rMB Hard Drive with Apple Dock Problem

[barbarbar]

Hi, i want to post some issue that i have had with the rMB.

When i plugg an external Western Digital my passport 3 TB Hard Drive with the apple official usb-c to usb 3, and the hard drive works fine.

But the problem is when i use the apple three-in-one dock (HDMI, USB-C and USB) adaptater, and i can´t work with the files that it has, the hard drive ends disconnecting after a while, every time i try to copy or move files.

I tried another apple official three-in-one dock and i have had the same problem.

Any of you have this problem too?

Thanks, and sorry about my bad english!

 

[keysofanxiety]

Going on your description of the issue, I suspect the issue might be that it's drawing too much power, or that the hub isn't powered - something along those lines. WHen you have the Apple three-in-one dock, does the problem persist when you also have the mains power in?

 

[barbarbar]

Yes, this is the strange thing, when i have the macbook throught the dock connected to power the fail keep happening.

But when i connect the usb-c to usb 3 official adapter, wich don´t have other energy than the MacBook provides, the external hard drive works ok.

 

[zhenya]

I have a 4TB Western Digital drive that I connect through my adapter and it seems to work fine so not sure what the problem is. To be clear, when you have the adapter plugged in to the Macbook, the charging brick is also connected to the adapter? Do you have a monitor or any kind of usb hub also connected?

 

[barbarbar]

I have a 4TB Western Digital drive that I connect through my adapter and it seems to work fine so not sure what the problem is. To be clear, when you have the adapter plugged in to the Macbook, the charging brick is also connected to the adapter? Do you have a monitor or any kind of usb hub also connected?

No displays, only the Western digital my passport 3 Tb is connected to MacBook, and the energy is plug too, and i can two or three minutes to navigate through the files in the external hard drive, but when i try to move or copy any files, the slowlyness start and became unusable the disk.

But when i plug the disk through the usb-c to usb 3 only adapter all works fine.

 

[zhenya]

That's the classic symptom of an underpowered usb port. Which model drive do you have? Western Digital makes some of these larger capacity drives using two platter drives spanned as one disk. If that's the case the drive may simply be drawing too much power.

 

[JTToft]

That's the classic symptom of an underpowered usb port. Which model drive do you have? Western Digital makes some of these larger capacity drives using two platter drives spanned as one disk. If that's the case the drive may simply be drawing too much power.

- I agree that this would seem to be the issue. Yet it doesn't make sense that the drive would work fine with the simple USB-C to USB-A, where, if anything, it should receive less power than with the Multiport Adaptor.

And the Multiport Adapter likely isn't the problem, either, as the problem appears on two different ones.
The only possibility I can see is some strange defect on the WD drive that causes it to not work with the Multiport adaptor.

Just for good measure, if you can, delete the partition(s) and do a reformat. Wouldn't really expect it to help, but worth a shot.

 

[zhenya]

- I agree that this would seem to be the issue. Yet it doesn't make sense that the drive would work fine with the simple USB-C to USB-A, where, if anything, it should receive less power than with the Multiport Adaptor.

And the Multiport Adapter likely isn't the problem, either, as the problem appears on two different ones.
The only possibility I can see is some strange defect on the WD drive that causes it to not work with the Multiport adaptor.

Just for good measure, if you can, delete the partition(s) and do a reformat. Wouldn't really expect it to help, but worth a shot.

The usb port on the MacBook seems to have a ceiling as to how much power it can support. The digital av adapter uses a not-insignificant amount of power, and the amount of power available for charging is significantly reduced when using it. I would not be surprised if there is more power available directly from the port with nothing else plugged in than hanging off the adapter.

 

[JTToft]

The usb port on the MacBook seems to have a ceiling as to how much power it can support. The digital av adapter uses a not-insignificant amount of power, and the amount of power available for charging is significantly reduced when using it. I would not be surprised if there is more power available directly from the port with nothing else plugged in than hanging off the adapter.

- Hmm. Interesting. That could explain it. But shouldn't the adaptor reduce the power going to the MacBook rather than to the USB-port, if there is a shortage?

I just doubt the lack of power could be that significant. A 2.5" drive just doesn't require very much power compared to how much the charger and MacBook can deliver. (And I'd expect lots of other people use external hard drives (of the same model, even) with the Multiport adaptor without issue.)

 

[zhenya]

- Hmm. Interesting. That could explain it. But shouldn't the adaptor reduce the power going to the MacBook rather than to the USB-port, if there is a shortage?

I just doubt the lack of power could be that significant. A 2.5" drive just doesn't require very much power compared to how much the charger and MacBook can deliver. (And I'd expect lots of other people use external hard drives (of the same model, even) with the Multiport adaptor without issue.)

I think the way the power is routed is from the charging brick, through the adapter to the MacBook, which then routes power back out to the adapter and its ports. For example, you can't have the adapter plugged in to the charging brick, and charge your phone on the usb plug. It has to be plugged into the MacBook for it to work at all. So any power available to the adapter is shared between the adapter and whatever usb devices you connect. And that usb-a port has just enough power for a single hard drive and perhaps a keyboard and mouse. If his hard disk is one that is actually two spanned disks in a single enclosure, there might not be enough power left after powering the adapter.

 

[barbarbar]

The usb port on the MacBook seems to have a ceiling as to how much power it can support. The digital av adapter uses a not-insignificant amount of power, and the amount of power available for charging is significantly reduced when using it. I would not be surprised if there is more power available directly from the port with nothing else plugged in than hanging off the adapter.

I think you are right, like i said before, i tried with two differents av-digital adapters and with them i have the same problem.

It must be like you said. but it´s annoying, i have buyed the av digital adapteur to have a Hard Drive connected and the power too, and i can´t with the apple official adapteur.

This is my hard drive http://www.amazon.es/dp/B00YRBNJXS/...0YRBNJXS&linkCode=df0&hvdev=c&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=

 

[JTToft]

This is my hard drive http://www.amazon.es/dp/B00YRBNJXS/...0YRBNJXS&linkCode=df0&hvdev=c&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=

- From glancing at the pictures, it does indeed look like a 2 drives in 1 type deal, as zhenya suggested. That would draw more power.
But that's really annoying for you. How about connecting through a powered USB hub for some extra juice? Could work.

 

[barbarbar]

- From glancing at the pictures, it does indeed look like a 2 drives in 1 type deal, as zhenya suggested. That would draw more power.
But that's really annoying for you. How about connecting through a powered USB hub for some extra juice? Could work.

Yes, through a powered usb hub it works fine, but i lose the portability.

My idea was, when i unplugged from power keep working with the hard drive via apple official three-in-one hub. And i Can´t.