Help!
Jim,
I don't mean to jump in here, but as far as having to put a dummy load
on the power supply to get the drive working:
I think most power supplies in PCs are switched-mode power supplies,
which basically means that they can be 'smart.' The power supply senses
that there is not a full load, and reduces its power output. I guess this
is supposed to prevent damage to the motherboard in a PC, but if the
motherboard is not drawing enough current, it probably is damaged
already.
I use an old PC case & power supply to house the HD for my bridgeboard.
At first, my drive would not spin up either, and I had to put an 18ohm 3
watt resistor across the 5v line to get my 12v line up to full voltage. I
just mounted the resistor to the metal case to act as a heat sink. It's
been working for me for about a year now.
Hope this sheds some light on it.
Warren Puziewicz