It’s easy to connect a hard drive to your TV. You can synchronize both a device that belongs to portable models and a classic, internal one. This guide tells you what needs to be done in order for the TV set to function in tandem with such a carrier.
Why connect an external hard drive to your TV?
Below are three main reasons why a hard drive connected to a TV can be useful:
- You don’t have to buy a bunch of disks and look for a place to store them: you can upload everything to the HDD and view the content on the big screen.
- If you want to record a particularly interesting broadcast or a series of your favorite TV series, the TV’s “native” memory is often not enough to keep everything the owner wants. But a drive with a good volume will definitely be enough.
- A winchester connected to a TV will help out if the device from which the user wants to broadcast content to the big screen does not have an HDMI connector or it does not fit.
Come in handy: TOP 5 best HDDs for 2 TB – Rating of internal hard drives for 2000 GB
Connecting an external HDD via USB
The portable device does not need additional power: it takes it directly from a working TV. Together with drives of this type, a USB cable is supplied, through which the storage is connected to various devices.
Almost all modern TVs that can read data from external storage media have at least one USB input. And the 32M5500 has two of them.
On some smart TVs, this port is even labeled as an input for an external HDD. After connecting, you usually do not have to install drivers: a menu immediately pops up that allows you to select the type of content.
Find out: How to connect a laptop to a TV? 3 effective and proven ways
The procedure in this case is as follows:
- connect storage to TV;
- choose the type of content.
If this does not happen, then after connecting the hard drive to the TV, you need to use the remote control to enter the menu. This is how many modern TV models are synchronized, for example, those produced by Sony.
Advice : in order for the portable disk and the TV to work without interruptions with files that have a large volume, it would be good if both devices support the third version of the USB – such a speed of information exchange will have a positive effect on the functioning of the devices.
Related: Rating external hard drives for 2 TB
Connecting an internal hard drive via a SATA to USB adapter
Internal HDDs , which are supposed to be placed in desktops and laptops, are installed using a different type of connector – SATA. It should also be borne in mind that some internal hard drives require additional power.
However, such a device can also be connected to a TV. There is no need to install it inside the device case: you just need to buy a special adapter with a SATA adapter and a connection cable. On the one hand, the wire will have a micro, and on the other, two classic yusb. One is needed as the main conductor for the TV, and the second for additional power supply.
The steps to take to synchronize the hard drive with your TV are described in the table.
Tip : to build a collection of movies in cool quality, you need a capacious storage media such as WD8003FFBX . It is capable of storing as much as 8 terabytes of data.
| How to connect an internal HDD to a TV | |
| Step 1 | Remove the hard drive from your computer or laptop in safe mode. |
| Step 2 | Insert the hard drive into the adapter and connect to the TV as an external storage medium. |
| Tip : If the SATA is large, it is better to connect it through both USB plugs. Of course, there should be enough ports on the TV for this. For example, 65XF9005 has three of them, while one of the high-speed inputs is of the third version. | |
Instructions: How to connect the system unit and the TV – 6 connection options
What if the TV does not see the external HDD?
Sometimes the devices won’t sync. It happens that a hard disk, regardless of its type, is connected to the TV, but the screen of the device does not display the switching window. And when the user tries to open the section for switching on his own, the television display gives a message about the absence of connected devices.
5 options for solving the problem:
- The drive may also need a power source: you can use an additional USB plug to provide power.
- Check if the plug is not fully inserted. You can try to reconnect the hard drive.
- See if the HDD is working properly. This can be done by connecting the drive to a PC.
Interesting : portable media are not only compact but also voluminous. For example, 4-terabyte variants like the Armor A60 are enough to carry your collection of multimedia files with you everywhere.
- Find out if the USB input is working on the TV. To do this, just connect another device to the TV port, for example, a smartphone or a USB flash drive.
- Clear the media from all information by formatting it in FAT32 or NTFS.
If none of the above methods worked, you should contact the service center: they will check everything and heal if there is a malfunction.
Tip : If you want a TV with a cool screen and good sound, then the 55UK6300PLB is perfect. High definition and special technology Clear voice will allow you to enjoy beautiful pictures and clear sound.
Helpful : How to format a hard drive – standard tools and 6 special utilities
The connection scheme, as well as the synchronization of devices, remain unchanged, regardless of their type. True, with an HDD that requires integration into a device, you will also need an adapter. It’s easy to do: just a couple of steps – and you can enjoy content in decent quality on a large display.
