usb News - Page 21 of 32 - CNX Software

March 12, 2020July 31, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

$5 Sinilink WiFI USB Power Switch Works with Tasmota Firmware, Supports up to 20V/5A

Late last year, ITEAD launched Sonoff Micro WiFi USB switch that allows you to turn on and off USB powered devices over WiFi using eWelink app for Android or iOS. It integrates with Amazon Alexas and Google Home, and does the job, but people who like to use the open-source Tasmota firmware will be disappointed to learn it’s not based on ESP8266 processor hence not compatible. Luckily, there’s another option: Sinilink WiFi USB switch (aka XY-WFUSB) based on ESP8266 WiFi SoC, and supporting up to 20V/5A according to the manufacturer. It is currently sold for under $5 including shipping on Aliexpress. Sinilink XY-WFUSB specifications: WiSoC – Espressif ESP8266 processor with 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 USB Input – USB type-A female port supporting 3.5V to 20V up to 5A (100 Watts max) USB Output – USB type-A male port up to 100W Misc On/off button – Pressing 5 seconds also change the […]

March 4, 2020March 4, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Cypress EZ-PD CCG6DF & CCG6SF are USB4-Ready USB-C PD Controllers for PCs and Notebooks

The USB4 specification was published in September 2019 with promises of up to 40 Gbps data transfer rate over a Thunderbolt physical layer, and last December, we reported about an MCCI USB4 switch designed to test and design USB4 products. Cypress Semiconductor EZ-PD CCG6DF and CCG6SF dual-port and single-port USB-C and USB PD 3.0 controllers designed for PCs and notebooks that will be compatible with USB4 standard. EZ-PD CCG6DF and CCG6SF key features: MCU Subsystem – Arm Cortex-M0 core @ 48 MHz with 64KB flash, 96KB SROM, 16KB SRAM USB Type-C and Power Delivery 3.0 supporting USB3 and USB4, Thunderbolt, DisplayPort Alternate Mode platforms Digital I/Os Two timers, counters, PWMs, and up to 23 GPIOs Four SCBs (Serial Communication Blocks) for configurable master/slave I2C, SPI or UART Analog Blocks VBUS Provider Load switch (5V/3A) Slew rate controlled turn-on on VBUS path UAB PD 3.0 Fast Role Swap support Integrated high-voltage […]

February 24, 2020February 24, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

Raspberry Pi 4 Rev 1.2 Fixes USB-C Power Issues, Improves SD Card Resilience

The first Raspberry Pi 4 boards suffered from a poor USB-C power supply compatibility due to issues for the power circuitry. That means if you bought the official USB-C power supply you had no issues, but if you wanted to re-use a spare USB-C power supply or incompatible cable, you may be out of luck. The Register is now reporting that the Raspberry Pi Foundation has discreetly released a new revision (v1.2) of the board that fixes several issues including USB-C PD compatibility, and as Eben Upton explains the new revision also: moved the WLCSP SD card voltage switch to the top side … silk screen tweaks to reduce solder bridging in manufacture”. The new boards have been around for a couple of months as some users report the USB-C power issues have been fixed on new boards. Spotting Differences in the new Raspberry Pi 4 Rev 1.2 Board? The […]

January 20, 2020January 21, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

TIL: Some 9V Batteries can be Recharged with a Simple USB Cable

9V batteries are/used to be popular for Arduino projects, as they can easily be connected via the power jack of the board. But now that most recent Arduino boards are powered by 5V via a USB Type-C port or Vin in, those are not an option. I thought I found a solution when I saw the following tweet earlier today which looks to provide a convenient way to connect a 9V battery to devices powered by USB. accidentally ran into another cursed adapter: 9v battery to USB pic.twitter.com/laKjIi6wUy — foone🏳️‍⚧️ (@Foone) January 20, 2020 I was unable to find details about the board, but I suppose the chip close to the USB connector is a 9V to 5V regulator (e.g. LM7805), so this would indeed output 5V. Just don’t expect to fully charge your phone with it, as a typical 9V battery has a 500mAh capacity. [Update: It’s on Retrokits, […]

