WD 1TB Elements - Which USB 2.0 Cable required?

Portable Drives My Passport
1

OK.  Sorry if this is a bit of a noob question, but here goes.

I’ve ordered a WD Elements 1TB external HDD (WDBUZG0010BBK).  I know it comes with a USB3 cable which’ll be great for attaching to my desktop which does USB3.  Great.

However, I have a laptop and I’m getting a WD TV Play Media Player (WDBHZM0000NBK) both of which only use USB 2.0.  I need to know exactly what kind of USB 2.0 cable I’ll need to hook up this drive please.

One end is obviously a USB 2.0 A connector.  But precisely what type of connection is required at the drive end?  A regular B connector?  Mini B connector?  Or is it a Micro B connector.

That way I can order a couple of the right type of cables before the drive arrives.  I surprised this info isn’t specified in the documentation for this product.

Thanks in advance.

meson1

[EDIT] OK. I’ve completely misunderstood.  I have suddenly realised that I don’t need a USB 2.0 cable at all.  I can just use the USB 3.0 cable supplied with the drive in a USB 2.0 socket and it’ll work just fine in USB 2.0 mode.  I’m now going to go kick myself. :smiley:

What I could do with is just a longer USB 3.0 cable, which should just be USB 3.0 A to Micro B, yes?

2

Yes.

Glad to know you were able to research and determine that the USB 3.0 cable is backwards compatible.

3

Purely for completeness:  Now I have the drive, I can let people know that if they wanted to connect it using a USB 2.0 cable, the drive takes a USB micro B connector.

The 3.0 cable supplied with the drive is very, very short.  Fine for connecting the drive to a device a few inches away.  But not long enough if, like me, you need the cable to run down the back of a desk so it can connect into the back of a tower sat on the floor (not that I was expecting the supplied cable to be so long).

WD guys: this kind of detail should really be provided in the product information.  Something to remember for next time maybe, eh?

4

The reason of the cable length is to make sure it provide enough power for the drive to spin at the right speed.

If the cable is too long it will not work well.

5

Ok.  Potential cable length/power issue noted.