Need USB card with enough power for external hard drive

[Carl]

I have an HT-Link Cardbus/PCMCIA USB 2.0 2-port card (NEC / 32-bit).
My external hard drive w/USB adapter won't work with it, and it will
work plugged directly into a USB port on a different laptop. (My USB
ports got fried.) I got the card off E-Bay. My MP3 player works
plugged into that card. The drivers for the card say "Known
limitations: High Speed Isochronus, USB Composite Devices." (No other
details provided.) I don't know if the hard drive adapter is
"isochronous" or "composite." I've read there are problems with too
little power being supplied to the drive. The cable to the drive has
two USB plugs on one end, and it doesn't make any difference if I plug
both of them into the Cardbus card.

What card should I get? I see many different brands on E-Bay. I need
one that supplies sufficient power for an external hard drive, and
doesn't have any "known limitations" in the way.

 

[Roger Mills]

I have an HT-Link Cardbus/PCMCIA USB 2.0 2-port card (NEC / 32-bit).
My external hard drive w/USB adapter won't work with it, and it will
work plugged directly into a USB port on a different laptop. (My USB
ports got fried.) I got the card off E-Bay. My MP3 player works
plugged into that card. The drivers for the card say "Known
limitations: High Speed Isochronus, USB Composite Devices." (No other
details provided.) I don't know if the hard drive adapter is
"isochronous" or "composite." I've read there are problems with too
little power being supplied to the drive. The cable to the drive has
two USB plugs on one end, and it doesn't make any difference if I plug
both of them into the Cardbus card.

What card should I get? I see many different brands on E-Bay. I need
one that supplies sufficient power for an external hard drive, and
doesn't have any "known limitations" in the way.

The cardbus card probably *can't* supply enough power unless there's a
way of getting power to it from another source. I have a 4 x USB2 port
cardbus card made by Pluscom which has a little power socket on the
front in addition to the USB ports. It comes with a lead which plugs
into a normal USB port just for the purpose of supplying power to the card.

Do you have any other source of power for USB devices, such as a
USB-based mobile phone charger? If so, you could try plugging one of the
drive's plugs into *that* - which may solve the problem.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

 

[Paul]

I have an HT-Link Cardbus/PCMCIA USB 2.0 2-port card (NEC / 32-bit).
My external hard drive w/USB adapter won't work with it, and it will
work plugged directly into a USB port on a different laptop. (My USB
ports got fried.) I got the card off E-Bay. My MP3 player works
plugged into that card. The drivers for the card say "Known
limitations: High Speed Isochronus, USB Composite Devices." (No other
details provided.) I don't know if the hard drive adapter is
"isochronous" or "composite." I've read there are problems with too
little power being supplied to the drive. The cable to the drive has
two USB plugs on one end, and it doesn't make any difference if I plug
both of them into the Cardbus card.

What card should I get? I see many different brands on E-Bay. I need
one that supplies sufficient power for an external hard drive, and
doesn't have any "known limitations" in the way.

If you used an external 3.5" USB drive enclosure, they come
with their own power adapter. That is another way to solve the
problem.

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/22-152-230-Z05?$S640W$

Paul

 

[Carl]

The cardbus card probably *can't* supply enough power unless there's a
way of getting power to it from another source. I have a 4 x USB2 port
cardbus card made by Pluscom which has a little power socket on the
front in addition to the USB ports. It comes with a lead which plugs
into a normal USB port just for the purpose of supplying power to the card.

Do you have any other source of power for USB devices, such as a
USB-based mobile phone charger? If so, you could try plugging one of the
drive's plugs into *that* - which may solve the problem.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

The card has a hole in between the two USB port for a plug, but the
card didn't come with a cable. I checked E-bay. I could get a new
card that comes with a cable for the same price as just a cable.

 

[Carl]

If you used an external 3.5" USB drive enclosure, they come
with their own power adapter. That is another way to solve the
problem.

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/22-152-230-Z05?$S640W$

    Paul

It's a 2.5" USB drive enclosure. It doesn't have a plug for a power
adapter.

