Why has there never been 3.5" drive-bay-mounted USB-2 passthroughconnector?

http://www.azog.org/?p=152

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January 8, 2007

She wanted to reuse her old chassis, rather than buy a new one. It was a
“legacy” chassis, one which doesn’t have any external expansion ports
accessible from the front. If you look at some of the new cases
available, they have all sorts of front-accessible ports. At this point,
she had already spent a small fortune on the required components, why
drop another Bennie (or more) on something that will add no performance,
and little to no functionality?

In any event, the new motherboard has 10 USB ports – four directly on
back panel of the motherboard, and six are just supplied as headers on
the board. The manufacturer gave us one 2-port real panel connector, but
she still wanted to utilize the extra USB ports, without using a hub.
Her MP3 player, PDA, cameras, and a bunch of other stuff are all USB
devices, and it would be really nice to have easy access to the cables.

She had used a hub on the old machine, which only had four USB ports,
but why use a USB hub when you have 10 ports already natively available?

We tried to find a 5.25" bay which supplied some basic USB ports, but
all we could find are USB hubs which fit into the 5.25" and 3.5" bays,
and multifunction I/O bays (which have 2 USB, 2 Firewire, SATA, etc).

So far, nothing was fitting the basic desire/need. It really sounded
simple, but after a bit of searching, we kept turning up empty-handed.
If anyone knows where we can get a USB panel, which just provides USB
cables to the headers on the motherboard (i.e., not a hub), let me know.

It sounds like such as simple thing. After all, if you have 6 additional
USB ports, and the manufacturer only gives you enough hardware to extend
two ports externally, what do you do to utilize the rest?

We just decided that we would take USB cables and mount them to a 5.25"
dummy plate. And this is what we ended up with:

http://www.azog.org/blog/images/usb-panel016.jpg

We started with two 2-port back panel brackets, that we picked up for $4
each. When CJ looked for these parts online, she found them to be ~$10 a
header! Luckily, we were able to get these at a local computer show from
one of the regular cable dealers. They have cables which are 24? in
length, which is perfect.

http://www.azog.org/blog/images/usb-panel005.jpg

And we wanted to attach them to a dummy 5.25" bay face plate. The
orientation is wrong in this picture. As we started to test-fit, we
figured it would be best to mount the connectors vertically, rather than
horizontally as shown he

http://www.azog.org/blog/images/usb-panel004.jpg

The first thing we had to figure out was how to cut the USB slot into
the front of the face plate, so that it was reasonably well-defined. She
scanned in the bracket, printed it out, and made templates out of that.

http://www.azog.org/blog/images/usb-panel006.jpg
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other stuff

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We figured it wasn’t going to be very stable, just having the dummy face
plate in the case, with wires possibly causing tension, so we rigged up
an old CD-ROM unit.

If you disassemble the CD-ROM, you’ll see there’s a conveniently
designed chassis, to which we’ll affix our face plate.

http://www.azog.org/blog/images/usb-panel003.jpg

Then we epoxied it, and let it sit overnight.

http://www.azog.org/blog/images/usb-panel020.jpg

Installed in the case, you can see the four white wires from the upper
right, going down to the lower left.

http://www.azog.org/blog/images/usb-panel022.jpg

Success.

http://www.azog.org/blog/images/usb-panel001.jpg

We probably saved about $50, but spent about four hours. I don’t know if
you can measure it this way, but it’s a helluva lot more satisfying to
hack up your own case. Off-the-shelf case modding has become so
mainstream, people don’t even need to pick up a real tool, so there’s a
part of me that enjoyed seeing sparks fly while using the Dremel to make
this thing fit our own vision.
------------------

****.

6 years later and STILL nobody makes those damn things!

But you can get stupid-ass CPU fans with LED's built into them. What
****ing bull****.

PC Guy wrote:


6 years later and STILL nobody makes those damn things!

But you can get stupid-ass CPU fans with LED's built into them. What
****ing bull****.

You can buy computer cases with a couple USB2 on the front.
Check the Newegg selector on cases, under front panel. What
the specs don't list, is the kind of connector on the end.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggIma...4dhayQ2LwL.jpg

My Sonata Proto had the 2x5 header on the end of the
cable and a stack of (2) USB2 connectors. But checking
Newegg, I notice the Proto now has USB3 connectors
on the front (powder blue color), and you can't
see whether the cabling is 2x10 or external
connector type on those.

But at least a number of cases offer a couple USB
and a couple audio 1/8" connectors. And when cases
are available with such decorations, it reduces the
market for separate trays or readers. You can download
the single sheet PDF "manual" from the case manufacturer,
to get more pinout info on the cabling.

Paul

Paul wrote:

6 years later and STILL nobody makes those damn things!

But you can get stupid-ass CPU fans with LED's built into them.
What ****ing bull****.

You can buy computer cases with a couple USB2 on the front.

That's not my point.

