How do i power an external harddrive sufficiently enough to work via a mini usb port attached to a tablet?

[bigboyrob]

How do i power an external harddrive sufficiently enough to work via a mini usb port attached to an android tablet?

 

[mbreslin1954]

Some external hard drives come with a single USB cable; they are designed to run on the power supplied by a single cable. Others need a Y cable, with two USB plugs on the PC end, to get enough power.

If your external drive came with just a single USB plug on each end, then the power from that one plug ought to be sufficient, with one big ASSUMPTION: the tablet mini-USB port supplies as much current as does the typical USB port on a PC. I don't know if that's the case.

 

[bigboyrob]

Some external hard drives come with a single USB cable; they are designed to run on the power supplied by a single cable. Others need a Y cable, with two USB plugs on the PC end, to get enough power.

If your external drive came with just a single USB plug on each end, then the power from that one plug ought to be sufficient, with one big ASSUMPTION: the tablet mini-USB port supplies as much current as does the typical USB port on a PC. I don't know if that's the case.

 

[bigboyrob]

Hi mbreslin. Thank you for your quick response. The problem i have, which was confirmed to me from a chap at a computer store, is that the mini usb port does not allow enough power into the hard drive to run it at the same time as using it to download stuff. He recommended ditching my device and purchasing one which has an ac power cable. But surely there must be some way of bypassing my problem without having to fork out another load of cash on another device. Your advice on this would be greatly appreciated, Rob.

 

[mbreslin1954]

If you have an external drive that also has a little circular socket for a 5 volt power supply input, then all you have to do is to buy the power supply. However, the only external 2.5" drives I've seen with an external power plug are the ones I've built for myself (I buy the enclosure, then the disk). So if all your drive has is the USB socket, then you are SOL. Your drive is useless for that tablet. There is no way to get power into the drive if there is no other socket on the drive enclosure.

 

[popatim]

This should work
http://usb.brando.com/mini-usb-otg-cable-with-external-power-supply_p03325c032d015.html