Hi Lyn, I suspect you need to provide more information about your machine. I don't think there is a maximum number of USB devices that can be attached so much as a limit on the total power draw, especially if you are using your USB ports to power the attached devices. I doubt you'd get this message if you were plugging in USB memory sticks, but larger capacity hard drives (in the several hundred GB to Terabyte range) can require more power. Those drives will also usually have a place where you can plug in an extra power supply, although that may be an extra accessory that doesn't come with the hard drive. Some USB hard drives can be powered from your USB ports, but will requires you to plug connectors into two USB ports to supply sufficient power. This can vary a lot according to the manufacturer of the hard drive enclosure, even without the issue of how much power the hard drive itself needs to operate.
HTH. Cheers, Esther On Apr 16, 2012, at 6:34 AM, Lyn & her faithful furry friends wrote: >> Hi listers, >> >> Wel, the question is in the subject line. How many USB devices can you have >> plugged in to your mac safely? Right now, I have my scanner, printer and >> Apple external keyboard and an external drive. Both the scanner and printer >> are turned off. However, whenever I try plugging in a second drive, I get a >> message saying that one or more USB devices are using too much power and >> they have been deactivated to prevent causing damage to my computer. Has >> anyone encountered similar situations? >> >> Thanks and take care, >> >> Lyn, Canelle & Epi >> >> >> ********** <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free! Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
