Kinesis Hub "Insufficient Power?"

[JZM]

So, I plug a USB drive into my Kinesis Advantage--and get a msg telling me the hub has insufficient power to run the device. Granted, the drive is 32GB--but what gives here? Anyone know the usable drive size limit (an 8GB drive works)--and is there a reasonable way to boost the hub's power?

Thanks for any help!

[Lessaire]

Unless your keyboard has a 5v power brick that you actually have to plug in, it's only acting as a passive hub and draws it's power from the USB port you've plug it into.

The only thing I could think of that might work is plug the keyboard itself into an unregulated powered USB hub. I have one that lets devices pull up to 2A.

The ports on most motherboards are limited to 550ma

[rootwyrm]

Unless your keyboard has a 5v power brick that you actually have to plug in, it's only acting as a passive hub and draws it's power from the USB port you've plug it into.

The only thing I could think of that might work is plug the keyboard itself into an unregulated powered USB hub. I have one that lets devices pull up to 2A.

The ports on most motherboards are limited to 550ma

*sigh*

One, the specification for USB states 500-900mA at 5VDC, excepting charging devices which are permitted up to 5A. Two, there is no such thing as 'unregulated' USB root. Oh, and three, Intel root hubs (X58+ICH10(R) onward) are rated to 900mA with third-party USB2/USB3 typically at 1A-2A. So no, it is not insufficient root port power.

The only thing you will achieve shoving more voltage through your Kinesis is literally burning out the USB controller in it. It's requesting XmA because that is the maximum it can handle, and it specifically identifies it's power request and available as part of the normal communications handshake. Chances are that the other ports on the Kinesis are <250mA and/or specifically does not support USB Mass Storage devices (which will return the same error message, for reasons I will never understand.)
Not to mention that a single port is powering the keyboard as well as any device attached to the hub. Which means presuming a 200mA draw on a 500mA request (typical) you have a whopping 300mA which is pre-split giving each port 150mA. That's why the Costar CST104 design uses two USB ports - one is keyboard, one is hub, with the IC electrically divided so the hub request (900mA IIRC) gives 2x450mA + 1x 500mA keyboard.

[JZM]

I'm guessing it does support USB, because an 8GB drive works just fine. If no one here has already done it, I'll have to get a 16GB drive and try plugging that in...

[JZM]

Bit of a mystery here: a standard-size 8GB USB drive works, but a compact drive doesn't. Any speculation as to whether this is due to physical drive size (Do compacts draw more power?), brand diffs, or perhaps FAT32 vs NTFS formatting?

[rootwyrm]

Bit of a mystery here: a standard-size 8GB USB drive works, but a compact drive doesn't. Any speculation as to whether this is due to physical drive size (Do compacts draw more power?), brand diffs, or perhaps FAT32 vs NTFS formatting?

It's due to different level components in the drive, plain and simple. Different drives have different requirements which are entirely divorced from size. I have 256MB drives that request more than 16GB drives. Generally it's a sign of poor quality when a drive requests 'high power' though.

[JZM]

Yup; Kinesis just told me the same thing: "Most likely the difference between the two 8GB drives
are differences in model/manufacturers. Some drives draw more power than others."

Which sucks because I want a very compact drive (preferably metal-case) that won't catch on something and screw up the ports. And the pricey one I have is obviously a power hog.

Reliable brand suggestions?