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[Q] Hard Drives Compatible With USB ?

Does anyone know what the requirements/limits are for using a hard disk drive with the dock USB port ?
I am thinking about getting one of these for general purpose external storage, and it would be nice to get one that works with my transformer too.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hard-Driv...0000003142050&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=15222929
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Toshiba-C...ve-Black-with-White/15529168?findingMethod=rr
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expan...1000102/dp/tech-data/B0056YNA2U/ref=de_a_smtd
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-Portable-External/dp/B003B8PPEY

well there is no usb 3.0 support so those are out unless you get a backwards compatible one. And you also have to check the power consumption i think it hase to be bellow 15volts but im not sure

As far as I know all USB 3.0 drives are backward compatible.

from what i have read most are compatible with highspeed usb 2.0 but allot less are compatible with regular 2.0 hubs

mrevankyle said:
from what i have read most are compatible with highspeed usb 2.0 but allot less are compatible with regular 2.0 hubs
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What. There are 4 kinds of USB (not counting on the go, wireless and eventually others) : USB 1.0, USB 1.1, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0
Hi-Speed USB means just USB 2.0, Super Speed is USB 3.0 and the older ones are plain and simply USB.
The theorical top speeds are: 1.5mbps, 12mbps, 480mbps and finally 4000mbps
High speed was briefly and not standardized with USB 1.1 so some device makers had that nonsense on their hubs.
Maybe you misunderstood? Some drives don't like some hubs, but that's a power requirement... If the drive needs x volts and the hub can't offer them because it's already sharing the power with other devices and has no wall plug to get extra power, the drive will just spin up and down without ever starting. 3.5" drives always need their own power adapter, so those always work, 2.5" ones usually draw the power from the USB and as such might be a little hit and miss with hubs, however the Transformer powers them up quite well.
Western Digital makes awesome, reliable, fast and quiet drives, I do have an USB 2.0 My Passport... And several others in various devices
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

shaneledford said:
Does anyone know what the requirements/limits are for using a hard disk drive with the dock USB port ?
I am thinking about getting one of these for general purpose external storage, and it would be nice to get one that works with my transformer too.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hard-Driv...0000003142050&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=15222929
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Toshiba-C...ve-Black-with-White/15529168?findingMethod=rr
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expan...1000102/dp/tech-data/B0056YNA2U/ref=de_a_smtd
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-Portable-External/dp/B003B8PPEY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't recommend any of those drives. I would instead go with something like THIS HDD, THIS external enclosure and THIS retractable USB 2.0 A-Male to Mini 5-Pin. I have this setup and I also have one with an 120gb SSD. Incidentally, if you go with a SSD there is no motor that has to spin the platters because there's no moving parts so it uses less battery power than the first HDD I showed you. Also I know on the Vantec enclosure it says capable for up to 160gb drives but if you look at the details it says up to 750gb HDD's. I can confirm this because mine is a 750gb HDD.

Got a Buffalostation that works well. If it's the best or not, I wouldn't know.

AcIdC0R3 said:
I wouldn't recommend any of those drives. I would instead go with something like THIS HDD, THIS external enclosure and THIS retractable USB 2.0 A-Male to Mini 5-Pin. I have this setup and I also have one with an 120gb SSD. Incidentally, if you go with a SSD there is no motor that has to spin the platters because there's no moving parts so it uses less battery power than the first HDD I showed you. Also I know on the Vantec enclosure it says capable for up to 160gb drives but if you look at the details it says up to 750gb HDD's. I can confirm this because mine is a 750gb HDD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far that's the most expensive and less bang for the buck option XD
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

droidjens said:
Got a Buffalostation that works well. If it's the best or not, I wouldn't know.
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Click to collapse
Thanks everyone. So far It looks like this one is a pretty good choice. It has good reviews and if its confirmed working on the Transformer I might go ahead and grab it.

Hope it'll serve you well.
I just remembered that I had to re-format it to NTFS before the Transformer would recognize it. Just thought I'd let you know.

