External USB 3.0 Compatibility

[wertyqa]

Tried to search for compatibility for different USB 3.0 external harddrives but found only information on WD.

Recently bought Lacie Rikiki 1TB USB 3.0 external HDD. Have not been able to connect it to my A-110. HDD is recognised but does not load. After few seconds 110 will freeze. I have to either push the reset button or switch the unit off.

On the other thread (external WD) there was a mention that the HDD has invisible partition (CD?), that has some software installed. Does anybody know if this is what caused also Lacie not working with 110?

My Lacie is as it is from the package. Should I reformat it? And if I do that, would it even work if there is that other partition?

Thank you.

[scheinerman]

Hi,

I have the same problem only with WD 2.5 external HDD.

if you find any solution I will love to hear it.

thank you

[wertyqa]

Update:
I contacted both Lacie and Popcornhour. This issue has not been resolved.

Lacie wanted more info. Disk manager and device manager info was sent and they stated that the problem was Popcornhour. Formatting was done correctly and there was nothing wrong with it. However, they did not mention anything about a hidden partition on the hdd.

Popcornhour reply was really short and... crude. "USB 3.0 is not supported on A-110 naturally, since USB 3.0 did not exist back when A-110 was introduced." Wow. They completely ignored my original question. On my email I stated that A-110 starts the recognition process but the unit freezes after few seconds. Of course I know that USB 3.0 is not compatible with A-110 as full speed USB 3.0. But USB 3.0 devices should be downward compatible with previous USB versions. They closed my case and since customer service was this good I will not start a new one.

It seems that mediastreamer lifespan is between 3-4 years at best. It is really shame that manufactures do not make statements about previous models recarding these issues. If there is nothing they can do to fix problems (or are not willing to) it would only be fair for their customers to hear about it. If you loose a customer due to poor customer service (or for any reason for that matter), you have to but 5-6 times the effort to get that customer back.

But I only run my own business. What do I know...

[scheinerman]

I asked the same question and they answered me that a110 cannot load self usb powered hdd.

seems like I need to buy new streamer.

[BanditRider]

Try using a powered USB hub.

[wertyqa]

I do have old 160GB Buffalo usb 2.0 self powered HDD and that one works fine.

That being said, power consumption might be the problem. Have to find powered usb hub to try this out.

Thanks!

[scheinerman]

Hi,

I have powered usb hub.. I connected it to the device and it looks better.

I only tried it for couple of minutes. I will give you my final result and I will check it more carefully.

thank you

[scheinerman]

Hi,


I checked it a little more and seems like powered hub solved the problem.

I am using something like:
here

thank you very much

[wertyqa]

Finally I can confirm this to work with powered usb hub. I'm using Belkin 7-port powered usb 2.0 hub.

I even tried my USB 3.0 HDD on new Samsung LED TV that has usb support for media files. It too didn't work before. Powered usb hub solved that connecting problem too.

It seems that USB 3.0 devices take too much power so that these older (and even newer) products can't handle it. But all in all. Now we have once again a working solution. So this thread can be closed.

[VideoRipper]

It's not only self-powered USB 3.0 drives the A-110 doesn't like.

My PCH also doesn't like my USB2.0 Maxtor Basics 320GB drive; it does play
the content, but the colours on the screen become greenish and all kinds of
weird things happen.

The screen only becomes normal again after rebooting the PCH (and removing
the drive of course), but it's not something I want to try again: I don't want
my beloved player to die.

I think it's always better to use a powered hub if you want to use a selfpowered
drive other than a thumbdrive, just to be on the safe side.
(A powered USB hub is much cheaper than a new PopCorn Hour)

Greetz,

Peter.