USB Bus powered externals?

Hello,
I have a PowerBook G4 hi-res.. Has anyone had any success in hooking up an external bus powered USB/Firewire based external drive without under power issues? I was told that even the Macbook and Macbook Pros still suffer from under powered USB ports, but surely since the PowerBook I have has 2 USB 2.0 high powered ports, surely this is the same as on the macbook and macbook pros?
Which hard drives through firewire/USB bus power work well with the PowerBooks which have 2.0 USB ports? Now that I can boot off a USB on my PowerBook G4 with ease, I wanted to take advantage of such a drive as I am in the process of determining if its better to not replace the internal hard drive which is only 100GB and to just get a 1TB or 500GB external hard drive(internal enclosure would be SATA-II).
Thanks.
And no, I am aware that the PowerBook won't take SATA, but since the sata drive would be in the external enclosure, the only thing hooking up to the powerbook would be USB or firewire.

Look, I am not dismissing firewire at all... I just like the option of USB and using that OF boot code it does indeed work.. Its good that both options are available.. using the Y-cable adapter for both USB ports is fine... for my purposes.. but I am well aware that firewire is the way to go for ALL macs, INTEL AND PowerPC..
But sometimes you need another option in rare circumstances.. Plus, a friend of mine has a PowerPC mac and I am showing him next week that USB can indeed be bootable, provided one types in: boot ud:3,\\:tbxi or boot ud,\\:tbxi(if this is the only external device).
Sorry to ramble on about this.. I am just defending the proof that PowerPC macs can indeed boot from USB 2.0 drives.. whether PPC G4,G5 - I haven't tested it on a G3 though.

Similar Messages

USB bus powering is no longer available?

Hi,
Previous to updating to 10.4.3, I was easily able to bus power my midi controller (a Korg MicroKontrol). I recall after updating to 10.4.3, the controller would no longer get powered, and I had to resort to powering it by battery instead! Did other people experience this also? Does 10.4.4 solve this problem? Really annoying.
Thanks;
John
Powerbook G4 15" Mac OS X (10.4.3)

No idea but try 10.4.5 and see if it works better.
Also the more power you take by USB /FIREWIRE leaves less for the underpowered cpu as is.
If the cpu is 1.5 it should have at least 1.25v for max performance.
If it is 1.67 it should have 1-50% or 1.38V or 1.4v to be safe.
Unfortunately it is not a viable option for Apple to get this up as it is cheaper to build it like this or build a complete new one that fixes bugs etc. in the hardare.
To see how much juice it uses get HARDWARE MONITOR as it can show fan speed temps. Voltages used ect. depending on the sensors in your MAC. (GERMAN program in English)

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

How many bus-powered usb external drives per hub?

I'd like to have two bus-powered USB hard drives (to be used as backups with Time Machine) connected to one powered USB hub. Would that work, or would a powered hub be likely to support only one bus-powered external hard disk? (In that case I could get a self-powered hard drive for my second backup drive.)
Thank you.

Works for me, I just connected both my WD Passport and Seagate GoFlex to my Belkin Hub.
Hub: Belkin
Product ID: 0x2507
Vendor ID: 0x0424 (SMSC)
Version: 0.00
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Location ID: 0x26200000 / 2
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 2
FreeAgent GoFlex:
Product ID: 0x5021
Vendor ID: 0x0bc2 (Seagate LLC)
Version: 1.48
Serial Number: NA03N18Y
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Seagate
Location ID: 0x26270000 / 4
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 100
Capacity: 320.07 GB (320,072,932,864 bytes)
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk2
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Passport WD:
Product ID: 0x0704
Vendor ID: 0x1058 (Western Digital Technologies, Inc.)
Version: 1.05
Serial Number: 5758453830384E4A30333634
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Western Digital
Location ID: 0x26250000 / 3
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 2
Capacity: 160.04 GB (160,041,885,696 bytes)
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk1
Partition Map Type: MBR (Master Boot Record)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Likewise it your needing another External Hard Drive, I would recommend spending a little more for a more rugged Desktop drive to use for storage or backup.
Go with an OWC Mercury Elite Pro or a LaCie Little Big Disk and stay away from those cheap-o WD MyBooks.

Bus powered USB switch with a printer

I think I know the answer to my question, but I'd like to get a few other opinions.
Here's the question: Will the Airport Extreme supply power to a USB switch?
Here's what I want to do: We have a Canon all-in-one printer in our office. When it's connected to the AE, we happily print wirelessly. However, when we need to scan, we have to unplug the printer from the AE and plug it into our Macbooks. Inevitably, the printer doesn't get reconnected to the AE (cough, DH), and so I get irked. To keep a blissful household, I'd like to connect the printer to a 2-port USB switch. One port will then be connected to the AE and the other port will have a dangling USB cable for use when we need to scan. My issue is that I can't seem to find a simple USB switch that also has an AC adapter. Everything I see online is bus powered and from what I can gather, the AE does not provide power to the USB port. Is this in fact true?

