Hi,
I am currently setting up my RevPi Core 3 which I hoped to be a more reliable replacement for my Raspberry Pi. I was mainly concerned about the SD card wearing out so I planned to attach a USB harddisk where I could save bot applications and sensor-like data.
I bought a new USB 3 harddisk (USB 2.0 compatible), and RevPi Core claims to provide the "full 500 mA" (it has the required 24 V power supply). However, the harddisk doesn't work at all. The model is Toshiba Canvio Connect II 2 TB. Luckily I had another USB harddisk at home (Verbatim 2 TB) I have been using for photo backups etc. and noticed that it appears to work. However, although it starts to rotate and so on, there are some unhealthy click noises. Already formatting it produced a number of I/O errors.
Why is that? Do I have to look closer at harddisks' requirements about the power consumption? Anything else I could to wrong?
USB harddisk not working
Hello tarnshaf, the built in flash memory of the RevPi is a more reliable variant of flash memory than the SD cards you would normally use in a Raspberry Pi.
My guess for the HDDs is, that they need more Ampere to spin up than just 500 mA.
I know two possible solutions, if you want to stick at HDDs:
1. some HDDs i know are using USB-Y-cables, so you can plug it in two USB connectors on the PC side. One connector for power and data and one only for power. Downside: you could fry the USB controller.
2. other HDDs (especially the 3,5 inch versions) are delivered with an external wall power supply.
I would not trust external HDDs either. I have seen several HDDs dying over the years and it always was a quick death. If your data is important for you you should make backups regularly.
My guess for the HDDs is, that they need more Ampere to spin up than just 500 mA.
I know two possible solutions, if you want to stick at HDDs:
1. some HDDs i know are using USB-Y-cables, so you can plug it in two USB connectors on the PC side. One connector for power and data and one only for power. Downside: you could fry the USB controller.
2. other HDDs (especially the 3,5 inch versions) are delivered with an external wall power supply.
I would not trust external HDDs either. I have seen several HDDs dying over the years and it always was a quick death. If your data is important for you you should make backups regularly.
Thanks Timo,
I want to use an external harddrive because I expect that the RevPi's internal flash is far too small. I was thinking about running some Docker containers and after installing the runtime I was already out of disk space. So my plan is to place the images and all of the data on an external drive.
The decision about relevant backups is an orthogonal one for me that is only based on the quality of the data - I don't think you should totally trust any non-redundant storage.
I have the same assumption that the harddisks I tried require too much ampere which surprised me because RevPi promises 500mA and the HDDs promise to be USB 2 compatible which in my opinion also means that they don't require more than 500mA. If the problem is that RevPi doesn't deliver 500mA, I would go for an external power supply (or second USB port). If the reason is that the harddisks need more than 500mA I would like to know what to look out for when buying another harddisk - maybe choose one with an additional power supply as well.
I want to use an external harddrive because I expect that the RevPi's internal flash is far too small. I was thinking about running some Docker containers and after installing the runtime I was already out of disk space. So my plan is to place the images and all of the data on an external drive.
The decision about relevant backups is an orthogonal one for me that is only based on the quality of the data - I don't think you should totally trust any non-redundant storage.
I have the same assumption that the harddisks I tried require too much ampere which surprised me because RevPi promises 500mA and the HDDs promise to be USB 2 compatible which in my opinion also means that they don't require more than 500mA. If the problem is that RevPi doesn't deliver 500mA, I would go for an external power supply (or second USB port). If the reason is that the harddisks need more than 500mA I would like to know what to look out for when buying another harddisk - maybe choose one with an additional power supply as well.
