USB Portable Hard Drive portables

[hsantos78]

I am trying for my 512MB Raspberry Pi Board Model B to read a Samsung S2 320gb USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive with several videos but have several problems . I confess to be using a xbian as os (XBMC alternative) . I am not sure if the different OS may help (should I try ? ) . I can read a USB sticks with no problem but the USB HDD light blinks constantly but is not available when y try to read the harddrive. I connect directly the HDD to the usb port in th RPi (only uses 1 miniusb to usb conector) . Must I use a powered usb hub ? Or change the OS ?

[zardoz66]

you most like need to power that drive or use a USB powered hub to power the drive. the RPI usb ports have very little power to begen with and most of the time anything more then a keyboard or mouse or a stick of some type will not work due to power issues.