2.5" Drives and USB 3 enclosures and power requirements

[jkroeder]

I had a 2.5" USB 3 drive enclosure laying around and decided to try it out. I put in an old 500GB MomentusXT drive in it.

The enclosure came with a usb Y cable. While it seems to work just fine with only one of the usb connectors plugged in, I have no idea whether it actually needs the second one plugged in as well.

I'm using a powered USB 3.0 hub. I'm using this one in particular
http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/view_detail/440

I've heard the ac adapter it comes with is inadequate as well but that's partly another issue.

Thanks.

 

[John Connor]

Since you are using a USB hub then you don't need both USB connections. If the drive works it works.

 

[mfenn]

USB 3.0 can deliver more power than USB 2.0 (900 mA versus 500 mA), but the connector is backwards compatible. It would not surprise me if you needed to use both connectors if you plugged it into a USB 2.0 port, especially for a 7200 RPM drive like the Momentus XT.

But like John said, if it works then it works, don't worry about it. Spin-up is the most demanding phase of the drives operational cycle, so since that works, you're good for everything else.