07-22-2016, 04:54 PM
The USB ports on the Pine have self-resetting current limiters set at 500mA that make them standard compliant and protect the board from over-current. Most mechnical drives need a lot more than that to start up or seek, some come with a double USB plug where you can power the drive from two ports, but for most you will need an external power supply/powered hub.
Come have a chat in the Pine IRC channel >>