Will both of these devices work inside my comp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Wilson
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John Wilson

Device 1:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813999355#DetailSpecs

Device 2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820213005


I wanted to use my two 3.5" bays and the USB 2 connectors on the MOBO for an
USB2 hub. However, it looks like maybe both these 2 devices above will have
to be plugged into the MOBO.

No matter what, will I have to plug this card reader up to the USB2
connections directly on my MOBO (see Device 1 above). With the card reader,
I was thinking I would just run the USB cable out the back and plug it into
one of the USB connectors on the back of the computer. I did not think I
would have to plug anything up to the MOBO. But on the product's website I
see several connectors that look like they go to the MOBO.


I guess what I am asking is whether I will be successfully able to put both
devices inside the computer? If they both have to be connected to my MOBO, I
am pretty sure that is possible for only one of them.


Thank you all.

Asus MOBO P4S533-MX
http://www.baber.com/baber/411/asus_p4s533-mx.htm
 
"John Wilson" said:
Device 1:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813999355#DetailSpecs

Device 2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820213005


I wanted to use my two 3.5" bays and the USB 2 connectors on the MOBO for an
USB2 hub. However, it looks like maybe both these 2 devices above will have
to be plugged into the MOBO.

No matter what, will I have to plug this card reader up to the USB2
connections directly on my MOBO (see Device 1 above). With the card reader,
I was thinking I would just run the USB cable out the back and plug it into
one of the USB connectors on the back of the computer. I did not think I
would have to plug anything up to the MOBO. But on the product's website I
see several connectors that look like they go to the MOBO.


I guess what I am asking is whether I will be successfully able to put both
devices inside the computer? If they both have to be connected to my MOBO, I
am pretty sure that is possible for only one of them.


Thank you all.

Asus MOBO P4S533-MX
http://www.baber.com/baber/411/asus_p4s533-mx.htm
Click to expand...

For the Silverstone, I cannot really make sense of the wiring
based on the pictures on the page. There is no downloadable
instruction manual to clarify it. What it does seem to do, is
connect to motherboard headers. And it doesn't look like a hub
as such. It looks like it could be that one 2x5 USB drives a
pair of USB ports on the panel. You only have one motherboard
2x5 USB, so only two USB ports max of the four will work on the
Silverstone.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/fp32/interior/fp32.jpg

For the Lian-Li device, this page has a picture on it.

http://www.lian-li.com/faq.htm

If you look at the pictures on the Newegg page for the Lian-Li,
it has two cables. One cable is an external USB to 1x5 pin
connector. The back of the Lian-Li bay has a 1x5 pin connector,
implying it only uses one USB port (of the two ports on a 2x5
USB header).

The second USB cable could consist of the following:

VCC \
D+ \
D- \___________ to 1x5 for back of Lian-Li bay
/
/
GND /


VCC \
D+ \
D- \____________ to the PCI bracket as a USB output
/
/
GND /

The four chunks of "stuff" on the left hand side, plugs onto the
2x5 USB header on the motherboard. Lian-Li split them up, to
account for differences between header designs on motherboards.
You also have the flexibility to only connect the upper two
chunks to the header, leaving room for something to connect to
the other five pins left on the motherboard header.

To make both devices work:

1) Connect one of the USB header connectors of the Silverstone
to the 2x5 USB header on the motherboard. Only two of the
four USB ports on the Silverstone will work.

2) Use the Lian-Li external USB to 1x5 connector, to connect
the Lian-Li card reader to the back of your computer. This
may especially come in handy, if the card reader prevents your
computer from booting properly. There are the odd motherboards
that don't like having a USB card reader connected, and the
BIOS may do stupid things if one is found. The external
cable connection will give your the option to disconnect it,
if that turns out to be the case. (No, that isn't very
convenient. For motherboards with that problem, an external
card reader is a better choice.)

If you want more USB connectors, you can purchase a USB2.0 PCI
card. Some of those have a 2x5 header, for use internally.
The best kind of card, is one with a NEC chip on it.
It may take quite a bit of searching to find a card with just
the right set of ingredients for what you have in mind.

HTH,
Paul
 
Paul said:
If you want more USB connectors, you can purchase a USB2.0 PCI
card. Some of those have a 2x5 header, for use internally.
The best kind of card, is one with a NEC chip on it.
It may take quite a bit of searching to find a card with just
the right set of ingredients for what you have in mind.
Click to expand...


Hi Paul. Thank you for giving me so much of your time. Is this what you were
talking about?

1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815150011

2) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124008

I don't understand why #1 is $33 and #2 is only $7. They both seem to do the
same thing. I have one PCI slot left. I guess I could go ahead and get one
of these.

Thanks!
 
Good luck getting a PCI USB card working with the onboard USB
controller. Let us know the outcome. I've seen it tried many times and
have yet to see it work. Systems don't seem to like two competing USB
controllers. Your better off trying one of
these:http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=3436278

Or just buy a four port hub and plug it into one of your current USB
ports.
 
"John Wilson" said:
Hi Paul. Thank you for giving me so much of your time. Is this what you were
talking about?

1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815150011

2) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124008

I don't understand why #1 is $33 and #2 is only $7. They both seem to do the
same thing. I have one PCI slot left. I guess I could go ahead and get one
of these.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Maybe the Siig one is marketed to Macintosh owners ?
Otherwise, it looks pretty much the same from a hardware perspective.

It looks like PCI cards with a 2x5 on them are hard to find.
The 4521ai here, claims to be a 3 external, 2 internal via 2x5
product, but the pictures don't show the version with
the 2x5 header.

http://www.ioi.com.tw/hostadapters/4521a.html

There is another one here, but I cannot find a retailer for
either of these.

http://www.avlab.com.tw/english/products/combo/1016_0021_000a.htm

Now, this one has ports galore, but it uses an ALI chip.
This would be a "buyer beware" card. Considering the price,
it might be worth experimenting with (and chucking if it
doesn't work).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124002

Buying a card with a regular USB connector on the inside of the
computer, will solve your Lian-Li interface problem, but it still
leaves you short on interfaces for the Silverstone box.

Here is another concept. This one consists of a PCI card, a piece
of ribbon cable, and a bay with ports on it. No room for audio
connections though, so it isn't a replacement for the Silverstone.
Also, read the user reviews, where a couple people report problems
plugging a USB Ipod to the thing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815104221

I also saw an interesting card on the Newegg site. It was
a PCI Express card for USB 2.0. It looks like Koutech has
released a few different cards for PCI Express, and the USB
one is bridged (PCI-Express --> PCI --> USB2), and costs $44.
I didn't think anyone would try to build cards that way, but
somebody did.

Have fun,
Paul
 
I heard that getting a usb pci card to work with a comp that already had a
usb controller in it was next to impossible.

What do you guys think?
 
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