Hi. I live with a lovely woman whose eyes glaze over at the mere mention of the c-word. Computer. So, I'm going to have to bore you lot with this:

I bought a 6" USB adapter cable to convert a hub to something I could more readily use. What seemed a simple task ended up taking three days.

I had 5Gb/s ports running at 480Mb/s. I had SSDs dropping connections. The latest was a message saying my USB port couldn't supply enough power.

I reconfigured the heck out of this setup and finally got there. I've I've posted a photo of the problem and a pdf of the solution.

I'm pretty pleased with myself. My wife could care less...

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/wcyoqdhgyvdqlqy/Spaghetti.jpg?dl=0[/img]

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/d3krvt7l0qxcm12/iMac%20connections.pdf?dl=0[/img]

I should say that the swapping and changing probably took a 1/2 day. The rest of the time was spent doing the pdf.

My wife's friends ask her what I do all day. She doesn't like to say.

Egads!

And you're retired?

For the last 10 years. Way too much time on my hands!

But not too much computing power?

Your rig may rival joemike's.

GREAT MINDS!

I have a similar situation except mine extends from the desktop to the desk bottom. I finally resorted to a Numbers Spreadsheet to plan the connections.

Next, I wonder if I should map all the power connections or label each end of each connecting cable first? In retrospect labeling both ends of all the cables would probably be the most useful.

I am impressed with the setups both of you have documented.

Just to be clear freelance, you have a hub plugged into a hub (blue into pink if I'm reading it correctly)? No power complaints? Do either of those have their own power supply directly into a wall outlet or more likely, a power strip? Just planning ahead for my next desktop upgrade.

Ha! I knew I was talking to the right crowd!

joemike: for you Desktop extensions

Ira L: All the hubs are powered except the 9-port hub, which was the one that threw up the USB power warning. So, all the things now plugged into that hub are self-powered or don't draw much.

I always bought the medium spec machine when I was getting a new computer and that goes for the 2019 iMac, even though I was finished working professionally. Can't break old habits. Plus, I like decent kit.

I always replace old drives when they reach their end of warranty, but keep them in service as redundant backup. Shelf drives 1 and 2 are being replaced tomorrow and reformatted. I think No. 1 will have to be trashed, though.

Backup

I don't know where you draw the line between OCD and just keeping busy...