Too many devices too lil usb ports

**wattersb** · 09-13-2011, 03:58 PM

Hey djtt, I have officially run into a problem.

I have my first gig on thursday with my s4 and new lighting set up (thanks to everyone on the forums for helping me get all these new items) but I think I have run into a problem.

Ill be running my s4 directly into my macbook pro usb slot...

so now I have one slot left, but I still need to plug in a midi controller (bus powered or self powered) and dmxis (bus powered) which runs my entire lighting rig through ableton.

I have a non powered hub and a crappy powered hub (10 from amazon).

What is the best combination for these other two units to make sure everything will run smoothly? WIll I need to use the powered hub?

Thanks guys for your help.

**Synec** · 09-13-2011, 04:21 PM

1) "Too many devices, too few USB ports"
2) Use the search function or that cute little thing that people call google.
3)TL;DR...use the powered one.

**Ed Paris** · 09-13-2011, 04:24 PM

it comes down to what usb hub works better? i found my self using a unpowered hubs running my vci100,audio8,wd passport,launchpad like a charm. but also i had a powered one which was rubbish.
test it to it´s limit and then you´ll come to the conclusion what is better for you.

@synec: not nice. tl;dr was unneccesary since it wasn´t tl...

**ksandvik** · 09-13-2011, 04:34 PM

* Power your S4.
* Use a good powered USB hub for the rest (some hubs have power units with less than 1 amp, avoid those.)

Laptop USB ports are fine but they have never been designed to drive many devices. You just avoid a lot of crashes and bad behavior if you follow those two rules above.

**SirReal** · 09-13-2011, 10:47 PM

I'm assuming since you mention only 2 USB slots that you have a 15 or 13" MBP? Which leaves out the handy little device I have for my 17" that gives me 4 powered slots with a usb card.