Max USB current on USB ouput

Help and Support Help
1

Hi,

Am a newbie in both RPI and Volumio. I have zero knowledge on programming.
I found the Sound Quality of the Volumio fantastic.
I am current using a USB dac and a tube amp with Volumio. Sadly I cannot integrate my HDD where I stored all my music Wav. files because of lack of current from RPI USB output. I had tried using a powered USB hub but that doesn’t work too.
I had also tried writing on the SD card of the Config.txt file as below:

"gpu_mem=16
hdmi_drive=2

max_usb_current=1"

But the rainbow square still comes up in the booting screen.
In near future I will be receiving a DAC for RPI 2 so I am very concern over the power issue and would like to over come it .

Please advise how can I resolve the USB power issues and how can i integrate an external USB DVD drive as a Cd player.

Thank you.

2

Hi,
It seems that your problem comes from your power supply that cannot deliver enough current. Try with a other capable of 2A a least. Power supply from smartphone are 500mA or less current. Not enough for a RPI + dac + hd. If you already have a good PSU, maybe the DAC + HD drive to much power…

3

Thank you ,

Will try to get a decent PSU and try again.
Did I did the config text right?

Most appreciated.

4

The file to be edit is /boot/config.txt
and yes , you have to add a line max_usb_current=1 to allow the max current from usb port. But as I said, it can’t work if your psu is not powerful enough…

5

I had similar problems with the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and an IQ Audio DAC +, with a Samsung M3 USB-powered 1TB external hard drive and an unbranded 5V power supply rated at 2.0A. The hard disk just sat clicking / seeking repeatedly and could not be accessed, because there was not enough power. A (separately) powered USB hub didn’t seem to help matters either.

I then changed the max_usb_current to 1A as per your earlier post and everything works fine now.

So, my experience is that a 2.0A power supply will drive this model of Raspberry Pi, together with this DAC and this particular external hard drive. Your mileage may vary with other permutations of Pi / DAC / HDD, of course.

There’s are various 5V 3A micro USB power supplies available on Amazon - I would probably try one of those if I was starting again, so there is a bit more margin.

Good luck - hope it works for you too!

1 Like
6

Thank you for your precious reply. will get a more stable PSU.

7

HI ,

I had managed to connect the Ext DVD drive with no problem but i would like to play directly audio CD from the drive, is there any that i missed out? I can’t seem to play as the the drive keeps reading lit keep going on and off. Any advice will be a great help.

Thank you.