External USB HD

[lordthistle]

Is any of you able to use an external HD drive connecting to a SINGLE USB port?

In order to be more specific:
I have an WD 250GB external HD that connects to a single USB port. The HD uses the same USB port both for power and for data.

That is what it should do. In my case the power is not enough and the HD is not mounted, its light blinks (shouldn't) and nothing happens.

I am sure the HD is not defective because it used to work perfectly on my father's Sony VAIO notebook. Furthermore, I have seen the same HD sold in an apple shop (but I didn't ask about). May be it works only on iMacs?

If you have a similar HD (that works), could you please tell me what its brand/model is?

thistle

 

[Andrew Henry]

Is any of you able to use an external HD drive connecting to a SINGLE USB port?

In order to be more specific:
I have an WD 250GB external HD that connects to a single USB port. The HD uses the same USB port both for power and for data.

That is what it should do. In my case the power is not enough and the HD is not mounted, its light blinks (shouldn't) and nothing happens.

I am sure the HD is not defective because it used to work perfectly on my father's Sony VAIO notebook. Furthermore, I have seen the same HD sold in an apple shop (but I didn't ask about). May be it works only on iMacs?

If you have a similar HD (that works), could you please tell me what its brand/model is?

thistle

I've had trouble with certain drives, but I have 3 that work flawlessly, but some drives don't work, I just don't use those ones. I'm not sure about your specific drive, I have 2 custom enclosure drives, and 1 WD Passport 120gb that work with no external power. I also find that on the drives that I don't think work, I try and use a different USB cable and they work.

 

[UltraNEO*]

Is any of you able to use an external HD drive connecting to a SINGLE USB port?

In order to be more specific:
I have an WD 250GB external HD that connects to a single USB port. The HD uses the same USB port both for power and for data.

That is what it should do. In my case the power is not enough and the HD is not mounted, its light blinks (shouldn't) and nothing happens.

I am sure the HD is not defective because it used to work perfectly on my father's Sony VAIO notebook. Furthermore, I have seen the same HD sold in an apple shop (but I didn't ask about). May be it works only on iMacs?

If you have a similar HD (that works), could you please tell me what its brand/model is?

thistle

That's ODD!

I have a WD 250GB external HD too! But mine works absolutely fine!
I plug it in via s single USB cord and it mounts without a glitch.

May I ask what sort of enclosure the drive is in?
is it an actual WD Passport 250, mounted in the original WD enclosure?
I'm using a very cheap third party case and the drive works fine!! The only time i had this power-shortage problem was when I had some adaptor using the ExpressCard slot, only then does the drive refuse to mount.

 

[lordthistle]

Thank you for your answers.

My drive is a Passport (or My Passport) original WD one. I bought it few weeks ago. May be I need to have my MBP checked also for this problem.

Anyway, I have seen that you do not have a MBP in the current generation. My MBP is Penryn-based. Even if it shouldn't be different from yours, may be they changed USB specs.

thistle

 

[UltraNEO*]

Thank you for your answers.

My drive is a Passport (or My Passport) original WD one. I bought it few weeks ago. May be I need to have my MBP checked also for this problem.

Anyway, I have seen that you do not have a MBP in the current generation. My MBP is Penryn-based. Even if it shouldn't be different from yours, may be they changed USB specs.

thistle

You're welcomed.

Nah, I don't think Apple would of changed it's specs. The only difference between your's and mine is the Penryn CPU (45nm technology - helps to reduce heat and power consumption). It's still using the Santa Rosa chipset, therefore the controllers are the same.

It's a known problem that one of the USB ports (left, next to MagSafe) seems to output less juice than the other, i've discovered the one on the right has less incompatibility issues - perhaps because it's mounted on the Logicboard?

 

[lordthistle]

.
It's a known problem that one of the USB ports (left, next to MagSafe) seems to output less juice than the other, i've discovered the one on the right has less incompatibility issues - perhaps because it's mounted on the Logicboard?

That's weird. I have just read the instruction of an audio device where they suggested to attach it to the left port.

Anyway, in my case, both ports are not good. So...

thistle