On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:26:59 UTC in comp.os.linux.hardware, "Johannes
Beekhuizen" wrote:

> With or without power supply?

100% "With". Otherwise you are limited to the amount of power that can be
derived from the host port and that won't be enough to drive more than one
device attached to the port.

--
Trevor Hemsley, Brighton, UK
Trevor dot Hemsley at ntlworld dot com

"Trevor Hemsley" writes:

> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:26:59 UTC in comp.os.linux.hardware, "Johannes
> Beekhuizen" wrote:
>
>> With or without power supply?
>
> 100% "With". Otherwise you are limited to the amount of power that can be
> derived from the host port and that won't be enough to drive more than one
> device attached to the port.

I have my trackball, keyboard, scanner and DVD drive plugged into mine
and they all work just fine. Mind you, I haven't tried burning a CD
/while/ scanning a document or anything, and I'll happily agree that I'd
not have had much grounds for complaint had it not worked, but in
practice I seem to often get away with that sort of thing just fine.

Mark

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:26:59 +0200, Johannes Beekhuizen wrote:

> Hallo All,
>
> Due to lack of USB connectors, I'm thinking about buying an USB hub.
> Questions:
> Which brand? [The most easily availale here are Belkin, Sitecom and
> Trust].

Hard to say. I'd choose the one that weighs the most, unless it has to
go portable. (To me weight represents build quality when other factors
are equal or ambiguous.)

> How many ports? [I there any reason not to buy a 7 port one]?

Since I'm not crazy about USB (I think it is overrated), I choose 4 port
hubs. If I thought I might go crazy buying USB toasters, aquariums and
egg beaters, then I'd go 7 port. But I won't, so I don't.

> With or without power supply?

With power you get an increase in reliability, especially from devices
that are motorized like disk drives, that do not have independent power.
I always get powered hubs, because it will work in all situations that I
consider, whereas there are cases where not having a powered hub will
make the configuration fail. Having a powered hub increases the possible
situations where the USB config will work at all, just as an airplane
works in more situations than a glider.

> Any other remarks are also welcome, of course
>
> Groeten,
>
> Hans.
>
> jdh punt beekhuizen bij duinheks punt nl

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:26:59 +0200 Johannes Beekhuizen wrote:

| With or without power supply?

If you want to power devices plugged into the hub, I believe it will need
a power supply of its own. I have a couple hubs with memory card adaptor
intergrated and it does the hub thing and the memory card thing entirely
on power from the PC (or presumably uptream hub if I cascaded them). If I
plug in a self powered USB hard drive, it works w/o the hub P/S. If I plug
in a memory card, it works w/o the hub P/S. If I plug in a USB flash key,
it does NOT work unless the hub P/S is plugged in and energized. I suspect
they simply wired it this way under the assumption of low power usage by
memory cards (cards plus hub logic won't exceed the 1/2 amp from the PC)
and _possible_ high power usage from the USB port (some other device might
want all 1/2 amp allowed, despite a USB key not needing that much, and that
would exceed the upstream power availability).

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On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:26:59 +0200, Johannes Beekhuizen wrote:

> Hallo All,
>
> Due to lack of USB connectors, I'm thinking about buying an USB hub.
> Questions:
> Which brand? [The most easily availale here are Belkin, Sitecom and
> Trust].
> How many ports? [I there any reason not to buy a 7 port one]?
> With or without power supply?
> Any other remarks are also welcome, of course
>
> Groeten,
>
> Hans.
>
> jdh punt beekhuizen bij duinheks punt nl

My vote: cheapest. Without power supply unless you plan on plugging a
bunch of power hungry devices into it.

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008, Johannes Beekhuizen wrote:

> Hallo All,
>
> Due to lack of USB connectors, I'm thinking about buying
> an USB hub.
> Questions:
> Which brand? [The most easily availale here are Belkin,
> Sitecom and Trust].
> How many ports? [I there any reason not to buy a 7 port
> one]?
> With or without power supply?
> Any other remarks are also welcome, of course
>
I got tired of unplugging something when I needed to use
something else, so I knew it was time to go beyond the two
built in USB ports my computer has.

But as I was waiting for a hub to go on sale, I likely would
have bought the cheapest when it went on sale, I came across
a computer lying on the sidewalk waiting for the garbage truck.

The computer wasn't worth mentioning, but it did have a USB card
in it. Brought it home, and it worked fine. Gave me four more
USB ports, and I think a fifth for internal use (I've never tried it).
Even said "USB 2.0" on it so I'm assuming it is indeed as fast
as I can get.

I had the spare PCI slot for it, so it seemed to be a far better
choice than plugging a hub into one of the existing USB ports. The
existing two ports remain, rather than having to use one to feed
the external USB hub.

Since power has to come from somewhere, the power for the USB ports
must come from the computer's power supply, so I don't have to fuss
with another adaptor, and there will be more than enough current.

The one thing about the external USB port was that on the end of a cable
it would be more accessible than the ports on the card that require
me to reach the back of the computer. That was solved in part by a USB
extension cord (actualy it's just a cable off something I'm no longer
using) that I've just brought from the back of the computer to the front
of the desk, so I always have access to one USB port without fussing
at the back of the computer. That works, since I can keep my scanner and
webcam and card reader each plugged into the back of the computer, and
then have the cable for USB drives and my MP3 players.

Obviously, I never did any decision making before I put the card in. It
works fine with the Linux distribution I'm using, and I didn't have to
do a thing to get it to work.

Oddly, about a month ago, I came across another computer on the sidewalk
and that too had a USB card. Looks about the same, so I can even put
USB in my previous computer (that didn't have it at all).

I'm certain one can still buy such cards.

Michael

On 2008-07-27, Michael Black hit the keyboard and wrote:
> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008, Johannes Beekhuizen wrote:
>
>> Hallo All,
>>
>> Due to lack of USB connectors, I'm thinking about buying
>> an USB hub.
>> Questions:
>> Which brand? [The most easily availale here are Belkin,
>> Sitecom and Trust].
>> How many ports? [I there any reason not to buy a 7 port
>> one]?
>> With or without power supply?
>> Any other remarks are also welcome, of course
>>
> I got tired of unplugging something when I needed to use
> something else, so I knew it was time to go beyond the two
> built in USB ports my computer has.
>
> But as I was waiting for a hub to go on sale, I likely would
> have bought the cheapest when it went on sale, I came across
> a computer lying on the sidewalk waiting for the garbage truck.
>
> The computer wasn't worth mentioning, but it did have a USB card
> in it. Brought it home, and it worked fine. Gave me four more
> USB ports, and I think a fifth for internal use (I've never tried it).
> Even said "USB 2.0" on it so I'm assuming it is indeed as fast
> as I can get.

Well I use the "internal" port at the front. Got me a
extension usb-cable , and drilled a couple of holes into a
slot-cover, cut a opening with a fine saw to size stuck the
USB-Plug into it, and used some square cover I had laying
around. So I can use all 5 Ports on this card, but I had to
buy it. :-) The cable is fitted inside the PC, a home-build
liquid-cooled silent PC.

> Michael
>



Dragomir Kollaric
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