LCD HDTV connect with portable drive (PLEASE HELP)

[daxtoneism]

Hi, i have a issue here. I have a LG LCD HDTV 32LK330 (http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-32LK330-lcd-tv) . and i want to buy a portable drive to watch movie on my tv. the problem is i don't know which portable drive is compatible with my tv. I wish to buy WD my passport 1TB (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=640) . Is it compatible with my tv? if it's not, which portable drive is compatible with my tv? beside that, i use that portable drive with my macbook pro 10.7, It would be great if that portable drive will compatible with both my TV and Macbook.

Please help, i made my id just want to ask this in this forum, i hope someone will help me.
sorry for bad english, i from france. Thanks before and goodluck

update
Yesterday I bought WD Elements 1TB old Packaging not a new brown box, it's about $85. And when i at home i reformated to FAT32, which you can know how to format it from the WD support web. after that, i try to put blurayrip 1080p .mp4 movie it's around 2GB in my drive and then i connect it to my tv. and there's nothing happens, feel hopeless and it's around 40seconds, i try to press input button on my remote tv and there's my WD drive. i try to open it, and yes. i can watch a movie there with my WD elements 1TB. and then i put all my movies from my mac to drive around 120GB (around 1hrs) and connect to TV and yes, my TV can read all movies in my drive. Thanks guys, this forum help a lot. God Bless!

[jman98]

Your English is fine. I get tired of people always apologizing when they know that it's not bad.

For the best chance of success, you need to be sure that whatever drive you get that it has a power supply. If you try to use a drive that does not have a power supply, you will probably have big problems. Usually the USB port can't provide enough power for an external disk drive unless the drive is small (maybe 500 MB or less).


It's going to be VERY difficult to get a drive that will work on a Mac and your TV. The native Mac file system is HFS+. There is almost no chance that your TV will understand this. Windows uses NTFS and FAT32 mostly. You will probably have to buy a program for your Mac to make it able to write to NTFS drives, but FAT32 will probably work OK for free. Your TV should understand FAT32 and NTFS. The problem with FAT32 is that it has file size and disk size limitations, so you probably should not use it. Files under FAT32 can't be larger than 4 GB.

[usually_quiet]

An external hard drive that has its own power supply is a safer choice than one that is powered by USB. The reason is that the USB ports on TVs, Blu-Ray players, and Media Players may not supply enough current to operate the drive.

I own the same TV, but have not used an external USB hard drive with it yet, only USB flash drives. It is true that your TV only understands NTFS and FAT32, so HSF+ is not going to work.

[daxtoneism]

Your English is fine. I get tired of people always apologizing when they know that it's not bad.

For the best chance of success, you need to be sure that whatever drive you get that it has a power supply. If you try to use a drive that does not have a power supply, you will probably have big problems. Usually the USB port can't provide enough power for an external disk drive unless the drive is small (maybe 500 MB or less).


It's going to be VERY difficult to get a drive that will work on a Mac and your TV. The native Mac file system is HFS+. There is almost no chance that your TV will understand this. Windows uses NTFS and FAT32 mostly. You will probably have to buy a program for your Mac to make it able to write to NTFS drives, but FAT32 will probably work OK for free. Your TV should understand FAT32 and NTFS. The problem with FAT32 is that it has file size and disk size limitations, so you probably should not use it. Files under FAT32 can't be larger than 4 GB.

okay, sorry. i just thougt i've a bad english.


thanks for the answer. as i read on manual book. my TV can use NTFS and FAT32. So, if the portable drive system is FAT32. Can i use it for both my mac and TV? altough FAT32 has a limit size, it's okay for me. All my movies is under 4GB


your reply is so helpful for me

[daxtoneism]

An external hard drive that has its own power supply is a safer choice than one that is powered by USB. The reason is that the USB ports on TVs, Blu-Ray players, and Media Players may not supply enough current to operate the drive.

I own the same TV, but have not used an external USB hard drive with it yet, only USB flash drives. It is true that your TV only understands NTFS and FAT32, so HSF+ is not going to work.

Hi, thanks for reply


But, can our TV plugged with USB hard drive? i've ask a staff at electronic store. He said that portable drive (the portable is WD when i asked) only can used by Smart TV. Is 32LK330 is a smart tv? i think not. So the conclusion depend with that staff answer is our TV can't connect with portable drive right? BUT manual book say it can.


i hope you understood what i write, thanks

[usually_quiet]

If the portable file system is FAT32 (MSDOS (FAT)), both your TV and your Mac can read it.

WD My Passport portable hard drives are powered by USB. It is possible that your TV will provide enough power to operate that drive, but it is also possible that your TV will not supply enough power. A WD My Book would work for certain but is less portable.

[Edit] I am pretty sure USB 2.0 hard drives can be used with an LG 32LK330 TV. I have an USB 2.0 hard drive enclosure with its own power supply on order. After I set up the drive I will test it with NTFS. The hard drive already contains many files that are larger than 4GB, so I do not want to reformat the hard drive. You will probably have to wait a day or two for the results of my test.

[daxtoneism]

If the portable file system is FAT32 (MSDOS (FAT)), both your TV and your Mac can read it. WD My Passport portable hard drives are powered by USB. It is possible that your TV will provide enough power to operate that drive, but it is also possible that your TV will not supply enough power. A WD My Book would work for certain but is less portable.

