seagate freeagent desk 500gb and Western Digital TV

[damorsoft]

I just had to buy one of these for the WDTV that I am ordering soon. The price was good and Seagate states the seagate freeagent GO 500gb works.
Anyhow just wondering, the only difference is that the GO gets its power from the USB where the DESK has a 12v external supply.


Thanks

[Krispy Kritter]

You didn't really ask a question. But whenever you have a choice, get the self-powered unit. The USB powered units often have issues.

[damorsoft]

You didn't really ask a question. But whenever you have a choice, get the self-powered unit. The USB powered units often have issues.

Sorry the question is.. Will the Seagate Desk work with the WDTV unit. The WD web page states the GO unit is OK. I ask as I have Seagate Desk and am waiting for a backordered WDTV.

[Supreme2k]

I've had no problems with 2.5" usb drives. They work excellently with the WD TV.

[Seeker47]

You didn't really ask a question. But whenever you have a choice, get the self-powered unit. The USB powered units often have issues.

I hope this is related enough to not be OT, or else I'll take it to another thread, but I recently noted that I could not get an external HDD or a Palm Pilot to work, going in though a USB hub; they had to go directly into the computer's own front panel or rear USB ports. Otherwise, they were just not recognized or usable. (One of these was the same HDD mentioned in the title of this thread.) I take it this must be due to the power thing . . . though perhaps a powered hub would be a different story ? The WDTV design must have taken this all into consideration.

[Supreme2k]

The WD TV has enough power for one drive per port. When I tried using a non-powered hub, it didn't recognize the 2 drives, but using a powered hub solved the problem. Of course, if the drive itself is self-powered, I don't believe it will be an issue (maybe I'll chek that out).

I've had the same problem (worse, actually) with older laptops. I had to plug the external drive into 2 of the usb ports to get it to work.

Maybe it's only coincidence, but I've found that the low-power problem usually happens with usb 1.1 ports.

[Seeker47]

The WD TV has enough power for one drive per port. When I tried using a non-powered hub, it didn't recognize the 2 drives, but using a powered hub solved the problem. Of course, if the drive itself is self-powered, I don't believe it will be an issue (maybe I'll chek that out).

I've had the same problem (worse, actually) with older laptops. I had to plug the external drive into 2 of the usb ports to get it to work.

Maybe it's only coincidence, but I've found that the low-power problem usually happens with usb 1.1 ports.

Whether the situation is at all comparable to that with the WD TV I don't know, but of the two devices I mentioned, one (the PDA) had its own separate power, and the other (freeagent HDD) did not have its own power. Made no difference, in either case. These were new rigs, so I'm sure the USB ports on the computers were 2.0. We tried three different brands of USB hub, all of which should have been 2.0, and none worked for these devices. There was a powered hub on the premises, and I should have thought to try that, but didn't. Next time I go there . . . .