Quirky USB

My case has 2 external USB 2 ports that plug into the mobo. They were
the ones I used for external USB stuff like a camera and a WD
passport. I now have my mouse and keyboard plugged into the front so
the built in USB 2 ports on the back are free. (The built in ones are
the ones that are attached to the mobo)

When I plugged my WD passport into the front, I got an error message
that the hardware did not load properly or something similar. But
sometimes I get that message when plugging the drive into the built in
ones. I can unplug it and sometimes re plug it and it will work.

I am wondering if I could lower my chance for problems by buying an
3.5 inch USB 2 port that plugs into my mobo? My thinking is that,
because the external ones also have a power connector, this might
cause better performance than the mobo ones.

Metspitzer wrote:
My case has 2 external USB 2 ports that plug into the mobo. They were
the ones I used for external USB stuff like a camera and a WD
passport. I now have my mouse and keyboard plugged into the front so
the built in USB 2 ports on the back are free. (The built in ones are
the ones that are attached to the mobo)

When I plugged my WD passport into the front, I got an error message
that the hardware did not load properly or something similar. But
sometimes I get that message when plugging the drive into the built in
ones. I can unplug it and sometimes re plug it and it will work.

I am wondering if I could lower my chance for problems by buying an
3.5 inch USB 2 port that plugs into my mobo? My thinking is that,
because the external ones also have a power connector, this might
cause better performance than the mobo ones.



I have a USB2 enclosure for 3.5" drives, with its own power adapter,
and have had no problems with the USB interface. Mine has a switch
on it, so I can turn it off when it is not being used. (That just
disconnects the drive from the adapter - the adapter still wastes
a bit of power from the wall.)

With 2.5" drives, some of them, the spinup current draw is too much
for the bus current limit of 500mA. Some 2.5" enclosures come with
a "two headed" USB cable, to solve the powering problem. If the drive
you own is a 7200RPM model, maybe its spinup current makes the thing
marginal when plugged into your USB ports. (Not every 2.5" hard
drive I've tried to look up, states the spinup current. You'd think
they were ashamed of the number or something.)

This drive, for example, lists 500mA for read/write. Which is the
limit of the USB spec. And no figure is listed for spinup, which
could be a higher current flow number than that.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=477

Seagate has no specs at all, for the couple 2.5" drives I looked at.
Clever.

Toshiba seems to be the most honest at the moment.

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Pat...MKxx54GSYspecs

Power Requirements
Voltage 5V (+/-5%)
Spin up (start) Power 5.5 watts
Seek Power 2.2 watts
Read/Write Power 1.9 watts
Active Idle Power 1.2 watts
Low Power Idle 0.9 watts
Standby Power 0.18 watts
Sleep Power 0.13 watts

Dividing 5.5 watts by 5 volts, gives a spinup current of 1.1 amps through
a USB port with a stated 500mA limit. The Polyfuse might not open
right away, and maybe the drive can get 1 amp for the first 10 seconds
it needs to spin up. That could be a reason why a drive might be
marginal with a single USB port as a power source. On a laptop, sometimes
the device checking current flow, is a lot more precise at cutting
off an overload, which is why some laptops are even less tolerant with
USB housed 2.5" drives.

A "two headed USB cable" only helps, if it is tapping into two *independent*
power sources. On a desktop system, with two USB ports on the front, they
draw current from the same Polyfuse. Which is why, even if you were to plug a
two headed (data + power) type USB cable into your desktop PC, it might not
help. If you plugged the two headed cable, into one front port and one rear port,
then those use different Polyfuses. But of course, a two headed cable has
insufficient spacing between heads, to stretch that far :-)

Some drives include a barrel connector on the enclosure, for 5V power.
But they never include an adapter for it. Which means lots of fun
trying to find the right adapter to use.

So, yeah, a 3.5" USB2 enclosure, will solve your problems.

Paul

On 26/04/2010 11:22 AM, Metspitzer wrote:
My case has 2 external USB 2 ports that plug into the mobo. They were
the ones I used for external USB stuff like a camera and a WD
passport. I now have my mouse and keyboard plugged into the front so
the built in USB 2 ports on the back are free. (The built in ones are
the ones that are attached to the mobo)

When I plugged my WD passport into the front, I got an error message
that the hardware did not load properly or something similar. But
sometimes I get that message when plugging the drive into the built in
ones. I can unplug it and sometimes re plug it and it will work.

