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Power management in PC

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  • 28-04-2017 12:49pm
    #1
    Happy_Harry
    Registered Users Posts: 679 ✭✭✭


    I started the path of small upgrades on my "old" (2011) i3 Desktop rather than buying a new one as the processing power is perfect for what I need it do..

    But I have hit a snag.

    It is a very limited and small case with not a lot of expansion opportunities.

    It has 2 SATA power connectors.. one was attached to the Hard drive and one to the optical drive.

    I replaced the hard drive with a SSD and kept the 2TB old one for data storage. I disconnected the optical drive and used it's power connector for the second hard drive instead.
    So far so good..

    Then I bought a USB 3.0 PCIe card to add USB 3.0 to my machine.

    It didn't work until I figured out it needed power as well. But I had no power connectors left, so I was "creative".
    I used a SATA power Y connector to gainan additional SATA power connector and then used an adapter to get into the PCIe card's molex slot.

    Now the USB 3.0 sockets sometimes work.. and that is the problem.. it is totally random whether they work or not.

    I googled all possible power management options, installed the right drivers, changed the right settings in device manager, but it still fails from time to time.

    I am now convinced that it is a more basic physics problem in that by adding a SATA power outlet , I simply don't have enough current from my (basic) PSU to feed all and when the hard disks take the power the PCIe card gets nothing or not enough ..

    Is there an easy way of fixing this , other than replacing PSU ?
    I can think of a workaround by taking the data storage HDD out and use a USB3.0 HDD dock (which I have), but it is not ideal.

    I checked BIOS , but there are no settings there relating to power outlets..

    Any ideas ?


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    #2
    Happy_Harry
    Registered Users Posts: 679 ✭✭✭Happy_Harry


    It is not a power issue... I can charge my phone through the ports..
    I managed to uninstall the device that showed up as hidden in the device manager , remove it, rebooted, added it again and windows(10) recognised it and installed it, and it was working. To be on safe side and make sure it kept working, I rebooted a few times and each time it worked fine.
    Until this morning..
    It is in hidden view in device manager, if I try to update drivers it tells me it has the latest drivers. In the properties it says it is not active as it it is not installed..
    It is driving me bonkers..


  • Options
    #3
    Happy_Harry
    Registered Users Posts: 679 ✭✭✭Happy_Harry


    Right... I found the work around. I am just going to add that here in case anyone will have same problem in the future. 
    The device doesn't seem to work if the computer is switched off and then started.
    Instead you need to perform a power drain ( switch off, unplug, press power button until LED turns off, wait 30 secs and then plug back in) 
    Simple restarts seem to be ok. It is switching off that somehow keeps some power on the PCIe card that Windows can't handle. 
    Question remains why and is there an actual fix .. Or is the card faulty ? But it works (for) now , so let's just keep my fingers crossed..


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