Will western digital passport 320gb work with 1 macbook usb port?

tennismanclay · Mar 8, 2008

I have a macbook 2.16ghz bought in June 07. Im wanting to buy a western digital 320gb external drive, which is supposed to be powered by the usb port.

I read somewhere it takes 600 MA to power it, and someone said it took 1000MA to power it. In system profiler it says my macbook's usb supports 500MA, which really surprised me since its a pretty new computer.

My question is if anyone has a 320gb passport drive on the same generation macbook i have that works. Or if you need a y cable to do it.

haxderek · Mar 8, 2008

tennismanclay said:
I have a macbook 2.16ghz bought in June 07. Im wanting to buy a western digital 320gb external drive, which is supposed to be powered by the usb port.

I read somewhere it takes 600 MA to power it, and someone said it took 1000MA to power it. In system profiler it says my macbook's usb supports 500MA, which really surprised me since its a pretty new computer.

My question is if anyone has a 320gb on the same generation macbook i have, and if it works without a 20 dollar y cable.

Sorry if this seems irrelevant. I have a 250gb WD passport (usb-powered) and it works fine with my Macbook 2.0ghz bought in march 07.

aethelbert · Mar 8, 2008

Yes, they work. I've used them a lot, and the passport drives have never been a problem.

tennismanclay · Mar 8, 2008

ok, so a 320gb passport drive will work on my macbook without the additional cable?

Just making sure

hexonxonx · Mar 8, 2008

tennismanclay said:
I have a macbook 2.16ghz bought in June 07. Im wanting to buy a western digital 320gb external drive, which is supposed to be powered by the usb port.

I read somewhere it takes 600 MA to power it, and someone said it took 1000MA to power it. In system profiler it says my macbook's usb supports 500MA, which really surprised me since its a pretty new computer.

My question is if anyone has a 320gb passport drive on the same generation macbook i have that works. Or if you need a y cable to do it.

Ignore, forgot I was in the Macbook forum.

lag1090 · Mar 9, 2008

tennismanclay said:
I read somewhere it takes 600 MA to power it, and someone said it took 1000MA to power it. In system profiler it says my macbook's usb supports 500MA, which really surprised me since its a pretty new computer.

The USB spec allows for a maximum of 500mA per port. Anything higher is out of spec. Based on this, one cannot honestly expect Apple to provide USB ports with higher power ratings.

benjaminbr · Mar 9, 2008

lag1090 said:
The USB spec allows for a maximum of 500mA per port. Anything higher is out of spec. Based on this, one cannot honestly expect Apple to provide USB ports with higher power ratings.

I hope you meant that as sarcasm, or else you haven't kept up with the Air usb superdrive debacle.

lag1090 · Mar 9, 2008

benjaminbr said:
I hope you meant that as sarcasm, or else you haven't kept up with the Air usb superdrive debacle.

It was a minor jab at Apple's policy of adhering to standards only when the company feels it is necessary. While other manufacturers may occasionally use out-of-spec components in their products, they are relatively consistent in comparison.

tennismanclay · Mar 9, 2008

So, will it work or not??

pjrobertson · Mar 10, 2008

YES it will work!

But it doesn't work in one of the extra ports from the Apple Keyboard, not enough power.

Straight into the Macbook works fine.

UltraNEO* · Mar 10, 2008

tennismanclay said:
So, will it work or not??

Hiya tennismanclay,

Hope this helps you. I have my old 2.5" WD 250Gb Drive in an external case and it's plugged directly into my MBP. I can assure you it works fine... and I can honestly say the 320Gb version will also be find cause both drives draw the same amount of current.

However, if your plugging it into a non-powered USB hub or attaching it to a USB keyboard, then it won't function correctly as nither the Hub or older Apple keyboards offer sufficient current.

panzer06 · Mar 25, 2008

UltraNEO* said:
Hiya tennismanclay,

Hope this helps you. I have my old 2.5" WD 250Gb Drive in an external case and it's plugged directly into my MBP. I can assure you it works fine... and I can honestly say the 320Gb version will also be find cause both drives draw the same amount of current.

However, if your plugging it into a non-powered USB hub or attaching it to a USB keyboard, then it won't function correctly as nither the Hub or older Apple keyboards offer sufficient current.

This should be a qualified yes; I've seen issues when the system has multiple external devices connected FW, USB at the same time and attempts to add addl external drive fails, requiring a powered case or connecting to a powered hub.

If the external USB drive is the only heavy draw it should work just fine.

Cheers,

ref26 · Mar 25, 2008

I have a 320gb Simpletech external HDD and it requires 2 ports, if that helps at all, it probably varies by brand though.

willpower101 · Sep 24, 2009

I have a western digital that won't work. Can anyone reccomend a cable long enough to reach around both ports?

NewMacbookPlz · Sep 24, 2009

willpower101 said:
I have a western digital that won't work. Can anyone reccomend a cable long enough to reach around both ports?

It didn't come with a 2-->1 USB cable? I believe WD sells one.

As for the OP, my 500GB 2.5" Seagate external drive works just fine with 1 plug. There's a 2nd "power" USB head on the cable but I don't need to use it. (Unibody MacBook)

willpower101 · Sep 24, 2009

roger that.

I found the cable on their site finally. It's one of the few that's long enough.

5DollaFootlong · Sep 25, 2009

i think it'll work without problems.

Chimpy · Sep 26, 2009

I have the 320gb Passport and it works fine on my Macbook 1,1. Hope that helps.

bamabruin · Jun 1, 2011

I have a 250gb WD Passport that used to work fine with the macbook, but now doesn't, and makes a clicking sound. The weird part is the same drive still works fine when plugged in to a PC. Could this is a USB Power issue on my macbook?

Will western digital passport 320gb work with 1 macbook usb port?

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