Usb Otg Adapters

[gruso]

I have time to kill. I'm going to do some diagrams.

 

[gruso]

 

[EdCa22]

Nice diagrams! Sorry, but I still have a question though; want to be sure the OTG adapter works for 2.0 speed devices as well right?

 

[gruso]

According to www.openpandora.ca, that's a yes.

"USB 2.0 OTG port (480Mb/s) with capability to charge device"

 

[Squidge]

A male mini B plug I can wait to buy until later because the ability for the pandora to act like a device to another host might be implemented by software.

Might. But current "standard" cables should work regardless, the only possible software configuration I can think of would be selection between device & host, and if pin 5 is connected to gnd, it's obviously a host cable.

 

[Tor]

Hey Gruso, nice diagrams! Maybe they could be added to the wiki? I'm sure it'll be useful for many people.

 

[dgame]

The IBM 5150 has USB?

 

[hch]

According to www.openpandora.ca, that's a yes.

"USB 2.0 OTG port (480Mb/s) with capability to charge device"

wait... are you saying the otg port can provice hi-speed 2.0 too? that would be fantastic. i always thought it was lo and full only.

thanks btw for your nice renders! seeing the original ibm pc hooked to usb is priceless and picture 2 just begs the question what happens if you plug both ends of that cable into the 2 ports on the pandora

 

[OrR]

I took a look at that document depreciating mini-A connectors. This makes a lot of sense.
Currently there are very few devices with mini-A connectors on them (mostly USB OTG devices with mini-AB connectors, and there are very few of those).
By eliminating mini-A connectors, they reduce the number of different types of cables required from 9 to 6, since formerly there were three sizes of A (A, mini-A, and micro-A), and three sizes of B (B, mini-B, micro-B ). They have not depreciated the mini-B connector, because there are very many portable devices using the mini-B connector.

This puts the Pandora in an interesting position. The mini-AB connector that they use for USB OTG has been depreciated, and the USB A connector they use is not standards complaint. On top of that, it appears that this document states that if you have a USB OTG micro-AB port on your device, you are not allowed to have any other USB ports on your device.
I guess we won't be seeing any USB logos anywhere on the Pandora. :blink:

Edited to eliminate accidental smiley. (Unfortunately, this also appears to have broken the intentional smiley)


While the Pandora will certainly not get OTG certification (and I suppose we should be careful and not call the mini AB and OTG port all the time), there is nothing preventing it from using the basic USB logo as far as I can see, as that one has no certification requirements attached to it. Lots on non standard cables are using it all the time.
This is the logo I'm talking about: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/USB_Icon.svg

 

[Squidge]

This is the logo I'm talking about

I'm sure we can do what a lot of companies do.

"USB2.0 High-speed Certified*" on the front (with the asterix in the smallest possible font recognised under a 100x magnification lens)

and then:

* - Cable (included)

on the back or side (same font)

 

[EmuGuy]

Thanks for those pictures Gruso! I have been trying to follow all this USB stuff, but your pics sum it up very nicely, I hope they get added to the stickies and the official manual, if such a document exists. Good job! Plus the old skool PC is hilarious. :lol:

 

[gruso]

I've added a USB FAQ/reference page to the wiki. It's not complete yet, I'm going to polish up the diagrams before I add them.

CODE
http://pandorawiki.org/USB_reference


Comments/corrections welcome of course.

 

[Awakening]

So, I need a Mini-B to A cable? Does it come with the Pandora or do I need to buy it?

Will my PC recognize it as 3 separate mass storage devices? Or maybe I can only access the SD slots?

Can I use it to connect to the Internet through a PC? This would be very handy as neither I nor most people I know have WiFi.

 

[gruso]

1. If your PC has a card reader you won't need any USB cables. Not sure if a USB cable will come with Pandora.

2. Good question.

3. Another good question. I'm not sure if that's possible, but if it is, I'll have to add that to the wiki too.

There is the option of a USB ethernet adapter. I came across this article via Beagleboard.org:
CODE
http://free-electrons.com/blog/usbeth/

Macbook Air adaptor, whod'a thunk it. They're cheap too. Not tested on Pandora yet though.

A USB Bluetooth dongle for your PC is a pretty cheap option too.


In other news, the USB page on the wiki is done (for now), complete with new improved pictures.

 

[Awakening]

I still need the cable to charge the Pandora through USB, it would also be a lot more practical with a cable then a card reader. If I could also use it for Internet (and to access shared files too) it would be very useful.

An Ethernet adapter would be nice.

 

[Tor]

Will my PC recognize it as 3 separate mass storage devices? Or maybe I can only access the SD slots?

If I connect my N800 to a PC it sees 2 separate mass storage devices (the two SD cards). It does not see the internal NAND as mass storage, and this is probably for the same reason an SD card will not become visible if the Nokia is unable to unmount the card, e.g. if a file is open or if it swap on the card is in use. The N800 does not NFS-export the card filesystems, instead it automatically unmounts the cards when the USB cable is connected. Then the cards are made visible as mass storage to the PC. If it can't unmount, it can't show it as mass storage.

I imagine the Pandora will work the same way if the same Linux components are used for this.

QUOTE

Can I use it to connect to the Internet through a PC? This would be very handy as neither I nor most people I know have WiFi.


Should be possible, again using the Nokia as reference.

 

[hch]

Macbook Air adaptor, whod'a thunk it. They're cheap too. Not tested on Pandora yet though.

they work out of the box on linux machines - tried it recently in anticipation of the pandora . and they are surprisingly cheap too, given that they are from apple.

 

[OrR]

In other news, the USB page on the wiki is done (for now), complete with new improved pictures.

I edited the page to add some clarifications and correct some mistakes. Hope I haven't made any new ones but I've been looking up everything I wasn't certain about in the standard documents.

 

[BackAssward]

I still need the cable to charge the Pandora through USB, it would also be a lot more practical with a cable then a card reader. If I could also use it for Internet (and to access shared files too) it would be very useful.

An Ethernet adapter would be nice.

Please tell me that you are not looking for a USB ethernet adaptor that also provides 5V and enough amps (from your router through the ethernet connection) to charge the pandora?

If that is what you are asking, then no, no, and no. You will not find such a device.

 

[gruso]

In other news, the USB page on the wiki is done (for now), complete with new improved pictures.

I edited the page to add some clarifications and correct some mistakes. Hope I haven't made any new ones but I've been looking up everything I wasn't certain about in the standard documents.
No worries, glad to have my sloppy terminology cleaned up.