I am wondering if I could lower my chance for problems by buying an
3.5 inch USB 2 port that plugs into my mobo? My thinking is that,
because the external ones also have a power connector, this might
cause better performance than the mobo ones.



WD supplies a single port to device cable. This, depending on your
motherboard, may provide insufficient power to the device if the usb
port it's plugged into does not quite meet spec - ie, it doesn't provide
sufficient current. The solution is to buy what's sometimes referred to
as a Y cable - it utilises two usb ports on the PC and takes the power
from both to the device. A word of warning - do not use these drives on
USB hubs unless the hub is a "powered hub". Even then, if it's a piece
of crap powered hub, the device may not work. Better to connect it
directly to the PC through a Y cable.

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply
Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow transplant. Please
volunteer to be a marrow donor and literally save someone's life:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:09:49 -0400, Paul wrote:

Metspitzer wrote:
My case has 2 external USB 2 ports that plug into the mobo. They were
the ones I used for external USB stuff like a camera and a WD
passport. I now have my mouse and keyboard plugged into the front so
the built in USB 2 ports on the back are free. (The built in ones are
the ones that are attached to the mobo)

When I plugged my WD passport into the front, I got an error message
that the hardware did not load properly or something similar. But
sometimes I get that message when plugging the drive into the built in
ones. I can unplug it and sometimes re plug it and it will work.

I am wondering if I could lower my chance for problems by buying an
3.5 inch USB 2 port that plugs into my mobo? My thinking is that,
because the external ones also have a power connector, this might
cause better performance than the mobo ones.



I have a USB2 enclosure for 3.5" drives, with its own power adapter,
and have had no problems with the USB interface. Mine has a switch
on it, so I can turn it off when it is not being used. (That just
disconnects the drive from the adapter - the adapter still wastes
a bit of power from the wall.)

With 2.5" drives, some of them, the spinup current draw is too much
for the bus current limit of 500mA. Some 2.5" enclosures come with
a "two headed" USB cable, to solve the powering problem. If the drive
you own is a 7200RPM model, maybe its spinup current makes the thing
marginal when plugged into your USB ports. (Not every 2.5" hard
drive I've tried to look up, states the spinup current. You'd think
they were ashamed of the number or something.)

This drive, for example, lists 500mA for read/write. Which is the
limit of the USB spec. And no figure is listed for spinup, which
could be a higher current flow number than that.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=477

Seagate has no specs at all, for the couple 2.5" drives I looked at.
Clever.

Toshiba seems to be the most honest at the moment.

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Pat...MKxx54GSYspecs

Power Requirements
Voltage 5V (+/-5%)
Spin up (start) Power 5.5 watts
Seek Power 2.2 watts
Read/Write Power 1.9 watts
Active Idle Power 1.2 watts
Low Power Idle 0.9 watts
Standby Power 0.18 watts
Sleep Power 0.13 watts

Dividing 5.5 watts by 5 volts, gives a spinup current of 1.1 amps through
a USB port with a stated 500mA limit. The Polyfuse might not open
right away, and maybe the drive can get 1 amp for the first 10 seconds
it needs to spin up. That could be a reason why a drive might be
marginal with a single USB port as a power source. On a laptop, sometimes
the device checking current flow, is a lot more precise at cutting
off an overload, which is why some laptops are even less tolerant with
USB housed 2.5" drives.

A "two headed USB cable" only helps, if it is tapping into two *independent*
power sources. On a desktop system, with two USB ports on the front, they
draw current from the same Polyfuse. Which is why, even if you were to plug a
two headed (data + power) type USB cable into your desktop PC, it might not
help. If you plugged the two headed cable, into one front port and one rear port,
then those use different Polyfuses. But of course, a two headed cable has
insufficient spacing between heads, to stretch that far :-)

Some drives include a barrel connector on the enclosure, for 5V power.
But they never include an adapter for it. Which means lots of fun
trying to find the right adapter to use.

So, yeah, a 3.5" USB2 enclosure, will solve your problems.

Paul

Your computer knowledge is so much more than mine, you usually tell me
more than I want to know.

I appreciate your attempts to educate me, but you are usually talking
way up here and I am trying to listen way down here.

I can't find what I am looking for. I ordered something similar, in
the past, for my niece that plugged into a PCI card and also had a
connector to connect to plug in a floppy power supply connector.