 

[Don Phillipson]

I have an HT-Link Cardbus/PCMCIA USB 2.0 2-port card (NEC / 32-bit).
My external hard drive w/USB adapter won't work with it, and it will
work plugged directly into a USB port on a different laptop. (My USB
ports got fried.) I got the card off E-Bay. My MP3 player works
plugged into that card. The drivers for the card say "Known
limitations: High Speed Isochronus, USB Composite Devices." (No other
details provided.) I don't know if the hard drive adapter is
"isochronous" or "composite." I've read there are problems with too
little power being supplied to the drive. The cable to the drive has
two USB plugs on one end, and it doesn't make any difference if I plug
both of them into the Cardbus card.

What card should I get?

The alternative is to get an enclosure for the ext. hard
drive. The Samba brands include a transformer to
supply drive power separately from the USB port.

 

[Jan Alter]

If you used an external 3.5" USB drive enclosure, they come
with their own power adapter. That is another way to solve the
problem.

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/22-152-230-Z05?$S640W$

Paul

It's a 2.5" USB drive enclosure. It doesn't have a plug for a power
adapter.

In that case move the hdd to an external drive case that has an additional
power plug recepticle on it. Make sure you find out what the internal
connector is for your 2.5" hdd (IDE or SATA)

As an example. With these drives you would need to purchase an additional
power to USB cable, but it should certainly work if you have two USB ports
available and one to use for a mouse. This one has an internal SATA
connection.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817145329

 

[Dan]

The alternative is to get an enclosure for the ext. hard
drive. The Samba brands include a transformer to
supply drive power separately from the USB port.

Some 2.5 inch ext drives cables are y-shaped, with one arm of the "y"
much longer--this gets into the gadget. The shorter arm contains Vcc
and GND only, no data. I've thought all along if you have device not
being detected properly because of insufficient power you could double
the shorter "y" arm and plug it into adjacent unused USB port to boost
the Vcc to gadget.

 

[J G Miller]

In that case move the hdd to an external drive case that has an
additional power plug recepticle on it. Make sure you find out what the
internal connector is for your 2.5" hdd (IDE or SATA)

Good advice, but if the PC has an eSATA connector, then even better,
get an external case with an eSATA connection.

USB 2 allows transfer speeds of up to 480 MBytes per second.

eSATA allows transfer speeds of up to 3 GBytes per second.

 

[Carl]

It's a 2.5" USB drive enclosure. It doesn't have a plug for a power

In that case move the hdd to an external drive case that has an additional
power plug recepticle on it. Make sure you find out what the internal
connector is for your 2.5" hdd (IDE or SATA)

As an example. With these drives you would need to purchase an additional
power to USB cable, but it should certainly work if you have two USB ports
available and one to use for a mouse. This one has an internal SATA
connection.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817145329

That page says "There's no external power necessary either, since the
drive gets its power from your computer." I already have an external
drive case - that's how I'm accessing my 2.5 " IDE drive via a USB
port.

I don't see any listing on E-Bay matching "wall wart USB socket" as
someone else here suggested (0 listings), and I don't see anything
relevant when searching for "power usb cable." What EXACTLY is it
called - a transformer you plug in the wall, and it has a cable with a
USB socket on the end of it. Thanks.

 

[Carl]

Good advice, but if the PC has an eSATA connector, then even better,
get an external case with an eSATA connection.

USB 2 allows transfer speeds of up to 480 MBytes per second.

eSATA allows transfer speeds of up to 3 GBytes per second.

The drive is a 2.5" IDE.

 

[J G Miller]

The drive is a 2.5" IDE.

What is the brand and capacity of the disk?

 

[Carl]

What is the brand and capacity of the disk?

Seagate 80GB

 

[Carl]

That page says "There's no external power necessary either, since the
drive gets its power from your computer."  I already have an external
drive case - that's how I'm accessing my 2.5 " IDE drive via a USB
port.

