This is a video about a Roku 3 set up with a 7 port USB 3.0 AC powered hub. In this video my Roku 3 is plugged in to my computer monitor via an HDMI to DVI cable. My computer monitor only has 1 DVI, 1 VGA, and one 3.5mm audio input connection. IT DOES NOT have an HDMI input because it's an older monitor. I plugged an AUX cable from the 3.5mm headphone jack on my ROKU 3 remote to an external speaker that has a 3.5mm AUX input to play the audio of my media files. The video connection runs through the HDMI to DVI cable that runs from my Roku 3 to my computer monitor. The external speaker has more powerful speakers compared to the speakers built in my computer monitor. All hard drives and usb sticks are formatted using NFTS file system. I formatted the drives & usb sticks on a Macbook Air running Mac OS Catalina and I copied my movies to the hard drives and usb sticks using my Macbook Air running MAC OS Catalina. When plugging in hard drives to a Roku 3 or other Roku device that has a USB port, the drives and/ or usb sticks must be formatted to NFTS and/ or FAT32 file system. Roku devices cannot read usb sticks or hard drives formatted to the exFAT file system. It is recommended that you use a computer running Windows 10 or a Mac computer running the one of the latest opersting systems that Apple has released to format your drives and usb sticks. My 3.5 sata hard drive has its own dock with its own power supply (therefore technically turning it into an external hard drive). My 2.5 sata hard drive is placed inside a usb 3.0 powered enclosure (also turning this hdd into an external hard drive). My 7 port USB 3.0 hub has it's own power supply and the hub powers the 2.5 sata hard drive. In my experience using hard drives to play media files on my ROKU 3, the usb port on the Roku devices does not supply enough power to the 2.5/3.5 sata hard drives so therefore I either used a 2.5/3.5 usb 3.0 hdd docking station to power the drives or if I'm using a usb powered 2.5 sata hdd enclosure I plug my 7 port usb 3.0 hub into the Roku, and then I plug the hard drive into the hub. There are 2 cables on my 7 port USB 3.0 hub. One cable has its own power supply that plugs into an AC outlet and the other cable is the usb 3.0 cable that runs from the hub to the ROKU 3. I originally bought this 7 port usb 3.0 hub for my Macbook Air but I repurposed it to use on my Roku 3 to supply power to my 2.5 sata hard drive enclosure device. In my experience Roku models with usb ports can only power usb sticks to play their media files. Roku 3 only can only read NFTS & FAT32 file systems on external hard drives and usb sticks. I chose to format my drives to NFTS because some of my media files are larger than 4GB. I believe 4GB is the maximum size of a file that can be transferred to a hard drive or usb stick formatted with the FAT32 file system. I chose to use a 7 port USB 3.0 hub with it's own power supply to use on my Roku 3 because I have several external hard drives and usb sticks with media files on them. I'm pretty sure this demonstration of using a 7 port USB 3.0 hub with it's own power supply and using multiple hard drives and usb sticks with a Roku 3 would work with all newer and possibly older Roku models, as long as they have a usb port and the Roku devices are updated with the latest Roku software updates (you can check for all the latest software updates for your Roku in the settings on your actual Roku device). My recommendation is that if you use a 3.5/2.5 sata external hard drive and you want to plug it in the usb port on your Roku, make sure your hard drive has it's own power supply. 3.5 sata hard drives definitely need their own power supply but 2.5 sata hard drives in usb 3.0 enclosures can generally be powered by a usb 3.0 hub as long as the hub has it's own power supply that plugs into your home AC outlet. USB sticks consume very little power and the USB port on the Roku can power a usb stick directly plugged into the Roku device on it's own. You don't need a usb hub if you only have 1 device that you want to plug into your Roku device. Just make sure that if that device is not a usb stick it (such as a hard drive) you follow the instructions I mentioned previously. I hope this video helps anyone that has questions about using external memory storage devices (such as usb 2.0/3.0 sticks and hard drives) to plug in to their Roku's USB port to play media files such as movies, music, or photos. Also here is a link for a video on YouTube that I watched to figure out how to copy files TO my NFTS formatted external hard drives that I connected to my Macbook Air running Mac OS Catalina:
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