This one has a place for a USB connector to the mobo but does not have
a separate power supply connector. I need something like this but
with a power connector.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...104&CatId=4753

Anyone know where I can get a good quality one?

In article ,
says...

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:09:49 -0400, Paul wrote:

Metspitzer wrote:
My case has 2 external USB 2 ports that plug into the mobo. They were
the ones I used for external USB stuff like a camera and a WD
passport. I now have my mouse and keyboard plugged into the front so
the built in USB 2 ports on the back are free. (The built in ones are
the ones that are attached to the mobo)

When I plugged my WD passport into the front, I got an error message
that the hardware did not load properly or something similar. But
sometimes I get that message when plugging the drive into the built in
ones. I can unplug it and sometimes re plug it and it will work.

I am wondering if I could lower my chance for problems by buying an
3.5 inch USB 2 port that plugs into my mobo? My thinking is that,
because the external ones also have a power connector, this might
cause better performance than the mobo ones.



I have a USB2 enclosure for 3.5" drives, with its own power adapter,
and have had no problems with the USB interface. Mine has a switch
on it, so I can turn it off when it is not being used. (That just
disconnects the drive from the adapter - the adapter still wastes
a bit of power from the wall.)

With 2.5" drives, some of them, the spinup current draw is too much
for the bus current limit of 500mA. Some 2.5" enclosures come with
a "two headed" USB cable, to solve the powering problem. If the drive
you own is a 7200RPM model, maybe its spinup current makes the thing
marginal when plugged into your USB ports. (Not every 2.5" hard
drive I've tried to look up, states the spinup current. You'd think
they were ashamed of the number or something.)

This drive, for example, lists 500mA for read/write. Which is the
limit of the USB spec. And no figure is listed for spinup, which
could be a higher current flow number than that.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=477

Seagate has no specs at all, for the couple 2.5" drives I looked at.
Clever.

Toshiba seems to be the most honest at the moment.

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Pat...MKxx54GSYspecs

Power Requirements
Voltage 5V (+/-5%)
Spin up (start) Power 5.5 watts
Seek Power 2.2 watts
Read/Write Power 1.9 watts
Active Idle Power 1.2 watts
Low Power Idle 0.9 watts
Standby Power 0.18 watts
Sleep Power 0.13 watts

Dividing 5.5 watts by 5 volts, gives a spinup current of 1.1 amps through
a USB port with a stated 500mA limit. The Polyfuse might not open
right away, and maybe the drive can get 1 amp for the first 10 seconds
it needs to spin up. That could be a reason why a drive might be
marginal with a single USB port as a power source. On a laptop, sometimes
the device checking current flow, is a lot more precise at cutting
off an overload, which is why some laptops are even less tolerant with
USB housed 2.5" drives.

A "two headed USB cable" only helps, if it is tapping into two *independent*
power sources. On a desktop system, with two USB ports on the front, they
draw current from the same Polyfuse. Which is why, even if you were to plug a
two headed (data + power) type USB cable into your desktop PC, it might not
help. If you plugged the two headed cable, into one front port and one rear port,
then those use different Polyfuses. But of course, a two headed cable has
insufficient spacing between heads, to stretch that far :-)

Some drives include a barrel connector on the enclosure, for 5V power.
But they never include an adapter for it. Which means lots of fun
trying to find the right adapter to use.

So, yeah, a 3.5" USB2 enclosure, will solve your problems.

Paul

Your computer knowledge is so much more than mine, you usually tell me
more than I want to know.

So why not upgrade your knowledge a bit? His answers are not just for
you, but anybody with a similar problem that bothers to do a Usenet
search on their problem.


I appreciate your attempts to educate me, but you are usually talking
way up here and I am trying to listen way down here.

I can't find what I am looking for. I ordered something similar, in
the past, for my niece that plugged into a PCI card and also had a
connector to connect to plug in a floppy power supply connector.

This one has a place for a USB connector to the mobo but does not have
a separate power supply connector. I need something like this but
with a power connector.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...104&CatId=4753

Anyone know where I can get a good quality one?

Why can't you use something like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817394025

BELKIN F5U304-WHT USB 2.0 Plus Hub ?






s

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:36:38 -0700, Steve wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:09:49 -0400, Paul wrote:

Metspitzer wrote:
My case has 2 external USB 2 ports that plug into the mobo. They were
the ones I used for external USB stuff like a camera and a WD
passport. I now have my mouse and keyboard plugged into the front so
the built in USB 2 ports on the back are free. (The built in ones are
the ones that are attached to the mobo)

When I plugged my WD passport into the front, I got an error message
that the hardware did not load properly or something similar. But
sometimes I get that message when plugging the drive into the built in
ones. I can unplug it and sometimes re plug it and it will work.

