Powering Raspberry Pi and other USB devices through a single USB Hub

Question

I bought a powered 7-port USB Hub, which has 7 downstream ports, 1 up stream port and one power port.

My question is can I connect both Raspberry Pi and the USB devices that I want to use with Raspberry Pi and power them through the sample USB Hub that I have. Is it possible?

Edit

Just to clarify, I want to power RPi through micro usb from one of the USB slots from the hub, not through the USB port of RPi.

See this question. You can't power the Raspberry Pi via the USB ports. — Jivings, Jan 12 '13 at 13:12
@Jivings I'm not sure the OP wants to power the RPi via the USB ports. I think he wants to power his RPi via the micro USB power input, and use the USB hub to connect more than two devices to the RPi. — Morgan Courbet, Jan 12 '13 at 13:30
I have edited the question to clarify. I want to power through the microusb port of RPi. — Sudar, Jan 12 '13 at 15:37
Which USB hub are you using? Maybe we can add information on your hub to the verified peripherals page? — Steven Devijver, Jan 13 '13 at 11:05

score 11 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 13 '13 at 16:38

11

It's possible to power your RPi through your USB hub on two conditions:

the hub does not backfeed: this is easy to test; remove the SD card, connect the RPi's USB port (not micro USB port) to the hub. If the RPi's led doesn't come on the hub doesn't backfeed. If the hub does backfeed you can't use this hub with the RPi.
the power supply of the hub is powerful enough: some USB hubs come with a 1 A power supply. Mine has a 2.4 A power supply which is plenty for the RPi, a passive HD and a wifi dongle.

See the list of verified USB hubs: http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals#Working_USB_Hubs

edited Jan 13 '13 at 16:38

Alex Chamberlain

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answered Jan 13 '13 at 09:53

Steven Devijver

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This is useful info - I've been doing this with my Pi for a while, but didn't know about the issue of backfeed. THe advantage of course os that you need a single plug for several peripherals and the Pi together. – Mick Sear Feb 25 '13 at 09:00
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@steven It seems for rev 2.0 boards, backfeeding isn't a problem any more http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/1929 – Sudar Sep 13 '13 at 16:30

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 13 '13 at 16:39

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It is possible. I am currently powering two raspberry pis and an external 1tb portable hard drive from a single usb hub (link).

edited Jan 13 '13 at 16:39

Alex Chamberlain

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answered Jan 12 '13 at 15:37

Bala Clark

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Thanks for confirming it. BTW is it also possible for you to access the hard drive from RPi, since it is all connected through the same hub? – Sudar Jan 12 '13 at 15:39
Yes, I just feed the hubs main USB connection back int the RPI and the USB drive is automounted via Raspbian. My experience is that if you want automounting you need to have the GUI also running on the RPI. – Bala Clark Jan 12 '13 at 15:41
Thanks for confirming it. I will try to do it myself as well. – Sudar Jan 12 '13 at 15:43

Powering Raspberry Pi and other USB devices through a single USB Hub

2 Answers2