December 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

MCCI Sells a $795 USB4 Switch for USB4 Product Development

The USB4 specification was officially released last September with the new standard promising speeds of up to 40 Gbps and up to 100 Watts power delivery over USB-C connectors. MMCI is now offering a 2:1 USB4 switch, the first computer-controlled USB4 mux according to the company, that can control 1 or 2 products up to 20 Gbps. Model 3141 USB4 Switch is not designed for consumers, as there aren’t any USB4 devices around at this time, but for electronics designers, firmware and software developers to enable them to test & debug their USB4 implementations. MCCI Model 3141 USB4 Switch key features and specifications: USB Specifications/Features USB4 Thunderbolt 3 USB 3.2 gen2 (x2 and x1), gen 1 (x2 and x1) USB 2.0 high speed, full speed, and low speed USB Power Delivery VCONN-powered devices (up to 0.5A) Alternate modes like DisplayPort. 2:1 switch, connecting two USB Type-C receptacles to a single […]

December 18, 2019December 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Serpente R2 Microchip SAMD21 Board Features a Male USB Type-C Port

Development boards with a USB Type-C port for power and programming are becoming more common, most in most cases with a female USB-C port. Designed by arturo182, Serpente R2 CircuitPython prototyping board based on Microchip SAMD21 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller offers three USB power & programming option with USB type-A male, USB type-C female, or USB type-C male, with the latter option allowing you to plug into directly into your host computer. Serpente R2 board specifications: MCU – Microchip ATSAMD21E18A 32-bit Cortex-M0+ running at 48MHz, with 256KB flash, and 32KB RAM Storage – 4MB SPI Flash for storing files and CircuitPython code Expansion – 10x I/Os with castellated holes including 6x customizable GPIOs, and 4x power signals (3V, GND, VUSB, and VIN) USB R2 – Female USB Type-C port R2 Plug – Male USB Type-A port R2 Plug C – Male USB Type-C port Misc – User RGB LED, reset button […]

December 8, 2019February 27, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 46 Comments

ROCK Pi SATA HAT Targets ROCK Pi 4 & Raspberry Pi 4 NAS

Radxa ROCK Pi 4 is a single board computer (SBC) powered by Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor and inspired by Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. The company has now designed ROCK Pi SATA HAT expansion board to design 4-bay NAS based on Raspberry Pi 4 and ROCK Pi 4. There are 3 models with support for 2, 4 or 5 drives: Dual/Quad SATA HAT connected over two USB 3.0 ports and working with both boards Penta SATA HAT connected over PCIe and compatible with ROCK Pi 4 only ROCK Pi Dual/Quad SATA HAT Specifications: 2x or 4x SATA connectors supporting 2.5″ or/and 3.5″ HDD/SSD 2x USB 3.0 port to connect to RPi 4 via one or two JMS561 USB to SATA controllers Storage Features – HDD suspend mode, UASP, software RAID 0/1/5 Misc Fan and heatsink header for Raspberry Pi 4 CPU cooling Optional PWM control fan for HDD heat dispatching […]

November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

NanoPi M4B Rockchip RK3399 SBC Drops the USB 3.0 Hub, Adds Bluetooth 5.0, an ADB Switch

NanoPi M4 was launched last year (2018) as a Rockchip RK3399 SBC following Raspberry Pi 3B+ form factor with 2 or 4GB DDR3 RAM, and was followed by NanoPi M4V2 this September with 4GB LPDDR4 memory, and power & recovery buttons. FriendlyELEC has been working on yet another revision with NanoPi M4B mixing some of the features of M4 and M4V2 such as DDR3 memory and power & recovery buttons, but the biggest change is the removal of the USB 3.0 hub which allowed for four USB 3.0 port, and now the company is going native leveraging the two USB 2.0 interfaces and two USB 3.0 interfaces inside Rockchip RK3399 processor which should lower the BoM cost, and in some cases improve performance. NanoPi M4B specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 big.LITTLE hexa-core processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A72 @ up to 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5GHz, a Mali-T864 GPU […]