Dish Wally Receiver DVR Hard Drive
Howdy, I am outfitting our rig w/ a Dish Wally receiver and want to attach an external hard drive (EHD) for a DVR. There is a lot of conflicting info on the web as to whether an EHD attached to a Wal...
Forum Discussion
Confusing for sure but, in general, USB standards and specifications for USB 1.1 through USB 2.0 have a max current of 500 MA or Milliamps (.5A).
USB 3.0 has additional expanded current capacity in the specifications provided the port has the additional contacts and the additional current capability of 900 MA or .9A..
Typically a USB 3.0 port can be identified with a blue colored plastic insert in the port..
USB 1.1-2.0 ports are typically a white or black plastic insert in the port..
If USB port is white or black, then most likely best to follow USB 1.1-2.0 power specifications of no more than 500MA (.5A).
There are a few other port color variations possible.
You can read up on what the port colors are and how to identify what version the port is.. HERE
Many of the newer slim external HDs which use a 2.5" Laptop size drive often fall into the 500MA (.5A) or a bit less current draw category. However larger capacity slim drives of 2TB and larger with 2.5" drives can and most likely will exceed the 500MA (.5A) current draw..
External slim drives using SSD (Solid State Drive) technology will most likely exceed USB 2.0 current ratings as these drives are power hungry at about 1A-1.2A..
I kind of doubt that the receiver has USB 3.0 port..
The current rating of the external drive should be on the model number sticker, if it states more than 500MA (.5A) then a external power supply must be used.
There are times even if you are staying within the available current of a USB port that an external drive may not work correctly, sometimes these ports supply too low of a voltage to support a external drive but will support a smaller USB stick..
If in doubt, add in an external power supply for large storage sizes in external drives or External SSD drives.
USB 3.0 has additional expanded current capacity in the specifications provided the port has the additional contacts and the additional current capability of 900 MA or .9A..
Typically a USB 3.0 port can be identified with a blue colored plastic insert in the port..
USB 1.1-2.0 ports are typically a white or black plastic insert in the port..
If USB port is white or black, then most likely best to follow USB 1.1-2.0 power specifications of no more than 500MA (.5A).
There are a few other port color variations possible.
You can read up on what the port colors are and how to identify what version the port is.. HERE
Many of the newer slim external HDs which use a 2.5" Laptop size drive often fall into the 500MA (.5A) or a bit less current draw category. However larger capacity slim drives of 2TB and larger with 2.5" drives can and most likely will exceed the 500MA (.5A) current draw..
External slim drives using SSD (Solid State Drive) technology will most likely exceed USB 2.0 current ratings as these drives are power hungry at about 1A-1.2A..
I kind of doubt that the receiver has USB 3.0 port..
The current rating of the external drive should be on the model number sticker, if it states more than 500MA (.5A) then a external power supply must be used.
There are times even if you are staying within the available current of a USB port that an external drive may not work correctly, sometimes these ports supply too low of a voltage to support a external drive but will support a smaller USB stick..
If in doubt, add in an external power supply for large storage sizes in external drives or External SSD drives.
