every once in a while like "input/output error" or "device was not ejected properly" even though the device had not been unplugged.
Now the drives will not mount using OS 10.5.5. The drives show up when I open Disk Utility, but I cannot get them to mount. I have ran Disk Utility First Aid, and it says the drives are fine. There is one error that shows up when I run the "Repair Disk" feature. It reads "Invalid content in Journal". But Disk Utility also says "The volume was repaired successfully".
I have seen some posts when I do a search in google about this issue and it seems this is a known issue. Every suggestion I see says to insert your Tiger DVD and reformat the drive using that and the problem will be solved. The only problem with that is I have a lot of important files on the drive that I cannot lose. I had the files backed up until I moved them to the new drive a while back. Now I do not have a backup because I was in the process of switching to bigger drives and erased the old drives after doing so because everything was working fine.
I am hoping someone out there may have some suggestions (other than erasing the drive) to get my dives to mount so I can transfer the data off to another drive and reformat after.
Thanks,
Paul Rugg

I have similar problems with my USB external HD. Reformatting or repartitioning will not solve your problem. I've tried that 2 times already. The problem will reappear. My HD was running great until last month, when it suddenly without warning disappears from disk utility and the mac altogether. It not only dismounts itself, but also ejects itself, while still physically connected and the power is still on. The HD has its own power supply of course and is directly connected to one of the iMac USB ports. I have erased, repartitioned, disk verified, rebuild spotlight indexes, cleared PRAM and NVRAM, but nothing has solved the problem.
It is application independent, and not related to like iTunes as another post had suggested. Nothing to do with Mac applications. It seems to be USB related.
Messages in the Console seem to indicate something wrong with 'USB transactions passed their expiration point' and 'USB cannot enumerate something', but these statements are a bit cryptic to me. Perhaps an Apple system engineer can someday shed some light here.
thanks much for any assistance.

Powerbook G4 won't detect USB 2.0 external hard drive

I recently purchased a Toshiba USB 2.0 portable external hard drive. I have both 15' and a 17' Powerbook G4s that are running on OS X 10.4.11. When I attempted to connect the new hardware to each of the computers neither recognizes that anything has been connected. The external drive does not appear on the desktop, in disk utilities, or TechTool. Both computers have 2.0 USB ports and the external hard drive is compatible to a Mac, but I cannot figure out why it will not show up. I have tried all of the suggestions I could find in forums discussing similar problems such as trying to repair the permissions with the Disk Utility First Aid feature, resetting the PRAM, as well as resetting the PMU, but to no avail. When I connect the device to a Windows based PC it shows up immediately; however, when I try to see it using the Virtual PC side of my Mac I am still unable to visualize the drive. This problem is only occurring with external hard drives and not particularly just this brand--I have tried others and had the same problem. All of my other USB devices that I connect to these computers work fine. Can someone please help and tell me why my Powerbooks will not detect USB external hard drives. Thanks!

External hard drive enclosures can be connected to computers in any of several ways. USB is one; FireWire is another. Some enclosures offer several different connection options: they may have any combination of USB2, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and eSATA ports. All G4 And G5 Macs have FireWire 400 ports, and can start up from an external hard drive that is connected to one of those ports. No G$ or G% Mac can be depended upon to start up from any external drive that is connected to a USB port, though it may happen in a few cases. Because a FireWire-capable drive is bootable, it's much more useful than a USB-only drive in any situation where a primary hard drive has failed or has become temporarily unbootable because of file or directory corruption.
Bare hard drives nowadays come in two platter sizes: 2.5" for notebook computers and 3.5" for desktop computers. The sizes and shapes of their outside casings are tightly standardized to make them highly interchangeable. They also come in two types: Parallel ATA, also called IDE, PATA, or ATA-5, ATA-6 or ATA-7; and the newer Serial ATA, or SATA drives.
External enclosures are made to accept either PATA or SATA drives — rarely both types. If you have an external drive with only a USB2 port, and you can see how to open the drive enclosure to reveal the bare drive inside, it may be to your advantage to order an empty FireWire enclosure and "transplant" your bare hard drive into it to get the benefits of higher speed, bootability, and adequate power that come with FireWire.
External hard drive enclosures are designed to hold standard-sized bare hard drive units — the same units that can be mounted inside a desktop or notebook computer. An enclosure contains a place to mount the drive, a circuit board or two that mediates between the drive and the port to which you'll connect a USB or FireWire cable, and in the case of a 3.5" drive, sometimes a fan for cooling.
Portable FireWire-connectable external hard drives seldom or never have the problem of insufficient power that plagues so many portable USB hard drives when they're used with Powerbooks. For whatever reason, Powerbooks' USB ports just can't put out enough juice to run most portable USB drives, while their FireWire ports are able to do so comfortably.

