1TB hard drives work on Pi3

I haven't tested on my Pi2 yet, but hope to have the same success. I have a couple of 1TB hard drives, and both work on my Pi3.

Reason #1 for this success is I beefed up the power supply, with a 5V 6A supply, as explained earlier today:
http://bkhome.org/news/201611/5v-at-6a-for-your-pi.html

After posting that, Paul ('pakt' in the Puppy Forum) sent me a message that the maximum current capability of the USB sockets can be increased from 600mA to 1.2A by doing this in the 'config.txt' file (in the vfat first partition):

max_usb_current=1

I own a Toshiba 1TB Canvio 2.5 inch USB3 hard drive, model DTP210, that is powered via the USB cable. It is specified to draw 900mA and the docs state that it will also work off a USB2 socket.
http://www.toshiba.eu/hard-drives/portable/canvio-ready/hdtp210ek3aa/


I recently purchased (for AU$77 at Officeworks) a Seagate Expansion 1TB USB3 hard drive, model SRD0NF1. The docs also state that this will work off a USB2 socket.
http://www.seagate.com/au/en/consumer/backup/expansion-portable/#features


I am happy to report that both of these drives work on my Raspberry Pi3. I copied a 1.2GB file to and from, and md5sums were correct.

This is very good news. There is a 314GB PiDrive that has been especially designed to work with the Pi. But, why buy that when these very cheap 1TB drives work? A cynical person might think that someone thought up a bright idea to get rid of some old stock of 314GB drives.

On the otherhand, the PiDrive might be required if you have a less capable power supply.

Tags: linux