Overloading your USB

[Huntn]

I just had an experience where I was running an external hard drive on one of my two USB ports on my MBP. On the other USB port I had hooked in a 4 port USB hub without an external power source. On that hub I was running a mouse and a Nostromo Game Pad. When I started using this setup up, I started experiencing hard freezes while playing Skyrim. I knew the issue was most likely that the single port could not handle these two devices without an external power source on the hub.

I moved my Windows Steam folder off the external drive onto my C drive, then I was able to ditch the external drive when running a Steam game. The Nostromo plugged directly into one of the USB ports, the mouse into the other USB port. Issue solved, FYI.

 

[lostless]

A USB can only handle up to 500mA. 1 hard drive if not powered can easily eat that up and cause problems as the port can not power everything on that bus.

 

[Huntn]

A USB can only handle up to 500mA. 1 hard drive if not powered can easily eat that up and cause problems as the port can not power everything on that bus.

So it could be a stupid question, but do 2 USB ports feed into the same place on a laptop or can each one handle 500mA? Thanks!

 

[lostless]

Each port can handle 500mA. On a powered hub each port gives you 500mA.

 

[Huntn]

Each port can handle 500mA. On a powered hub each port gives you 500mA.

I would have thought one port then could handle a mouse and a gamepad... admittedly I don't have a clue how much each of these devices draws (Trackball Explorer, Razer Nostromo Gamepad)

 

[Dr McKay]

Is it true that USB 3.0 ports can handle more power than USB 2.0?


(Sorry to hi-jack the thread)

 

[Huntn]

Is it true that USB 3.0 ports can handle more power than USB 2.0?


(Sorry to hi-jack the thread)

No problemo. If I'm reading this wiki article correctly it looks like they have the same power, but 3.0 has faster transmissions speeds. But maybe I'm not.

 

[hchung]

I just had an experience where I was running an external hard drive on one of my two USB ports on my MBP. On the other USB port I had hooked in a 4 port USB hub without an external power source. On that hub I was running a mouse and a Nostromo Game Pad. When I started using this setup up, I started experiencing hard freezes while playing Skyrim. I knew the issue was most likely that the single port could not handle these two devices without an external power source on the hub.

I moved my Windows Steam folder off the external drive onto my C drive, then I was able to ditch the external drive when running a Steam game. The Nostromo plugged directly into one of the USB ports, the mouse into the other USB port. Issue solved, FYI.

I'm guessing the problem was actually that you had Steam on a USB drive...

 

[lostless]

I'm guessing the problem was actually that you had Steam on a USB drive...

I agree, USB asks the CPU every time it reads or wrights. USB isn't a constant stream of data. It comes in bursts and the computer may have had trouble keeping of with the data flow off the drive for the game.

 

[Huntn]

I agree, USB asks the CPU every time it reads or wrights. USB isn't a constant stream of data. It comes in bursts and the computer may have had trouble keeping of with the data flow off the drive for the game.

I always assumed once the standard game loads into RAM, it only jumps back to the home folder when it has something to save or something it needs to add, like walking into a new area. Of course in Skyrim, the see-that-mountain, climb-it game, this could be happening quite often.

 

[modfaith777]

I just had an experience where I was running an external hard drive on one of my two USB ports on my MBP. On the other USB port I had hooked in a 4 port USB hub without an external power source. On that hub I was running a mouse and a Nostromo Game Pad. When I started using this setup up, I started experiencing hard freezes while playing Skyrim. I knew the issue was most likely that the single port could not handle these two devices without an external power source on the hub.

I moved my Windows Steam folder off the external drive onto my C drive, then I was able to ditch the external drive when running a Steam game. The Nostromo plugged directly into one of the USB ports, the mouse into the other USB port. Issue solved, FYI.

 

[saturnotaku]

 

[james_c_1]

No problemo. If I'm reading this wiki article correctly it looks like they have the same power, but 3.0 has faster transmissions speeds. But maybe I'm not.

USB 3.0 ports come in low-power and high-power variants, providing 150 mA and 900 mA respectively, while simultaneously transmitting data at SuperSpeed rates.[28] Additionally, there is a Battery Charging Specification (Version 1.2 – December 2010), which increases the power handling capability to 1.5 A but does not allow concurrent data transmission.[25] The Battery Charging Specification requires that the physical ports themselves be capable of handling 5 A of current[citation needed] but limits the maximum current drawn to 1.5 A.