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The MacBook: All USB Ports Are Not Equal
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The MacBook: All USB Ports Are Not Equal

m0rph! 10:03 AM - 24 December, 2008
Hey, has anybody read/verified this article? It was posted awhile ago (May 09, 2008), but I thought it might be relevant to those experiencing USB problems with Scratch Live and their Macs:

This gadget tip comes to you by way of the resplendent Andy Ihnatko, tech hack for the Chicago Sun Times and lover of Internet Pants. It turns out that some MacBook USB ports are more equal than others. Only one of them offers a full powered, full speed bus.

Many times I have hooked up a USB hub to my MacBook, only to plug in an iPod and have it rest in the a phantom world, neither charging nor showing up in iTunes. This happened whether the hub was powered or not, and even if the port had no other devices plugged in. On this week's MacBreak Weekly podcast, Andy told us why. The rear USB port, the one nearest the screen, is in fact already on an internal hub, shared with everything USB inside the case: the keyboard, the Bluetooth, the trackpad, the iSight camera and the infra-red receiver. Adding a four way hub to this is bound to end in disaster.

So I tested it out. I hooked up a hub to the front port, loaded with two USB hard drives (both self powered), a Logitech wireless laser mouse and an iPod Touch (in its dock). Result? It works perfectly every time. The same setup swapped to the rear port is intermittent. Sometimes the iPod works, sometimes it doesn't.

Source: blog.wired.com


If indeed this article is true, does this apply to the new Unibody Macbooks as well? What about Macbook Pros? Any and all helpful comments appreciated!
m0rph! 10:12 AM - 24 December, 2008
A bit more digging reveals some more details:

As we mentioned here yesterday, one of the topics making the rounds of the Mac Web blogosphere this week is the recent revelation credited to the Chicago Sun Times Andy Ihnatko that the MacBook and MacBook Pro's two USB ports are not created equal, with only one of them supporting a full powered, full speed bus.

This is actually nothing new of course, and would date back to the earliest MacBook Pro in 2006 at minimum. Nor is it just MacBooks. I've found that the left USB port on my 1.33 GHz G4 PowerBook, a model that debuted in September, 2003, doesn't supply enough juice to spin up one of my external USB 2 hard drives (which has a relatively low power demand 4200 RPM 2.5" notebook drive in situ), although my G3 iBook and Pismo PowerBooks seem to have no trouble powering that drive. However, with the PowerBook I'm obliged to hook it up to an external power brick.

Back in August, 2007, ZNet's David Berlind posted a technical article on this topic that's worth checking out if you're interested in the topic: blogs.zdnet.com

Berlind notes that while all USB ports offer 5 volts, amperage (ie: volume of power) available can vary substantially which is an important factor when it comes to bus-powering devices like external hard drives. The standard amperage is 500 milliamps (ma), but some computers, or even different ports in the same computer, sometimes offer more, which means that if your external hard drive won't power up from one USB port on your 'Book, it's worth a shot at least trying it in another before rummaging around for a power brick.

It's also something to keep in mind when connecting a USB hub to your 'Book.

Source: www.pbcentral.com


I know that most everyone's aware of the "good" and "bad" USB ports that Macs have; I was just pointing more towards why it was so. Since the new MB/MBPs only have 2 USB ports, and I have an external USB drive (which operates without external power on my PC laptop), I was curious to know if I'd be able to use both Scratch Live and my external drive the same way on a Mac without any issues... :-(
Caramac 10:31 AM - 24 December, 2008
Right being a complete moron with computers and stuff does that mean if I get a USB bus that I can run both my external hard drive (mains powered) and Serato through the good port?
skinnyguy 7:29 PM - 24 December, 2008
that's okay. it's a feature. it just works.
skinnyguy 7:30 PM - 24 December, 2008
Quote:
Right being a complete moron with computers and stuff does that mean if I get a USB bus that I can run both my external hard drive (mains powered) and Serato through the good port?


if you meant "hub" instead of "bus", then probably not. from my understanding, it's not good to run ssl on a hub. ssl should have its own dedicated usb port.
Caramac 11:41 AM - 25 December, 2008
lol yeah a hub sorry and cool.
m0rph! 9:46 PM - 6 January, 2009
Update: just bought a new Unibody Macbook (yay!), and can confirm that each of my 2 USB ports have enough power to operate my external 160GB WD Passport drive individually. Will put my SL1 through its paces later this week...
nik39 8:28 PM - 27 November, 2011
How do I find out the current power cunsomption on the USB ports on a mac?
m0rph! 7:58 AM - 6 December, 2011
Wow, what a *bump*... :-)

Do you mean how much power is currently available via the USB ports on a mac? Or are you looking for someway to monitor real-time how much power a USB device is using?
Pinkbeats 11:07 AM - 21 December, 2011
Regarding the OP - is this still applicable? i.e. is one USB port faster & better to use than the other on a 15" MacBook Pro (mid'10 model - which only has two USB ports)?
nik39 12:01 PM - 21 December, 2011
Quote:
Wow, what a *bump*... :-)

Do you mean how much power is currently available via the USB ports on a mac? Or are you looking for someway to monitor real-time how much power a USB device is using?

both :-)
nik39 7:48 PM - 27 February, 2012
No answer?

;)
d:raf 6:27 PM - 28 February, 2012
Maybe this? apple.stackexchange.com
DJ Sharpe 4:00 PM - 5 March, 2013
Hi, I've hooked up SL1 and Twitch and they work fine together (so far!!) and mixing with both is fine. I want to record by running it through my Novation Nio...which needs another USB port. I have a USB hub but it's not powered so it isn't that reliable. Do you have any recommendations which power USB multi port hub I should go for (i.e. so I can use SL1, Twitch/Itch and Novation Nio with Ableton)?? Thanks
DJMARCD 8:03 PM - 13 May, 2017
I have the new MacBook Pro with 4 USB ports and experiencing drop outs which is the good port to run serato 1.9 ?
DJTouchUp 7:05 PM - 27 June, 2017
Quote:
I have the new MacBook Pro with 4 USB ports and experiencing drop outs which is the good port to run serato 1.9 ?


DJMARCD - What DJ controller are you using? I'm having drop out issues but I'm trying to determine if it's Mac / software issues or my actual controller. I have the NS7ii and I've tried pretty much everything to stop the issue.
DJMARCD 7:13 PM - 27 June, 2017
I'm using the Roland Dj-99 mixer.
DJTouchUp 7:16 PM - 27 June, 2017
Oh lol! Well at least every system has this issue then. None are safe! LOL!
DJMARCD 9:06 PM - 27 June, 2017
It works perfect without using a external storage device. Using your laptop alone and getting the tracks from your downloads runs serato perfect.