VisorCentral.com - USB devices

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Visor & Deluxe (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)
-- USB devices (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=1467)

Posted by phellic on 07-23-2000 05:05 PM:

I know it is a bit far-fetched (and maybe quite stupid), but the visor has a USB port, so why can't it use USB hardware out there.
If it is a question of drivers, can't someone make some, becuase I would really like to use a 10gb USB hard drive for storage. A cd writer wouldn't go amiss either.

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Sex is much like air. You only make a fuss if your not gettin any.

Posted by visor empowered on 07-24-2000 02:34 AM:

If I remember correctly the USB port is a bit like the serial port in that neither one is a complete implementation of the standard. The serial port is not a true (and therefore fully functional)serial port. I believe the same is true for the USB port.

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What the Heck! It's what I want!

Posted by BEN on 07-24-2000 02:50 AM:

The reason that the Visor can't use other USB devices has to do with the set-up of the USB standard.
In order to have a sucessful USB connection there has to be a transmitter and base(not the real technical terms, I can't think of them right now but you get the idea). THe computer is a base unit. It receives the signal that is sent by the USB device (i.e. Visor, printer, digital camera). Now, the Visor can send and receive a signal, but it cannot control another USB device like the computer can.
If someone somehow made a springboard that could act as a USB controller the Visor would be capable of controlling a USB device like a Hard Drive or a CD-RW. However, the cradel that we have now cannot act as a controller and thus cannot use USB devices. (A simple example of this is: Imagine your printer controlling your visor and CD-RW, its not possible)
Hope that helped.
BEN

Posted by fullofwonder on 07-25-2000 10:57 AM:

Isn't the whole point of USB that it provides power as well as data ?

My Little Visor running a CWRW ? Bless.

Maybe I'm wrong ?

R

Posted by dequardo on 07-25-2000 01:20 PM:

I've always questioned the true speed of our USB-enabled Visor devices. I swear it's slower that my Pocket PC set to 115,000 on the serial port. Granted CE is a bit more optimized through ActiveSync and Outlook but I would expect a huge speed increase for true USB speeds and I just don't see it. Anyone else??

Posted by linuxppcguy on 07-25-2000 05:03 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by dequardo:
I've always questioned the true speed of our USB-enabled Visor devices. I swear it's slower that my Pocket PC set to 115,000 on the serial port. Granted CE is a bit more optimized through ActiveSync and Outlook but I would expect a huge speed increase for true USB speeds and I just don't see it. Anyone else??

Well I'll share a little insight from the Linux side of things. I don't know how similar this is to the way it functions under Windows/MacOS, but to connect the Visor under linux, it must interface through a series of drivers - first the Handspring Visor driver, then the USB Serial converter, then the USB drivers themselves. This differs from other USB devices connecting under Linux, such as the Diamond Rio 500 mp3 player. That device has a native USB driver, and doesn't need to go through a serial converter.

Anyway, the end result is that when you connect the Visor to the USB cradle under Linux, it acts like a serial device, and the speed is accordingly about the same.

Now I don't know if this is in any way similar to the way things work under Windows - there may be a native USB driver for Windows. But what I have observed is that syncing to my Windows machine at work is roughly the same speed as syncing to my linuxppc machine at home.

In regards to the original question, if you wanted to connect an actual USB device to the visor, you would need to have a USB host adapter in the visor itself, as well as a root hub. This is not present in the Visor as it is now. The Visor doesn't really have a USB port per se - it has to be plugged into a cradle which then connects it to a USB hub. However, it is conceivable that a Springboard module could be designed which would contain a USB host adapter and root hub.

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