Compatible USB Hard Drives

baobab68 · Post by **baobab68** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 00:24

I am about to buy a DP-Lite and wondered whether I have much chance of my S2 640gb drive working. It's a 2.5" "powered from the USB cable" type of drive.

I tried it on a friends dp-p1, which doesn't even see it, even when the drive is independently powered.

We did not however try having the drive plugged in before the BW was powered on.

It's not a total deal breaker for me but would have rounded out the functionality quite nicely.

prl · Post by **prl** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 08:20

baobab68 wrote:I am about to buy a DP-Lite and wondered whether I have much chance of my S2 640gb drive working. It's a 2.5" "powered from the USB cable" type of drive.
....

You might have a better chance of a meaningful answer if you gave more information than "S2 640Gb drive". Manufacturer and model, for example.

Based on what you've said, my guess would be that it probably won't work.

baobab68 · Post by **baobab68** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 14:49

Humble apologies, I left out a crucial word, by mistake. I feel so stupid now.

It's a Samsung S2 640gb.

In people's experience does the "plug in before powering on the BW" process make a difference for some drives?

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 16:38

Hi Baobab68,

In most cases having the external drive powered up and connected to the Beyonwiz before the Beyonwiz is powered up is the most reliable way to get the drive recognised.

Regards,
Ian.

Recusant · Post by **Recusant** » Wed Oct 06, 2010 20:15

FAT32 Formatting over 32gb Solution for Windows 7 users.

Borisg has one solution:

borisg wrote:Finally downloaded FAT32formatter (a freebie with ability to make a donation). It picked up all my drives, It found my G drive, clicked on the 953 GB partition, chose quick format and after 15 seconds - Done - formatted to FAT32. I plugged it back onto the BW and copied a few files to it ( /Device1/Unit0_P1/). Worked beautifully.

Fat32Formatter (http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/) seems to work fine for WHOLE DRIVES, but if you have multiple partitions (eg, NTFS & FAT32) like i do it just won't do it - it will only do the whole drive.

This tool will do single partitions:
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index. ... format.htm

The GUI doesn't need to install - it just runs - bloody brilliant. Seems to work perfectly.

Strangely, my drive is labelled one thing in Windows and another in the Beyonwiz. Like Borisg, my FAT32 partition is labelled "Unit0_P1" in the 'wiz.

If you find it useful - i highly recommend donating to the guy. I did.

freeradical · Post by **freeradical** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 16:01

baobab68 wrote:Humble apologies, I left out a crucial word, by mistake. I feel so stupid now.

It's a Samsung S2 640gb.

In people's experience does the "plug in before powering on the BW" process make a difference for some drives?

Realise that this is an old post, but I have the exact same pocket drive, and it works perfectly

Post by **Wiz Support** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 10:37

freeradical wrote:
baobab68 wrote:Humble apologies, I left out a crucial word, by mistake. I feel so stupid now.

It's a Samsung S2 640gb.

In people's experience does the "plug in before powering on the BW" process make a difference for some drives?
Realise that this is an old post, but I have the exact same pocket drive, and it works perfectly

It would depend on variances in manufacturing tolerances whether:
A. Any one pocket sized USB HDD needs more power than the standard 500mA.
B. Exactly how much power any one Beyonwiz PVR provides.

Note: The rear USB port usually provides slightly more power than the front USB port (on models with front and rear USB ports).

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 10:51

Actually, both front and rear ports provide the same power. Because the rear port is soldered directly to the motherboard, rather than being hooked up via an internal cable to a daughter card, it provides slightly better electrical characteristics, which may cause a marginal configuration to work more often than the front port. Either way, if the external device draws more than 500mA from the USB port, it's out of USB2.0 spec and will cause reliability issues.

Recusant · Post by **Recusant** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 18:34

I recently got myself a 2TB Western Digital Essentials HDD (that's a 3.5"/powered HDD).

Works fine:
2 Partitions
1 x FAT32 (about 100gb)
1 x NTFS (the rest)

Do NOT enable compression when you format it (NTFS) - 'Wiz doesn't like it.

This WD drive (like most i gather) contains this bloody awful "SmartWare" software (i'd recommend not installing it until you research whether or not you want it). It reserves about 700mb on the HDD for a virtual CD. It is rubbish and it can't be removed. On this basis i recommend buying something else.

