Ultrabay plus, device carrier experiment SUCCESS!!

[middleofsweden]

I dont know if someone else has tried to hook a USB device to the device carrier. I have searched both internet and this forum but there is very litte information about the matter. So here is what I have done:

I disassembled the device carrier to see what was inside it and the only thing except for a flat tape cable was a really small soic8 chip and some surface mounted caps and a resistor. The chip was a National semiconductor chip.

http://www.national.com/mpf/LM/LM3525.html

I am 99% sure it is a LM3525. The typical wiring found on national semiconductors homepage matches exactly the actual wiring found in the device carrier and it has the number "3525" and the national logotype printed on its back.

I measured the resistance between the deviceport and the pins on the chip and pin 6 and 8 on the "3525" is directly connected to pin 3 on the deviceport (V+). Pin 3 on the chip is also connected directly to pin 5 on the deviceport (ground). That confirms the theory of pinouts given on this page:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_bu ... lus_device

That page talks about the deviceport in theory and the article is written as it has never been tried. This page also mention pin 1 and 13 as signal ground. I have tried to measure those pins but I cant figure out what they are. They are connected together but they dont work as signal ground. If you look at the schematic of the "3525" chip you see that the ground used for the signal is the same ground as pin 3 (chip) is connected to. It also shows that the chip itself has nothing to do with the signal. I tried to trace the D+ and D- to confirm the thinkwiki page but it was an overwhelming job and I gave up. I simply trusted the page and thougt that it is simpler to confirm it practically.

So then I scavenged an old "octopus usb hub" for the female connector and wire and soldered the wires directly on the devicecarrier. Here is how I soldered it:

(3,5,6,7 is pins counted from left to right on the deviceport, color is the actual color of the wire and the letters in pharentesis is the corresponding characteristics of the USB component)

3. red (+5V)
5. black (ground)
6. green (data+)
7. white (data-)

More info about USB pinouts can be found here:

http://pinouts.ws/usb-pinout.html

I plugged a SanDisc Cruzer memorystick in the port I just had soldered to the device carrier. I used my A30P for this experiment as I didnt want to fry my more "modern" A31P if something had gone wrong.

I powered the machine up an VOILA!! the device carrier was recognized as it should and the memorystick was recognized as a SanDisc Cruzer memorystick as it should. The only thing left to try was that it actually worked so I played an MP3 from the memorystick and it played exactly as it should.

I took pictures of everything and it is tempting to attach them here, but I know what people feel about pictures so I wont. If anyone is intrested in them pls msg me and I will send them to you instead. (But I guess I am one of very few that gets excited about this)

(And once again, thanks RBS for helping me getting my hands on these device carriers)

[RealBlackStuff]

Glad to have been of (indirect) assistance.

So you proved the theory, that the device carrier is in reality nothing more than a converted USB port?
Sign up with thinkwiki and modify the afore mentioned wiki page!

As to pictures: you could upload them for free on e.g. http://imageshack.us/ and post the links to the pictures here.

[Radioguy]

Yes, please upload the pictures to a free host and post the LINKS here! (The only issues anyone had with pictures here, was that they were added to threads rather than linked)

Also it should be noted that the OP is speaking of the Ultrabay Plus in particular. Some of the more recent models have serial based interfaces:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Ultrabay

[middleofsweden]

ok. Here is the links to the pics, the pic of the chipback with the actual partnumber was so blurred that it has no value here to be posted. If someone really want the printing of the chipback, please msg me and I will disassemble the device carrier and take a pic of it (done it once, can do it twice)

#1 The first pic of the wiring without a flash. I thought the colours of the wires would be more clear without flash but the contours was a little blurred and unclear.

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/9279/36986893.jpg


#2 The same as above, everything was more clear, both colours and contour

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/6050/71926748.jpg


#3 A Sandisc Cruzer micro memorystick plugged in to the port that is soldered to the deviceport.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5840/61454540.jpg


#4 The tab in "device manager" showing the recognition of the USB device as "USB masslagringsenhet". Unfortunately a swedish XP OS, it is equivalent to "USB mass storage device" in english. The device name of the stick is correctly recognized as "Cruzer Micro"

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/1687/16878086.jpg


#5 My A30p playing a random (or not) mp3 with the "USB properties" tab in front.. and ofcource the stick itself in the foreground, lightup and clear, hooked up in order as mentioned

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8724/56861272.jpg


#6 This pic I admit, is not prooving a squat. It is just my old trustworthy, brickheavy excuse for a laptop playing my favourie tune through the deviceport through the device carrier, directly from the memorystick. So this is more sentimental than proof, but this song has never sounded better than through the deviceport

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/583/56240598.jpg


I will be out in the bush for a couple of days (or whatever the correct definition is for a place without WiFi). But as soon as I will be back here in Shanghai I will sign up for the "thinkwiki" page and try to alter their article about this matter. I have also found that their article about "how to build your own ultrabay plus device" has a couple of years to it. So it is not impossible at all that someone has already tried this and succeded.

But as I see it, it doesnt hurt to have it written down so that other curious souls can read about it, and ofcource, dont have to put too much energy in pin 1 and 13. Whatever those pins are, they are connected to eachother but has nothing to do with hooking up a USB device to this port.

So finally, I concider it proven that this device carrier is nothing more than a fancy, converted USB port (more than enough for me) will pop my Guinness now and cheers RBS.

I thought the device carrier was a "hard to get" item nowadays, but try to get hold of a can of Guinness to bring home here in Shanghai..

[RealBlackStuff]

Shanghai = Västerås ?
Or are you in China at the moment?

[middleofsweden]

Oh, sorry. Thank you for reminding me. I had forgot to update my profile (now updated). I am in Shanghai/China for work atleast one year on.

[RealBlackStuff]

You may need to change your username to middleofchina

[middleofsweden]

phew.. back from the bush.. No aircondition in china mainland at this time of year is more severe than a building without Wifi.

Hehe.. Middleofchina.. after the past two days I think I keep to Middleofsweden. It has a much cooler (or colder) touch to it


I have signed up for that thinkwiki page and edited the page about the Device Carrier.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_bu ... lus_device

I dont think my "editing article" genes is too strong. But I hope I made my point without too much mess over at that page.

[RealBlackStuff]

The wiki mods look fine, except for the date. If you start with the year, the month should follow, then the day.
So it should be 2009.07.03