Minimum connection for external hard drive

Hopefully this is the correct subdepartment for this question.
I'm shopping for an external hard drive to which I'll be saving and storing movies and digital videos. The playback method will be a Powerbook G4 (15-inch FW800 1.5GHz) running DVD Player connected with composite cables to a TV -- any TV.
I'm searching for best value in terms of GB per dollar in the 300GB range. There are so many variables, but I think connection type is biggest factor. Are the USB 2.0 drives fast enough for what I need or would FW800 be a more reasonable minimum? Are there other more important factors?
2GHz Mac OS X (10.4.4) 23"17"PB15

Here's a portion of what I posted to a similar question. First, regarding FW400 vs FW800, if I were going to be reading data off a FW connection for immediate usage as you described, I'd want to use the fastest connection possible, FW800. From the other post....
A Western Digital 320 gb external enclosure (USB/FW 400) goes for around $200. However, all have one year warranties.
Another option, assemble your own, requires the hard drive and case: A 320 gb Western Digital, with a 5 year warranty, 7200 rpm ultra ATA interface (you can't use a serial ATA interface with a pre-Oct PB), cost for the drive around $140. They also make drives for a few bucks less with 3 year warranties. I prefer Western Digital drives over Seagate drives, as I've found them to run cooler.
Add a Rosewill RX30 external case (includes power supply and USB/FW 400) $60. This brushed aluminum case looks like it was made to sit right next to our PB's (I've got one). You can see it at their web site at http://www.rosewill.com/product/product.aspx?productId=80 or also at Newegg at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817173003. So for $200, you can have a 320gb hard drive with a 3 to 5 year warranty, and a stunning case. If you want, the Rosewill case also comes with FW800 for another $35.
Assembling it is very easy - you can read the directions on Rosewill's site at http://www.rosewill.com/RosewillSoftware/RX30_eng.pdf , for example. You disassemble the case by taking out 4 screws on the bottom of the Rosewill case, plug the included plug into the hard drive, secure the hard drive with 4 screws to the case, and reassemble it.

Airport Extreme, Belkin USB Hub, and external hard drive

I'm having a serious meltdown. I've been at this all day long and I've reviewed SEVERAL, if not all, discussion threads. I've seen my question many times on many threads, but yet to find a solution!
Just got the hub, and I tried today to connect the Belkin USB hub so I could get my external hard drive accessible from my Mac. My external drive worked fine on my PC. I recently moved to Mac.
Printer works with no issue at all, but my external drive does not even list in either the Disk Utility or System Profiler. It just doesn't get recognized. I've tried EVERYTHING...switching ports, connecting directly to my Macbook, restarting, etc., etc., etc. NOTHING.
Anyone have any insight to this? I'm ready to throw in the towel.

Ok I'll try that! Uh oh...now I can't even see the external drive on my PC! I also spent some time looking at the manufacturer's website to see if there's any software I may have downloaded before using the hard drive, but the website is not helpful in that capacity (www.cavalrystorage.com). I don't remember having software when I first started using it. Furthermore, I just looked at paperwork I received when I got the drive back in Nov.06 and it says not to use "the CD if you have Windows", (to install a driver, perhaps?) which of course, I did. But now I can't find what disc I may have gotten with the drive. It also had no specific instructions for a Mac. Although the external drive has wonderful reviews, and says you can use it with a PC or Mac. I hope this helps. I certainly appreciate your help!
I'm starting to think something has gone awry with the external hard drive? I've tried connecting through the hub (my printer works at least!), direct to AirPort, and direct to laptop and nothing.

Reccomendations for External Hard Drive

What brand and other specifics are recommended for ease of use with the 17". It seems there is a few problems with a number of models connected by USB rather than firewire, but which brands are recommended?

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
I would recommend you build you own. Sounds daunting, but it's really very easy. The benefit is that you can use a hard drive with a 3 year warranty, unlike most complete units that only have a 1 year warranty.
It's really as easy as this: Buy the drive you want (I'm currently using a 3.5" Western Digital 320gb drive. Generally I've found the Western Digital drives run cooler than others), buy the case you want for the size drive you want (I use a Rosewill case), take the cover off the case, insert the plug from the electronics in the case to the hard drive, insert the power plug in the case to the hard drive, attach 4 screws to hold the hard drive in the case, reinstall the cover, done!
You're correct that you really want an external drive with a firewire connection, for two reasons. One, that you cited, has to do with USB power. The second is that you can't boot from a USB device on a PowerBook, only from a firewire device.
I use, and would recommend, the program SuperDuper to back up data. It's available at http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html . If you buy a complete external hard drive, it may come with backup software.

Extremely poor performance on Seagate USB 3.0 External Hard Drive?

Hi,
I just recently bought a Macbook Pro Retina. I have a larger than normal iTunes library so I decided a external hard drive was in order. I wanted a Thunderbold one but they were all out of my price range. So I went with a 1tb Seagate USB 3.0 drive. The problem is though is that it has terrible performance! I mean hours to copy a few hundred megabytes and almost unusable when running iTunes. I do keep the iTunes library file on the extermal hard drive. Could that be it? I am running a disk speed test right now and will post the results when I finish.
Cheers
Frank

is it a 2.5" hd. or a 3.5". drive.........????
air cannot power a 3.5"
also. does the hd have a junker hd enclosure??
did you have a hd that. you bought a hd enclosure for??.
if so. THAT is the problem. allllll commercial ( nearly all) are utter junk and cause this issue.
they have junk SATA connector boards

Low power on USB port for external hard drive

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