The VCD can be hidden at least, but it's a bit of fannying about: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg ... 35#nosmart

Gezza · Post by **Gezza** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 09:38

I just got a Seagate GoFlex Desk 2T HD. I partitioned it into three roughly equal sections and formatted them to Fat32. I connected the device to my DP-P1 via a powered hud. The BW recognizes the device and the three partitions but when I try to transfer from the BW HD to the Seagate the screen just stops on Transfer 0K for about 5 minutes before it actually starts the transfer at a speed varying from 1.5 to 3.8 . Question: is there a hub than can speed this up or all they all about the same? I need to get a new hud anyway.

prl · Post by **prl** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 09:43

Gezza wrote:I just got a Seagate GoFlex Desk 2T HD. I partitioned it into three roughly equal sections and formatted them to Fat32. I connected the device to my DP-P1 via a powered hud. The BW recognizes the device and the three partitions but when I try to transfer from the BW HD to the Seagate the screen just stops on Transfer 0K for about 5 minutes before it actually starts the transfer at a speed varying from 1.5 to 3.8 . Question: is there a hub than can speed this up or all they all about the same? I need to get a new hud anyway.

I don't know why there's a delay starting the transfer, but the transfer speeds you're seeing are pretty typical. The main limitation on transfer speed is at the Beyonwiz end, not the hub or (except for very slow thumb drives) the USB HDD.

Recusant · Post by **Recusant** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 17:03

I had a problem with my 1tb drive, if i selected more than about 30 mins of multiple files, the move would freeze (i could copy something longer - as long as it was a single file). I suspect re-formatting might help because i've had no such problems on the new 2tb drive to date.

Just on the Seagate HDD - does it turn itself off? I'm interested in alternatives to the WD after there forced crapware issue i described in a slightly earlier post.

Gezza · Post by **Gezza** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 10:43

Just on the Seagate HDD - does it turn itself off? I'm interested in alternatives to the WD after there forced crapware issue i described in a slightly earlier post.[/quot

No, the Seagate doesn't turn itself off. I didn't notice that until just now. That is one advantage of the WDs.

Gezza · Post by **Gezza** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 15:27

Gezza wrote:Just on the Seagate HDD - does it turn itself off? I'm interested in alternatives to the WD after there forced crapware issue i described in a slightly earlier post.[/quot

No, the Seagate doesn't turn itself off. I didn't notice that until just now. That is one advantage of the WDs.

I take that back. The Seagate does turn off. It was plugged into a powered hub. that's wy it didn't go off.

ciscus · Post by **ciscus** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 20:11

I know this is old hat, but I have a question.

In the Sticky on Compatible USB Hard Drives it states

"NOTE: Many USB powered HDDs that do NOT work can be made to work by using a powered USB hub between the Beyonwiz and the USB HDD"

A number of the powered HDD in the list do in fact have their own power source ie. they are plugged into mains power.

What is a powered USB hub and how is it different to having a powered external HDD.

I have been using a powered Maxtor 350GB transfers work "sometimes" but there are frequent lock ups which required a Beyonwiz HDD check. Also copying works better than moving. Don't understand why.

Have experienced similar lockup problems with my Western Digital 1TB powered HDD.

What difference will a powered USB make when both the Maxtor and the WD have their own power.

Sorry to show my ignorance once again but........

And again, thanks in advance for any responses.

Oh by the way - my WD has stopped working and is not recognized by me BW or my Desktop. It is still under warranty and has loads of downloads on it.
Any comment on if I should try to resurrect it or should I return it under warranty. The $86 replacement cost is not huge, but if resurrection is unlikely I may as well claim warranty.

Again TIA

prl · Post by **prl** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 21:11

The USB2.0 standard says that the most current a USB port needs to supply to a USB-powered device is 500mA. Many USB-powered HDDs require more than 500mA, often as much as 900mA (i.e. they are not standards compliant). Many PC (and similar) USB ports can supply more than 500mA, so these non-compliant HDDs work with the PCs that can do this.

The Beyonwiz USB ports comply with the USB2.0 standard and only supply up to 500mA, so disks that require more than that won't work (or at least, not reliably). If you put a powered USB hub that can deliver the current needed by these non-compliant HDDs between the Beyonwiz and the HDD, then the HDD will probably work, because now the hub is supplying its power, not the Beyonwiz.

tamojuch · Post by **tamojuch** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 05:01

I recently posted a problem with my DP-P2 - which has been repaired. On reading the replies I came across this post and was wondering if I had caused the problem.