1.) "both your TV and your Mac can read it" - can my mac write too? (drag movies from my mac to portable drive)
2.) "It is possible that your TV will provide enough power to operate that drive, but it is also possible that your TV will not supply enough power" - the manual book says "You may need to connect a USB storage device to an external power supply with a power adapter" so, is it means, my tv only work with a portable drive with external power supply?


Please reply

[usually_quiet]

If the portable file system is FAT32 (MSDOS (FAT)), both your TV and your Mac can read it. WD My Passport portable hard drives are powered by USB. It is possible that your TV will provide enough power to operate that drive, but it is also possible that your TV will not supply enough power. A WD My Book would work for certain but is less portable.

1.) "both your TV and your Mac can read it" - can my mac write too? (drag movies from my mac to portable drive)
2.) "It is possible that your TV will provide enough power to operate that drive, but it is also possible that your TV will not supply enough power" - the manual book says "You may need to connect a USB storage device to an external power supply with a power adapter" so, is it means, my tv only work with a portable drive with external power supply?


Please reply

1. I do not use a Mac but according to this article Macs can read and write to a FAT32 formatted hard drive.

2. It means the TV will not supply enough power to operate all USB hard drives, but it may supply enough power to operate some USB hard drives. A notebook drive like the ones used for My Passport external drives requires less power and will have a better chance of working, but I cannot promise that it will.

Regarding my previous post: Looking at WD My Book drives, I see that there are some special Mac versions available. I do not know if those include features which would prevent the hard drive from working properly with your TV.

[daxtoneism]

If the portable file system is FAT32 (MSDOS (FAT)), both your TV and your Mac can read it. WD My Passport portable hard drives are powered by USB. It is possible that your TV will provide enough power to operate that drive, but it is also possible that your TV will not supply enough power. A WD My Book would work for certain but is less portable.

1.) "both your TV and your Mac can read it" - can my mac write too? (drag movies from my mac to portable drive)
2.) "It is possible that your TV will provide enough power to operate that drive, but it is also possible that your TV will not supply enough power" - the manual book says "You may need to connect a USB storage device to an external power supply with a power adapter" so, is it means, my tv only work with a portable drive with external power supply?


Please reply

1. I do not use a Mac but according to this article Macs can read and write to a FAT32 formatted hard drive.

2. It means the TV will not supply enough power to operate all USB hard drives, but it may supply enough power to operate some USB hard drives. A notebook drive like the ones used for My Passport external drives requires less power and will have a better chance of working, but I cannot promise that it will.

Regarding my previous post: Looking at WD My Book drives, I see that there are some special Mac versions available. I do not know if those include features which would prevent the hard drive from working properly with your TV.

Okay, i think i get it. Tomorrow i'll buy WD Elements (i've just read, is elements is more simple and faster than passport, i thought it will get a bigger chance works at my tv) then i'll format it to FAT32. Hope my tv & mac can work perfectly with WD Elements.

Thanks for the answer, i really apreciate it. God bless

[redwudz]

Small USB hard drives, (2.5" laptop type drives) will usually work with USB power. (500ma or 1/2 amp) I have a 500GB 2.5" drive that works fine off USB power. Larger 3.5" hard drives need more power and most of those enclosures have a external power supply. One advantage of the 3.5" drives is that they come in larger capacities.

Your Mac can probably read a NTFS volume, but not write to it. It should have no problems writing to a FAT 32 volume.

Besides being FAT 32, the video format on the drive also has to be compatible with your TV. Commonly Divx/Xvid works with most devices. Your TV manual should tell you what video and audio formats are compatible. You could easily test this all out with a USB FAT 32 formatted flash drive before you purchase a external hard drive.

And welcome to our forums.

[daxtoneism]

Small USB hard drives, (2.5" laptop type drives) will usually work with USB power. (500ma or 1/2 amp) I have a 500GB 2.5" drive that works fine off USB power. Larger 3.5" hard drives need more power and most of those enclosures have a external power supply. One advantage of the 3.5" drives is that they come in larger capacities.

Your Mac can probably read a NTFS volume, but not write to it. It should have no problems writing to a FAT 32 volume.

Besides being FAT 32, the video format on the drive also has to be compatible with your TV. Commonly Divx/Xvid works with most devices. Your TV manual should tell you what video and audio formats are compatible. You could easily test this all out with a USB FAT 32 formatted flash drive before you purchase a external hard drive.

And welcome to our forums.

Hi there. Great, WD elements is 2,5" drive. Sure, before i'm plan to buy a hard drive, i always used usb flash drive to watch on my tv, .avi and .mp4 works perfectly on my tv. Thanks for reminding me.

I'm happy to get all the answers from here, it's very helpful. Hope wd elements works on my tv and mac. Big thanks and goodluck guys, i really appreciate it

[jman98]

For the best chance of success, you need to be sure that whatever drive you get that it has a power supply. If you try to use a drive that does not have a power supply, you will probably have big problems. Usually the USB port can't provide enough power for an external disk drive unless the drive is small (maybe 500 MB or less).

Why do I even bother?

After posting the above, 9 minutes later usually_quiet makes exactly the same point. Then the OP seems completely unable to understand either and it requires usually_quiet to make a 3rd explanation of the exact same point, followed by redwudz who seems to think that restating what both usually_quiet and I already said earlier is the key missing ingredient here.


I think you guys have this one covered.

[daxtoneism]

updated!