I am wondering if I could lower my chance for problems by buying an
3.5 inch USB 2 port that plugs into my mobo? My thinking is that,
because the external ones also have a power connector, this might
cause better performance than the mobo ones.



I have a USB2 enclosure for 3.5" drives, with its own power adapter,
and have had no problems with the USB interface. Mine has a switch
on it, so I can turn it off when it is not being used. (That just
disconnects the drive from the adapter - the adapter still wastes
a bit of power from the wall.)

With 2.5" drives, some of them, the spinup current draw is too much
for the bus current limit of 500mA. Some 2.5" enclosures come with
a "two headed" USB cable, to solve the powering problem. If the drive
you own is a 7200RPM model, maybe its spinup current makes the thing
marginal when plugged into your USB ports. (Not every 2.5" hard
drive I've tried to look up, states the spinup current. You'd think
they were ashamed of the number or something.)

This drive, for example, lists 500mA for read/write. Which is the
limit of the USB spec. And no figure is listed for spinup, which
could be a higher current flow number than that.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=477

Seagate has no specs at all, for the couple 2.5" drives I looked at.
Clever.

Toshiba seems to be the most honest at the moment.

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Pat...MKxx54GSYspecs

Power Requirements
Voltage 5V (+/-5%)
Spin up (start) Power 5.5 watts
Seek Power 2.2 watts
Read/Write Power 1.9 watts
Active Idle Power 1.2 watts
Low Power Idle 0.9 watts
Standby Power 0.18 watts
Sleep Power 0.13 watts

Dividing 5.5 watts by 5 volts, gives a spinup current of 1.1 amps through
a USB port with a stated 500mA limit. The Polyfuse might not open
right away, and maybe the drive can get 1 amp for the first 10 seconds
it needs to spin up. That could be a reason why a drive might be
marginal with a single USB port as a power source. On a laptop, sometimes
the device checking current flow, is a lot more precise at cutting
off an overload, which is why some laptops are even less tolerant with
USB housed 2.5" drives.

A "two headed USB cable" only helps, if it is tapping into two *independent*
power sources. On a desktop system, with two USB ports on the front, they
draw current from the same Polyfuse. Which is why, even if you were to plug a
two headed (data + power) type USB cable into your desktop PC, it might not
help. If you plugged the two headed cable, into one front port and one rear port,
then those use different Polyfuses. But of course, a two headed cable has
insufficient spacing between heads, to stretch that far :-)

Some drives include a barrel connector on the enclosure, for 5V power.
But they never include an adapter for it. Which means lots of fun
trying to find the right adapter to use.

So, yeah, a 3.5" USB2 enclosure, will solve your problems.

Paul

Your computer knowledge is so much more than mine, you usually tell me
more than I want to know.

So why not upgrade your knowledge a bit? His answers are not just for
you, but anybody with a similar problem that bothers to do a Usenet
search on their problem.

Reading about bus current and drive speeds just doesn't interest me.
Paul's comments are very informative and very appreciated. He did
answer my question. It was yes. I clearly understood that.



I appreciate your attempts to educate me, but you are usually talking
way up here and I am trying to listen way down here.

I can't find what I am looking for. I ordered something similar, in
the past, for my niece that plugged into a PCI card and also had a
connector to connect to plug in a floppy power supply connector.

This one has a place for a USB connector to the mobo but does not have
a separate power supply connector. I need something like this but
with a power connector.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...104&CatId=4753

Anyone know where I can get a good quality one?

Why can't you use something like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817394025

BELKIN F5U304-WHT USB 2.0 Plus Hub ?

I want an internal one to mount in a floppy bay.

I have found one that plugs into the mobo, but I haven't found one
that has a powered (bus?)

In article ,
says...
snip

Why can't you use something like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817394025

BELKIN F5U304-WHT USB 2.0 Plus Hub ?

I want an internal one to mount in a floppy bay.

I have found one that plugs into the mobo, but I haven't found one
that has a powered (bus?)

http://www.syba.com/index.php?contro...on=Info&Id=863


It has a powered buss. Maybe you could adapt it to a floppy bracket
mount?






s