I read on a review for another USB 3.0 hard drive that USB 3.0 requires using two cables connected to the computer at one time to operate properly. True?
1571721
Not to my knowledge. My desktop is less than a year old, so I would assume it's rocking 3.0. The hard drive itself only came with one USB cable and I don't see a spot for another. When I first got it, I moved all of my media to it - about 90GB of stuff, and it was pretty quick. The Transcend website seems to support my assumption, Google it for details. Hope that helps :)
1571722
No, only one cable and one port is necessary. The USB 3.0 is also backward compatible with the 2.0
1571723
No, not this one. As long as you use the USB cable the comes with it then you are fine
1571724
SOME hard drives require using two USB ports on the computer to provide adequate power whether they are USB 2.0 or USB 3.0. It depends on the hard drive, not the version of the USB port. This drive does not require two USB ports.
876740
The cable that comes is a single cable that plugs into the drive, but it has two USB cables on the other end. So, it branches from one cable into two USB plugs. You can probably use just one of those plugs for reading (depending on how much power your computer's USB ports have), but you may need to plug in both for writing since that takes more power.
2125948
If you take a look at the 4th picture, you'll understand what I mean when I say there's only one USB 2.0/3.0 slot. Further, that slot is a kind of odd shape that does not take regular USB cables. The My Book Studio comes bundled with a USB 2.0/3.0 to USB (regular sized) cable. So it's fine for connecting to your mac, but will not be able to hook up to another My Book Studio. That's not to mention that the My Book Studio only has 1 USB 2.0/3.0 bay, meaning that you won't be able to connect anything directly and will have to use a hub. Even when using a hub, it is dependent on software to determine if backups can be done automatically across 2 external hard drives. Else I think the more fundamental question is why one would want to daisy chain external hard drives vis-a-vis having them in parallel arrangement?
1304554
no you will need to buy that separate or buy a hard drive enclosure, i personally purchased one that is 3.0 usb for faster transfer speed.
1614047
Are you sure that you used the USB cable correctly? You need to plug both USB cables to your computer for the drive to work. One would only provide power, and the other would be used to transfer DATA, neither one can work on its own. As a troubleshooting step, try to use a drive in the enclosure that you know for sure is not dead, if that one works, and the other one is still giving you problems, then it might be a problem in the drive itself but not the enclosure. However, if the drive that you know is working well, still doesn't show up on the computer, then it might be a problem in the enclosure. Hope this helps!
1558718
the drive requires the usb cable only! power is provided by your computer through that cable.
1217765
You can use the cable that came with the drive (actually, you have to since USB 3.0 has one different end). It will automatically transfer data at 2.0 speeds.
1614048
Are you sure that you used the USB cable correctly? You need to plug both USB cables to your computer for the drive to work. One would only provide power, and the other would be used to transfer DATA, neither one can work on its own. As a troubleshooting step, try to use a drive in the enclosure that you know for sure is not dead, if that one works, and the other one is still giving you problems, then it might be a problem in the drive itself but not the enclosure. However, if the drive that you know is working well, still doesn't show up on the computer, then it might be a problem in the enclosure. Hope this helps! Are you sure that you used the USB cable correctly? You need to plug both USB cables to your computer for the drive to work. One would only provide power, and the other would be used to transfer DATA, neither one can work on its own. As a troubleshooting step, try to use a drive in the enclosure that you know for sure is not dead, if that one works, and the other one is still giving you problems, then it might be a problem in the drive itself but not the enclosure. However, if the drive that you know is working well, still doesn't show up on the computer, then it might be a problem in the... » Read More Are you sure that you used the USB cable correctly? You need to plug both USB cables to your computer for the drive to work. One would only provide power, and the other would be used to transfer DATA, neither one can work on its own. As a troubleshooting step, try to use a drive in the enclosure that you know for sure is not dead, if that one works, and the other one is still giving you problems, then it might be a problem in the drive itself but not the enclosure. However, if the drive that you know is working well, still doesn't show up on the computer, then it might be a problem in the enclosure. Hope this helps! « Show Less
700393
I am only using the USB3 function of the card. I planned to use the SATA III port for possible future expansion. The set up I use is one USB3 port going to a Seagate 2 TB expansion hard drive (for backup and system images) and the other port to a USB3 hub. I chose this card because of the dual functionality and price.
473271
Yes, that is the idea, and like the other answers say, you can probably get away with only using one. However, if you aren't using a USB hub, you should just play it safe and use both; I've had a hard drive with the same sort of setup that usually worked with just one cable, but it was right on the edge, and I had it cut out a couple times. If you are using a hub, it doesn't matter if you use both or not, they're generally capable of providing all available current up to 2.1 Amps through any single port.
1647311
I've heard the reason for the two USB's is in case you have a computer that doesn't provide enough power on just one USB, then you have to use two. It seems to work fine with just one USB with my Compaq (HP) 6730s laptop. I've also tried in on my HP desktop and it also works with just one USB. My thoughts are, try it with one and if it works, great! If not, then you'll have to use two.
2245372
There are two usb ports, one for communication, the other for additional power.I thought the same that you did-- where can I get the adaptor. It turns out that the drive works happily on 2 USB connections-- and no power adaptor. Good luck!
1677538
I didn't need the power cable when using one external hard drive but I did need to hook up the power cable when I added a second external hard drive to the second USB 3.0 port on the card. The power coming through the card from my Dell E5510 notebook computer was not sufficient to power the two external hard drives (one was a Western Digital My Passport and the other was a Seagate Backup Plus).
533746
Yes you can, its like having two hard drives connected independently only via the same cable.
1717450
There are no SATA cables provided. If you're going to use two drives, you need two SATA cables. However, only one power cable is needed which is nice.
1016769
I have used two of my USB 3.0 ports to use it. One for power the other for data.
1152433
No. USB 3.0 require more power and are more intricate. A separate, blue rectangular port on the MB is needed.