A strange thing with a USB hub that I have

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Mzmkont

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Jan 31, 2013
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Hello everyone,
I just have bought a USB hub. And yeah, it doesn't seem to work on my PC. It's a 3.0 hub. But the strange is that on my mac (laptop) the hub seems to work just fine it's my computer that doesn't want to work with it. I have managed to make it work several times, but after unpluging and pluging the hub back again it doesn't work. Could this be my computer related? Or there's a problem with the hub itself? Because as I mentioned, the hub works perfectly on my mac.

Thank you guys!
 
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I could not identify the maker of this. Closest I came was a firm called LinkDepot who sell a USB2 version with a power supply module, but that would not provide the power for USB3. However, the connector style on the end of the power cord is not that unusual, so look around in electronics shops and you may find one. Make sure the power of the adapter matches the requirements of the hub. With 4 ports it should need about 18W min; IF its input requires 12 VDC, that's min 1.5 A.
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arossetti

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Feb 22, 2013
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Have you tried plugging the hub into different USB ports? And ports on different controllers? Try using it on another non-Mac computer as well. It's a stretch but perhaps you need a BIOS upgrade or updated USB control drivers.
 
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Mzmkont

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Jan 31, 2013
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I tried on pluging it to all my available ports - still the same thing. Although my other components (like mouse/keyboard/controllers/wheel/flash drives) seem to work just fine. I don't currently have a computer without Macintosh, tho, so I can't really try.
 
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arossetti

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Is it a powered hub or does it draw power from the port? Are your USB ports powered? I'm guessing that there may be a setting in your BIOS to address voltage of the USB ports. Perhaps the hub is trying to draw power from the computer and it is not properly set in the BIOS.
 
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arossetti

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Depending on your Mobo there will be a setting somewhere in the BIOS. But if the HUB has a power pug for an adapter then it most likely needs an external power source or the ability to draw power directly from the Mobo.
 
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Paperdoc

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You are guessing about the power adapter, and you are wrong.

Any standard USB3 port can supply UP TO 0.9 amps at 5 VDC to attached devices. If you connect several devices to your hub, their TOTAL power consumption cannot exceed 0.9 amps IF your hub's only source of power is the host computer's USB3 port.

BUT if you get and use the power adapter designed for your USB3 hub, then the port can get all the power it needs for its attached devices from the adapter, and requires virtually NONE from the host computer's USB3 port. Typically such power adapters can supply to the hub sufficient power to provide the spec'd 0.9 amps max at 5 VDC to EACH of the hub's ports, so that ALL your USB3 devices attached can have all the power they need. For example, a 7-port USB3 hub should be able to supply 7 x 5 VDC x 0.9 A = 31.5 W power in total to its ports, and this one comes with a power supply module that feeds to the hub 12 VDC at 3 A, or 36 W max.

https://www.startech.com/ca/Cards-Adapters/USB-3.0/Hubs/7-Port-USB-3-Hub~ST7300USB3B

Without the adapter, it's quite possible for your attached devices to fail to perform because of insufficient power.

So why would they work when you attach to a Mac? Well, when you do that, do you attach ALL the same devices to the hub so that it must provide the same amount of power? I'm guessing no. Another possibility is that the Mac's USB3 port might actually allow slightly more power draw than the USB3 standard specs require, but i don't know whether that is true or not.
 
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Paperdoc

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Yes, get the right power adapter for your hub. I agree, it's very poor for the original maker NOT to include the adapter. They are just trying to keep their selling price down to get more sales, counting on the idea that many users will not realize the adapter is needed. They are competing, in reality, with many hub sellers who make NO provision for extra power. There are so MANY hubs on the market with no power of their own (I like to call these passive hubs) that rely solely on power (limited) from the host's USB3 port. Often these latter are marketed under misleading terms like, "Bus-Powered Hub!" which implies that it has power available of some sort, but really says indirectly that this power is ONLY from the USB Bus (host port).

Look on your hub near the port for a power input requirement like "12VDC / 3A". Look closely at it for the design of the connector, and for a label beside it showing the polarity of the connector - something like an indication that the center pin is Positive or Negative. Then you can find a power adapter that has the right connector and power rating. It really does not have to be from the hub's maker. A slightly higher amp rating is quite OK. Actually, slightly lower also is OK IF you do not ever plan to use all of its ports. However, there is one caution here. SOME hubs I have seen also include one or more ports called CHARGING ports, intended to use to charge up devices that include batteries. There are many such devices on the market now that claim you can recharge them from any USB port and you can - BUT the charging rate done this way is very slow because of the normal limit on USB power from a port (0.5 A from USB2, 0.9 A from USB3). So some hubs include NON-standard "USB" ports that can deliver up to 2.0 A current for charging purposes. If your hub has one of these, the power adapter you get needs to allow for this extra requirement.

If you'd like more help finding an adapter, post back the exact maker and model number of your hub, with any power label note you can find on it.
 
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Paperdoc

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I could not identify the maker of this. Closest I came was a firm called LinkDepot who sell a USB2 version with a power supply module, but that would not provide the power for USB3. However, the connector style on the end of the power cord is not that unusual, so look around in electronics shops and you may find one. Make sure the power of the adapter matches the requirements of the hub. With 4 ports it should need about 18W min; IF its input requires 12 VDC, that's min 1.5 A.
 
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Paperdoc

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Further info: I noted that some sellers of this USB hub specify it can be used without its power adapter for UP TO 2 attached devices. I guess they are assuming that in many cases each such device is not going to need more than half of the max power that can come from a USB port on the host computer.

Thanks for the Best Solution. Good luck!
 
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