LG TV & Unpowered External Hard drive problems? - A fix

[quixers]

If like me you have an external hard drive and use it with your LG TV you may have problems with it failing to connect or it working for a short while and then failing/disconneting. I had this with my western digital passport essential hd. This particular drive has no external power and gets it from USB. It would appear that my LG TV (LH5000) does not provide enough current for the hd to function correctly.

To fix this I bought a lead with a mini usb one end (to connect to HD) and two usb male plugs on the other - this lead (pic below of lead in case ebay page is removed):

NEW USB AM Male to Male & Mini 5-Pin Extension Y Cable on eBay (end time 17-Oct-09 17:37:11 BST)

I have this connected to the tv and hd with the extra usb plugged into my xbox (there is a socket at the back to keep it out of the way). I use my xbox but you can use anything near by which has a spare usb socket. This powers the hard drive from both the xbox and the tv and I have no disconnect problems.

Hope this helps someone out here.

 

[Monarch]

Doesn't help me because I don't use this kind of thing, but worth a thanks anyway

 

[J4CK DANIELS]

I use the USB port on my TV to charge my DS and ipod!!

 

[RottenFox]

these cables are basically standard issue when you buy an enclosure, i got 1 lead with each of the 3 enclosures i have..also, if you find the right usb wall socket adaptor, that can be used also, to power a harddrive.
(1 use my kids usb wall plug adaptor sometimes,which she uses to charge her mp3 player, and phone).
usb1, you will more than likely need both ends of the cable, usb2 should have enough power.
for some reason though, some store bought models, like the WD's need more power..

 

[waynedl]

Or just connect a powered hub?