USB powered EHD on 722K

[mmcl26554]

I did a search and didn't find much specific on this topic so I will post my experience.
I have a device I can plug any hard drive type into and connect to a computer via USB. 2.5 drives get their power through this adapter from the USB connection. I wondered if I could connect it to my Powered USB hub and the 722K would recognize the drive. The answer is YES it did work. It formated the drive successfully. So this seems to be a viable option for the 722K.
Michael

 

[harshness]

When you're talking about content that you want to save, why put it at risk when 2.5" drives cost substantially more than 3.5" self-powered drives?

I'm happy if you're happy that you beat the odds but beyond that, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[mmcl26554]

Please explain what you mean "at risk"? Sometimes if you look long enough and in enough places you can find 2.5 & 3.5 and powered external hard drives at about the same price. Many self powered external hard drives have 2.5 drives in them. The 2.5 uses less power and seems to run cooler than the 3.5. So what would be the problem using a 2.5 USB powered drive.
Michael

 

[3HaloODST]

Yeah, as long as you have USB-powered drives attached to a powered USB hub, I see absolutely no risk in doing such. I just wouldn't recommend trying to sap the power directly from the receiver, though.

As far as the physical size of the HDD, that doesn't matter in the least. Hell, if you could get your hands on a 1-inch drive that is larger than 50GB and has a USB mass-storage interface, I bet it would work just fine.

Just make sure whatever drive you use is self-powered, or you have it hooked up to a powered USB hub, and you're good to go, IMO.

 

[R0ss]

Please explain what you mean "at risk"? Sometimes if you look long enough and in enough places you can find 2.5 & 3.5 and powered external hard drives at about the same price. Many self powered external hard drives have 2.5 drives in them. The 2.5 uses less power and seems to run cooler than the 3.5. So what would be the problem using a 2.5 USB powered drive.
Michael

There has been a lot of discusion on this topic. The consensus is that u might have success using a 2.5 in drive powered by usb but it may not be as reliable as using a powered hub or better yet an external power supply.
Good luck!

Ross

Sent from my DROIDX using SatelliteGuys

 

[mmcl26554]

I did not even expect it to work without a powered hub but it did connect right up with the powered hub. The power supply on this hub is 2 amp so it certainly has enough available power to operate the 2.5 hard drive. But I understand what you say about the reliability of an EHD with it's own power supply I had one of those die and it may have taken out the USB of the 211K.
Michael

 

[Jim5506]

Dish does not recommend, as a matter of fact they discourage, using USB powered EHDs, so if you have one that works, it is no guarantee that it will work tomorrow or that it will not overload the receivers power supply.

If you wish to operate outside the recommended parameters you are "at risk" and on your own.

"Johnny, the stove is hot, do not touch it..."

 

[mmcl26554]

None of the EHD's I connected to my receivers are USB powered and I do not expect that to change. But, what does dish say about using one with a powered USB hub?

 

[3HaloODST]

But, what does dish say about using one with a powered USB hub?

They don't. What others here fail to realize though, is that the POWERED USB hub will supply the necessary power to the USB-powered EHD, therefore eliminating any risk of problems.

 

[navychop]

Thank you for reporting the success.

 

[KAB]

They don't. What others here fail to realize though, is that the POWERED USB hub will supply the necessary power to the USB-powered EHD, therefore eliminating any risk of problems.

Have you experienced this yourself, or are you making an assumption? I have yet to see anyone report success beyond formatting the drive. In other words, not a peep about successful archiving. So if you are using one and archiving till the cows come home, GREAT.

 

[navychop]

I believe the limited success posts were from folks trying to power the drive directly from the receiver. There could be no difference detectable to the receiver between a self-powered enclosure and a unpowered drive that is receiving power from a powered hub. Either way, little to no drain on the receiver, and plenty of power and a strong signal from the EHD.

 

[3HaloODST]

Yep. That's the entire point of a powered USB hub. To supply the power that the host is unable to supply on it's own.

 

[mmcl26554]

Over the next few days I will connect a USB powered EHD to my 722K and transfer programming to it and report back how it went.
Michael

 

[harshness]

I think if you look at the USB specs, the device sends a Configuration Descriptor (bMaxPower) to the host requiring more than the default 100ma current. If the hub doesn't intercept that, I'm wondering what the answer is from the host and how the device is supposed to react.

The key sentence in the description I read was: "It should fail any operation it cannot perform without external power."

 

[KAB]

Yep. That's the entire point of a powered USB hub. To supply the power that the host is unable to supply on it's own.

Don't tell, show.

 

[3HaloODST]

http://proyectosfie.com/html/usb/libro/capitulo16.pdf

Page 459.

A high-power device must be able to enumerate at low power. On power-up,
any device can draw up to 100 milliamperes from the bus until the device is
configured during enumeration. After retrieving a configuration descriptor,
the host examines the amount of current requested in bMaxPower, and if
the current is available, the host sends a Set_Configuration request specifying
the configuration. The device can then draw up to bMaxPower from the
bus. In reality, hosts and hubs are likely to allocate either 100 or 500 milliamperes
to a device rather than the precise amount requested in bMax-
Power.

Besides, even if the DVR's USB ports are non-standard in regards to power, a self-powered hub can announce to the host (DVR) that it is self-powered, therefore eliminating any issues caused by any bus-powered devices connected downstream to the hub.

 

[whatchel1]

A powered hub does the job of not being powered by the Dish hardware. Those of you that are freaking out aren't reading the statement correctly. Power USB Hub would work just fine with any of the VIP's. .

 

[mmcl26554]

This morning I installed a USB powered 2.5 SATA 80Gb hard drive and connected it via my Powered USB Hub. It formatted, rebooted the 722k and came back up successfully. I transfered the little DishNetwork monthly blurb we all get about movies this month. It transferred successfully and also played back successfully. I will leave it connected for the next 24 hours and transfer off and back on again tomorrow. I would call this a success! Anybody want me to do anything else to test it?
Michael

 

[KAB]

This morning I installed a USB powered 2.5 SATA 80Gb hard drive and connected it via my Powered USB Hub. It formatted, rebooted the 722k and came back up successfully. I transfered the little DishNetwork monthly blurb we all get about movies this month. It transferred successfully and also played back successfully. I will leave it connected for the next 24 hours and transfer off and back on again tomorrow. I would call this a success! Anybody want me to do anything else to test it?
Michael

Archive a movie or equivalent time program. Five minutes might not tell the tale.