AlexTheStampede said:
So far that's the most expensive and less bang for the buck option XD
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
...but extremely dependable, very effective and lower power consuming than any of those Buffalo drives. I have a Buffalo NAS drive and they're good for that but as for using one for a portable drive I would not. If you're going to use a regular HDD I would at least go with a Seagate or Western Digital drive as they tend to be better drives and are far quieter than any other brand on the market today. Yeah it may be a little more expensive but it's worth it. At least it was for me that is.

i have a 350g western digital that ive had forever.

This drive arrived in the mail the other day. So far, so good; it was easily recognized by the TF. Not sure how fast it drains power as I haven't used it for too long yet, but it's silent. I also have an old 320GB Western Digital drive in an enclosure from five years ago that my TF sees, too. So, I have backups of backups. And that's not including the (2) 32gb cards I'll have once the second one shows up next week.

r_nt said:
This drive arrived in the mail the other day. So far, so good; it was easily recognized by the TF. Not sure how fast it drains power as I haven't used it for too long yet, but it's silent. I also have an old 320GB Western Digital drive in an enclosure from five years ago that my TF sees, too. So, I have backups of backups. And that's not including the (2) 32gb cards I'll have once the second one shows up next week.
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why 2 32g micro sd cards? i find the one 32g in the tab and a 128g in the dock work just fine, and i have my 320g external if i need more. i dont think i coud stand switching out sd cards all the time...

sonami said:
why 2 32g micro sd cards? i find the one 32g in the tab and a 128g in the dock work just fine, and i have my 320g external if i need more. i dont think i coud stand switching out sd cards all the time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only one of the cards is micro; the other is full-sized. No switching necessary.

Probably an easy question but, External Hard Disks?

Hi All
Finally been able to order a TF700 from Amazon in the UK, I'm off travelling around Europe at the end of next week and intend to take the 700 with me, my question is can I take my external 1TB drive with me and use it as storage (for films, music etc)
Thanks all in advance

Should be doable, although much depends on the power consumption of the drive -- I haven't got a portable model on hand to test it for you. A power-hungry model could either drain the battery too fast to be practical, or it may just be plain impossible to power it from the tablet, causing it to just bork out on you.
Obvisouly, a powered model would cope just fine,but that's not very practical when travelling, isn't it? I have read reports of people using external hard drives on the TF700 before, so I guess it shouldn't pose too much of a problem, though.
Off-topic: where are you going?

assuming you have the keyboard dock too, not only for the USB port but for the extra battery capacity too.
but my WD 750gb works just fine!
I'd suggest MXPlayer 'cause the stock apps suck at decoding divx and other random container formats.

MartyHulskemper said:
Should be doable, although much depends on the power consumption of the drive -- I haven't got a portable model on hand to test it for you. A power-hungry model could either drain the battery too fast to be practical, or it may just be plain impossible to power it from the tablet, causing it to just bork out on you.
Obvisouly, a powered model would cope just fine,but that's not very practical when travelling, isn't it? I have read reports of people using external hard drives on the TF700 before, so I guess it shouldn't pose too much of a problem, though.
Off-topic: where are you going?
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Click to collapse
Cool thanks, just ordered a Toshiba Stor.e Alu 1TB (ebay special buy) which is bus powered, should both be here on the 2nd so will plug it into the dock to check.
I am heading down to Spain as I have an apartment there then going to see where the mood takes me, I have 3 months off work (well I say off work, taking the Infinity with an RDP program and my iPhone so I can tether the data) that way I can still work from where ever I am!
The infinity + dock seems the perfect device for me, can carry it easily, brilliant battery life and the full qwerty keyboard.

I plugged a 500GB bus powered USB drive into the dock USB port and it works great!

My 2TB Western Digital MyPassport works just fine. I did format it to get rid of the silly software, though. Don't really notice any powerdrain at all.

