Usb Powered Hub + Usb Wifi + Ext Usb Host Adapter?


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firefly2442

Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Messages
136
Age
40
Location
USA
Website
www.rivetcode.com
Hello. I would really like to get Wifi and other USB devices to work on my GP2X. Since the GP2X doesn't have very much power and is unable to power a USB Wifi stick, I was thinking of getting a powered USB hub:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817804001

This combined with an EXT USB Host Adapter for the GP2X should allow me to use it right? Then I could get a Wifi USB stick like this:

http://wehow.ehow.com/how_2002188_buy-wire...le-locally.html

Or probably any of the other ones that work with Linux. I'll probably need to do some more research. How hard would it be to include the drivers? The wireless drivers that ARTaylor got working here:

http://www.artaylor.co.uk/gp2x/

It doesn't say what USB Wifi stick he used with it.

Then there is the EXT USB Host Adapter. I know nothing about electrical engineering but I'm willing to learn. I tried searching the forums for in depth tutorials with images but I was unable to find anything. Would someone be willing to provide more detailed instructions on how to construct an EXT port to Type A Female USB connector? Thanks. :)
 
firefly2442 posted on Jan 28 2007 said:
It doesn't say what USB Wifi stick he used with it.
Click to expand...
It says what chipset, you need to find a stick with that wireless chip in it.

Then there is the EXT USB Host Adapter. I know nothing about electrical engineering but I'm willing to learn. I tried searching the forums for in depth tutorials with images but I was unable to find anything. Would someone be willing to provide more detailed instructions on how to construct an EXT port to Type A Female USB connector? Thanks. :)
Click to expand...
Here is what there is so far: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=34309

Not really in-depth I know. I have ordered the integrated USB termination chip from digikey, when it gets here I might be able to do a tutorial on using a proper chip. It is $0.69 (plus $2 shipping, plus $5 handling, on orders under $25), so we should probably base any future USB mods exclusively around this chip.
 
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firefly2442 posted on Jan 28 2007 said:
If you could do a tutorial that would be fantastic. The documentation on the wiki is quite general and certainly not for a newbie. :)
Click to expand...
Well, it is actually very specific, if you can read a schematic. I guess that falls under non-newbie territory.

To be fair if (when) a first timer gets into trouble, they can really mess up electrical things.

As for a tutorial, we will see when the chip gets here, unfortunately for newbs the chip has 5 legs and is 2mm in size. I would expect requirements like a 15-watt soldering iron, some very fine "wrapping wire" and a lot of skill.

The good news is that it will fit on a really tiny circuit board, in fact why it wasn't included on the GP2X is beyond me. I suppose the argument is that they couldn't afford a couple cents per unit. I call foul because the second edition came out with a new circuit board, that would have been a great time to add the silly chip.
 
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Are there any good books or websites for starters to learn these electrical skills? Thanks.

I might just buy one from ARTaylor but it's darned expensive. :(
 
firefly2442 posted on Jan 31 2007 said:
Nevermind, I think this is it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/OEM-Samsung-e720-e810-...VQQcmdZViewItem

:)

edit: Wiki picture of the cable:

http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/Image:E810-serial-cable.jpg
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't check back sooner, wow that is expensive, I am going to do a froogle and see if any webshops have an inventory for less.

Yes it is the right one, good luck on the mod, I am trying to figure out how to mount these tiny chips I got, the package with 2 chips in it is 1/4 the size of a PS1 modchip, tiny.

I think if it reaches you could put it on some copper lined board with a cut across two of the lines and then manually attach the Ground with a tiny mod-chip wire (size 30 wrapping wire). This chip is a couple of mm across, it would fit in anything, hundreds could fit inside the GP2X. In fact I wonder if you could get it into the path of the USB inside? Probably not worth it though, what with the possibility of damage to the GP2X motherboard.

Edit: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-OEM-Samsung-e620-e...8QQcmdZViewItem

a couple bucks cheaper, I am still looking though.

aargh, the math hurts my head, he seems to be raising the shipping? Either way, it is $15 or so with this last link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/OEM-Samsung-SGH-p735-p...9QQcmdZViewItem

I had that axshop was selling them for something like $3, but they went under. Maybe I will google instead of froogle and I will find some.
 
