retropie pi4 adding hard drive usb only ?

shavecat

Hey, wanted to know if my pi4 with retoripe 4.6
can run my 1tr' harddrive usb (with no power cable)...
thanks ahead :)

YFZdude

@shavecat said in retropie pi4 adding hard drive usb only ?:

Hey, wanted to know if my pi4 with retoripe 4.6
can run my 1tr' harddrive usb (with no power cable)...
thanks ahead :)

This mostly would depend on your external drive. A 1TB hard disk drive (the spinning kind) would almost certainly need a power cable attached. I doubt the drive itself would be capable of running a spinning disk from the power available from a USB port.

If you have a 1TB Solid State Drive, then it might be able to power off the USB port alone.

Does your drive have an separate plugin for a power adapter? If so, you will need to have that plugged in as well as the USB for data transfer.

shavecat

@YFZdude
No , only usb cable :\

YFZdude

@shavecat If the drive doesn't have a separate power adapter then you should be all set. The Pi 4 does have USB 3.0 ports and it should be able to drive whatever a standard USB3.0 port can power. If you have an official power supply for your Pi 4 then it should work.

VictimRLSH

I've had no problems at all running my 2TB Western Digital MyPassport USB drive from the Pi 4 with no external powered hub.

Neither have these people. https://community.wd.com/t/my-passport-ultra-current-draw/165894

I am, however, using a 3.5A Pi 4 power supply that came with the Pi 4 Canakit. The Pi won't have a problem but your power supply and cable need to be up to the task.

mitu

@YFZdude said in retropie pi4 adding hard drive usb only ?:

The Pi 4 does have USB 3.0 ports and it should be able to drive whatever a standard USB3.0 port can power.

The power output on the USB ports is still limited to a total of 1.2A. See https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/faqs/#pi-power. Check your disc operating specs, if it can work within these limits, then it will be ok.

shavecat

So i also need to add this on my config -
max_usb_current=1
safe_mode_gpio=4
right ?
Thanks a lot all <3

VictimRLSH

You might not even have to do that, look up the max current draw of your drive. Mine was only 220mA. If USB protocols are being followed your USB current should be at least 500mA with no changes required.