Internal usb A modification  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: davelectronic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2019, 11:09:45 pm
content: Not sure I've got the right section for posting this question in. After a fair bit of searching i can not find a solution to my problem.I'm trying to add an internal usb A socket inside a small form factor pc. There are no pci, or pcie slots, and no internal usb strip line headers for cable connection. All i have is the external usb ports, those pcb mounted to the motherboard. And the only other internal interface, apart from a 2.5" 44 pin header for a cable. I've been trying different small form factor PCs and using SD card or compact flash cards as hard drives for the OS, in some cases with reasonable results. Neither cards play ball with windows 10 though, and since I've found it tricky to get windows to expect cards as hard drives, i have given up on windows, concentrating on Linux distros for now.I can't find a production 2.5" 44 pin ide to usb A or anything like that anywhere. So is there a way to tap into the usb bus and add an internal usb A socket for internal use for a usb SD card reader.Thanks for reading, any ideas appreciated.

author: Apollyon25_
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2019, 12:31:04 am
content: Is removing one of the external facing USB sockets and wiring a short USB pig tail to its pads an option?

author: davelectronic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2019, 02:22:49 am
content: Thanks for the reply, yes i did give it some thought. As the front ports aren't really being used. But was hoping to find an ide to usb solution, parallel two ports. But I've read its not that simple

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2019, 02:45:50 am
content: wellWorked for me : solder on the usb pcb pins an usb hub, into a hp usff pc to add an bluetooth dongle, not sure for other usb peripherals, had to condemn the front usb hole with a black tape.my 2 cents ?

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 05, 2019, 02:58:17 am
content: Use SATA/ mSATA/ M.2 SSD with IDE to SATA/ mSATA/ M.2 adapter.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2019, 04:30:10 am
content: You probably won't find IDE to USB, that's not a supported configuration I'm aware of. IDE to micro SD is probably the most likely to work but might take some experimenting to get the right one, or there are CF cards and microdrives that might work depending on the capacity you need.

author: davelectronic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2019, 12:36:52 am
content: Yes looks promising, i never though of Msata. Or even M.2 interface cards. I had just about given in to using a front pcb port internally, and plug the front panel. This particular pc is the dell fx 170 thin client. I've a few different usdt and thin clients laying about. Some work fine with 2.5" ssd, but the dell fx 170 just has very little space inside. I've a second dell fx 170 running Linux Mint 18 on a sandisk sd card Adapter, and it runs rather well. The idea was to get that sd card Adapter inside, as opposed to external use to run it.Thanks for the replys.