I don't see any listing on E-Bay matching "wall wart USB socket" as
someone else here suggested (0 listings), and I don't see anything
relevant when searching for "power usb cable."  What EXACTLY is it
called - a transformer you plug in the wall, and it has a cable with a
USB socket on the end of it.  Thanks.

I found some on E-Bay searching with "usb ac power supply."

 

[J G Miller]

Seagate 80GB

So the maximum fastest transfer rate for that will be 100 MBytes per second,
will it not?

Have you considered upgrading to something newer?

500 Gbyte 2.5 inch Western Digital Caviar Blue SATA perhaps,
or Seagate equivalent?

 

[Carl]

So the maximum fastest transfer rate for that will be 100 MBytes per second,
will it not?

Have you considered upgrading to something newer?  

500 Gbyte 2.5 inch Western Digital Caviar Blue SATA perhaps,
or Seagate equivalent?

No. That's a lot faster than USB 2.0 can do, and I don't have an
eSATA port on my laptop.

 

[Paul]

That page says "There's no external power necessary either, since the
drive gets its power from your computer." I already have an external
drive case - that's how I'm accessing my 2.5 " IDE drive via a USB
port.

I don't see any listing on E-Bay matching "wall wart USB socket" as
someone else here suggested (0 listings), and I don't see anything
relevant when searching for "power usb cable." What EXACTLY is it
called - a transformer you plug in the wall, and it has a cable with a
USB socket on the end of it. Thanks.

There are other ways to get power to the drive. And you have to be
careful with the various adapter routes, because some of them are
*still* using the USB cable for power.

To start with, I think this adapter is key to success. It converts
IDE 2.5" 44 pin, to a separate 40 pin IDE and a power connector. $8
This allows you to *prove* how the drive is getting power.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812203012

Once you're using that adapter, the resulting interface looks like
a 3.5" drive. The purpose of me converting to 3.5" drive format,
is to guarantee the wall wart adapter is used to power the drive.

Now, buy one of these kits. Plug the Kinamax Molex plug, into the
AC adapter in this kit. Connect the Kinamax 40 pin data, to the Vantec
adapter dongle 40 pin (3.5") interface.

VANTEC CB-ISATAU2 SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002

The reason that song and dance is necessary, is because the Vantec
is set up to power 2.5" drives via the USB bus (which you don't want,
since you've already proved the laptop doesn't have the power).
By converting the drive interface to 3.5" IDE style connector,
there is an opportunity to power from the AC adapter.

*******

Another alternative, is to combine the 2.5" IDE drive, the Kinamax
44 pin to 40 pin adapter, plus a larger enclosure. The enclosure
should be large enough to completely contain the goods inside.
The only thing missing, is a method to fasten the drive to the
housing. If you want a method of doing that, you can buy small
adapter "sleds", to convert from one drive format to another.

I use one of these for my DVD burner. I share it via USB, so that
it can be connected to any of my USB2 computers, without having
to fit every computer with its own new burner. This has IDE 3.5"
interface, so the Kinamax adapter can be used to allow
connecting a 44 pin 2.5" drive. This has a power switch on
it as well, which I find convenient.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817604006

View of back, showing barrel power input

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/17-604-006-S03?$S640W$

Paul

 

[Jan Alter]

Here is a macally 2.5" external enclosure. It comes with the power cable I
mentioned in the first post.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817347013

The link below will show you a picture of the cables that come with it.

Looking at the center cable is the one you would want for power to the
external enclosure from the USB to computer end

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Image...S250CC 2.5" USB 2.0 & 1394 External Enclosure


Looking up the name of this cable in one of their manuals they call it a
'USB power cable'.

By the way, the Macally enclosure I used as an example is for a SATA hdd,
and you would need an IDE internal connector enclosure.

 

[Carl]

There are other ways to get power to the drive. And you have to be
careful with the various adapter routes, because some of them are
*still* using the USB cable for power.