I was using my WD My Passport Essential SE ITB directly into the USB port a few hours before I turned off the DP-P2, set a timer and went to sleep. On waking I had Error 0000 on the display.

So, can I use my hard drive or should I get a media player?

Is it possible to get an update on the ones that will work, may work and definitely will not work?

Thanks

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 08:15

Hi Marion,

An external drive should not be able to cause Error 0000 unless the drive is loading the Beyonwiz power supply beyond its limits.

If the drive draws less than 500mA or is powered via its own power supply (external from the Beyonwiz - also powered USB hubs may be able to assist with powering the drive) then there should be no issues with using it.

None of us are Beyonwiz staff. We don't get a budget to purchase and test external devices. All the units listed in this thread were purchased by users, like yourself, and tested for correct operation. The reports here are the results of these user's individual tests. You are free to add your own testing results here.

Regards,
Ian.

prl · Post by **prl** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 08:27

IanSav wrote:...
If the drive draws less than 500mA or is self powered then there should be no issues with using it.
...

Hi, Ian.

By "self powered", don't you mean "mains powered" or "externally powered"?

AFAIK, there are no USB HDDs that are "self powered". It's a rather misleading way of talking about it (and it's more often used when people mean "USB powered").

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 08:34

Hi Peter,

My phrasing has been clarified and I also added the option to power an external drive via a powered USB hub.

Regards,
Ian.

Gezza · Post by **Gezza** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 08:43

I have 2 WD IT, 2 WD 1.5T and 1 Seagate 2T drives. Each has its own power power source. They were all attached via a powered hub. By accident, I discovered that they work equally well without any power to the hub. That has they advantage that all the disks turn off automatically when the BW shuts off. That saves electricity consumption. I prefer the WD to the Seagate as the activity light is much more obvious which helps to let you know when the message from the remote has been received.

prl · Post by **prl** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 09:20

Gezza wrote:... By accident, I discovered that they work equally well without any power to the hub. ...

That's not unusual. The Belkin hub I have on my Mac will also work if it has no external power. However, if the hub is USB-powered, it can't supply more current to its attached devices than it's receiving from its host connection (less what it uses itself). That means that its ability to power other USB-powered devices is quite limited.

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 15:10

prl wrote:AFAIK, there are no USB HDDs that are "self powered".

There are. I've got two. They both have rechargeable batteries. One of them also has a card reader and a button to copy all contents from the card to a directory on the HDD. Great for emptying digicam cards. The other is just a HDD.

prl · Post by **prl** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 15:47

peteru wrote:
prl wrote:AFAIK, there are no USB HDDs that are "self powered".
There are. I've got two. They both have rechargeable batteries. One of them also has a card reader and a button to copy all contents from the card to a directory on the HDD. Great for emptying digicam cards. The other is just a HDD.

Hi, Peter. IMO "has battery" ≠ "self powered".

The most common usage on the forum appears to be "self powered" ≈ "don't know where the power comes from" (or "power? it needs power?").

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 16:15

I suppose we could get pedantic and take it as far as insisting that everything is powered by solar fusion, with only a variety of energy storage mechanisms acting as intermediaries. But hold on, solar fusion is powered by gravity, ergo virtually everything on Earth is powered by gravity. HDDs are subject to gravity and since we think of gravity as something inherent it's only reasonable to conclude that all HDDs are self-powered. (For a large enough value of self.)

Or in other words, it depends on how you look at it. Or in the words of Larry - There's more than one way to do it.

prl · Post by **prl** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 16:35

Stars achieve fusion ignition from gravitational potential energy. They sustain fusion conditions by gravitational containment. They derive energy from fusion from the mass difference between the fusion reactants and products, or rather its energy equivalent.

I think that "self-powered" is just a bad way to describe how USB devices are powered when discussing problems with connecting them to host devices. "USB powered" vs "externally powered/mains powered/battery powered" is a useful and important distinction. And one worth being pedantic about.

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 17:29

Well, if it is worth being pedantic about, then we should use the correct nomenclature defined by the USB standard:

Universal Serial Specification Revision 2.0 wrote: 4.3.1 Power Distribution
Each USB segment provides a limited amount of power over the cable. The host supplies power for use by USB devices that are directly connected. In addition, any USB device may have its own power supply. USB devices that rely totally on power from the cable are called bus-powered devices. In contrast, those that have an alternate source of power are called self-powered devices. A hub also supplies power for its connected USB devices. The architecture permits bus-powered hubs within certain constraints of topology that are discussed later in Chapter 11.

prl · Post by **prl** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 17:55

Problem there is that posters on the forum typically call bus-powered devices self-powered. Even if it's the nomenclature used in the standard, I think it's a potentially misleading term.

ciscus · Post by **ciscus** » Mon Dec 27, 2010 14:33

Hello,

Does the Maxtor HDD work on a BW DP-S1. Unfortunately I have two, one 250GB and the other 350GB? Both are externally powered.

