When do you need 5 amp? My Pi 500 works on 3 amp or less when booted from microSD and with only a mouse plugged in. Today I am running a Pi 500 powered by a USB 3.1 Type A port from a notebook.
There are two Type A ports next to each other and the second is not used which means the Pi 500 might draw some amperage from the other port. I will test later with an amp meter.
The LCD screen for the Pi is powered from a Type C port on the other side of the notebook so is unlikely to draw power away from the Pi 500 port.
I had problems with USB power from several devices labelled as USB 3 and the USB 3 standard is really slack. The same combination works for devices labelled USB 3.1, a far better standard, one that requires testing for compliance.
I use USB 3.1 cables and keep then short. The mixed setups fail when I plug in high current usage devices like USB disks. They need the official power supply, with 5.2 volts instead of 5 volts, to cover the voltage drop when the disks suck max power during start up or when writing. The USB disk USB-PCIe chips seem to chew more power than the SSD. They are certainly the hottest chip in a USB disk.
There are two Type A ports next to each other and the second is not used which means the Pi 500 might draw some amperage from the other port. I will test later with an amp meter.
The LCD screen for the Pi is powered from a Type C port on the other side of the notebook so is unlikely to draw power away from the Pi 500 port.
I had problems with USB power from several devices labelled as USB 3 and the USB 3 standard is really slack. The same combination works for devices labelled USB 3.1, a far better standard, one that requires testing for compliance.
I use USB 3.1 cables and keep then short. The mixed setups fail when I plug in high current usage devices like USB disks. They need the official power supply, with 5.2 volts instead of 5 volts, to cover the voltage drop when the disks suck max power during start up or when writing. The USB disk USB-PCIe chips seem to chew more power than the SSD. They are certainly the hottest chip in a USB disk.
Statistics: Posted by peterlite — Sat Mar 29, 2025 12:11 am