Connecting portable hard drive to iPad (JB)

[josephnv]

Hi,

I've been doing quite well in finding a solution to connecting a portable HDD (USB powered) to iPad, but now I'm stumped.

Using the CCK and a powered hub, the HDD connects fine and I can watch all my movies with no issues.

Using the CCK and a USB "Y" cable (with the data end connected to iPad and the power end to a power source) I get "The connected USB device requires too much power", even though the hard drive is obviously getting its power from the external power source since it spins down when this is disconnected.

As a result, I believe it's just a case of "tricking" iPad into mounting the hard drive. The power is certainly there, it's just a software issue.

Does anyone know why it works with the powered hub but not with the "Y" cable?

I have a long flight coming up and I want to be able to watch my HD movies on my portable hard drive, but I can't go the powered hub route since there's no power outlets on BA 747s.

I was going to use the "Y" cable with an external battery back (Google EasyAcc 1200mAh external battery if you don't know what I mean by that)

The only other option is powering the powered hub with the external battery pack and a USB to 5v cable, but then that means having 4 extra devices wired up on my lap. Apart from looking really suspicious it's just impractical.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Joseph.

 

[Gabriel1]

Unfortunately I am a real novice at this however, there is a solution that I use which doesn't involve Jailbreaking. I use an iUSBport (formerly known as CloudFTP) details of which can be found here.....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperDrive-...=UTF8&qid=1373368809&sr=8-1&keywords=IUSBport

http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-connect/75570-cloudftp.html

If this doesn't help or you are determined to go down the route you have outlined then feel free to ignore my post.

The Archangel

 

[josephnv]

Hi,

Thanks for your input. I had read about those things before, the only issue for me is the cost. The USB hub cost me about £5, but that's going to set me back £80. It's a great idea and I've heard plenty of success stories but I can't afford that outlay!
It's a pretty similar thing to what I'm trying to achieve though (battery powered HDD into iPad).

Cheers though! :thumbs:

 

[Gabriel1]

Hi,

Thanks for your input. I had read about those things before, the only issue for me is the cost. The USB hub cost me about £5, but that's going to set me back £80. It's a great idea and I've heard plenty of success stories but I can't afford that outlay!
It's a pretty similar thing to what I'm trying to achieve though (battery powered HDD into iPad).

Cheers though! :thumbs:

Well I hope that you get help with a solution, good luck!

The Archangel

 

[Frankmezz]

use a USB card. put the movie(s) inside the folder created by a digital camera (DCIM) but change the name of the movie to an 8 character name like ABC12345. When plugged into iPad to "import" pick the one of the movies and import it to watch. It appears space is limited on your iPad so you will have to erase it from the Ipad when done to load the next movie. The concept is the Ipad thinks you took the movie with your camera and wants to import it. I have used it with a .m4v and .mpg files. my 16 gig CD card has 5 full lenght movies (about 10 hours worth) on it with 5 gig to spare. My largest file is just under 3G.

 

[josephnv]

Alright I've done some more experimenting and I think I've found some kind of solution...

If I connect the USB HDD to iPad with CCK via a powered hub, it works

If I connect the USB HDD to iPad with CCK via a usb "Y" cable and the 10W charger, it doesn't work

If I connect the USB HDD to iPad with CCK via USB to the powered hub (but leaving the powered hub UNPLUGGED), then plugging the power end of the "Y" cable into the 10W charger and the data end into the HDD, IT WORKS!

It's weird because the third setup is essentially the same as the third one, yet only the third one works. I'm guessing it's something to do with the way iPad interprets the power requirements of what's connected.

Anyway, I now have it working with the iPad charger, so I should be able to replace this with the external battery pack!

So now I'll be sitting on the plane with:

iPad -> unpowered hub -> external battery pack -> USB HDD. Great...

If anyone knows how I can get this to work without the unpowered hub, please let me know!

 

[josephnv]

Cheers for the tip.

I've already got XBMC installed, and I can point it to the USB or SD card mount point to play any video files on the card, but this is just me being greedy and wanting dozens of full-HD movies on tap through the whole flight!

I'll probably use your method as a back-up plan though, so thanks