Pro dropping external drive

[Tuttle]

Okay, so I have a new pro, 12.9 inch, 1 terabyte. I have hooked up a Seagate external HD that I have been using on my Mac. Works okay, but my iPad drops the connection randomly. Any thoughts?

 

[twerppoet]

Are you powering the drive from the iPad’s USB-C port?

If so, try using the drive’s power supply (if it has one), or using a powered USB-C hub.

That’s all I can think of. I’ve only played with external drive support on my Pro a couple of times, using a hub and fairly standard USB flash-drive, so I’m no expert on what to expect.

 

[Tuttle]

Are you powering the drive from the iPad’s USB-C port?

If so, try using the drive’s power supply (if it has one), or using a powered USB-C hub.

That’s all I can think of. I’ve only played with external drive support on my Pro a couple of times, using a hub and fairly standard USB flash-drive, so I’m no expert on what to expect.

Thanks. I'll give your hub idea a shot!

 

[Tuttle]

Have been looking (on line) for a powered usbc hub and none explicitly say that the power can flow to my external hard drive attached to the usb3 port. Any ideas or recommendations?

 

[twerppoet]

If you can find the manufacture’s site, as opposed to sales sites, they might have a tech/spec sheet.

Other than that, USB-C has a standard. Here is the text from the Wikipedia article.

All USB-C cables must be able to carry a minimum of 3 A current (at 20 V, 60 W) but can also carry high-power 5 A current (at 20 V, 100 W).[9]USB-C to USB-C cables supporting 5A current must contain e-marker chips programmed to identify the cable and its current capabilities. USB Charging ports should also be clearly marked with capable power wattage.[10]

Though I said I use a hub, it is an unpowered one, so this is not an issue I’ve looked into.

 

[Tuttle]

Merci! As I understand things, there are dedicated channels for 5V power in a usb connector, so I assume any device connected can "feed" from it. But, strangely, it seems that an ssd storage device runs in the same price range as hub. And, I assume, would be less power hungry than a hard drive.