Problem with insufficient power to USB port

F

fpayne

Registered
I have a Power Book G4 17 inch which is three months old. I have an iPod 60GB Video and an Edge Diskgo 120GB 2.5inch ultra portable external drive which is USB 2 powered and rated at 5 volts.

However the USB port on the Power Book will not supply enough power to run the drive. This is obviously not an unusual problem as the drive is supplied with a cable which will connect to both USB ports at the same time. Well it would if the cable was long enough.

When connected to both ports the drive will work, but it is no good as I then cannot connect the iPod to update it.

The drive does have an input for an optional power supply, but a universal 100 -240V input adapter is another $110 to $150 (it has to be dual voltage for travel).

Has anyone else experienced this problem, is it unique to the Power Book (It works fine connected to my PC) and does anyone know of a work around without paying the $150 for a power adapter. The weight is also an issue for flying.

Thanks
 
I wonder if you could use one of the iPod wall warts for this. They have a usb port for charging the iPod and i assume that it would be a semi-standard USB voltage.

As for this being a powerbook problem, the answer is no. Any time you have a device that pulls a lot of juice on a USB connection (particularly when you have a high current draw on a portable machine) you will run into problems. That is why there is such a big market for powered USB hubs ;)
 
Get a cardBus (PC card) USB 2.0 card if you have the slot for it (some powerbooks do, some don't). They should be very cheap, and should provide enough power.
Otherwise, have you tried a usb hub? there might be enough power on the bus to run the drive and the ipod, if you could connect them all in at once. you may want to borrow one to test it out.
 
Thanks guys.
The manufacturer of the drive will not guarantee a powered USB hub will work, although I cannot see why not. I have an old USB 1.1 hub which I can use to test the power, although the transfer rate will be non existent.
I had not considered a card bus, but as you say I should test that option first before spending any money. It would certainly be the lightest option. Are the cards different for PC and Mac or will any one do?
 
Make sure the chip set on the PC card matches one supported by mac os x. I don't think you should have a problem though. I have not had a problem with generic USB cards on the Mac.
 
Thanks for that. I have been looking on the internet and there seems to be a shortage of USB 2 PC Cards. I am still concerned a card will not give sufficient power to run the DiskGo drive and the iPod at the same time.
The other option is for a powered USB hub. My old 1.1 hub for PC will supply sufficient power, but will not work otherwise. If I can find one that will work with a Mac I can take that route, but there is a heavy power adapter, which will probably only work on 240V not 110V as well so it is no good in the US
 
Thanks,
That would be perfect, the prongs are not aproblem as I have adapters for most places in the world. It doesnt look like this comany will ship to Europe, but I have mailed them anyway.

There is so much available in the US that you cannot get in Europe, and even less here in Spain. Most of my stuff either comes form the US or UK.
 
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