Gav's World : Eee PC 4G (701) : Internal USB 2.0 Hub

Installing An Internal USB 2.0 Hub

Caution - not for those of a nervous disposition!

When I installed my internal USB sockets I discovered one of the ones on the main board was faulty, so I had to come up with another plan to get both of my new internal ones working. Answer: an internal USB hub!

So the plan: fit a hub; Connect the "up-stream" port to the working USB port on the main board; connect 2 of the "down-stream" ports to my USB sockets. Easy.

I didn't document this procedure as well as the fitting of the sockets, so all I can provide is 4 photos taken from different angles showing the final assembly.

There are many places inside the Eee that you can fit a hub - you don't necessarily have to put one in the same place as me. However, using double sided sticky tape is a good way to mount it!

So here's how I did it - see how to dismantle the Eee first and then read on ...

Tools required

No.1 Philips screwdriver (not pozidrive)
Anti-static wrist band
Small flat screwdriver
Fine tipped soldering iron (0.5mm)
30awg solder
Liquid flux
30awg wire (green and white) for USB signals
24awg / 26awg wire (red and black) for USB power
Wire strippers
Tweezers
Hot glue gun (with glue)
Magnifying glass
digital multi-meter
double sided sticky tape

Preparation

As before, twist some lengths of green and white wire together, then strip and tin the ends of them.

Choosing a USB hub

There are many USB 2.0 hubs out there, but the primary consideration here is the size of the PCB inside it - the smaller, the better. I chose one of the small black cubes with 4 swiveling ports. I bought it from Maplin for £9.99. The sockets are connected to the PCB with wires, which means that the PCB will be smaller than most with the sockets directly attached.

A word of caution though - get a digital multi-meter and "buzz" out the signals from all sockets to the PCB and write them down on a bit of paper. I'd read on EeeUser that a few manufacturers had mis-labeled their PCBs. I only buzzed out one of my ports and it appeared fine, so I thought mine was ok. Well - that port was fine, but the others were wrong! I spent a while re-building, booting up, plugging in, switching off and stripping down again until I sorted them all.

USB Pin-out

Here is some vital pin-out information before you start. The VCC and GND are taken from other points: The VCC is disabled in standby if you use the one shown in step 2. GND can be picked up from many places on the top surface of the PCB.