Seagate USB external drives are designed, tested and supported to work with desktop and laptop computers. Seagate USB external drives may be used with many other devices and this article will provide information on other environment the drive could be used on.
When using a Seagate USB external drive with something other than a desktop or laptop computer, Seagate recommends consulting the manufacturer of your device to understand what limitations may exist. Here are some common limitations:
Format restrictions - NTFS, HFS+, Fat32, etc
Capacity limitations - max capacity may vary by device
Power Requirements - may require a drive that gets power from a wall outlet
Partition type requirements - MBR vs GPT
Feature limitations - some USB ports may not be compatible with external hard drives.
Sector size - 512 vs Advanced format drive (4K)
Index
Using a USB drive with Network router
Using a USB drive to a Gaming Console
Using a USB drive in a car
Using a USB drive with a Smart TV
Using a USB drive with Server
Using a USB drive with DVR
Using a USB drive with Blu-Ray / DVD player
Operating System Compatibility
Connecting a Seagate USB Hard Drive to a network router
Connecting a Seagate USB Hard Drive to a USB port on your existing network router could be a cost effective way to share files and data on the network and may be accessible to many devices such as PCs, Macs, Smart TVs, and even Tablets and Phones.
Please consult the router manufacturer's documentation and website for USB Drive compatibility and file system requirements. Pay attention to any format restrictions on the router. Most Seagate drives are formatted NTFS and "for Mac" drives are formatted HFS+. These formats may not be supported by some routers.
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Connecting a Seagate USB drive to a Gaming Console
A Seagate USB external drive may be used with a Gaming Console in two ways.
To use the USB hard drive as additional storage for the game files. Games would be installed to the USB drive and games may can be moved from the Gaming Console’s internal storage.
A second way a Seagate USB hard drive could be used would be for playing Videos, Music, and viewing pictures.
Please consult the Gaming Console manufacturer’s website and documentation for a (DSL) Drive Support List and setup procedures.
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Connecting a Seagate USB portable drive to a USB port in your car
Connecting a Seagate USB portable drive to a USB port in your car could be a wonderful way to have your entire music library available when on a long road trip. The car stereo may require the USB drive to be formatted with the FAT32 file system or may have capacity limitations.
Please consult with the automobile manufacturer's documentation for compatibility and USB Drive requirements.
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Connecting a Seagate USB hard drive to a USB port on your Smart TV.
Connecting a Seagate USB hard drive to a SMART TV may be a way to quickly enjoy photos, music, or video files on the television in the living room or bed room. Please consult the TV manufacturer's User’s Manual for USB compatibility, capacity limitations (over 2TB), and supported video & audio formats.
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Connecting a Seagate USB drive to a Server
If a Seagate USB drive is detected when connected to a Server, copy and paste can be used to transfer data to the the Seagate USB drive. There may be third party backup applications available that will be compatible with the drive. If the Seagate USB drive comes with software do not attempt to install the software in the server operating system as it was not designed for that environment.
Some Seagate USB desktop drives are 4K sector size and will not be supported with Windows server backup on Microsoft Server 2003 and 2008.
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Connecting a Seagate USB drive to a DVR.
Connecting a Seagate external drive to a DVR may be good for increasing the DVR storage capacity. Please consult the DVR manufacturer’s documentation for a (DSL) Drive Support List and setup procedures.
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Connecting a Seagate USB Hard Drive with a BluRay / DVD player
Connecting a Seagate USB Hard Drive to a USB port to a BluRay / DVD player is another way to view your digital content on your Television. If your TV doesn’t have USB ports, you can connect a Seagate USB Hard Drive to the BluRay player and access the files from the BluRay player menus.
Please consult the BluRay / DVD player User’s Manual for USB compatibility, capacity limitations (over 2TB), and supported video & audio formats.
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Operating System Compatibility
Seagate, Maxtor, and Samsung-brand external hard drives do not require additional drivers to function with modern Windows (Vista+) or Mac OS X (10.4+) operating systems. These external drives are supported by the standard device drivers that are already included in these operating systems out of the box. You should be able to plug the drive into your computer and locate it in Windows Explorer or Finder. If the drive is not being detected you will want to proceed with basic troubleshooting steps.
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