ADB Busboy: Adapter for USB peripherals over ADB

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm still working on the bootloader which has had a lot of road blocks and detours. It's important to get the bootloader ready because it is the way that you'll be able to update the software when I develop new features. The original one I intended to use turned out to be incompatible. I tried to get a commercial one to work, but it lacked support for USB hubs. So now I'm adding USB host support to the manufacturer's bootloader.

Definitely watching this closely!

So, a few things have happened since my last update. The good news is that my bootloader is basically working. There are a couple little tweaks left to implement. But it does its job of updating the board firmware.

I was being clumsy with my bench power supply and accidentally released the magic smoke. So I had to assemble a new board. During testing the new board, I found that the integrated usb hub works, but if I connect another downstream hub, it fails. At this point I don't remember if I ever tested that on my original assembled board. I did test it on the development kit board, and it worked. So I don't know if it's a problem in my board design or a defect on this board. The pcb has a slight pressure mark on one of the usb traces. Otherwise, I can't find any defect. If that were the problem, I don't think the onboard hub controller would work either.

The one empty pcb I have left has a pressure mark in the same spot. So to make eliminate that possibility I would have to order more pcbs. And they would probably have the same issue. It could be the hub controller I'm using. To test that idea I would have to redesign the board for a different controller. Ugh.

So what is your price going to be now that BMOW is selling a competing (and overly ugly) product at $50 USD?

A related topic came up in IRC today so I figured I should really post an update.
 
I solved the unreliable behavior with daisy-chained hubs. Some USB devices draw a lot more inrush current than others. Adding a capacitor to each port solves this problem.
 
I redesigned the PCB to be about 40% smaller, switched to an RGB status LED, upgraded the ESD protection diodes, and probably a couple other things I have forgotten about. I haven't ordered this new board yet. I want to review the layout again first. When I will get around to doing that, I don't know.
 

Did someone say R G B ?!



Sounds like this is going to be a very refined product when it's done.  Looking good so far!

I've had KVM switches and conversions on the brain for a bit now. Wondered if there might be a better spot than the DIN port to hook something like this into a TTL switchbox setup?

anthon said:

A related topic came up in IRC today so I figured I should really post an update.
 
I solved the unreliable behavior with daisy-chained hubs. Some USB devices draw a lot more inrush current than others. Adding a capacitor to each port solves this problem.
 
I redesigned the PCB to be about 40% smaller, switched to an RGB status LED, upgraded the ESD protection diodes, and probably a couple other things I have forgotten about. I haven't ordered this new board yet. I want to review the layout again first. When I will get around to doing that, I don't know.

Click to expand...

Please, let us know the salestart....

Will this be basically the same thing as the ADB-USB Wombat (https://www.bigmessowires.com/usb-wombat/) ?

It's almost the same as USB Wombat. The primary differences are :

* ADB Busboy has 2 USB ports

* ADB Busboy only allows you use USB peripherals on ADB computers, not the opposite.

* ADB Busboy has better power protection between the ADB host (computer) and USB bus.

What happened to ADB Busboy? Will you release the sources?

I have pivoted the project in a different direction. Keeping quiet about it until it's ready, because knowing me, it could be a while.

Updates? ...