iPad Pro External drives (not usb sticks) for ipad pro

[ilikewhey]

the internal storage is running low on my 11 inch, rather have it in cloud, this time i prefer to have them on a external drive, right now i have a 500gb sandisk ssd in a external enclosure, would it be as easy to plug that into the ipad usbc or am i missing a giant caveat here. thanks

 

[sparksd]

As long as it is formatted appropriately (not NTFS), it should work fine.

 

[ilikewhey]

I have it formatted to exfat, plug into the ipad, don’t see it in files and the light indicator on the enclosures is not on either. Is there some settings I have to tweak?

 

[sparksd]

I have it formatted to exfat, plug into the ipad, don’t see it in files and the light indicator on the enclosures is not on either. Is there some settings I have to tweak?

And that's a USB-C iPad Pro, not Lightning, correct? The iPad is on iOS 13.x? My Samsung T5 USB-C SSD is plug-and-play with my 2018 12.9 Pro but needs additional power through the camera adapter for my Lightning-based 10.5 Pro.

 

[ilikewhey]

Yes it’s a usbc 11inch 2018 model, my setup for the drive is a 500gb sandisk ssd 2.5 in a generic external enclosure, it works fine when I plug into my mbp, but the light indicator on the enclosure doesn’t even come on when I plug into the iPad

 

[sparksd]

Yes it’s a usbc 11inch 2018 model, my setup for the drive is a 500gb sandisk ssd 2.5 in a generic external enclosure, it works fine when I plug into my mbp, but the light indicator on the enclosure doesn’t even come on when I plug into the iPad

Strange. Light not even coming on would seem to indicate that the iPad doesn't see the drive at all.

Process of elimination -

Have you tried cycling iPad power?
Do you have a different device you can test your iPad USB-C with?
Can you try a different cable?
Do you have a powered USB-C hub you can try the drive with on the iPad?

 

[ilikewhey]

Strange. Light not even coming on would seem to indicate that the iPad doesn't see the drive at all.

Process of elimination -

Have you tried cycling iPad power?
Do you have a different device you can test your iPad USB-C with?
Can you try a different cable?
Do you have a powered USB-C hub you can try the drive with on the iPad?

Thanks for the suggestion, I don’t have the stuff you listed, but I’m going to the Apple store or bestbuy and see if they have a hub for me to try, if they do and it works then I’ll just buy that on the spot

 

[sparksd]

Thanks for the suggestion, I don’t have the stuff you listed, but I’m going to the Apple store or bestbuy and see if they have a hub for me to try, if they do and it works then I’ll just buy that on the spot

Good luck and please report back what you find out - feed the general knowledge base.

 

[Thejameslavis]

i did that sandisk extreme ssd. what a beast and so tiny. put all my lumafusion files on it. not a single issue

 

[ilikewhey]

just came back from the apple store, i think the problems lies with the external enclosure, i have a theory that it doesn't detect the usb c protocol. good news is a usb c external enclosure is only 15 bucks on amazon. will report back later.

 

[sparksd]

just came back from the apple store, i think the problems lies with the external enclosure, i have a theory that it doesn't detect the usb c protocol. good news is a usb c external enclosure is only 15 bucks on amazon. will report back later.

ah, was it a different interface connecting to the Mac?

 

[ilikewhey]

ah, was it a different interface connecting to the Mac?

So it works fine on my 2015 mbp with usb type a, but when I use a type a to type c cable since the enclosure is type a, it cease to be detected by iPad and a 2019 mbp

 

[AutomaticApple]

So it works fine on my 2015 mbp with usb type a, but when I use a type a to type c cable since the enclosure is type a, it cease to be detected by iPad and a 2019 mbp

Oh, that makes more sense!

 

[jaytv111]

So it works fine on my 2015 mbp with usb type a, but when I use a type a to type c cable since the enclosure is type a, it cease to be detected by iPad and a 2019 mbp

If you're using an adapter on the iPad, maybe the adapter should be plugged in (I don't know if this will give enough power to the A port), or the adapter doesn't support enough power over the type-A port at all.

My theory is you could try out a direct type-C to type-B cable (straight from type-C on the iPad to the port on the drive, no adapter in between). It could provide enough power then.

The drive might have USB 3.1 micro-B and a cable like this would go with it to type-C devices: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Type-C-Micro-B-Gen2-Cable/dp/B01GGKYIHS/

Or if it's full-size B then:

Cable Matters USB C to USB B 3.0 Cable - 3.3ft, USBC to USB-Type B 3.0 Cable, USB-B to USB-C, Black

The Cable Matters USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-B is specifically designed to connect current generation external hard drives, USB switches, docking stations, and port replicators to the new release computers such as the 2015 MacBook and Google Chromebook. Preserve your investment ...

www.amazon.com

 

[ilikewhey]

If you're using an adapter on the iPad, maybe the adapter should be plugged in (I don't know if this will give enough power to the A port), or the adapter doesn't support enough power over the type-A port at all.

My theory is you could try out a direct type-C to type-B cable (straight from type-C on the iPad to the port on the drive, no adapter in between). It could provide enough power then.

The drive might have USB 3.1 micro-B and a cable like this would go with it to type-C devices: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Type-C-Micro-B-Gen2-Cable/dp/B01GGKYIHS/

Or if it's full-size B then:

Cable Matters USB C to USB B 3.0 Cable - 3.3ft, USBC to USB-Type B 3.0 Cable, USB-B to USB-C, Black

The Cable Matters USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-B is specifically designed to connect current generation external hard drives, USB switches, docking stations, and port replicators to the new release computers such as the 2015 MacBook and Google Chromebook. Preserve your investment ...

www.amazon.com

the cable i used is a direct usb c to usb a.

 

[jaytv111]

the cable i used is a direct usb c to usb a.

Then you plugged something in the wrong direction. USB-A is a host port. It means that A has to be on the computer. But iPad Pros with type-C can also be hosts, same with Lightning but you need the Lightning to female-A adapter.

When you use iPad Pros (USB-C) with a drive or other peripheral, you either have a direct type-C to some kind of B port, or you have type-C to a type-A adapter, then you plug in a cable with type-A, like if the iPad was a computer with a type-A port built in, but through an adapter. There's a directional problem with what you're describing.