Thinkpads Forum

Do mPCIe lanes disable their USB ports when a non-USB card is in use? I want to scavenge those USBs for peripherals, but both slots are currently in use (WWAN, WLAN).

R

I don't know, but:

What peripherals do you have in mind? Isn't it simpler to connect a hub?

The WWAN is, in fact, a USB card, AFAIK.

YES (in theory). USB pins of mini PCIe slot directly connected to southbrige (ICH). There is some cards that use both interfaces (eg WiFi + BT cards)...

BUT in X61 WWAN slot have both interfaces (PCIe + USB), but WLAN have only PCIe pins connected.
And in X60 WWAN slot have only USB and WWAN have only PCIe...

PS
In T6x series layout the same except there is 3nd miniPCIe slot for T61 (14" 4:3 not soldered + 15.4") which have usb + PCIe connected.

PPS
And YES WWAN cards use USB part of miniPCIe slot.

So you're saying that in an X61, only the right slot actually connects the USB lanes? That means if the WWAN card uses it, there's not a spare USB port to be had there.

I want to remove the WiFi card and replace it with an internal USB dongle, so that I can put something else such as an SATA driver card in (see my dual hard-drive project).

There are 8 (out of 10) usb ports soldered in ICH (in X61)
- 3 external ports (1 left + 2 right)
- WWAN miniPCIe
- fingerprint connector (bluetooth for X61T)
- LCD connector for bluetooth (fingerprint for X61T)
- docking port (for hub in ultrabase)
- minipcia / SD controller
----------------------------------
This is interesting thing:
T61 and X61 may use the same pcmcia controller, but in T61 USB did not connected to this controller. May be this is because T61 haven't SD card reader (but some T61's (wide screen models with firewire) can use multi card reader in cage that is driven by this pcmcia controller without connected USB lines)...
In schematics and somewhere on the net i saw hints that was 34mm express card adapters to fit in PCMCIa of X61. This is not normal adapters - they only populate USB lines of express card devices (such as card readers or modems)... So there is possibility (if you dont plan to use this adapters) cut this USB port from pcmcia controller and connect it to your device.

This is sadly that X61 have no multi card reader - only SD

I believe X61 accepts USB-mode CardBay cards. CardBay is a rare type of PC Card. PCMCIA prepared for CardBay to use modes besides USB, but I doubt any were ever made, even developer tests or prototypes.

I don't plan to use the PCMCIA slot. I don't have schematics for anything at the moment, so that might be a good place to harvest a USB port. The dock would be another, but I do not have the pinout either. If anyone has that, I'd love to take a look!

R

PS: Oops, sorry about the schematic request. Will do some research!

Update: Just tried attaching to the pins labelled "USB2" lanes on the Cardbus slot. I scavenged power from elsewhere, but it didn't work. To be fair, I'm not sure which of the pins on the schematic are D+ / D-, but it didn't work either way.

Next attempt: Steal USB port from Ultrabay connector. Stay tuned.

R

Better luck there, but not quite. I scavenged 5V from elsewhere and connected the D+ / D- on the Ultrabay where they are labelled.

When I connect any USB device (tested a mouse and a flash drive), it attempts to enumerate, then Windows says "USB Device not recognized - one of the USB devices attached has malfunctioned". Device manager says "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems:"

Is this a power negotiation issue, perhaps?

R

In the Cardbus Slot these are used for USB2.0 lines:
A_CADDR8 : AIOW (pin 45) (I think this is D-)
A_CADDR9 : AIOR (pin 44) (I think this is D+)
A_CADDR16 : CLK (pin 19)
A_CADDR22 : USB_DETECT# (pin 53)
For more technical stuff, try this: http://electronics.stackexchange.com/qu ... d-d-on-usb

Yeah, those are the pin descriptions I was looking at. automobus PMd and mentioned there might be a line you have to tie low for Cardbus to enable USB, I'm guessing it's USB_DETECT.
I'm further assuming that whatever device you connect to a USB port provides the required D+ / D- termination, and not the socket...
Thanks! I'll try and and see what happens.

R

EDIT: It seems that to activate the USB2 functionality, you have to obey the CardBay specification and wire certain pins together. Experiment time!

EDIT2: Actually, seems a little overkill. The Ultrabay port is closer to working, I'll try using that instead. So, why would a USB device start enumerating and then fail? I don't know how the Ultrabay USB port negotiates its power, there don't seem to be dedicated USB power pins as far as I can tell.

I successfully used the USB port that is connected to the cardbus controller for other hardware.

On the bottom side of the mainboard, there are two traces that need to be cutted. Then you can solder two cables to correspondig vias that are connected to these traces.
In this thread (german), there are two pictures that show how it is done.

Cardbus cards and SD cards still work after the USB port is not attached any more to the cardbus controller. So it seems this USB port is only needed for those CardBay cards. To be honest, I never actually saw one of these.

Good thing I'm German That's quite a nice mod. So many things one could want to put into an X61! I've chosen overclock, HDMI + dual hard drives and wireless AC if I can find a small, decently well-performing USB dongle for that.
I'll have to try out your USB pins in the Cardbus slot.
Thanks!

R

EDIT: Found the right trace / vias, as indicated in the thread linked above. Yesss, finally an extra USB port to use with the HDMI adapter