My Mbox works perfectly well but I lost the USB cable. It does not have another power source. I've tried two different USB cables, including a brand new one, on two different Macbooks (Macbook Pro early 2015, and Macbook White 4,1 Intel Core 2 Duo) and always get the below error message. I'm not using the phantom power function of the Mbox (not that this should be an issue) and can't understand why it would be 'drawing too much power'. No other USB connections are currently in use. I know that if I had the original USB cable the Mbox would work fine, I just don't understand why other cables seem to be causing the issue. I've seen a bunch of similar issues in other threads but no resolutions. Does anyone have an idea how to resolve this?
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"I know that if I had the original USB cable the Mbox would work fine, I just don't understand why other cables seem to be causing the issue. I've seen a bunch of similar issues in other threads but no resolutions. Does anyone have an idea how to resolve this?"
I tried looking to see what kind of inputs were on the back of the MBox.
The only image I found shows only USB, but no " input port for external power" -- is this correct?
Do you have a printed or pdf version of the MBox manual that tells you what the input power specs are supposed to be?
I'm wondering -- could you install a "powered USB hub" between the MBox and the MacBook, and use it that way? Some hubs have more substantial power available than others. You'll want to look for one that offers the most possible.
I find it strange that Digidesign would market a unit like that without it's own source of power when needed.
I suggest you visit the forums at the following website:
https://www.gearspace.com
Plenty of audio equipment experts there -- probably someone who can answer your question better...
I tried looking to see what kind of inputs were on the back of the MBox.
The only image I found shows only USB, but no " input port for external power" -- is this correct?
Do you have a printed or pdf version of the MBox manual that tells you what the input power specs are supposed to be?
I'm wondering -- could you install a "powered USB hub" between the MBox and the MacBook, and use it that way? Some hubs have more substantial power available than others. You'll want to look for one that offers the most possible.
I find it strange that Digidesign would market a unit like that without it's own source of power when needed.
I suggest you visit the forums at the following website:
https://www.gearspace.com
Plenty of audio equipment experts there -- probably someone who can answer your question better...
Thanks, I think you're right - maybe because the Mbox was built for USB2 and I can only find USB3 cables now? Either way, there's some issue with the power and the only option seems to be to control that using a hub as you've suggested. I'll give this a try and post my results back here 
I got that issue with an old MBox mini on my old Powerbook and it was an known issue.
I just got an powered USB hub and that solved the problem.
I just got an powered USB hub and that solved the problem.