The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Ext HDD 2.5" cable

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by Superman7, Apr 20, 2008.

  1. Superman7

    Superman7 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    40
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Would like to know why whenever you buy a ext hdd (via USB), why is the cable having 2 USB cable instead of one (one to the ext hdd, and another 2 which connects to the pc)? Normally we connect both or only one?
    Thanks.
     
    Superman7, Apr 20, 2008
    #1
  2. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,686
    Messages:
    3,982
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    I believe the extra USB connector is to draw extra power from a second USB port should your external HD need it.
     
    Budding, Apr 20, 2008
    #2
  3. Tim

    Tim Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    2,752
    Messages:
    3,141
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Yep Budding is correct. It is used to draw extra power to the hard drive.
    Tim
     
    Tim, Apr 20, 2008
    #3
  4. system_159

    system_159 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    363
    Messages:
    794
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Some hard drives require more power, and some OS's require that the hard drive have full power before recognizing the drive. My 2.5 Seagate drive inside a Vantec case requires both cables being plugged in when connecting to a windows PC, but only one when connecting to OS X or openSuSe/Ubuntu(don't know about other distros).

    I try to keep my 5v power adapter plugged in, though, as I want it to have all the power it needs.
     
    system_159, Apr 20, 2008
    #4
  5. nizzy1115

    nizzy1115 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,557
    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Its more that some computers (ie macs) dont supply enough power to the usb ports.
     
    nizzy1115, Apr 20, 2008
    #5
  6. Superman7

    Superman7 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    40
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Thanks for the info.
    USB1.1 and USB2.0 both uses 5V and supplied max 500mA?

    I'm having one USB1.1 port which is built in to the notebook. And I have external 2.0 adapter plug via PCMCIA card.
    Is it ok to plug one of the USB Y plug onto the USB ext 2.0 port and the other one onto the USB1.1 port? I can't seem to get the ext HDD runing even if I were to connect the both the USB Y plug onto the ext. 2.0 port.
     
    Superman7, Apr 20, 2008
    #6