Hi everyone,

I'm having trouble connecting two Seagate Expansion Portable 2TB (2.5" USB 3.0) HDDs to my Raspberry Pi 5 (using the official 27W USB-C power supply).

Here's what I've observed:
- When connecting directly to Pi 5 USB ports both drives exhibit clicking/cycling (expected power limitation)
- Using a 7-port Hama USB 3.0 hub with 5V PSU - same clicking issue persists
- Both drives work perfectly when connected to my PC

HDDs have non-removable USB cables (no separate power input)

Has anyone successfully run two 2.5" USB HDDs on a Pi 5?

Could you recommend:
A specific powered hub model that works reliably?
Alternative solutions beyond standard USB hubs?

Thanks in advance for your expertise!

Best regards,
Simon

Suggestion:
https://www.startech.com/hdd/sdock2u313

This separates data and power and has its own power supply. Maybe you can remove the drives from their USB cases.

A quick search for some specs says that a typical Seagate 2.5" HDD can draw up to 1.0A from the 5V rail on spinup - https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/sea ... 18135j.pdf. That's a fair amount.
You may find that connecting them one at a time and letting them spin up separately works.

For a reliable USB3 Hub with power, https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/usb-3-hub/ alongside a Pi 4 or 5 power supply would be a suggestion. The hub/PSU can then supply up to 3A for your two HDDs.

What happens if you connect one HDD directly to the Pi, and the other to your powered hub? That should separate the power supplies, but there is also the possibility that the Hama hub is back powering the host (non-compliant with the USB spec, but becoming more common and useful with USB-PD and the mini docks you get for laptops).

Software Engineer at Raspberry Pi Ltd. Views expressed are still personal views.
I'm not interested in doing contracts for bespoke functionality - please don't ask.

6by9 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 18, 2025 10:35 am

A quick search for some specs says that a typical Seagate 2.5" HDD can draw up to 1.0A from the 5V rail on spinup - https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/sea ... 18135j.pdf. That's a fair amount.
You may find that connecting them one at a time and letting them spin up separately works.

For a reliable USB3 Hub with power, https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/usb-3-hub/ alongside a Pi 4 or 5 power supply would be a suggestion. The hub/PSU can then supply up to 3A for your two HDDs.

What happens if you connect one HDD directly to the Pi, and the other to your powered hub? That should separate the power supplies, but there is also the possibility that the Hama hub is back powering the host (non-compliant with the USB spec, but becoming more common and useful with USB-PD and the mini docks you get for laptops).

I have solved this by connecting 1 disk directly to the Pi and the other to the official Raspberry Pi USB 3 Hub, which has its own dedicated power supply. This configuration works reliably.