Raspberry pi 2B+ Can't power USB HDD anymore

[webodan]

Hello,

Some days ago I had an accident and I broke a part that was soldered in my Pi2 b+ (it's labeled Q4, right of R4 and on top of the R6 pads, on the top right corner next to the USB ports, I link an image for reference) since then my Pi cannot power my USB3 HDD anymore, not even with max_usb_current set to 1. could I do something about this? like maybe rewiring the pads to a similar part or something of the sort, idk. I used this primarily as media center and without being able to power the HDD it's pretty much a waste for me.

I really hope someone can help me since we're out of warranty at this point

Thanks in advance.

[drgeoff]

1. No such thing as a 2B+.

2. In or out of warranty is irrelevant because, as you freely admit, you broke it.

3. I can get you working again. Will cost you £35.

[rpdom]

Q4 is the transistor (FET) that switches between the standard USB current limit on the B+ and 2B (0.6A) and the "usb_max_current=1" higher limit (1.2A). With that part missing/broken you won't get 1.2A to power your hard drive.

Depending on the level of damage you could try to replace the transistor with an equivalent one (sorry, I don't know the type), or you could cheat and join the ground ends of R4 and R50 together (the ends nearest to Q4). That will force the 1.2A limit. Depends on your soldering skill level.

[SurferTim]

It appears to be a APX803-46SAG power monitor.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... ND/2279219

Schematic:
https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheet ... ematic.pdf

[webodan]

Hello again,

The fix of that rpdom told me did not go well, as it still didn't work after that. What I thought on doing, since the USB power input pins are giving 5V@2A was wiring PP2 and PP5 directly to the 5v and ground pins on one of the USB ports (I'm not using any other of the PP pads) and after this the hard drive was detected and was working perfectly. Since I'm not that knowledgable of electronics I would like input on whether this is safe or not. The HDD is a Maxtor M3 Portable 2TB model.

Thanks for all your help.

[MrEngman]

It appears to be a APX803-46SAG power monitor.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... ND/2279219

Schematic:
https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheet ... ematic.pdf

I think not.

Try looking for Q4, not U4.

[rpdom]

The fix of that rpdom told me did not go well, as it still didn't work after that.

That's a shame. Something else must be broken.

What I thought on doing, since the USB power input pins are giving 5V@2A was wiring PP2 and PP5 directly to the 5v and ground pins on one of the USB ports (I'm not using any other of the PP pads) and after this the hard drive was detected and was working perfectly. Since I'm not that knowledgable of electronics I would like input on whether this is safe or not.

As a last resort, yes, that will work and should be safe. It just means that the USB will always be powered up, which shouldn't be a problem.

Also, there will nothing preventing a powered USB hub from "back powering" the Pi through the USB ports. Again, that won't cause any damage, it just means that if you have a powered hub and remove power from your Pi you will find it stays powered up through the USB. Only an issue if your are using a USB hub that leaks power back through its input.

[Ernst]

1. No such thing as a 2B+.

2. In or out of warranty is irrelevant because, as you freely admit, you broke it.

3. I can get you working again. Will cost you £35.

I can get it working for £10.99 http://wdlabs.wd.com/products/cable-pidrive/

[DougieLawson]

I can get it working for £10.99 http://wdlabs.wd.com/products/cable-pidrive/

The OP may need http://wdlabs.wd.com/products/cable-power-kit-3a/ as well.

[Ernst]

I can get it working for £10.99 http://wdlabs.wd.com/products/cable-pidrive/

The OP may need http://wdlabs.wd.com/products/cable-power-kit-3a/ as well.

I cannot recommend that wd labs power kit because it "only" delivers 5V and not 5.1V.

The WD power cable connects the power supply to the hard disk directly and then into the Pi, because of this the USB port on the Pi is not used to supply power to the hard disk.

I have this power supply with the cable driving a Pi 3, with a 1TB Pi Drive and a 64MB memory stick and I still get power warnings. The official Raspberry 5.1V power supply with the same combination does not give power warnings.

[DougieLawson]

I cannot recommend that wd labs power kit because it "only" delivers 5V and not 5.1V.

Nonsense. I have three Raspberries, one Zero (314GB drive) and two 3Bs (375GB drives) that all run from that power supply and they're 100% rock solid.

[Ernst]

I cannot recommend that wd labs power kit because it "only" delivers 5V and not 5.1V.

Nonsense. I have three Raspberries, one Zero (314GB drive) and two 3Bs (375GB drives) that all run from that power supply and they're 100% rock solid.

Did you read the rest of the posting ? I don't think so.

[webodan]

Hello again,

Regarding the PiDrive I honestly don't need it since I have a bigger sized hard drive plugged in over USB

I've had the patched Pi2 with said PP5 and PP2 to USB VCC and ground running for 6 hours now and no problems whatsoever overclocked @ 1GHz it's running at an average of 50ºC (can climb up to about 58ºC at peak when running media off the hard drive). I don't know that much about electronics but at least I can assure that it's running pretty fast and solid, no lag when playing back 720p and 1080p media @ 30 fps (just takes maybe a second or two to load the files probably due to the access time inherent of the hard drive).

Upon closer examination, the parts that are missing/not looking as good from the board are the following: Q4 (missing), and R48 (looks like slightly burned or something. hard to see without a microscope/magnifier for me). Everything else, besides a tiny bit of solder between R50 and R4's ground pins as rpdom told me to try is in perfectly fine condition.

If anyone else could give more feedback about any considerations I should take (besides replacing it, I know that maybe I should but it's kind of a waste considering that the system runs perfectly!) I would really appreciate it.

Thanks again for all your help!

[Ernst]

Hello again,

Regarding the PiDrive I honestly don't need it since I have a bigger sized hard drive plugged in over USB

I've had the patched Pi2 with said PP5 and PP2 to USB VCC and ground running for 6 hours now and no problems whatsoever overclocked @ 1GHz it's running at an average of 50ºC (can climb up to about 58ºC at peak when running media off the hard drive). I don't know that much about electronics but at least I can assure that it's running pretty fast and solid, no lag when playing back 720p and 1080p media @ 30 fps (just takes maybe a second or two to load the files probably due to the access time inherent of the hard drive).

Upon closer examination, the parts that are missing/not looking as good from the board are the following: Q4 (missing), and R48 (looks like slightly burned or something. hard to see without a microscope/magnifier for me). Everything else, besides a tiny bit of solder between R50 and R4's ground pins as rpdom told me to try is in perfectly fine condition.

If anyone else could give more feedback about any considerations I should take (besides replacing it, I know that maybe I should but it's kind of a waste considering that the system runs perfectly!) I would really appreciate it.

Thanks again for all your help!

I never mentioned the PiDrive, somebody else did.

It is the PiDrive cable that you could look at because instead of the USB port the cable is used to power the drive. The USB2 plug goes into the Pi, the USB3 plus goes into the hard disk, the power supply micro USB goes into cable with the female USB micro connector. This brings power to the hard disk. The last cable coming from the USB3 connector has a male USB micro connector which can be used to power the Pi.

With the PiDrive cable your hard disk gets the power directly from the power supply and not from the USB port and the Pi can be powered from the same power supply by plugging the male micro usb connector into the Pi.