Ok, seems I have now the basis for setting up. I will evaluate the caddy solution but my favoured is still using the USB-powered "mobile" disk, as my Pi "travels" a lot and I don't want to carry bulky PSUs...

That is in fact an intelligent hack. How do you "gracefully shutdown" an HDD that is PSU powered in order to prevent data corruption? Only possible with one of those switched caddies? My ideal situation is still using a 2.5" USB powered "mobile" HDD. But properly used. Maybe the best is to make sure...

the point is that is to ensure that the power for the HDD is coming from external source (PSU) and not from the Pi? is this why the Pi shuts down if I just disconnect the HDD? Both ports have some kind of shared resource that causes this? This is quite the extreme solution, would ruin one of the por...

Talk of th devil... :D What seems impressive is so many people running externally powered PSUs. That's not really what I am aiming for (my Pi is very travelled and I prefer the convenience of "mobile" HDD too). and if you block the power line from the pi to other USB devices the pi won't be able to ...

I recently discovered I just needed a beefier PSU to make my Pi + USB hard drive go. Until now I had used two power supplies: one for the Pi (about 1A), and one for the USB HDD caddy (about 2A). I needed this as the 2A PSU was not sufficient to run the hard drive and the Pi at the same time. I modi...

Would it be against the rules if you could provide links to stores or sites selling or showcasing that hardware you mention?

That still looks like a way advanced workaround. I am beginner level user, my setup is pretty basic, and I am not aiming at using additional hardware for powering up. Would that caddy do a "secure power off" of the disks when the switch is changed to 'off'? Is it any better than just unplugging the ...

Adding "rootwait" to the line in /boot/cmdline.txt should make the kernel wait until the root device is available before continuing the boot sequence. It's been working for me for almost two years now. :) I looked up that line. Quite interesting, a useful tip, thanks. I found out also about a "root...

Thanks for all the information! I especially enjoyed the shouting at drives. :o @FTrevorGowen: So, in effect you're "back-powering" the Pi. The only issue I have with that is the "boot/power-up sequence is not "well-defined" ie. there's no guarantee that the HDD will "spin-up" etc. before the Pi is ...

@FTrevorGowen I am not using a Y-cable... My Pi connects to the usb hub directly and my HDD connects directly to the Pi. There is no need for Y'ing, apparently. Just by connecting the HDD to the Pi (directly, no Y cable) makes both power up, and disconnecting powers them down. I bought that "psu" wi...

Dear all, I have had my Pi (B) for about 6 months, and extremely happy so far with it. Unfortunately, in that period I (?) have managed to "destroy" the HDDs I attach to the Pi. After a while, they begin with the "clicking sound of death", which I presume being caused by bad sectors in the disk. It ...