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firefly2442 posted on Feb 4 2007 at 03:04 PM said:
Well, I searched high and low and I couldn't find any other cheaper prices so I bought one. So my next question is, can I used this after I build the cable?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817804001

It's a AA battery powered USB hub.
Click to expand...
Sweet, that is what I would use.

I got the super micro chip, here is a picture of it mounted to a Radio Shack breadboard. And a shot of it on a dime, these things are really small.

term.jpg


This is now in my USB thread in the FAQ section: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=34309#
 
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Okay I've been working on this for a few days now. I've got all the usb stuff going, I just need to get the software side of things working. I have a precompiled module for arm for the zd1211 chipset and both the wifi tools from Emu&Co's thread ( http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=28012&hl= ) and Artaylor site. I have tried a number of things but can't seem to get past the 'ifconfig (device) up' line. It says the device doesn't exist. I'm assuming for this module the device is wlan0 as Emu&Co has. I've also tried rausb0 in a number of possible permutations.

If anyone has got something working it would be nice if they could do a lovely little tutorial on the wiki.

Is there a way to get wifi on qtopia/ is it different?

My current set up is this, I haven't bothered putting in the other settings yet;

Code: 
#!/bin/sh
(
#printf "\033[30mBlack \033[31m- Red \033[32m- Green \033[33m- "
#printf "Yellow \033[34m- Blue \033[35m- Magenta \033[36m- "
#printf "Cyan \033[37m- White \033[30m\n"
#printf "\033[40;37mBlack\033[30m\033[49m - \033[41mRed\033[49m - "
#printf "\033[42mGreen\033[49m - \033[43mYellow"
#printf "\033[49m - \033[44mBlue\033[49m - \033[45mMagenta\033[49m - "
#printf "\033[46mCyan\033[49m - \033[47mWhite\033[39;49m\n"
#printf "\033[0;39;49m"
printf "\033[31m					 WiFi Setup Utility\n\n\033[32m"
modprobe -v zd1211.o
sleep 5
#Name of the driver can be different
ifconfig wlan0 up
sleep 5
#Name of the WLAN Stick can be, depending upon driver, different too.
./iwconfig wlan0 ESSID BCWAN1
sleep 3
#The ESSID can be selected as you wish. (Should be identical to the PC Settings)
./iwconfig wlan0 mode Ad-Hoc
sleep 3
#Leave it on Ad Hoc on GP2X and PC
./iwconfig wlan0 rate auto
#Same here, don't change
./iwconfig wlan0 channel 1
sleep1
#The Channel can be selected as you wish. (Should be identical to the PC Settings)
ifconfig wlan0 192.168.1.13 netmask 255.255.255.0
sleep 1
#IP should begin with 192.168.1 on the GP2X AND PC. Subnetmask should not be changed.
) 2>&1 | ./gp2xole

cd /usr/gp2x; exec ./gp2xmenu

I've used taylor's 'Gui' so that I can see what's happening... which is in short, very little. I have put the files in the root of the Sd as EMu&CO sort of in a vague way, suggests.
 
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Well, I finally got the Samsung cable. It took long enough, good grief. Mine doesn't seem to fit the GP2X perfectly. Do I need to file down any of the plastic in order to make it fit properly?
 
Well, I stopped by my local RadioShack and got the necessary resistors and capacitors. Is the VUSB line for the filter really necessary though? If I am using a powered USB hub then that will just provide the power right? In your picture you have the batteries hooked up to provide the power, can I skip that then since it's powered?

Also, for the USB Type A receptacle... where can I find one of those? I tried checking digikey and they have a little form where you can narrow down the search for USB connectors but there are lots of results. Is this what I want?

http://www.usa-assmann.com/Specs/A-USBPA-R.pdf

It looks like the male connector though at least from the picture...

Thanks for the help. :)

edit: I need the connector to be like the one in this picture (the female one on the right).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a..._Connectors.jpg
 
So I bought ARTaylor's USB cable and plugged in the battery powered hub + USB thumbdrive. The LEDs turned on and everything seemed to be working. I checked the settings and the USB items are all turned on. But when I go to EXT, it's not mounted. I checked "dmesg" through the terminal and all I got was a bunch of errors that are related to the NAND apparently. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks. :)
 
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