Originally Posted by AudioTrack
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The laptop is an old HP Envy 7 that I purchased back in 2013. I am wondering if the power output of the USB port is being taxed too high with mechanical drives plugged in along with an SSD.
When powering external devices from a laptop, try to connect to the USB port that is as close as possible to the laptop power connection. This minimizes risk of voltage drops that can occur using longer circuit-board tracks on the internal motherboard.
Older USB 2 ports are normally limited to to 0.5A and (usually?) will disconnect if that is exceeded
A lot of external drive now expect USB 3 (blue) ports that can supply 3A.

Some older drives had two USB connections to get over the 0.5A limit. Often they'll work OK on just one connection, but it's pushing luck a bit.

Trace length certainly can be an issue and there's also a small current sense resistance in the the circuit so that an over-current can be detected, so the nominal 3V can drop a little.

Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
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