I've somewhat accomplished this before with a 2-usb hard drive. The main usb port for transferring I plugged into the infinity, and I plugged the port for power into a portable external battery. It was recognized as another SD card on my infinity. It worked flawlessly when transferring 800MB+ files.

tefal said:
Hi All
Finally been able to order a TF700 from Amazon in the UK, I'm off travelling around Europe at the end of next week and intend to take the 700 with me, my question is can I take my external 1TB drive with me and use it as storage (for films, music etc)
Thanks all in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. It works. Mine is WD 1TB, connected via USB of the dock.

I've tried plugging in a standard usb drive (8gb thumb drive) in the usb port before but I can't browse to it in the stock file browser,"external storage"just shows as empty. Do you use a special app for that?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I use a Seagate 2.5" external. It transfers fine and is recognized but playing videos using either mxplayer or bsplayer is imperfect. There is a lot of stutter. My imperfect solution is to rotate out video files on my device.
Sent from my HTC Ruby using xda app-developers app

Diogenes5 said:
I use a Seagate 2.5" external. It transfers fine and is recognized but playing videos using either mxplayer or bsplayer is imperfect. There is a lot of stutter. My imperfect solution is to rotate out video files on my device.
Sent from my HTC Ruby using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not only is an external a great solution, and works perfectly with the dock. It also has a really nice transfer rate. I was getting over 20mb/ps transferring from my 128gb flash drive to the micro sd. I have yet to spring for a 128 sdxc for the dock, but it's on my list.

So far I tried:
- External usb 2.0 disks
- Wireless mouse
- Linksys usb to ethernet
- Usb sticks
The dock's usb port seems to accept anything: even ethernet that allows me to even use my Infinity in the basement of my house (only wired connections there)
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app

Thanks for all the input folks, shall experiment with the dock and hdd when they arrive next week! Quite excited, like a big kid lol

Wow good info in this thread. I never even thought to try my external hd with my infinity dock. Will save a ton of time during file transfers.

I was surprised no one else had asked the question really

tefal said:
I was surprised no one else had asked the question really
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm one of those people that traded in there TF201 for TF700... I know this was asked and answered early on in the TF201 threads, so I guess I just carried over from there and never bothered asking it again.

For those that care I also had success with a USB 3.0 External right away. It comes with a secondary USB to power cable but that has never actually needed to be used. The USB 3.0 is actually an internal from my laptop in a USB 3.0 case (Put a SSD in lappy ). So long story short USB 3.0 devices should also work but at 2.0 speeds.

Off topic warning
neo1738 said:
The USB 3.0 is actually an internal from my laptop in a USB 3.0 case (Put a SSD in lappy ).
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Click to collapse
I did the same thing with my laptop, but shortly there after, I came to realize that I wasn't using it at all in complete favor of my TF201/700.... Now I've got a lappy with a pretty 120 ssd, and not being used. Coincidentally, I have more space than that in my tablet now...

right so that we have established that external USB hdd's work, what about external dvd drives and other external devices?

tefal said:
right so that we have established that external USB hdd's work, what about external dvd drives and other external devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can test it tomorrow, but I would imagine the storage part of it would work. The issues you would run into is not being able to write to it, not being able to play a regular dvd movie as it would have to be mp4 formatted, and other minor issues that require software support.
We already know gamepads, keyboards, mice, flash drives, sd card readers, and other such work..

Case idea (extra storage!)

You can get USB OTG to connect to a micro sd card to why not incorporate it into a case to avoid the hassle. And maybe if there's room make the rest of the space into and external wireless battery?

A wireless battery will also make it heavier. A tiny flash storage + micro usb input will be nice though.