Thanks DaddyPaycheck - I looked on amazon, newegg, and tiger direct with no luck, but hadn't checked OWC. Whatya know, I found exactly what I was looking for.
Kensington ShareCentral 2
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Kensington/33900/
I ended up buying it on Amazon for the same price with free shipping. It's good for two USB devices, even though I only need to share one printer, but the single USB switch was actually more expensive.

Why won't my 2011 MBP boot from bus-powered USB devices?

In the past, I have often made use of OS X's ability to boot from an external USB device. Before installing major OS updates, or new productivity software, I usually clone my system drive onto an external USB drive using Superduper or CarbonCopyCloner. Once the clone is complete, I can then boot from the external drive (by holding Option at startup, and choosing the cloned image from the boot disk menu). This has been incedibly useful in the past when I've had hard disk problems, or when I've upgraded to a new Mac.
My issue is with my new 2011 model 17" MBP. I am only able to boot from an external USB drive if the drive isn't bus-powered. If I try to boot from an OS X image located on a bus-powered USB flash drive or pocket hard drive, the drive seems to power down upon choosing it from the boot menu and I'm greeted by a blank gray screen. I've also tested this technique using a bus-powered DVD drive containing the Snow Leopard retail DVD (and a Windows 7 install DVD for what it's worth) and the problem remains. The optical drive will spin up upon startup, but power down as soon as I choose to boot from the DVD.
This issue only seems to affect my 2011 MBP. I've had no issues getting the same technique to work on my old 2007 MBP or a 2008 model MacBook.
Any help would be much appreciated.

Fair enough. I'll give that a try as a last resort.
I used my wife's MacBook Pro, Target Disk Mode and a Firewire 800 cable to install Snow Leopard on my MacBook Pro as I don't have an internal optical drive any more--just the standard HD and the SSD.
I did use the retail disc, and I'm wondering if the issue might be that since my machine is fairly new, I might have had to use the stock install disk--which I seem to have lost. I have the Applications DVD, but not the OS disc.
To that end, do you know of a way to get a replacement disc? I bought my machine at the store, I wonder if they'd be willing to copy one for me...

Early 2011 17" MBP -- USB 3.0 portable, reliable, bus-powered option?

Hi everyone,
I have the above mentioned MacBook Pro, and have been scouring the Internet for quite a while trying to find a solid USB 3.0 solution.
Ideally what I'm looking for is accesibility for portable, bus powered USB 3.0, 7200 RPM hard drives.
I know there are limitations in what expresscard/34 can deliver in power, and have been really trying to figure out solutions, as my drive isn't getting sufficient power from my current card, especially if both usb 3.0 ports are occupied (even if the other is just a camera SD card, the HDD will just 'click').
I've looked at different adapters, and Sonnet seems to make a pretty decent one that has two ports, and can be powered by a wall adapter is purchased from a third-party like OWC. This, however, would still leave me in a situation where I would always be reliant upon electricity, detracting a lot from the portability factor. It is also limited to pretty much only storage devices, and doesn't support USB 3.0 hubs
CalDigit makes an adapter as well that seems to be well received, but it cannot be externally powered from what I can tell… so I assume it would not provide enough power to the drives?
One option I have thought of is to get a USB 3.0 y-adapter, and plug the extra "power" USB plug into the adjacent USB 2.0 port.
Would this work, and likely provide enough power? Or would the speed be throttled down to 2.0 speeds?
Another option seems to be the CalDigit Thunderbolt hub, which, while expensive… seems to provide a great deal of value. However, that would really limit my portability and effectively limit my USB 3.0 usage to home, or wherever I drag the box around with me to.
Do any of these seem like they might work, or are there any other options I am not thinking of?
It seems like the only way I will have true USB 3.0 functionality is either the CalDigit Thunderbolt hub, or parting with this particular mac (which I'd hate to do). The other thing I would possibly like to expand to is a Blackmagic Intensity module ... which come in USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt ... with the USB 3.0 a bit cheaper (and not requiring a cable...) -- I would never be able to use that with the Expresscard/34 adapters, it seems.
I apologize for this being long, but am hoping I am giving enough information for my question to receive some feedback.
Thank you!
John

As a (likely) final update to this thread, after talking to CalDigit one last time, this product is no longer being produced by them, and one of the only vendors left for it seems to be OWC.
The card does not come with the USB "ac adapter"-type cable to add the extra needed power for bus-powered storage devices, and is not available through them, either. The CalDigit tech support rep recommended a regular USB 3.0 y-cable.
When I inquired about driver updates, the gentleman said it will likely continue to be covered for approximately 2 more OS system updates (typically 1.5 years each, so 3 years, according to him). He said that, as I have read, that it is indeed possible that the driver is more unstable under Mavericks.
At this point it seems there is no sure-shot solution based on expresscard/34. This is a huge pitfall, as everything else with my older macbook pro is wonderful (and upgradeable).
Anyway, just wanted to give that final update, as it varies significantly from what I was hoping for in my last post. I suppose I could "try" it, but OWC has a 15% restocking fee, along with having to pay return shipping...both of which I confirmed I would have to pay with OWC. I am not willing to do that, as that comes out to almost $20 just to return the product if it doesn't work correctly. Shame, as I would like to give it a fair try, at least, but they don't seem to be willing to budge, and after getting burned on bad products from the past (from other sites with restocking fees), I am no longer willing to go along with those business practices.
Good luck, everyone.

