Hey all,
I decided to run a test with two keyboards using a couple of older Macs to find out if the power problem when using a usb device on the Apple aluminum keyboard was limited to the machine, or to the keyboard itself. For example, when plugging in a USB 2.0 thumb drive into the aluminum keyboard hub, a "USB device needs more power" error will most likely occur, but only on the older Macs, such as those before 2007.
However, what I found was if I used a basic Dell keyboard with two USB ports, and plugged the USB drive into it, the drive worked normally, and without any issues.
The Macs I used were a 2006 1.6GHz Core Duo Mac Mini, and a 2006 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo iMac. In both cases, the Apple aluminum keyboard would not provide enough power to the thumb drive, but the Dell keyboard did. It didn't matter which port on either the computer or the keyboard I used; the results were always the same.
I believe it is simply because either the driver for the aluminum keyboard on the older Macs does not allow the machine to provide enough power to the plugged in device, or the aluminum keyboard simply requires a higher-powered machine (i.e. a newer Mac) to provide the extra juice to it, while the generic keyboard already has enough power draw of its own to provide power to the USB device, without any additional draw from the Mac's USB ports.
I took a couple of screenshots of System Info to illustrate this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87723129@N04/8420312035/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87723129@N04/8420312091/in/photostream
As you can see, the USB drive "Ultra Backup" requires 200mA, which the Dell keyboard readily provides, but which the Apple one does not.
This could be similar to the other thread I started which involves the older Mini not recognizing the Apple aluminum keyboard during startup, if one were trying to boot to Target Disc Mode by holding down "T", for example.
It's similar because the driver might not allow the aluminum keyboard to get any power at startup, so it also does not allow the Mac enough power to use a higher-speed device on its USB ports.
Of course, none of it really matters, as using a generic USB keyboard like the Dell one in my test is certainly a cheaper and easier alternative to solving the USB hub problem. Besides, Apple never intended any super-powered devices to be plugged into the USB ports on its aluminum keyboard: it was always designed for lower-powered devices like mice.
Just something I'd like to share with the community, and I'd like to hear of any similar experiences other Mac users might have had concerning the aluminum keyboard and its hubs.
I decided to run a test with two keyboards using a couple of older Macs to find out if the power problem when using a usb device on the Apple aluminum keyboard was limited to the machine, or to the keyboard itself. For example, when plugging in a USB 2.0 thumb drive into the aluminum keyboard hub, a "USB device needs more power" error will most likely occur, but only on the older Macs, such as those before 2007.
However, what I found was if I used a basic Dell keyboard with two USB ports, and plugged the USB drive into it, the drive worked normally, and without any issues.
The Macs I used were a 2006 1.6GHz Core Duo Mac Mini, and a 2006 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo iMac. In both cases, the Apple aluminum keyboard would not provide enough power to the thumb drive, but the Dell keyboard did. It didn't matter which port on either the computer or the keyboard I used; the results were always the same.
I believe it is simply because either the driver for the aluminum keyboard on the older Macs does not allow the machine to provide enough power to the plugged in device, or the aluminum keyboard simply requires a higher-powered machine (i.e. a newer Mac) to provide the extra juice to it, while the generic keyboard already has enough power draw of its own to provide power to the USB device, without any additional draw from the Mac's USB ports.
I took a couple of screenshots of System Info to illustrate this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87723129@N04/8420312035/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87723129@N04/8420312091/in/photostream
As you can see, the USB drive "Ultra Backup" requires 200mA, which the Dell keyboard readily provides, but which the Apple one does not.
This could be similar to the other thread I started which involves the older Mini not recognizing the Apple aluminum keyboard during startup, if one were trying to boot to Target Disc Mode by holding down "T", for example.
It's similar because the driver might not allow the aluminum keyboard to get any power at startup, so it also does not allow the Mac enough power to use a higher-speed device on its USB ports.
Of course, none of it really matters, as using a generic USB keyboard like the Dell one in my test is certainly a cheaper and easier alternative to solving the USB hub problem. Besides, Apple never intended any super-powered devices to be plugged into the USB ports on its aluminum keyboard: it was always designed for lower-powered devices like mice.
Just something I'd like to share with the community, and I'd like to hear of any similar experiences other Mac users might have had concerning the aluminum keyboard and its hubs.