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Transfer files

I have 5th generation iPad. Want to open file on an external hard drive in my iPad. Was advised by Apple support to buy a lightening USB connector. Won’t open. Says needs too much power. How do I get files,not images, from external hard drive to iPad files folder. Thx

iPad, iPadOS 13

Posted on Oct 9, 2020 1:05 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 10, 2020 2:13 AM

You appear to have the wrong USB Adapter.


You require the Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter - to which you can connect your USB device and simultaneously connect your iPad Power Adapter.


You need this:

Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter

https://store.apple.com/uk/xc/product/MK0W2ZM/A


... but instead, currently, have this:

Lightning to USB Camera Adapter

https://store.apple.com/uk/xc/product/MD821ZM/A

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 10, 2020 2:13 AM in response to LindaDaloisio

You appear to have the wrong USB Adapter.


You require the Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter - to which you can connect your USB device and simultaneously connect your iPad Power Adapter.


You need this:

Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter

https://store.apple.com/uk/xc/product/MK0W2ZM/A


... but instead, currently, have this:

Lightning to USB Camera Adapter

https://store.apple.com/uk/xc/product/MD821ZM/A

Oct 9, 2020 1:35 AM in response to LindaDaloisio

Your iPad is not capable of providing sufficient power to run an HDD. If the HDD does not have its own source of power- then external power must be supplied to the HDD using the connecting adapter (e.g., an Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter and Apple Charger of at least 12W) - or by connecting both the iPad and HDD to a powered USB hub.


You will also need to ensure that the HDD is both partitioned and formatted appropriately (i.e., a single partition - formatted as FAT32, exFAT or APFS).


Oct 10, 2020 5:15 AM in response to LindaDaloisio

You’re very welcome.


Some additional information that may be useful in avoiding difficulties...


HDDs tend to more problematic than flash-based storage media - such as USB thumb-drives. For iPadOS to access external media, it must be formatted as FAT, FAT32 or exFAT (FAT64) for universal readability across Apple, Microsoft or Linux systems - or additionally APFS if only used with Apple systems. NTFS and other Microsoft proprietary formats are not supported. Drive formatting must be performed on other computing devices; drive formatting actions are not supported by iPadOS.


Additionally, for compatibility with iPadOS, the drive must only have only single partition.


I hope you find this additional information helpful.




Transfer files

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