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New iBook USB ports faulty?
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2005
Status:
Offline
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I have just received my new 12" 1.33GHz iBook and wondered if there was anyone successfully using a SmartDisk Firelite USB powered HD with it?
When I plug it into either of the two USB ports (which are supposed to be USB 2.0) the drive does not power up and just clicks. The manual says that if a clicking sound is heard then not enough power is being supplied. How can this be - the ports are supposed to be USB 2.0!!
I have tried the drive on a Mac Mini at work running Tiger and it is recognised fine. If it works fine through the USB 2.0 ports on the Mini then it should work through the USB 2.0 ports on the iBook shouldn't it?
I've also tested the drive on the USB 2.0 ports on my work Windows machine and it runs fine. So I can safely say that the external hard drive is not the problem.
Any ideas? Can anyone help?
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
Status:
Online
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I don't think there's anything in the USB 2 spec that mandates a certain level of power be supplied. It may just be the case that the iBook's ports don't supply sufficient power for that particular device - it would make sense, considering we're talking about a laptop. I suppose the quickest way to determine whether your suspicion is correct would be to plug your device into another iBook. I truly do not believe your ports are faulty.
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"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Status:
Offline
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Was your iBook running off adapter power or battery power at the time? Not sure if this would make a difference but maybe someone else has a thought on whether that's a possibility?
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Baninated
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Illinois might be cold and flat, but at least it's ugly.
Status:
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Chicago, IL USA
Status:
Offline
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I also have the new 12" iBook. The USB port closest to the monitor port does not provide enough power for my USB mouse, but provides plenty of power for my USB SD Card reader. The reader is definitely operating at USB 2.0 speeds, BTW.
The other USB port provides plenty of power for my USB mouse. After reading this thread I wondered if my experience is normal, so I did some digging.
http://developer.apple.com/documenta...kG4/index.html
If you click on devices and ports and then on USB ports, the documentation indicates that all USB ports should be capable of providing 500mA of power at 5V. I'm going to talk to some people at Apple or possibly take my computer to the Apple Store and have a genius look at it to determine if I'm doing something wrong, if software is configured to limit the USB power, or if the iBook has a faulty USB port.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2005
Status:
Offline
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bri-guy,
That's odd. I use a generic usb optical mouse on my 6 month old 12" G4 ibook w/ no trouble.
Chris
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