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idonotliketostu

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
398
0
Say I have a USB hub that splits 1 port into two. Does it use a controller to manage the extra port? Or is it just wired up in parallel and the motherboard handles the data and etc?
 
It is like a splice in the line. Some do have chips so that each port has full bandwidth capabilities, but most share the bandwidth.

TEG
 
Okay so you're saying that I can just solder this onto a usb port from the inside and I plug in a printer, the OS will be able to recognize the separate accessories?

logitechusb.png
 
are you trying to mod this receiver inside your macbook or something?

Yes. When I'm in desktop mode, the cinema display and the mouse reciever take both the usb ports. It's a hassle whenever I want to print something.

From Razer Copperheads and Diamondbacks to the Apple Magic and Mighty mouse, logitech's dark field mice are the best i've used.

On a side note, i just realize why Razer name them after snakes, because their mice eats other mice :p
 
You cannot wire multiple USB devices to one set of wires, it will NOT work. All USB hubs require a chip that does the protocol translation from one to multi ports. If you try to connect multiple things to one port they will conflict with each other and additionally draw too much power on the lines and cause the port to be shut down. Fortunately the USB ports are smart enough to shut down the power before burning things out.

All USB end points are single device endpoints (although they may have multiple logical endpoints). This means that from the port to the device is only one physical connection. Hubs have a special protocol that makes them "transparent" to the host and allows for passing of data between multiple devices. Thus you MUST use a USB hub to get more USB ports.

I'm glad to see that the monitor has more ports for you, and thus you've solved your problem. But just want to make it clear for everyone, don't try wiring multiple things to one USB port.
 
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