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I've been looking for a USB drive to use to run BIAB, with the intent of copying PG's BIAB files onto the new USB drive and tucking the PG-supplied drive safely away. 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. Currently I'm using a WD passport, which is a little flakey -- sometimes it mounts, sometimes it doesn't, depending on which USB port I use and whether I have other USB devices connected at the time. I've tried some other USB drives and enclosures as well, some supplied with cables to connect to two USB ports, but I'd prefer not to sacrifice two USB ports to a single drive if I can avoid it. So what I want is the most reliable USB drive (or enclosure) I can find, that draws the least amount of power. It does seem to me that some drives draw less power than others from a USB port, but I seldom see a mention of this issue in reviews online, or in a drive's specs. Can anyone recommend a particular portable drive, based on these concerns and their experience?
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That's a very good question. You can't see the power draw of a USB device until you hook it up. Things depend not only on the maximum current for that one USB port, but also the total current the PC can supply over all the USB ports.
PG Music supplies drives made by Toshiba and Hitachi, according to a post by Peter Gannon.
Of course, if you are willing, you can use a drive that has its own power supply. The audiophile drive I just received from PG Music has a 12 volt external power wall wart.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Hi, Everyone I know of who had a WD passport has had issues. I would recommend Lacie, or Seagate. About power vs buss power for Hard drives. If you need a USB hard drive for Digital Recording, or using softsynths, you will need a fast drive (7,200 rpm). These drives need external power, your buss will not support it. If on the other hand you are using it for storage, or loading RT/RD on BIAB, then a 5,400rpm drive should be fine, and most will work with buss power from your laptop. I don't recommend the slow 4,200rpm drives, these are really old,big,heavy and do not have a lot of storage anyway. Another direction you might want to look at is the new Solid State Hard Drives. These don't use a platter, they are much faster than even the fast USB 2 drives, they don't get hot, and from what I've been reading, they are very safe for your data, although I do recall Mac posting that he had heard about some drives failing. The bad side of this is the Price! These drives are VERY expensive ($2-600) for a 160 or 250GB drive. Here are a couple of places to look> www.tigerdirect.comwww.newegg.comHope that helps you, Ed
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I copied my BIAB HD to a Seagate 750GB external HD and BIAB runs perfectly through it. I have no problems running the external HD on my laptop. Later, Ray
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Some have complained about Iomega, but I have a 500gb with no problems. I'm just keeping my real tracks on it for biab/rb. I also use it for my photo backups. It has it's own built in power supply. Another option is to us a powered usb hub.
Stan
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If you have an eSATA port on your machine (which will permit uploads and downloads that are about 6x faster than that of a USB 2.0) then you can find eSATA external hard drives out on the Web for between about $100 to $150 that are 1 TB, 7200 rpm, and with a 32 Mb cache. I'm in the process of narrowing down to a choice of one of these myself at the moment. These DO require an ac plug so that eliminates the problem of a lack of power but it's not as portable as the USB powered drives.
cchallum
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Quote:
Everyone I know of who had a WD passport has had issues. I would recommend Lacie, or Seagate.
I'm not that keen on Lacie units - they don't make their own drives and from what I can find out, it's a bit of the luck of the draw as to what brand drive goes into the enclosure. OTOH Lacie enclosures usually look pretty good... Seagate have been my supplier of choice for HDD's for many, many years. The higher spec WD's are good, and Hitachi drives seem have recovered from the doldrums that IBM HDDs had decended to before Hitachi acquired them. I do not like Fujitsu's at all, and Toshiba's seem to be a little unpredictable.
Quote:
Another direction you might want to look at is the new Solid State Hard Drives. These don't use a platter, they are much faster than even the fast USB 2 drives, they don't get hot, and from what I've been reading, they are very safe for your data, although I do recall Mac posting that he had heard about some drives failing.
The bad side of this is the Price! These drives are VERY expensive ($2-600) for a 160 or 250GB drive.
