Messages in this thread | | | From | Alistair John Strachan <> | Subject | Re: Weird USB errors on HD | Date | Wed, 20 Jul 2005 15:53:09 +0100 |
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On Tuesday 19 Jul 2005 17:47, Karim Yaghmour wrote: > I have a usb-attached HD that I use from time to time. When it's connected > to my desktop through a hub it works flawlessly. When connected to my Dell > D600 Laptop, however, it sometimes randomly exhibits a loud click (as if > the heads went berzerk) and the device goes unrecognized (i.e. the USB > layer drops the device and then redetects it again; meanwhile there is FS > corruption.)
I've noticed my laptop is less able to output the required current for my portable HD than my desktop; either way it's probably not a good idea exceeding the USB specifications for current output @ 5V, so I'd recommend you use a powered hub or external PSU (if the HD supports one).
Also a (slightly) nasty but functional trick is to have the power in when the HD initially spins up, then remove the power. Once the drive has spun up it seems to use a lot less power.
You can get special USB cables that link two USB ports' 5Vs together in parallel, which seems to help supply the necessary current; after the HD has spun up you can remove the second "dummy" USB connector (my laptop only has two USB ports and I require the second port).
-- Cheers, Alistair.
personal: alistair()devzero!co!uk university: s0348365()sms!ed!ac!uk student: CS/CSim Undergraduate contact: 1F2 55 South Clerk Street, Edinburgh. EH8 9PP. - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
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