Bus powered USB drive

I have an early 2011 MBP and would like to put a large USB drive on it that's bus powered. My recollection from earlier times was that USB drives required two ports, one for the data and one for the power. Is that still the case, or can current USB 2.0 drives carry data and power the drive on the same port?
Thanks very much.
All the best,
Tom

Tom,
Current drives either get all their power from one usb port or if they require more current then the usb provides, they have their own power supply that plugs into the wall.
Regards,
Captfred

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 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

Ext HD speed and Bus-Powered Firewire 800

After having gone through various External HD over the years, Firewire 800 (WD Studio with power adapter) is by far proving to be best in terms of connecting speed when handling my 350gb+ library.
However, lately, I was exploring the option of having a portable External HD drive with "bus-powered" port so that I don't have to rely on the power plug whenever I want to listen to iTunes library.
So, here are some questions...
1) Bus-powered Firewire 800 1TB - no experience with this before. all my firewire external drives had required power adapter, but during this search I just found out that such exists.
Can MBP Firewire 800 port provide enough power to spin 1TB external drive w/out a hiccup??
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
2) Obviously for a smaller size drive with bus-powered option, I must go with 2.5" drive, which meant, I have either 1TB @ 5400rpm OR 750gb @ 7200rpm for MAX Storage option. I do want 1TB... BUT would 5400rpm / 7200rpm matter when it comes to iTunes library??
I ened up getting my current Firewire 800 external drive after experiencing lagging iTunes speed via USB 2.0 and Firewire 400. But later I found out that slow connecting (constant beach ball when selecting music) is typically resulted from having many playlists/id tags/etc.
So, I want to be sure before I get a new drive, I choose the right speed drive.
Btw, here is my current set up: MBP 13" (mid-2009), iTunes (10.1.2), 500gb 7200rpm internal drive, 8gb memory
Anyone experience with above set-up that I am thinking about??

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
I wonder if there might be a problem with the firewire bridge in the WD? The most reliable Firewire chipset that I know of is the Oxford 924+, but not everybody uses these. You might be able to find out what is actually used on the WD web site.
Since the USB connection works, the WD drive itself is probably fine.
Does your FireWire 800 work properly with other devices? If not, or if you don't know, you could try a SMC reset, which may help if the problem is with the FireWire port on the MBP:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411?viewlocale=en_US
Otherwise, you could try the drive in a different enclosure, like the Mercury on the Go from OWC, which has the Oxford 934 chipset. I have WD drives in 3 of these enclosures, and have never had a problem with any of them.
Good luck!

Can an aftermarket display tax the USB bus?

I just had a very weird issue, I purchased a 22" samsung DVI display I got pretty cheap off of Ebay, I originally was using a 20" Cinema Display and love it, but I want like most of us I guess ,more real estate. The Samsung has no USB ports as the Apple display, which I guess for me is the first issue as I use a wireless keyboard connected to USB, A Digidesign MBox2 connected to USB a iLoc key and yeah, connected to USB AND my wireless USB aircard. I had to use my old Apple keyboard as a USB hub because I of course ran out of ports on the computer and no longer had any on the display, maybe that's my issue but I didn't think I had so much to load down the usb ports from the computer. My air card began acting erraically, my MBox2 died and upon reboot I got a message warning that USB device was no operational due to low power in the USB bus. Is my problem the fact that I don't have an additional powered USB hub anymore (cinema display)? or could the Samsung display be at fault? Going back to the 20" seems to have solved all my problems, so far. But I really want the larger size, However I don't want to spend on a USB hub unless I really have to.

Hi-
Your Samsung is not at fault.
The hub in the Cinema Display has additional power, which helps with multiple devices.
Using the keyboard hub is no good with unpowered devices, as there is no additional power to the ports.
You just need a powered USB hub to connect all the other devices.

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)

Can I copy one bus powered USB2 1T HD to another (also via bus power)?

Hello
OK to copy one bus powered USB 2.0, 1T HD to another, also via bus power, or might there be some power issues to be concerned about?
Using late 2011 MBP, both Lacie 1T drives are usb 3 but step down to usb 2 on my MBP (or one can go in the thunderbolt port)
Thanks

now i cant use my username either? *groan* wrote:
to back up both 1T drives to 2 other 1T drives on site and 2 more off site means buying 4 1T back up drives for $500+,
Why spend so much?
http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Travelstar-2-5-Inch-7200RPM-Mobile/dp/B0097LG9U8/ref= sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395519777&sr=8-1&keywords=1+tb+hgst+hard+drive
Ciao.

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.

USB Bus powered externals?

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