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General discussion

Low Powered USB Drive

Apr 23, 2006 3:43PM PDT

Hi, I recently bought an Acer Aspire Notebook. When I plugged a gadget in the USB drive (tried all 3 drives) it says that the USB drive is low-powered. I have tried a usb hub with a y-cable, a usb hub with external power and a usb 2.0 pcmcia card and it doesn't work.

I checked and the usb port is 2.0. Is there anything I can do to make it high-powered? Can I change the USB Controller?

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Discussion is locked

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..this is where I ask a ...
Apr 24, 2006 3:49AM PDT

question and make a suggestion:

1. What does Acer have to say about this?

2. If it's not fixed then use the warranty and exchange it.

and life goes on...

Jack

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low powered USB
Apr 24, 2006 10:48AM PDT

duh! Acer support were the first people I turned to for help. They said there was nothing wrong with the machine and therefore, no exchange allowed. Other techies I spoke to lectured me at length for wasting money on an Acer.

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You didn't state that you had..
Apr 25, 2006 8:04AM PDT

already contacted Acer in your first post. You'd be surprised how many users haven't done that yet. Bob's suggestion is a good one.

and life goes on...

Jack

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What is that message?
Apr 24, 2006 10:16PM PDT
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Message Received
Apr 26, 2006 10:38AM PDT

Hi, I posted a reply yesterday but it appears to be lost in cyber space!

The message when I plugged in the gadget was "You have a low powered USB machine. Please contact your technician for assistance".

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can give.

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That's the first I've heard of that message.
Apr 26, 2006 11:47AM PDT

Frankly I can only guess that some new programmer stuck it into a driver.

http://www.usbman.com may want to hear about this since it's a new message.

Bob

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low powered USB port
Apr 27, 2006 10:50AM PDT

Thanks, Bob. I think I'll just sell the darn machine, esp. since I have a buyer who is aware of the problem and for some strange reason, is still eager to buy the Acer. My next machine will definitely not be an Acer!