Another bad side is limited write cycles - while they are getting better and better, and with SSD aware OS like Win7 things can improve even more - they do not have a write cycle life time that comes even close to a conventional HDD. But they are FAST
--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya  --=--You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
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USB 3.0 is in the offing ...
Martin
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I use two both 500 gigs, a Seagate and a Toshiba and have had no issues with either.
Good Luck,
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Tchairdjian give good advice. Shoulda mentioned it myself. For information, eSATA is EXACTLY as fast as your internal SATA drives - the eSATA port IS an ordinary SATA port electrically and simply has a more robust connector.
For me, this is a no-brainer.
--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya --=--You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
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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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Quote:
Hi,
Everyone I know of who had a WD passport has had issues. I would recommend Lacie, or Seagate.
Well, how do you do?
Now that we've met, you can say that you know someone who has several WD's and no issues.
Heck, due to my day job, I've got such an assortment of brand name USB drives here for testing its almost unbelievable. And many of the problems our customers report to us I am unable to duplicate at my end. Of course, they always blame the newest addition to their system, never is something they might have done or not done. Such is the way in Customer Service.
<g>
--Mac
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My WD Passport is also completely problem-free.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Me too. Mine is an 80g which was the biggest they had at the time so that says how old it is, 4 years maybe. Not a hiccup.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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I appreciate the information. I've got to believe, though, that some USB drives are drawing more current than others -- and that finding one that draws on the low side would help me out here. I've got a couple of USB drives, for example, that will (almost) never mount without being connected to two USB ports. On the other hand, the little drive PG supplied when it shipped Windows BIAB 2009 (not 2009.5) on USB (almost) always mounts. I'd just ahead go ahead and copy BIAB 2010 onto it and use it (that was my original plan) but I discovered it's a bit too small for BIAB 2010 with all its additional RealTracks.
It might be a bit off, off-topic, but I'm starting to think there's some kind of voodoo to whether a USB drive mounts, and I've occasionally seen the same flakiness with Firewire drives -- both the portables that are powered by a FW or USB port, and the larger drives that are connected to AC. I don't think it's my computer -- in fact, I routinely use several of the same USB (and FW) drives with three different computers, both PCS and Macs -- and with a couple of different USB and FW hubs, and connected directly. Sometimes a drive just won't mount, but it will when I reconnect it in the same way a minute later, and won't the next time. I don't know why, and quite clearly, neither does anybody at the manufacturer's tech support numbers.
I had a couple of bad Seagate drives a few years ago, but I've had better luck lately (with respect to the mounting issue) with Seagate's FreeAgent desktop drives than with WD's comparable MyBook externals. And since a couple of people have suggested Seagate here, I think I'll pick up a Seagate FreeAgent portable and give it a try. And cross my fingers...
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Mac's in the business and he recommended giving a powered usb hub a try. They are pretty cheap and available. You could buy one and try it. If it didn't solve your problem, you could take it back. I have a little Archos multimedia player that used to work from my laptop's usb drive but starting having problems. I tried it on the powered hub and now no problems. I think that we all wish that since we never had any hardware problems in the past, that we won't have any in the future. Oh, sure......
Cornet Curmudgeon
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I think even less expensive solution would be to buy an AC/DC Adapter for the Hard Drive... I mean a HUB would need to be plugged in anyway and if one is worried about portability, there's less pieces to carry (HD, HUB + AC Chord vs HD + AC Chord) . You just plug in the HD and off you GO!
2008 Gibson ES-339 Custom & 2010 Les Paul Traditional. Fender SCXD Amp
BIAB/RB 2015 UltraPAK + Ketron SD2
Windows 7/64 Intel i5 3550 PC, Tascam USB144MKII
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Bose Companion 3 and/or L1 II w/T1 + SM58 MIC
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Quote:
I appreciate the information. I've got to believe, though, that some USB drives are drawing more current than others -- and that finding one that draws on the low side would help me out here. I've got a couple of USB drives, for example, that will (almost) never mount without being connected to two USB ports. On the other hand, the little drive PG supplied when it shipped Windows BIAB 2009 (not 2009.5) on USB (almost) always mounts. I'd just ahead go ahead and copy BIAB 2010 onto it and use it (that was my original plan) but I discovered it's a bit too small for BIAB 2010 with all its additional RealTracks.
