Vero 4K+ dies when inserting USB HDD

I’ve had this problem since I bought it new this spring, but didn’t really have time to follow up on it until now. I couldn’t find any post with the exact same problem, so I registered here only to be able to ask about this.

The problem is that whenever I insert an external USB HDD (in this case two different Seagate Expansion Portable Drive 4 and 5TB), the Vero instantly dies. The HDD spins up though. Power cycling makes it boot and then everything works fine.

Inserting an ordinary USB memory stick works fine, which makes me think a powered USB hub might be a workaround. But that’s the thing: it’s a workaround and I would prefer not having to do so.

I’m wondering if this behaviour is normal for Vero? The power is obviously enough for both the Vero and the HDD to boot up and then work fine together. Even if it is power related, a more normal scenario would be that the HDD doesn’t spin up, not that the computer gives up and dies…

So is anybody else experiencing this or could my unit be faulty? I really think this little machine is wonderful and was planning to get a few more. But this thing is a bit of a stopper…

Powered hub for two disks without their own power supplies is not a workaround, but rather a proper solution.

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You misunderstand. I only use one disk at a time.

Even for one a powered hub makes sense as the USB port is only designed to provide 500 mAh

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I see your point. However it isn’t really advertised as such: “You can add external storage by popping in a micro SD card or a USB hard drive.” (from the FAQ). It doesn’t say “a low powered hard drive” or “using a powered hub”… For my intended use, it’s a limitation. It’s also an extra cost…

Be that as it may, it still doesn’t explain why I’m able to boot it up with an HDD attached. Or why it crashes instantly when I attach the drive (still talking about only using one drive). My original question is whether that’s normal behavior or if my unit could be faulty… I don’t think I ever had a computer or any device with a USB connector for that matter, behave like that. It might refuse to spin up the disk, but that’s it. It shouldn’t crash. Hence my other question, if this is happening to anyone else.

If you plan to attach a USB hard drive, you have to power it externally for it to work properly. This is a limitation of the USB2 specification where we can only deliver 0.5A downstream.

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Ok, but still :slightly_smiling_face:, is it normal for the unit to just crash? And how come it boots up with the disk attached and then works fine? I’m sorry I come across as stubborn, but the 0.5A-limitation-answer isn’t really answering my question. What I’m really wondering is if the unit should simply crash if I attach a device that draws too much current? If that’s by design and the intended behavior, then by all means, I’ll accept that answer. But if it’s not, then maybe there’s a hardware issue with my unit.

This should be a simple thing to replicate and also, many people should have encountered it already. If not, then my unit is definitely broken.

The power supply might be struggling to provide enough power to the device and your USB peripherals, hence the crash. If the device doesn’t receive enough power, it will behave unpredictably.

You might find that using a power supply with a higher rating (5V, 3A) alleviates the proble, but we will recommend powering drives with external power.

The first thing I would do is to power it properly as advised.

It doesn’t seem like a hardware issue to me, unless you’re experiencing any other problems with the device.

When you plug in a drive this way, you are creating a spike in demand for amperage. When amperage spikes, voltage drops. A drop in voltage can cause crashes. You will see this same behavior with the raspberry pi’s and other low power devices because when the requirement is only ~5volts, such low cost power supplies are not designed to maintain very tight voltage specs when amperage spikes.

Your Vero is not broken.

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I’m using the supplied adapter (5V 2.0A). I can probably try with a more powerful adapter. Regarding that, can I power it via USB or would I need another adapter with the same sized “ring connector” as the original adapter (hope you understand what I’m asking)?

No other issues. As I said previously, I think it’s a wonderful little device!

Edit: moved my comment out of your quote, since it looked like it was part of your comment…

I never had that problem with my old Raspberry Pi’s, but maybe I’ve been lucky… I’m aware of spikes, and my line of thinking was that if both the HDD and Vero spikes at the same time (i.e. at boot time), the power supply would never be able to take it! But it does, it boots fine.

It’s possible that at boot the USB power spike happens when the CPU is doing something from which it can recover (eg just waiting for a response from the USB bus?) Not my expertise, though.

Could be. Not my area of expertise either! :slightly_smiling_face:

Just out of curiosity: have you tried the other USB port? One is OTG.

Ok, which one would that be? I have the radio receiver in the slot to the left… It never occurred to me to to try another port! :slightly_smiling_face:

What about powering the device over USB? I think I read somewhere that it’s possible… Only asking because it might be easier to try with a more powerful USB connector (as per your advice earlier regarding 3A vs original 2A) than finding another adapter with the same sized ring connector…

Edit: Oh, that’s probably what you meant with OTG?! To power Vero? Will try that!

No – the output via USB 2.0 is capped at 0.5a. We won’t send any more current.
But if the drive is starving the device of power, a higher rated PSU will ensure more power available for the system if that is the issue.

Sorry if I’m slow… English is not my native language! :slight_smile: Do you mean no, don’t power the device via USB OTG or no, it won’t help to move the drive? :slight_smile:

Which port is OTG btw? Left or right?

I’m happy to try a more powerful PSU and will get back with the results when I’ve done so!

IIRC the OTG is on the left, but why not try it both ways round?

Please show us a photo of the PSU first so we can verify it won’t damage the device.