Quote:

The problem is, I've tried several USB drives, and I've got an issue with how much power they suck out of a USB port.



Sounds very much like the problem does not lie in the disk drives, but in the amount of power that your computer can deliver to the USB port.

That is a function of what the designers of your motherboard did.

The USB spec is simple enough, it is supposed to deliver 5VDC at 2Amperes of current. Or 10 Watts of power.

But a lot of designers opt for simple current dropping resistors between the connector and the computer's power supply 5V rail, and that can be very problematic for it makes the amount of current available at the connection dependant upon the DC resistance of the device that is under power at the time. This works for low current devices like mice, keyboards, digital cameras with built in batteries, etc. -- but does not work so well when the device has motors inside to spin disks and move heads.

Unfortunately, the solve for this one would be an external power supply rather than trying to find a disk that will run on the lower current, which you may not even be able to find. Even if you found one that ran, I wouldn't guarantee operation every time. And the lower power could also result in a trashed hard drive at some point.

You've tried enough drives already for me to make that assessment.

Some other options:

Powered USB hub. This is a hub that also has a connection to the AC power to provide its own power source to the USB connectors on it.

Wallwart supply for the hard drive. You can buy certain USB hard drives that have their own AC power supply built in. High Reliability.

Check your pgmusic supplied drive, all the ones they have sent me over the years but one have had a DC connection on them for connecting a separate Wallwart type supply. Pay attention to the POLARITY etched next to the jack. Then go to a Radio Shack or other electronics supply house and pick up a "universal" wallwart supply that has plug or adaptors to fit your drive. In experimentation, I tried different regulated voltages and empirically derived the voltage we need = 9VDC, regulated.


--Mac

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