I also have a WD Book 1TB also externally powered.

Reason I ask is that all these devices lock up during transfer of data (not always on the first move but if I try to do a move of a second file I always have a lock ups which then require a hard disk check).

Note the files I try to transfer are not all that big (usually one hour).

Thanks in advance:

serpeant · Post by **serpeant** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:13

I too can confirm that the WD Elements 250GB will work USB powered only.

Just out of curiosity, are there larger portable HDD's that will work USB powered only?

Grumpy_Geoff · Post by **Grumpy_Geoff** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:56

serpeant wrote:I too can confirm that the WD Elements 250GB will work USB powered only. Just out of curiosity, are there larger portable HDD's that will work USB powered only?

Yep - I've a bus-powered WD Elements 320GB drive that works in the P2's rear port but not in the front port (peteru's reasoning "better electrical characteristics"). I've an S1 also & I'm sure it too has the same behaviour but I can't check as I'm overseas.

serpeant · Post by **serpeant** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 08:21

Are there any other larger USB powered drives that the Beyonwiz can power?

What about the USB3 drives or a 500/750GB WD drive?

Come on Beyonwiz, can you show your users some support and tell us once and for all, which USB powered drives can be powered by the Beyonwiz without the need of a powered hub???

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 09:12

Hi Serpeant,

serpeant wrote:Are there any other larger USB powered drives that the Beyonwiz can power?

What about the USB3 drives or a 500/750GB WD drive?

Come on Beyonwiz, can you show your users some support and tell us once and for all, which USB powered drives can be powered by the Beyonwiz without the need of a powered hub???

Why do you feel this is a job for Beyonwiz to document?

Beyonwiz have quite clearly stated that the Beyonwiz is compatible with virtually *any* USB2 hard drive that draws up to 500mA of power (but no more). Drives formatted as FAT32 can be read from and written to. NTFS formatted drives are read only.Surely it is up to the *many* drive manufacturers to document the power requirements for their devices.

By the way USB3 devices are less likely to work. From Wikipedia:

A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and was raised to 150 mA in USB 3.0. A maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) can be drawn from a port in USB 2.0, which was raised to 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0. There are two types of devices: low-power and high-power. Low-power devices draw at most 1 unit load, with minimum operating voltage of 4.4 V in USB 2.0, and 4 V in USB 3.0. High-power devices draw the maximum number of unit loads supported by the standard. All devices default as low-power but the device's software may request high-power as long as the power is available on the providing bus.

Regards,
Ian.

prl · Post by **prl** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 09:46

IanSav wrote:...
Why do you feel this is a job for Beyonwiz to document?
...

It is, however, the responsibility of the USB-powered HDDs' manufacturers to document the power requirements of their devices. Which, last time I looked, they seem uniformly to fail to do.

serpeant · Post by **serpeant** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:01

IanSav wrote:Hi Serpeant,

Come on Beyonwiz, can you show your users some support and tell us once and for all, which USB powered drives can be powered by the Beyonwiz without the need of a powered hub???

Why do you feel this is a job for Beyonwiz to document?

1. It would be good support of their users.
2. Wouldnt it be easier for them to find out and let all their users know rather than have indiviual users find out for themselves?

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:56

Hi Serpeant,

serpeant wrote:Why do you feel this is a job for Beyonwiz to document?

I *don't* believe this is a job for Beyonwiz.

serpeant wrote:1. It would be good support of their users.

That may be so but the technicalities and costs associated with providing such a service would be unacceptable to most Beyonwiz owners/users.

serpeant wrote:2. Wouldnt it be easier for them to find out and let all their users know rather than have indiviual users find out for themselves?

No way! Do you have *any* idea how many makes and models of USB storage devices there are out there? Also, how many different revisions and updates for each make and model that may need to be tested and documented. This is totally unrealistic.

Regards,
Ian.

madmax · Post by **madmax** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 12:15

serpeant wrote:2. Wouldnt it be easier for them to find out and let all their users know rather than have indiviual users find out for themselves?

