Bytecc 2.5" External Drive Enclosure - bus power supplies enough juice?

[Madison Kelly]

Daniel Armstrong wrote:
> Are these external drive enclosures that draw power from the USB ports
> getting enough juice to run properly?
> 
> I am interested in combining a 60GB laptop drive with the Bytecc
> HD1-U2 2.5" USB2.0 Aluminum HDD Enclosure:
> 
> http://www.byteccusa.com/product/enclosure/HD-201.htm
> 
> I have googled for more info and - while there are lots of places to
> buy it - not much more beyond that. Should work fine under Linux.
> 
> Anybody have this device, or something similar? What is your
> experience using it?
> 
> Thanks... Daniel

IIRC, Bytecc use a horrible chip which often locks up hard when you 
start a transfer of any decent size. I can't think of the chipset off 
the top of my head though, sorry. My personal opinion is to stay *far* 
away from Bytecc... they're cheap for a reason.

On the other hand, I have had good luck with Vantec's line, though I 
have only used their 3.5" carriers. Generally speaking though; any 
carrier that draws power from the USB bus will need ~500mA which is more 
than the spec allows (350mA/channel). To get around this they generally 
give you a USB pass-through cable that provides extra power for the 
drive. These pass-throughs should only be put in between low-power or 
self-powered USB devices (ie: a mouse).

The real test is to look at the power draw on the hard drive you want to 
use and add ~20/30mA for the controller. Then see if one or two ports 
will provide enough power for you.

HTH

Madison

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