Wouldn't that case restrict you to wireless charging? Sorry if I'm not caught up on using the otg usb and still charging using micro-usb.
Even so, I think unless you're adding a battery along the entire back of the phone, the balance will be messed up. And if you do that, it will make it pretty big.

does usb otg even work on the N4 with its slimport?

jayjay2244 said:
You can get USB OTG to connect to a micro sd card to why not incorporate it into a case to avoid the hassle. And maybe if there's room make the rest of the space into and external wireless battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is at least one other thread here about a DIY case with a microsd card but USB OTG is not available with the Nexus 4.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium HD app

it's a nice idea. Had it a while back and thought I'd keep it to myself if I ever could make a business out of it. Would take care of all these no microsd phones. In the cases of those with removable backs you could get a special back that includes the clot and wires into the USB

Nexus 4 sd card case!

So this is my first post... Noob post.
Shout out to parmghali for posting the exact same idea a few years back for the galaxy nexus.
I want a 2 part case that slides onto the N4. This case would jack into the micro usb port and then also have a slot for a micro sd card.
Somebody make it and sell it to me.

Pay me $10,000 start-up fee and I'll make one for you.

I'll do it for $9,999.
Sent from my C6602 using Tapatalk 2

con3784 said:
So this is my first post... Noob post.
Shout out to parmghali for posting the exact same idea a few years back for the galaxy nexus.
I want a 2 part case that slides onto the N4. This case would jack into the micro usb port and then also have a slot for a micro sd card.
Somebody make it and sell it to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the closest thing that I could find for you:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects...der-for-android-smartphones-and-ta?ref=search
But unfortunately, it doesn't support the Nexus 4, only Nexus 7 and others.

Sadly, the Nexus 4 does not support USB OTG without any kind of custom kernel and external power. OTG is disabled in the kernel level, and the motherboard can only output 3.3 volts out of the USB port. In order to get the required 5 volts, you would need a Y splitter cord attached to some other power source

lopezk38 said:
Sadly, the Nexus 4 does not support USB OTG without any kind of custom kernel and external power. OTG is disabled in the kernel level, and the motherboard can only output 3.3 volts out of the USB port. In order to get the required 5 volts, you would need a Y splitter cord attached to some other power source
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTG is possible with Zippey's kernel. You'll need a external source of power as well to power the usb flashdrive like a external battery.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2181820
Related:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=38076758#post38076758

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpqiq-FHDV4

abe in space said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpqiq-FHDV4
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Click to collapse
LMFAO

Why not have a extended battery case with built in micro card reader or dual sim reader that make more sense iPhone 4 has got battery and dual sim so why not battery and msdcard slot case like the ones off ebay
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

dannyling said:
Why not have a extended battery case with built in micro card reader or dual sim reader that make more sense iPhone 4 has got battery and dual sim so why not battery and msdcard slot case like the ones off ebay
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did ask why. I'd think you could glean that from the above posts, but I'm bored, so allow me to explain.
Making a case for the Nexus 4 with both an extended battery and a microSD card reader would be a major engineering challenge. You'd have to build a case that knows when a microSD card was plugged in, to provide power to the Micro-USB card reader portion of the case. You'd have to route that power from the battery, while still including the circuitry necessary to charge the Nexus 4 itself, simultaneously. All of this would take up space and cost money to design, implement, test, and manufacture. It would likely be an expensive accessory when all was said and done, not because of the materials inside, but because of the work that would be required to make it.
Add to that the fact that you could only use the device if you were willing to root, and install a custom kernel modification that would enable USB OTG from here on XDA. The thread for this kernel mod so far has 88 'thanks' posts. Even if we assume the number of people interested in installing this modification is 100 times bigger than that, we aren't left with a particularly large market for this case. And since people are stupid, how many people do you think would buy the case not knowing about the complication and the required kernel customization, and then return the case at the expense of the seller? Comparing all that to how much easier it is to make a case for an iPhone 4 (an order-of-magnitude more popular phone, particularly if you remember that the case would work on the 4S as well and add the two together) that doesn't require any special nerdy software wizardry to work is just silly. Small market. Large cost. Not to mention Android phone owners are notoriously cheap compared to iPhone owners.
So I reiterate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpqiq-FHDV4

Though if the aim is to give you more external storage you can use an external WiFi drive to achieve the same result - yes?

spile said:
Though if the aim is to give you more external storage you can use an external WiFi drive to achieve the same result - yes?
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Click to collapse
yeah but then you're ****ed for data.

