Raspberry Pi B+ not working with external HDD

[Toxxyc]

Hey guys,

So the other day a good friend of mine donated me an old Raspberry Pi B+. It works 100% and has XBMC loaded. I love the use and feel of it and it's PERFECT for my needs, but for one issue - the external HDD I connect to it spins up but the Pi doesn't detect it.

Now, I've been running it off a cellphone charger that's only capable of 0.7A - could that be the issue? The HDD is a Verbatim 1TB 2.5" external HDD. I do have access to stronger chargers but I don't really want to go that route since it'll mean my phone will charge MUCH slower. Any ideas/tips/tricks?

 

[jb30589]

Usually most USB problems on a Pi are due to insufficient power so maybe try swapping the cell charger with something stronger as a test.

 

[Brown Fox]

Hey guys,

So the other day a good friend of mine donated me an old Raspberry Pi B+. It works 100% and has XBMC loaded. I love the use and feel of it and it's PERFECT for my needs, but for one issue - the external HDD I connect to it spins up but the Pi doesn't detect it.

Now, I've been running it off a cellphone charger that's only capable of 0.7A - could that be the issue? The HDD is a Verbatim 1TB 2.5" external HDD. I do have access to stronger chargers but I don't really want to go that route since it'll mean my phone will charge MUCH slower. Any ideas/tips/tricks?

You will need a powered USB hub.
The drive is not getting enough power.

 

[PhireSide]

Even my Pi3 with the official charger has the little lightning bolt overlay meaning it is not receiving enough juice when my 2.5"drive spins up.

Order yourself the correct power supply from Pishop or get a powered hub as Brown Fox said. Enjoy tinkering with it

 

[Toxxyc]

Thanks, I'll try a stronger (2A) charger and see how that goes. It's really an amazing little device, incredible how much things have improved over the years...