VOGONS


First post, by Sphere478

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As some of you know but all should be aware there seems to be a huge problem with usb2.0 cards in particular slowing some older systems down even when not in use. (Talking 3d mark scores of 5 or 6 hundred with them installed vs 8 or 9 hundred with them out.) crazy stuff

Anyway there is also the problem of limited pci slots and no really good isa options for usb.

The onboard usb is also good for keyboard in bios

So speed concerns of usb 1.1 aside, the onboard usb is super convenient and functional

But some boards atx specifically only give us usb A plugs at the I/O shield so the only way to get more ports was to use a external hub, which is probably what most of you will do and most of you will be happy, I didn’t want something external though so I came up with another option

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I made these with jumper pins and was sure to mark them with a sharpie to avoid shorting them out by accidentally installing them backwards

Next You can use this amazing little thing that I can not recommend enough

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I’m loving the extra ports 😜

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I have two in front, and 6 in back now
I put them where the ISA slots go since this build isn’t using any isa cards.

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Last edited by Sphere478 on 2022-05-23, 07:00. Edited 1 time in total.

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 1 of 15, by maxtherabbit

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link to the hub board?

Reply 2 of 15, by Sphere478

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maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-12-23, 21:06:

link to the hub board?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124508039042

Takes em a while to arive from china but worth the wait inho

Last edited by Sphere478 on 2023-05-17, 23:21. Edited 1 time in total.

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 3 of 15, by maxtherabbit

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thanks!

Reply 4 of 15, by Repo Man11

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One of these would ease installation. "USB 2.0 Type A Male Cable Replacement 9-Pin USB IDC Dupont Male Header To Single"

"We do these things not because they are easy, but because we thought they would be easy."

Reply 5 of 15, by Sphere478

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Repo Man11 wrote on 2021-12-24, 02:34:

One of these would ease installation. "USB 2.0 Type A Male Cable Replacement 9-Pin USB IDC Dupont Male Header To Single"

Oh that would be great!

Does that take one plug and split into two sets of pins? Am I seeing that correctly?

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-12-24, 02:00:

thanks!

No prob 😀

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 6 of 15, by Repo Man11

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It takes one plug and ends in the standard nine pin male USB header.

"We do these things not because they are easy, but because we thought they would be easy."

Reply 7 of 15, by Sphere478

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Repo Man11 wrote on 2021-12-24, 13:22:

It takes one plug and ends in the standard nine pin male USB header.

Think it has a little hub in the plug head? Or just both sets of pins are direct wire to the usb A

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 8 of 15, by Repo Man11

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Sphere478 wrote on 2021-12-24, 13:24:
Repo Man11 wrote on 2021-12-24, 13:22:

It takes one plug and ends in the standard nine pin male USB header.

Think it has a little hub in the plug head? Or just both sets of pins are direct wire to the usb A

The one I have is just wires.

"We do these things not because they are easy, but because we thought they would be easy."

Reply 9 of 15, by Kahenraz

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I'm not sure how that "USB 2.0 Type A Male Cable Replacement 9-Pin USB IDC Dupont Male Header To Single" works, or if it even goes the direction you think it does. A 9-pin is for two USB ports and this only has one. Weird.

I had a completely different problem recently. My i945/ICG7 motherboard only had USB 1.1 ports! Yes, I confirmed all four rear ports and the two headers on the motherboard. What's worse is that the motherboard headers are 2x4 pin headers NOT 9-pin keyed headers! So I needed to order a special adapter, since they are wired up differently.

I never imagined that a Core 2 Duo motherboard would need an expansion card just to get USB 2.0.

Reply 11 of 15, by Kahenraz

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I checked the manual, too. The 2x4 pin headers are awkward enough that it has to label the pinout, since there is no key.

It's an industrial motherboard, but still. No USB 2.0 is just super awkward in this era of board.

Reply 12 of 15, by Kahenraz

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USB on Windows 9x is such a headache. Sometimes it works great. Sometimes it works intermittently or not at all. Sometimes you get both symptoms on the same machine at random!

Today I couldn't get the motherboard on my test bench to boot due to "resource conflicts". This is the board I always test with and these problems seem to occur every so often. I kept removing cards until it was just the video card and the NEC USB 2.0 card. Moving the problem card to a different slot is usually enough to help the BIOS resolve these conflicts itself and get a bootable system, but I KNOW that the card will work on this slot, because I always use the same slot for this USB card.

I kept futzing with options in the BIOS, and I think toggling Plug 'n Play BIOS off and on is what fixed it. When the system booted up, I attached my MicroSD card reader. Normally, an LED will turn on inside the device to indicate that it's working; but not this time. Even when testing in another USB port, there was no LED. I then tried attaching my USB wireless adapter. Its LED turned on. Then the screen corrupted and the system froze. Great.

I rebooted again in the same configuration. The MicroSD adapter now works fine. The USB wireless adapter also works fine. I call shenanigans.

Maybe this is just a USB 2.0 thing. I can say for sure that I've always had some kind of trouble using USB with Windows 9x.

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Reply 13 of 15, by Sphere478

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There are many older systems that are slowed down quite a bit by USB 2.0 cards

You should do some testing to make sure that’s not happening

Windows millennium edition doesn’t seem to have any trouble with USB

Sphere's PCB projects.
-
Sphere’s socket 5/7 cpu collection.
-
SUCCESSFUL K6-2+ to K6-3+ Full Cache Enable Mod
-
Tyan S1564S to S1564D single to dual processor conversion (also s1563 and s1562)

Reply 14 of 15, by Kahenraz

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This is Windows ME. 😀