Hi everyone,
Is it safe to use the Cubase dongle on a USB Hub that is being powered through external power supply rather than the laptop’s power? I’ve just bought USB Hub that has a 50/60Hz-0.6A power supply to use for my external hard drives.
Thanks in advance
Yes it is ok to use an externally powered USB hub. Sometimes it is suggested to use an externally powered hub to correct issues that may arise when you don’t use one.
Regards. 
Thanks for the reply Prock!
Much appreciated…
Cheers
Only thing I would add is that USB 2 is specified to 500mA, a hub with 4 ports should really have a 2A power supply.
In praxis it not really a problem, until you plug in several power hungry USB devices.
This recommendation usually applies to fix issues where a non-powered HUB was used, because non-powered HUBs increase the chances for situations where not enough power is provided to all the attached devices.
In general, it is best to attach the eLicenser directly to the main board’s root HUB (i.e. directly to one of the computer’s USB slots), but this is not always possible.
Best alternative is to use an externally powered HUB.
Worst alternative is to use a non-powered HUB.
Having said that, there are many USB devices, USB HUBs, USB controllers and USB drivers out there; and some combinations of hardware and software will cause trouble, as experience has shown every now and then.
So, the recommendation given above is just meant as an indication to decrease chances for incompatibilities.
But it is absolutely possibly to have a potentially “problematic” setup that is working fine 100%, as well as it is possible to have a recommended setup that still exposes rare incompatibilities.
I will weigh in to this discussion… I think Steinberg and Cubase - or maybe the E-licenser folks could improve it’s performance on Windows 10.
I have 2 computers in my studio. A windows 10 machine, and a Mac with El-capitan. I do not use both at the same time… but I do like to use Cubase Pro 8.6 on either machine. For that reason I use a powered USB Hub so that both PC’s can share similar USB devices, like Mouse, keyboard, and some universally shared MIDI controllers.
When I have the Steinberg Key plugged in to the powered Hub, the Mac has no trouble finding the key and Cubase starts up with no issues. This is NOT the case for Windows 10! For some reason, the E-licnser can’t find the Key!
What’s annoying is that It doesn’t even display an error or warning. In fact, Nothing happens. I have to open up Task manager and go and kill the Elicenser AND Cubase. Then I have to physically plug the damn key into the PC. to make it work… And sometimes I even on my PC, I have to try several USB slots until it finds one it likes!!! In my opinion, the ultimate culprit is a Service in Windows called “SYSVOLUME” - which both Cubase and the E-licenser applications are dependent on. I have endless Cubase stalling problems until I kill that process… but that’s maybe another discussion.