newbiped
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Q: Can an eMAC usb port power a Smartdisk Firelite

I am trying to connect a usb powered smartdisk firelite portable external hard drive to my emac. The light comes on the drive but it doesn't appear on the monitor. It worka on my apple laptop. Is it a case of not enough power from the emac usb port? Thanks.

eMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Oct 19, 2013 10:27 AM

by BDAqua,Solvedanswer
BDAqua BDAqua
Level 10 (123,484 points)
A:

Hello,

 

If you didn't get a USB overcurrent warning, then it's likely got enough power.

 

Is your eMac USB1.1 or USB2? USB1.1 could take a very long time to show up on the eMac.

 

In Finder>Preferences>General, what items are checked to show? Also in Sidebar tab, what is checked?

 

So we know more about it...

 

At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, report the version of OSX from that window, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware> and report this upto but not including the Serial#...

 

Hardware Overview:

 

Model Name: eMac

Model Identifier: PowerMac6,4

Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (1.2)

Processor Speed: 1.42 GHz

Number Of CPUs: 1

L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB

Memory: 2 GB

Bus Speed: 167 MHz

Boot ROM Version: 4.9.2f1

Posted on Oct 19, 2013 10:58 AM

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newbiped

Q: Can an eMAC usb port power a Smartdisk Firelite

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  • Helpful answers

  • by BDAqua,Solvedanswer

    BDAqua BDAqua Oct 19, 2013 10:58 AM in response to newbiped
    Level 10 (123,484 points)
    Oct 19, 2013 10:58 AM in response to newbiped

    Hello,

     

    If you didn't get a USB overcurrent warning, then it's likely got enough power.

     

    Is your eMac USB1.1 or USB2? USB1.1 could take a very long time to show up on the eMac.

     

    In Finder>Preferences>General, what items are checked to show? Also in Sidebar tab, what is checked?

     

    So we know more about it...

     

    At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, report the version of OSX from that window, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware> and report this upto but not including the Serial#...

     

    Hardware Overview:

     

    Model Name: eMac

    Model Identifier: PowerMac6,4

    Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (1.2)

    Processor Speed: 1.42 GHz

    Number Of CPUs: 1

    L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB

    Memory: 2 GB

    Bus Speed: 167 MHz

    Boot ROM Version: 4.9.2f1

  • by newbiped,Helpful

    newbiped newbiped Oct 19, 2013 1:15 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2013 1:15 PM in response to BDAqua

    It does have a USB 1.1. So I waited a for several minutes, you said it could take a long time, and low and behold it appeared on the screen. Thank you for the answer.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Oct 19, 2013 1:29 PM in response to newbiped
    Level 10 (123,484 points)
    Oct 19, 2013 1:29 PM in response to newbiped

    Great news, glad I could help, thanks & good luck!

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Oct 20, 2013 9:15 AM in response to newbiped
    Level 8 (35,000 points)
    iPad
    Oct 20, 2013 9:15 AM in response to newbiped

    BD has you fixed up with a great observation on USB 1.1

     

    A couple of other things:

     

    1) even though you now have the drive working, remember that electric motors like those that turn the platter in yout new external drive can, with time, begin to demand more power than when new. The underpower warning could show up down the road. We've seen it reported here many times---the drive works fine for a year or two then, out of nowhere, starts evoking those dreaded power warnings.

     

    Get an POWERED USB hub and you will not have a future problem, plus you have additional USB ports for other things.

     

    2) Most external drives come formatted for Windows. Macs can read/write to them so this often get overlooked:

     

    If you do not need to share the new external with a Windows computer, consider using Disk Utiltiy to reformate the drive as Apple Extended (Journaled). A number of reports here suggest this can delay or eliminate the overpower issue, and drive access may be faster.

     

    Curoius: does your new drive have a FireWire port? If it does, use it. The speed difference will blow you hair back!

     

    Allan