1tb SATA HDD to USB not powering

dblokillo

Reputable
Jun 27, 2015
5
0
4,510
Hello all,

So I have a Western Digital 1Tb SATA HDD from my computer (3.5"), and recently bought a SATA-to-USB adapter in order to plug it into my laptop. I have read through several posts and discussion forums where 3.5" external HDD and optical drives are not easyly plugged as external adapters due to power issues.

Now, I have another SATA Fujitsu 2.5" that I use with the same adapter (SATA to 2 USB3.0) and it works fine, I can see on the sticker pasted on the Fujitsu that it needs 5V and 0.6A. On the WD, I use the same adapter with no luck, both USB ports connected to USB3.0 on my laptop, but I am seeing that it needs 5V and 0.68A as well as 12V and 0.55A.

So, as far as I have been able to read, in order to make this work what I would basically need on this case would be to have more power to make to WD work, righ? I am missing something since I am not sure how much power I still need besides those provided by 2 USB3.0... Should I need another USB3.0 to make it work? Would an extra USB2.0 make it work as well?

I am a little lost at this point, so I would really appreciate any help!

Thank you!
 
Solution
Hey t here, dblokillo!

@pauliux is right, you'd need additional power in order to be able to start up a 3.5" drive with a SATA-to-USB cable. Usually such cables are supposed to come with a compatible AC adapter that are exactly what a desktop 3.5" SATA HDD needs to get recognized externally. My recommendation is to check in with the customer support of the reseller and make sure you get the proper additional PSU for that SATA-to-USB adapter. If you want to use the WD drive as an external altogether, I'd suggest you to buy a USB 3.0 external enclosure for 3.5" drives. It's much safer to keep the SATA drive inside an enclosure, rather than lying around 'naked' :D
Here's a link from our KB that might shed some light on this procedure...

pauliux

Honorable
Jun 26, 2015
16
0
10,520
If you have a PSU laying around, try to plug the power from the PSU to the drive, and the data connector to your computer. Oh and if you don't have a PSU, try searching on Google how much power does that drive need.
 
Hey t here, dblokillo!

@pauliux is right, you'd need additional power in order to be able to start up a 3.5" drive with a SATA-to-USB cable. Usually such cables are supposed to come with a compatible AC adapter that are exactly what a desktop 3.5" SATA HDD needs to get recognized externally. My recommendation is to check in with the customer support of the reseller and make sure you get the proper additional PSU for that SATA-to-USB adapter. If you want to use the WD drive as an external altogether, I'd suggest you to buy a USB 3.0 external enclosure for 3.5" drives. It's much safer to keep the SATA drive inside an enclosure, rather than lying around 'naked' :D
Here's a link from our KB that might shed some light on this procedure: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=4XTrFz

Let me know if you've got more questions! Hope I helped! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
Solution