The reason the smaller drive draws less current should be obvious.
Less platter count means less mass to turn which means less motor torque which means less current.
But you've already discovered the hitch to that one. The drive's too small for the program to fit.
Quote:
It might be a bit off, off-topic, but I'm starting to think there's some kind of voodoo to whether a USB drive mounts, and I've occasionally seen the same flakiness with Firewire drives -- both the portables that are powered by a FW or USB port, and the larger drives that are connected to AC. I don't think it's my computer -- in fact, I routinely use several of the same USB (and FW) drives with three different computers, both PCS and Macs -- and with a couple of different USB and FW hubs, and connected directly. Sometimes a drive just won't mount, but it will when I reconnect it in the same way a minute later, and won't the next time. I don't know why, and quite clearly, neither does anybody at the manufacturer's tech support numbers.
I'm an Electrical Engineer, not a Witch Doctor, so there isn't any Voodoo in my world.
There are other reasons for a drive not mounting besides the amount of current available. The OS and the associated drivers on the computer side may have a problem that is intermittant in nature, or the drive itself could be a bit flakey, exhibiting intermittant problems. The intermittant electrical hardware fault is impossible to diagnose from outside the box and without proper schematics, knowledge of the circuits and test equipments suitable for the purpose. I really doubt it is an electrical/electronic fault, though, from experience. More than likely it is a software glitch when your drives don't mount. On the other hand, the many USB and FireWire drives I use both here in the studio and at work on the day job do not exhibit these problems with any sort of regularity. I have one USB drive out of many that sometimes fails to mount. I don't trust that specific drive, either. All the rest mount when they are called upon to do so. I trust that you are performing proper DISmounts of these drives, just yanking the plug may be the reason for your intermittant problems, sometimes that can leave the drive in a rather confused state and you would be asking for the luck of the draw for a second try to get it to mount again every time. Could end in disk disaster someday if that is the case.
Quote:
I had a couple of bad Seagate drives a few years ago, but I've had better luck lately (with respect to the mounting issue) with Seagate's FreeAgent desktop drives than with WD's comparable MyBook externals. And since a couple of people have suggested Seagate here, I think I'll pick up a Seagate FreeAgent portable and give it a try. And cross my fingers...
I've seen examples of both brands last forever and some die on the first day. Or later. Not voodod, not luck, just the nature of the beast. Shipping can sometimes do a drive in before it even gets to you, although much has been learned about handling G forces over the years, it still can happen. Then there are the G forces that can happen to external drives when they should just be sitting in the aberage home. If you have kids like mine were, now its my grandkids, you have a house full of animated inanimate objects, too. "it fell" -- Which could indeed make an otherwise sane adult start thinking that maybe there really is such power as voodoo to contend with <G>.
We had field problem reports of manpack stuff where the external hard drives were failing. Forensic testing showed every one of them to have sustained high G force from likely falling and hitting something hard, like the concrete floor or the like...
OF course, the soldiers were, to a man, exactly like my kids used to be in their responses. They didn't do it. Those drives just leaped out of their packs and onto the floor when they weren't looking, you see. 
--Mac
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I have a Dell Laptop Vostro 1510. Which USB HDD should I purchase for BB/RB 2010 backup storage? Please send a website link, thanks. Does PG Music sell HDD's?
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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
Check out all the 202 new RealTracks (in sets 468-488)!
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
With your version 2026 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
- The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
- Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
- Playable RealTracks Set 5
- RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
- SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
- iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
- 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
- FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
- MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
- RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
- SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
Learn more about the Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
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