MacBook Pro USB port problem...

I have the same problem.

Seems pretty obvious that the left side USB port on the MBP is weaker than the right.

I have two 2.5" external enclosures with 120GB drives each. One of them works in both the left and the right USB ports. The other one doesn't work in the left port, only in the right. Moreover, when I plug it into the left port, it basically disables that port until I restart.

Clearly looks like one of my drives - specced at 500mA - is drawing just too much power for the left side port. Most likely, peak power when starting up is just too high.

It would be interesting to see if the left side port actually does conform to the USB standard - maybe somebody with the right tools can measure it. I assume it does, though. A lot of external 2.5" enclosures I see come with a double USB plug on one end of the cable, and the salesman explained to me that in case the laptop doesn't have enough power, I can plug in both ends at the laptop side, in effect getting power from two USB ports simultaneously. Of course, this is not an option for the MBP.

I have to say, I haven't run into the power shortage problem with any of my drives. One solution you should try is plugging in a powered hub. You would then be able to have 1 Amp of power on the two plugs from the hub.

I did some poking around through the developer tools and found the USB Prober. I took a look at my system and discovered that the right side USB port on the 15" MPB has also got the keyboard and trackpad hooked up to it. I don't know, but I sure think that could make a difference in how the right side port works. I wonder if there are issues with the data stream as well as power when the keyboard and trackpad are sending data down the same bus channel as that right side port.

I recently purchased the Seagate FreeAgent Go external hard drive and have found the same problem with my Macbook Pro. The left USB port seems to have less power and when plugging in the HD, it does a clicking noise and doesn't mount. However, on the right USB port it's working just fine. I will be checking with an Apple Store when I get a chance.

On another note, related to the FreeAgent Go, although it says it requires two USB ports, plugging in just the "Power + Data" end is enough on the right USB port of the Macbook Pro (just consulted this with Seagate).

Does anyone know if the iPod Touch can be powered by the left USB port on the Macbook Pro? Because I'm planning to get one, but I would also like to be able to have my external HD and iPod Touch plugged in at the same time.

- Ralph

Same problem here. Left USB port will not mount external hard disks. Very annoying since a 400$ laptop would deal just fine with that. Of course you can have a powered disk, but this is a portable computer, isn't it!
Any solution from the Apple staff?

I'm having a similar problem with my MacBook Pro left side USB port. It is funny because it will work sometimes, and then stop. I can reboot, but that won't necessarily fix it. I'm having this issue with my cordless mouse, external desktop hard drive, and my gps receiver (which is used in windows under VMWare Fusion). I've ran the Tech Tool Deluxe program that came with the apple care coverage, but it doesn't find anything wrong (even when my mouse is connected and not working). I read some other replies to this issue that state that there is apparently a difference between the 2 ports (you'd think a computer this expensive could have at least 1 more usb port on it). If I have problems with such a range of hardware, then what is that usb supposed to be used for? I plan on contacting apple care tomorrow (they are closed on new year's) to see if they can give any great words of wisdom. If they come up with something I'll pass it on.

The problem I see in mine is slightly different.

My external hard drive works on both left and right ports. However with an unpowered hub attached to the right port, and the drive attached to the hub, the drive will sometimes connect, and sometimes not. If I dim the screen to its dimmest setting, the drive will mount and it is usuable. As soon as the screen is brightened, the drive disconnects. If I attach any other bus powered device on the hub (such as a mouse), the drive gets disconnected. If I connect the hub to the left side, the drive does not even connect.

ive been having the same problem. My left USB port will not work with anything that requires power.. not even a mouse. After discovering this, I promptly returned the macbook pro to where i bought it only to find out that the new one they gave me suffers from the same problem. Only having one working USB port is a big problem for me. Is this a software issue or have we been sold faulty motherboards? Any help from the apple??

I just had the same problem -- trying to use an external USB 2.0 hard disk (a generic shiny aluminium enclosure) with its own external power source, on a 17" MBP running Leopard (10.5.1). I've used this drive before on PCs with both Windows and Linux, and never had a problem.

I tried connecting directly with all ports, and connecting via a powered USB 2.0 hub, through all ports -- Time Machine was unable to complete a backup because of the "found a transaction past the completion deadline" issue.

I finally (out of desperation) tried the connection through a USB 1.1 hub, unpowered, and it worked fine though was obviously unusably slow.

So just for completeness, I tried using the same powered USB 2.0 hub, but without the external power pack -- just bus power from the MBP.

