USB Powered External Drives

pastypyro · 06-16-2005, 12:13 AM

Does anyone know of any large (250 GB+) drives that are external and powered over the USB bus? All the large drives I've seen would require either an external power supply or connection to a PCs power supply, and I don't want to hack apart my laptop to rig something up.

I was looking for something I could run in the car, on my laptop, and on my desktop to carry all my stuff around and take it home and have it available on the network in the evenings.

Any suggestions?

pastypyro · 06-16-2005, 03:21 PM

Bump... is it even possible to power a 3.5" drive over USB?

White 350z · 06-16-2005, 03:34 PM

I haven't seen any... HDs probably require more power than the USB bus can provide.

Sonicxtacy02 · 06-16-2005, 03:40 PM

not possible. The usb bus doesnt have enough power to drive the HD components.

Scouse Monkey · 06-16-2005, 03:47 PM

USB is 5V, 3.5" hdd needs 12V. So you would need a step up.

USB can supply 500mA, 3.5" needs about 15-20W

Even laptop usb enclosures sometimes need yo use the power from a second usb port so even if you had a 5-->12V step up you would need the power of 6-8 USB ports. Not gonna happen!

Wiredwrx · 06-16-2005, 03:48 PM

USB provides only 5volts. No way to power a 3.5 HD with out external power because they require a 12 volts.
Sorry.
Michael

thanatos106 · 06-16-2005, 03:49 PM

No possible because the USB bus does not provide 12v that a large HD(3.5") need to work.
In the other hand if you wat to set for a 100GB (2.5") usb they have it in the market but is pricy.

thanatos.

DarquePervert · 06-16-2005, 03:51 PM

You might consider an MP3 player that has a battery pack that operates as a USB drive. This is how my Archose Gmni 100 works. It's only 20GB, but there are mods to use a larger drive. I think you can get 100GB drives working in it. It's a standalone MP3 player, as well as a USB 2.0 HDD.

Scouse Monkey · 06-16-2005, 04:01 PM

yeah i was thinking about using an ipod as my music drive.

pastypyro · 06-16-2005, 05:02 PM

I'll work something else out then. I thought that 3.5" drives only ran on 5 volts but may have drawn more current. Thanks for the replies.

jbors · 06-16-2005, 05:07 PM

Yeah, the biggest capacity you can have with USB powered HDD is about 80 or 100. Mine is 60 (G-Tech) and works pretty good on EPIA-M. My laptop does not accept it though...

[edit]I'm wrong. The biggest I've seen so far is 160GB bus powered http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16822154707R[/edit]

Palcom · 06-16-2005, 05:12 PM

The only thing i know is that it IS poosibly....

A friend of mine got a 12GB usb hdd, its a 2,5" in a enclosure, he got an IBM laptop, and can power it from one USB port, but on my laptop (ECS) it need two USB cabels....

AI also got a 20Gb medion MP3 jukebox, it has no problem starting up when connected USB

Wiredwrx · 06-16-2005, 05:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by pastypyro

I'll work something else out then. I thought that 3.5" drives only ran on 5 volts but may have drawn more current. Thanks for the replies.

2.5, or what is sometimes called a laptp drive, run on 5 volts alone.

I don't think that you can power a laptop drive off of the USB, but you might be able to. You could always get a 5 volt regulator and power the drive from the cars 12 volt supply. I did a little research, and the newer, faster, bigger 2.5 HD use about an amp during start up, and less once fully spinning. You can use an LM7805 or equivalent voltage regulator (You can get them at radio shack for under 2 dollars). It supplies 1A continuous. It should be fine for your application, although I wouldn't run more then 1 Hard Drive off it. They are pretty simple to use and connect, and need no external components.

Post here if you need some help.

Michael

Scouse Monkey · 06-16-2005, 05:47 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Wiredwrx

2.5, or what is sometimes called a laptp drive, run on 5 volts alone.

I don't think that you can power a laptop drive off of the USB, but you might be able to. You could always get a 5 volt regulator and power the drive from the cars 12 volt supply. I did a little research, and the newer, faster, bigger 2.5 HD use about an amp during start up, and less once fully spinning. You can use an LM7805 or equivalent voltage regulator (You can get them at radio shack for under 2 dollars). It supplies 1A continuous. It should be fine for your application, although I wouldn't run more then 1 Hard Drive off it. They are pretty simple to use and connect, and need no external components.

Post here if you need some help.

Michael

I have a 20gb IBM laptop drive in a USB enclosure that runs fine off a single USB port - even on my laptop.

Chairboy · 06-16-2005, 05:55 PM

I have a 200GB drive in my car, external connected via USB. I wired a power wire to a molex and connected it to my Opus and ran it to the drive. I just plug in USB and the power cable, and it powers up automatically when the computer does, including from Hibernation.

No problems, and it makes it super easy to move big chunks of media back and forth.