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The WD and Seagate 2.5" external drives I've seen come with a USB cable that has a single USB connector so only requires one USB port on the computer.
Is it possible to purchase a similar enclosure that comes with that cable?
I have a 2.5" caddy but it requires two USB ports on the computer, when I only plug one connector in the drive isn't recognised :(
Thank you.
thats cos the one you have uses one usb for the data and one for power
dont know if you can buy any tha only have the one cable i would think so tho
My Icybox IB-266StUS-B 2.5" SATA comes with a cable that only requires one USB connection, there is the option of using two USB connectors with a second cable to keep 'power-hungry' drives happy.
You should be able to power your external drive using one USB cable (one USB port for that matter) if A) The HDD you have in there consumes less than 2.5W and B) if your computer's USB port can supply 2.5W.
I've come across a few drives that consume more than 2.5W, namely 7200rpm drives and computers with USB ports that don't have sufficient power for a HDD - even one which requires less than 2.5W.
If you've got a USB caddy with the Y cable, one USB connector is data + power and the other is just power. Connecting the data + power should be enough alone, again provided the hardware satisfies points A) and B), the power + data connector should be the one that isn't branched.
EDIT:
For some reason, probably due to the lack of power, the front USB ports on my machine can only power the caddy with two USB connections. Where the rear ports and USB hub do fine with just one, so try out a few different ports on your machine.
Thank you both.
Plugged one cable in only (master one - it has another cable coming off it) and it powered up and the Windows thingy popped up :)