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I pulled the 2.5" 5200 Hitachi 100GB SATA drive from an old Sony laptop that a friend was junking. I tried in in two different self powered enclosures and neither would mount it. Then I tried it in my
SATA > USB adapter and it mounts fine. I have to believe the old Sony provided more power to the drive internally than even my double lead cable provides off the USB ports on my Mac Mini. I also tried it, in one enclosure, on my old Dell Dimension 4600 using both front USB ports with no joy. Or maybe the drive is getting a bit run down and needs more oomph to get going than my Mini or the old Dell provides.
For reference, my old Mac laptop drives (from newer models than the Sony, which I suspect is a good 6 years old) mount just fine in the same enclosures using just one USB plug at the computer.
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I had similar problems with 2.5" 7200 rpm drives when the biggest drives shipping were about 150 GB. The original 60 GB 7200 rpm Hitachi drive in my Dell would not work reliably in a USB bus powered enclosure. One other drive would not work well either but I do not remember the size or brand right off.
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You probably need the power from 2 USB ports -- not entirely uncommon.
They make dual headed cables...
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jdc wrote:
You probably need the power from 2 USB ports -- not entirely uncommon.
They make dual headed cables...
olnacl wrote:
"I have to believe the old Sony provided more power to the drive internally than even my double lead cable provides off the USB ports on my Mac Mini. I also tried it, in one enclosure, on my old Dell Dimension 4600 using both front USB ports with no joy. Or maybe the drive is getting a bit run down and needs more oomph to get going than my Mini or the old Dell provides."
Guess I need to update my terminology.:oldfogey:
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My problem was with a double USB cable enclosure.
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I have several USB self powered enclosures and every one came with a dual headed USB cable (see, I learn). This is the first drive I've put in any of them that wouldn't mount.
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Yes, some drives need more power to spin up than others.
And many USB ports don't supply power at the full-spec.
The combination of the two makes for lots of headaches.
USB sucks.
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I think the rated current is usually written on the drive
