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I recently bought a 2TB USB 3.0 hard drive to keep my family videos and photos. I want to use it with my Sumvision Micro Cyclone Micro 2 media player. The player works perfectly with an older hard disk but not at all with my new hard drive. I suspect the reason is that the media player is a USB 2 device whereas my new hard disk is USB 3. I've asked about how to get it to work and was told that I need to 'enable' my USB 3 hard drive to be USB 2 compatible... Is this true? If so how do I do it?

Thanks

Nam
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    How is the USB 3.0 drive formatted? Larger drives are typically NTFS formatted, and many media players don't support it. – Journeyman Geek Dec 23 '14 at 10:27
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    What is the make and model of the new HD? – CharlesH Dec 23 '14 at 10:58
  • The new hard disk is a Seagate SRD00F2 – Nam Dec 23 '14 at 11:27
  • I did try reformatting to FAT when I started and that didn't work either!! – Nam Dec 23 '14 at 11:29
  • Also, I'm wondering if it has anything to do with cables. Do I need a USB 3 cable from the drive to my media player. I've seen somewhere that they are blue. I have no idea if that makes any difference. On another point - if I was to reformat my hard disk from FAT32 to NTFS (or vice versa) am I going to lose anything on the drive? Cheers for your help – Nam Dec 23 '14 at 11:33
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    Yes, reformatting the drive means wiping all your data on it. whenever you reformat a drive, be sure to back it up first. Many usb 3 devices require more power. It is possible that your media player can't provide enough power to power your hdd. try getting a "Y" cable so that you can plug it in to another port as well for more power. – Blaine Dec 23 '14 at 13:54
  • possible duplicate of [Can a USB 3.0 pen drive be used on a USB 2.0 port?](http://superuser.com/questions/270744/can-a-usb-3-0-pen-drive-be-used-on-a-usb-2-0-port), [Is USB 3.0 backwards compatible?](http://superuser.com/questions/437687/is-usb-3-0-backwards-compatible) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Dec 23 '14 at 14:13
  • If these duplicates are not what you're looking for, then please edit your question and rephrase it to be about your actual problem (drive not working with media player) and exclude all assumptions about what you think the problem is (USB compatibility). Ultimately this may still be closed as off-topic though, since it's not actually about interfacing with a PC. Test the drive someplace else, and if it works as expected then contact the media device's manufacturer to ensure it's compatible a drive of that capacity. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Dec 23 '14 at 14:17
  • Ah ok. I didn't realise this might be a duplicate question. It's my first time on this forum, and don't really know how to use it. – Nam Dec 23 '14 at 16:06
  • Are you using the drive with an [external power adapter](http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-SRD00F2-External-replacement-adaptor/dp/B00GQW562I) or are you expecting the USB 2.0 port to power it? – David Schwartz Dec 23 '14 at 16:15
  • @DavidSchwartz I'm using the drive with an external power adapter. So, the arrangement is: Power -> Drive -> Media Player -> TV Does that help? – Nam Dec 23 '14 at 16:47

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The problem with USB 3.0 external HDDs is that they often require more power that a USB 2.0 port can provide. To get around that you can use a Y USB cable (if you have 2 available USB ports) or try using a powered USB 3.0 Hub.

Techpumpkin_WD
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  • Oh that's interesting. Are these "Y USB cables" or a "USB 3 hub" something I can just buy at a shop. Perhaps find on Ebay or something? – Nam Dec 23 '14 at 16:03
  • If your drive has an external power adapter like you mentioned, then this shouldn't be an issue. – Zoredache Dec 23 '14 at 18:02
  • In that case I don't understand it, because it definitely is not working @Zoredache – Nam Dec 23 '14 at 19:10