Speechless......

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 13:07

serpeant wrote:2. Wouldnt it be easier for them to find out and let all their users know rather than have indiviual users find out for themselves?

Time is money and a BW staff member devoted to searching out this info and probably the expense of buying sample drives to test becomes an overhead that has to be recovered. ie the cost of all BW's would go up to recover this expense.

Anyone who has run a business and not gone out of business within 2 years (sadly the Australian average for new businesses) you simply have to recover all of your costs or join the averages.

There is a halfway house where a funded individual could set up a wiki and do the testing himself with contributions. But hey! do a search on the forum and you will find most of the info already for you.

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 13:50

netmask wrote:But hey! do a search on the forum and you will find most of the info already for you.

You don't even really need to do a search, just read this topic!

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 13:53

serpeant wrote:
IanSav wrote:Why do you feel this is a job for Beyonwiz to document?

1. It would be good support of their users.
2. Wouldnt it be easier for them to find out and let all their users know rather than have indiviual users find out for themselves?

1. They are supporting users by proving this forum

2. Isn't easier for a hundred users to share their individual experience than have someone in a company try to test them all. And you can even purchase from somewhere like Dick Smith who will let you bring it back if it is no good.

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 15:02

The "industry standard" way to address this issue would be for Beyonwiz to OEM one or two models of drives under the Beyonwiz brand name and list those as the only supported models. Chances are that these drives would be more expensive than generic brands.

I'm glad they don't do that and let users source their own peripherals.

serpeant · Post by **serpeant** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 14:47

netmask wrote:
serpeant wrote:2. Wouldnt it be easier for them to find out and let all their users know rather than have indiviual users find out for themselves?

Time is money and a BW staff member devoted to searching out this info and probably the expense of buying sample drives to test becomes an overhead that has to be recovered. ie the cost of all BW's would go up to recover this expense.

do a search on the forum and you will find most of the info already for you.

Fair enough.

So from what I read on this thread, the WD 320GB is the largest workable external HDD to work.

Has anyone had experience with a larger drive that works?

prl · Post by **prl** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 15:49

serpeant wrote:...
So from what I read on this thread, the WD 320GB is the largest workable external HDD to work.

Has anyone had experience with a larger drive that works?

You need to be a bit more specific than that. Do you mean the WD 320GB Elements HDD?

serpeant · Post by **serpeant** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 09:14

prl wrote:
serpeant wrote:...

Has anyone had experience with a larger drive that works?
You need to be a bit more specific than that. Do you mean the WD 320GB Elements HDD?

I would please like to know if anyone has had any experience with ANY HDD larger than 320GB that the Beyonwiz powers itself?

Dick Smith has the 750GB WD Elements for $88. Will this work?

grunta · Post by **grunta** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 17:30

serpeant wrote:
Dick Smith has the 750GB WD Elements for $88. Will this work?

do it anyway ! they have a 14 day return policy

mishmash · Post by **mishmash** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 08:38

I've got a WD My Passport 1TB (Officejerks $129) drive and that seems to work fine.

prl · Post by **prl** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 08:47

mishmash wrote:I've got a WD My Passport 1TB (Officejerks $129) drive and that seems to work fine.

I think that statements about a USB-powered HDD working for one person need to be viewed through the recent investigation that Mark (warkus) has done about the differences in USB current capacity between different chips used for USB power at different times in the same model of Beyonwiz. What works on one Beyonwiz may not work on another, even if they're the same model.

mishmash · Post by **mishmash** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:45

Hi Peter,
Point noted. I was simply answering the direct question on whether anyone had had any luck with larger HDDs. I'm also using an early P1 and so figured mine would have the most gutless USB assembly around.
I guess I should have added a link to Mark's postings as a courtesy.

prl · Post by **prl** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 13:52

mishmash wrote:...
... I was simply answering the direct question on whether anyone had had any luck with larger HDDs. I'm also using an early P1 and so figured mine would have the most gutless USB assembly around. ...

Fair enough. I was mainly trying to say that it's probably the wrong question in the first place

Compatible USB Hard Drives

Samsung S2

Re: Samsung S2

Re: Experience with WD My Book essential 1TB and 2TB

Seagate GoFlex Desk 2T

Re: Seagate GoFlex Desk 2T

Compatible USB Hard Drives

any update on external hard drives?

External HDD

WD Elements 250gb

Re: WD Elements 250gb

Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

Re: Other USB drives

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