To start with, I think this adapter is key to success. It converts
IDE 2.5" 44 pin, to a separate 40 pin IDE and a power connector. $8
This allows you to *prove* how the drive is getting power.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812203012

Once you're using that adapter, the resulting interface looks like
a 3.5" drive. The purpose of me converting to 3.5" drive format,
is to guarantee the wall wart adapter is used to power the drive.

Now, buy one of these kits. Plug the Kinamax Molex plug, into the
AC adapter in this kit. Connect the Kinamax 40 pin data, to the Vantec
adapter dongle 40 pin (3.5") interface.

VANTEC CB-ISATAU2 SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter    $20http://www.newegg..com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002

The reason that song and dance is necessary, is because the Vantec
is set up to power 2.5" drives via the USB bus (which you don't want,
since you've already proved the laptop doesn't have the power).
By converting the drive interface to 3.5" IDE style connector,
there is an  opportunity to power from the AC adapter.

*******

Another alternative, is to combine the 2.5" IDE drive, the Kinamax
44 pin to 40 pin adapter, plus a larger enclosure. The enclosure
should be large enough to completely contain the goods inside.
The only thing missing, is a method to fasten the drive to the
housing. If you want a method of doing that, you can buy small
adapter "sleds", to convert from one drive format to another.

I use one of these for my DVD burner. I share it via USB, so that
it can be connected to any of my USB2 computers, without having
to fit every computer with its own new burner. This has IDE 3.5"
interface, so the Kinamax adapter can be used to allow
connecting a 44 pin 2.5" drive. This has a power switch on
it as well, which I find convenient.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817604006

View of back, showing barrel power input

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/17-604-006-S03?$S640W$

    Paul

Thanks. That's good info. Maybe you know something about this- The
reason my drive is external is because my newer Thinkpad has a smaller
capacity hard drive than my older Thinkpad. (I upgraded the old one's
drive, and it's actually newer than the newer Thinkpad.) The drive
doesn't fit it the newer thinkpad - it's the same size, and the pins
line up, but there's this piece of plastic/metal just after the end of
the pins that keeps it from fitting. (I was thinking - Drimmel tool
- but I wouldn't dare.) My DVD-Burner from my older Thinkpad (also
an upgrade) won't fit either, it's too big. My newer Thinkpad just
has it's CD-Writer/DVD reader. There's a Thinkpad adapter that allows
you to plug in the DVD-Writer into the PCMCIA slot, but it's $60, and
too rare to find cheaper on E-Bay. I'd be interested in getting my
DVD-Burner connected to the new (working) laptop, if it was cheaper
than just buying a new burner. (It's called an UltraSlimBay Drive or
something like that - different stuff can go in the same slot.)

 

[Paul]

Thanks. That's good info. Maybe you know something about this- The
reason my drive is external is because my newer Thinkpad has a smaller
capacity hard drive than my older Thinkpad. (I upgraded the old one's
drive, and it's actually newer than the newer Thinkpad.) The drive
doesn't fit it the newer thinkpad - it's the same size, and the pins
line up, but there's this piece of plastic/metal just after the end of
the pins that keeps it from fitting. (I was thinking - Drimmel tool
- but I wouldn't dare.) My DVD-Burner from my older Thinkpad (also
an upgrade) won't fit either, it's too big. My newer Thinkpad just
has it's CD-Writer/DVD reader. There's a Thinkpad adapter that allows
you to plug in the DVD-Writer into the PCMCIA slot, but it's $60, and
too rare to find cheaper on E-Bay. I'd be interested in getting my
DVD-Burner connected to the new (working) laptop, if it was cheaper
than just buying a new burner. (It's called an UltraSlimBay Drive or
something like that - different stuff can go in the same slot.)

Do you have model numbers for the old and new Thinkpads ?
I'd like to find a picture first, of what the adapter looks like,
to offer a comment.

I'm not a laptop repair guy. I've just seen the odd picture
of laptop components. I know they use adapters for hard drives,
even in cases where it doesn't make a lot of sense. That's
probably what you're seeing, is an adapter that is removable.

Paul