TOSHIBA Canvio 320GB (USB 2.0) better with USB Y adapter?

techronin

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 13, 2006
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77
Found this on sale and was wondering if it would be better if I used a Y adapter (Startech 1 ft 2 usb ports to mini) for power or if the single is sufficient.

My mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P
 
So even if it's not necessary it won't do any harm then - the drive will only take what it needs?
 
If they come with a Y cable, you can experiment using a normal USB cable to see if it still works (and if it does, then feel free to keep going). I once encountered a HDD that would not power without a Y cable (as the Y cable supplies extra power to the device). Y cables came to be during the USB1->USB2 era and were meant for plugging in USB2 devices to a USB1 host (which could not supply adequate power on a single port).
 
(Maybe a stupid question but...)

Could it be harmful (mobo, usb port or damage the drive itself) to a system to run usb powered devices? I see there are drives with ac adapters.
 
Nope. Some drives require AC Adapters because either (1) they were designed that way or (2) Y cable can't supply enough juice, so a wall plugin is necessary.

No, using a Y cable should not damage any devices.
 
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