I purchased a adata classic channel 91 external hard drive and it came with a y-splitter usb. I just wanted to know what is the advantage and disadvantage of using this cable vs a regular usb cable. O the cable is a mini-usb to 2 regular usb. When i connect one usb the drive powers up and is recognized by the computer but if i use the the other cable the drive powers up but is not seen by the computer, is this normal?
The second cable is to provide power (if needed) to the hard drive. Some external hard drives need more power than can be provided through a single USB connection. The cable for aux. power doesn't carry data. In summary, if your external drive works off of one connector, fine. if it doesn't spin up properly or you hear chunking noises, connect the second cable.