LOL
I thought you might say a Case with a battery for the External power To run the OTG )

ziddey said:
yeah but then you're ****ed for data.
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Click to collapse
Not necessarily. As most know, nexus devices have a hotspot feature that allows devices to connect to it..and I'm fairly certain that there's an app in the play store that allows you to achieve this fairly easily.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD

atermify said:
Not necessarily. As most know, nexus devices have a hotspot feature that allows devices to connect to it..and I'm fairly certain that there's an app in the play store that allows you to achieve this fairly easily.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD
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Click to collapse
clever! :good:

But in all actuality, this still doesn't really fix the issue because you would still need a way to power the drive..but it could work for long car rides if you pair it with a power invertor (convertor?) and leave the drive somewhere where it wouldn't get bumped around too much.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD

atermify said:
But in all actuality, this still doesn't really fix the issue because you would still need a way to power the drive..but it could work for long car rides if you pair it with a power invertor (convertor?) and leave the drive somewhere where it wouldn't get bumped around too much.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh maybe I'm confused with what you were suggesting then.
Those wifi storage things have a built in battery that lasts some limited hours. The problem is that if you're connected to wifi that isn't connected to the internet, there goes your internet on your phone too. But your suggestion of pairing to the wifi storage by turning on the hotspot mode is a great idea. In the end, it's entirely inefficient and bulky, so it's still not a great full-time solution.
Might as well go the powered otg route. Modify one of those 2 port usb cigarette adapters, plug the phone to one port and your usb drive in the other. Easy storage in the car if that's the goal.

ziddey said:
Oh maybe I'm confused with what you were suggesting then.
Those wifi storage things have a built in battery that lasts some limited hours. The problem is that if you're connected to wifi that isn't connected to the internet, there goes your internet on your phone too. But your suggestion of pairing to the wifi storage by turning on the hotspot mode is a great idea. In the end, it's entirely inefficient and bulky, so it's still not a great full-time solution.
Might as well go the powered otg route. Modify one of those 2 port usb cigarette adapters, plug the phone to one port and your usb drive in the other. Easy storage in the car if that's the goal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't used a WiFi drive, so I'm not too familiar with them lmao. Wasn't aware they had a battery at all. In my case, it would only be necessary in the car or before/during flights, since I don't usually need a lot of storage on the go.
Edit: accidental reply!
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD

I'm doing something like this, with a 2100 mAh battery, but now i have lots of exams, I'll finish ir con summer.
Enviado desde mi Nexus 4 usando Tapatalk 2

con3784 said:
So this is my first post... Noob post.
Shout out to parmghali for posting the exact same idea a few years back for the galaxy nexus.
I want a 2 part case that slides onto the N4. This case would jack into the micro usb port and then also have a slot for a micro sd card.
Somebody make it and sell it to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2136613
Easy setup, and really cheap. A little bit bigger than the solution shown but it does the trick.

Idea for a case.

I would love to see a case that adds external storage through a micro sd card that is place into the case. It would need to be an otg adapter type thing but it would be nice to have somewhere to chuck all of your larger files

Nice idea.. But I think otg really sucks the battery most of the time..
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

SockmanTGR said:
I would love to see a case that adds external storage through a micro sd card that is place into the case. It would need to be an otg adapter type thing but it would be nice to have somewhere to chuck all of your larger files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, phone is powering everything plugged in as OTG so having it connected all the time means your phone's battery would last for less than usually. I got myself this http://goo.gl/9oG2kz and I always keep it with my keys. Good enough.

czechu01 said:
Yeah, phone is powering everything plugged in as OTG so having it connected all the time means your phone's battery would last for less than usually. I got myself this http://goo.gl/9oG2kz and I always keep it with my keys. Good enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Small switch on the back that switches between otg and charging since it's complicated to get both working at the same time.