The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Everything Else => Topic started by: SavannahLion on July 10, 2015, 04:29:11 am
-
The HB_UMLW caught my eye when I was hunting down a part at Frys today. Googled the company and they have several USB Hubs that are constructed like this.
Whats unusual is that Sabrent (http://www.sabrent.com/category/usb-hubs/) offers USB hubs where each port can be individually powered off manually. Take a look at this page
http://www.sabrent.com/category/usb-hubs/ (http://www.sabrent.com/category/usb-hubs/)
Relevant part numbers:
4-PORT USB 2.0 HUB WITH POWER SWITCHES HB-UMLS and HB-UMLW
USB 2.0 4-Port Hub Strip Individual On/Off Power Switch USB-HPSS
7-PORT USB 2.0 HUB AND STAND-ALONE USB CHARGING STATION WITH AC ADAPTOR USB-H7PS
4-PORT USB 3.0 HUB with power adapter HB-USB30
4-PORT USB 3.0 HUB WITH POWER SWITCHES HB-UM43
4-PORT USB 3.0 HUB WITH POWER SWITCH HB-U3P8 (This one has only one switch for all 4 ports)
I would do the HB-USB30 over the USB-H7PS due to the IC configuration (7 ports are actually 2x4 USB ports internally) but these two are the only powered ports. A strange thing since these are all about power management. You would think..... ???
The reason this is catching my eye is I've always wondered about the idea of having a multiple hubs with power controlled by a separate controller sitting in the USB farther up the chain.
I know that the USB spec does have power control outlined, but it's hard to wrap my head around the spec as it is so it is something I shoved to the back of the mind. Seeing these pushes the idea back to the forefront again.
The idea is something along the lines of dynamically activating/deactivating peripherals . Originally, I had this thought that if one can systematically activate peripherals in sequence during boot, then the hope was that the devices would maintain their original plug in sequence. A way to solve the reshuffling of device orders (such as multiple gamepads) during a reboot.
Another feature would also be to disable specific controllers if they're inappropriate for the game, such as disabling a NES style controller for games that need a SNES style pad.
Of course ControllerRemap really makes this a wash. And of course, if you need more buttons, you just use the appropriate number of buttons. So.... :dunno
Still, I think this is an interesting idea and I offer it here to see what anyone else can come up with. :)