I'm still seeing the occasional transaction past the completion deadline complaint in Console, but the backups are chugging along pretty well, up to 20GB out of 46GB so far where previously it maxed out at 300MB.

This is obviously not an ideal solution, but it's working well enough for me at present. It seems then that if you're having external USB HDD issues with a MBP, you should:

- try direct connections through all ports
- try connecting via powered USB 2.0 hub through all ports
- try connecting via an unpowered USB 2.0 hub through all ports
- finally, as an act of desperation (say you need to recover critical data and time isn't such an issue), try using a powered USB 1.1 hub and then an unpowered USB 1.1 hub through all ports.

Hope this helps someone, and I hope Apple fixes their buggy USB EHCI code soon.

I installed Leopard a couple of weeks ago and USB issues for the left port are also starting to pop up. They are resolved when I simply unplug and replug the usb cable which is either attached directly to an audio unit or to a powered 2.0 hub. Because I use both ports in live performances, this dropping contacting issue can be very serious for me. As soon as it is resolved I would like to know.

Same problem here. I've been using two different USB audio devices (Digitech GNX4 guitar effects and Behringer U-Control UCA200) on my MBP 17" and get this horrible intermittent crackle/hiss problem. This can happen immediately after I plug in or some while later. I can resolve it by unplugging the USB cord and plugging it back again, but this is annoying as if I'm working in Garage band I have to reset the audio settings every time I do this. The audio connecting never seems to last more than a few minutes before the interference kicks in. I've tried in on battery power and plugged in, and on all three USB ports and have had the same problem on all. I really hope Apple can find a solution to this soon - one of the reasons I switched to Mac is to work with audio stuff and I'm starting to regret that. Also wish I'd spend a bit extra and got myself a Firewire audio device.

My issue with the left-side USB port is that it stop working for whatever reason. It's random and I have a difficult time reproducing it to figure out what it is that causes it to stop powering anything.

I prefer using the left side because I want to keep all my connections on that side and free up the right side for my mouse.

The left side connects a powered Kensington USB hub. This works well until it just stops powering up. It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

My only recourse is to reboot and then I have use of the left side USB port once again.

I love my MacBook Pro but this is a PIA.

Hey Everyone,
Just got my mbp 2 weeks ago. Went to plug in my printer on the left side today... and same problem! I tried other devices (usb mouse, thumb drive) and nothing. I rebooted the computer (standard pc behavior), tried again. Now, everything seems to work on the left side.

Side note, I was fooling around with garage band a few days ago and the file that I was working on appeared on the desktop after the reboot. I thought the file was deleted after I closed Garage Band, so I never looked for it. And I haven't rebooted in days. Now, there it was. Weird!

I guess I'm headed over to the Genius Bar. Will post results.

Thanks.

hello
I have a similar problem with a soundcard toneport KB37
the sound cuts itself during using.
I am not alone in this case
Can I wait for help, patch, or repairing my computer???
Lines6's technician tells me that it happens with macbook & mcbkpro only,
I search information and I found that the problem is in the usb
Is there someone who can do magic stuff to repair this?
Do you think apple could be more concerned by technical problem than merchandising?(nevermind)
sorry for the language: i am a french guy...

I've read through a lot of the above threads and they were very helpful actually.
But I find it interesting because everybody except I think one person had troubles with the port on the left side.

I just bought a 17" MBP two months ago, the specs say it comes with three USB 2.0 Ports. The only port that I haven't had any troubles with is the one on the left that is closest to me. The one on the right as well as the other one on the left both work, I haven't had any bus powered problems (but also haven't tried using an external hard drive that 'may draw more power than the 2.0 specs have'), however these two ports are way slower...

For instance, for DJ'ing I use Serato Scratch (bus powered), when I use it on the two slower ports there is digital distortion, so they're useless to me. As well, when I run Pro Tools on an Mbox2(bus powered), a message comes up saying basically saying that the USB ports aren't able to keep up. I haven't had any problems with the power going off with these two bus powered items I'm using though, however I am frustrated because if they're all 2.0 ports than they should atleast transmit as much data as eachother which is the problem i'm having.

JEEEEEZ! :P
p.s can someone fill me in on what the Genius Bar is ? i'm assuming its the tech place at the mac store but i just want to be sure. thankyou!

I'll be the odd man out and say that all peripherals I've tried with my MBP work on all three USB ports just fine. I've tested them with a Seagate Free Agent Go portable hard drive, a Vantec USB to ide/sata bridge, and a Lite On USB DVD burner.