The switches i am thinking of are MUCH smaller. The type used to detect the WRITE Protect status in a floppy drive. These are very tiny plunger type switches.
If you don't want to use a microswitch (that isn't my style...) then I'd just put a really small resistor on ground and use a comparator before and after the resistor. I don't see why this is all that complicated... I wouldn't know which exact chip to reccomend - someone smarter than me probabaly could make a better reccomendation...
so what's a comparator? does it detect a change in the voltage (of ground?) or something? would it trigger a 5v line or something for the LED? lots of questions but if this works then it will be worth it.
Well i managed to get a pic of half of one side of the usb daughterboard on the xbox. Maybe something on here will help. BTW, it is from someone who messed up a resistor or something, so disregard the red circle.
Would it be possible to put some type of sensor (I have no idea what) on the +5v line of the usb port then once the current draw goes up, turn the LED on then?
I just noticed that my USB hub just does what you want. Plug hub into USB port, red(power) LED turns on. Then plug device into hub(provided it's a low power device), green(device) LED for that port turns on.
The second op-amps (IC1b) in the above circuits are being used as comparators, as you say when the voltage on one input is higher than the voltage on the other, it switches about 4v to the led. I made one input a nats above ground, so when theres nothing plugged in its definitely off. The other input is either ground or about 100mV to switch the led. The first op-amp (IC1a) is just a buffer and may not be needed, but a dual package is about the same price as a single so WTF.
er im guessing but i think thats to simulate a usb device being plugged in so you can simulate hte circuit
why not just use usb cables that have clear ends with the LED's inside that light up when you plug them in? i saw a pair at future shop (red and blue) for $19.99CAD edit:: and, if you want to integrate this into like a usb mouse, open the mouse up, splice one of the ends of the usb connector and wire it directly inside the mouse, that way you have no visible splices, the connector still lights, and your usb looks mad leet
That's the problem, i don't want to have to open up my xbox again unless i'm gonna do this mod. It's a pain to take out the screws when they are blocked by a dvd enclosure and attached by an IDE cable. I did post a request for some other xbox case modders to scan theirs, but i dunno how that will turn out. Here is the original thread of the mod idea. You can also check out that site to see some of the xbox case mods being done. You might be surprised to know that besides games the Xbox can run Linux (Debian, Mandrake, Gentoo), at least 15 different Emulators, and XBOX MEDIA PLAYER!! All with up to a 120 gb hard drive replacement. It's really been hacked more than any other console. BTW, you need a modchip. Yeah that would be cool, but its just not the same.
Could be even simpler. I spotted a cheap Maplin 5-USB socket bay panel with "activity indicator lights" on each socket. All the connections it has are the 4 USB wires, +5v, 0v and the 2 data lines, so perhaps a logic probe-type circuit on the right data wire will do the trick. Anybody got a USB hub or panel with lights who can tell us what chips are in the box?
Okay so i still didn't scan the USB controller but i don't think i will have to. I installed Gentoo the other day and was messing around with KDE for a while. I went to the system info thing and go the information for the USB controller. I took a screenshot and managed to get it on my PC with an ftp server (still don't know how to get samba working) so here it is. Looks nicer here than on my TV. Does that look like the right info?
w00t!!! KDE!!! Anyone ever figure this out? I'm extremely interested in doing this on my current project...
Oh yeah i think so. If you use the shielding of the usb device as the ground connection for your LED or whatever you want powered, and then the positive connection to your power source then it should work.
Okay you guys want something to indicate that something is plugged into the usb connector..... (if wrong, ignore me ) My idea is following: Make a slit in the ground casing shown by an arrow (my usb actually has a slit) Then take a piece of wire and bend it like shown in the pic. (top-left) It should be some wire that you can bend but dosen't deform to easily. Then cut of some of the isolation of, but not all, so that it actually looks like a connector pin and mount that to the usb casing. (the gray color on the pic) This wire piece is connected to the LED ground (the other side of the LED is connected to supply voltage with a resistor)... Now when you plug in your usb device it's ground will activate the LED......... look no fancy chips I know this will work, it's all in may head I hope the text is understandable... ....Instead of wire maybe use what i call spring-iron the metal stuff in relay's.... :EDIT...Okay Ben you beat me to it....
I think that EaterOfPies and ZapWizard have the simplest solution there is. But I thought of another way....... You could use a magnetically operated switch, and have a small magnet on the USB plug, which now I type it out sounds like a proximity switch to me Still think a weeny little push switch in the USB socket would be best though...... Darkside.
There might be a really simple solution to this. When you plug a device in, it draws power from the USB +5V line. So, all you need to do is detect that current is flowing through that line. Stick an opto-isolator in line with it, and when the device completes the circuit (effectivly connecting it to ground with some resistance in between) the opto will turn on and can light your LED. The reason I suggest an opto-isolator is that it won't put much current load on the port (a few mA max I should think, should really check). Other electronic switches like transistors should also work. Alternativly, just put an LED in line with a resistor, but that would put extra load (20-30mA) on. MoJo
