Intermittent USB: 2009-12-20
10:40 PM: While syncing [Emmy]‘s iPod earlier, I received numerous synchronization errors and periodic USB connections going up and down. I’ve seen this occasionally over the past couple months. But it never got so bad as to prevent an uninterrupted iPod sync. Watching the lights on my Adaptec USB hub, I noticed occasional loss of power to the hub that coincided with the dropped connections. I observed this same behavior several years back and to resolve it then, I replaced the power supply to the hub. This is an IT AC adapter, made by FRIWO company. It outputs 5 volts at 5 amps. I replaced it with one that provides 5 volts at 6 amps. All seems to be well so far. We once again have good and solid power to the hub and hopefully now, we can finally sync [Emmy]‘s iPod.
You know, I’ve experienced way more failures with these IT grade switching power supplies than with the traditional, transformer-based linear supplies. True, the switching supplies are more efficient. But in my experience, this energy savings is way offset by their higher failure rates. Okay, I’ll take my gripe hat off now. 