My point was that all manner of stupid useless accessories are made for
desktop/tower PC's, including drive-bay mounted stuff (temperature
displays, fan controllers, etc). That despite the fact that the market
for such crap has got to be vanishingly small.

I would argue that the products made by FrontX (frontx.com) are so
stupid and mostly useless - it's beyond belief. They engineered a
modular bay solution just to be able to front-mount arcane stuff like
rs232 or s-video ports and by doing so they made a simple 2-port USB
panel unnecessarily complicated and expensive.

I dare you to tell me that having drive-bay mounted USB-2 connectors
wouldn't have been one of the more useful additions to new or existing
PC builds OVER THE PAST DECADE. And I will again point out that these
damn things *ARE* being made for USB-3, so why have they never been
available for USB-2?

Check the Newegg selector on cases, under front panel. What
the specs don't list, is the kind of connector on the end.

I quoted an article where the authors didn't want to go to the extra
expense of buying a new case, and you completely disregard that somewhat
common possibility.

I have seen many such cases with built-in front-panel USB ports where
the ports were in a stupid / inaccessible place, or where they were too
close together or too deeply recessed to allow for large/bulky thumb
drives to be plugged in.

But at least a number of cases offer a couple USB and a couple
audio 1/8" connectors. And when cases are available with such
decorations, it reduces the market for separate trays or readers.

Over the years since USB-2 became available, you can't argue that there
wasn't enough of a market to supply a 2 or 4-port 3.5" bay-mounted USB
extension product for all those PC cases with no such "decorations" (a
curious word, since decoration usually denotes an item that serves no
useful function).

I'd like to hear anyone put forward an argument that bay-mounted USB
ports wouldn't be the single most useful motherboard extension or
interface product bar none, more useful and ergonomic (fullfilling more
use-case situations more often) than probably the second-most useful
bay-mounted product (which would be an audio interface).

PC Guy wrote:


I'd like to hear anyone put forward an argument that bay-mounted USB
ports wouldn't be the single most useful motherboard extension or
interface product bar none, more useful and ergonomic (fullfilling more
use-case situations more often) than probably the second-most useful
bay-mounted product (which would be an audio interface).

Believe it or not, making these things is a business.
And a business case has to be made for each one,
whether it will sell, whether the company will go
broke and so on. Based on the turnover rate of
custom tray assemblies, my guess is the people doing
them, are losing their shirts.

Just look at the expected price and material cost.
A guy like you won't pay $50 for a nice one, so
we have to set a retail target of $8. Now I have
$2 to make the product. Putting 2x5 terminators
on the end costs me an arm and a leg in terms
of labor costs. Now I'm walking around my cheap-ass
manufacturing plant, not wearing any shirt, because
I can no longer afford a shirt. So I get out of the
business, and a person like you complains they
cannot get one.

And in a few years, the USB3 version will disappear too.

*******

You were complaining in one of your posts, about
the "USB3 PCI card being so expensive". Bridged
card designs have come and gone. Koutech made the
gutsy call to make a bunch of different bridged products
several years ago. They ditched them. Why ? The card
would *always* be $20 more expensive than the PCI Express
version of card. And so nobody would buy them. (Only
the retrofit market would buy them, and obviously
that market wasn't big enough. People holding onto
old computers, are cheap asses.) A company making bridged
cards, will always be at a material cost disadvantage
compared to a single chip native card. So while today
you complain the card is $68, a year from now you'll
be complaining they don't make them any more.

All you have to do, is observe which electronics items
stick around, and which disappear, and if you look
carefully, there are always potential explanations for
why. Who the hell wants to make "wiring trays" ?
Will I be able to drive a fancy sports car if
I get into that business ? No. And the people putting
those two USB connectors on the front of a computer
case, are spoiling my potential market size. They're
eating into my market. Who wants to sell stuff
like this into a "retrofit" market ? Jesus, I just
lost my shirt again, and now I'm eating Kraft dinner
for lunch.

Paul

On Wednesday, July 16, 2014 11:04:30 AM UTC-4, PC Guy wrote:
This is a photo of a drive-bay panel-mounted passthrough USB-3
connector:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...YL._SX425_.jpg

Just use a female USB2 to male USB3 header, to connect this to your old motherboard, as USB3 is backwards compatible to USB2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...5998-_-Product
--
// T.Hsu

wrote:
On Wednesday, July 16, 2014 11:04:30 AM UTC-4, PC Guy wrote:
This is a photo of a drive-bay panel-mounted passthrough USB-3
connector:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...YL._SX425_.jpg

Just use a female USB2 to male USB3 header, to connect this to your old motherboard, as USB3 is backwards compatible to USB2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...5998-_-Product

It's "$2.56 and free shipping" straight from the source.
You can get a few more views of the cable here, and verify
the 2x10 end is male, for connection to the USB3 tray.
The USB3 tray would have a 2x10 female with overmolding
on its end.

http://www.newfrog.com/p/usb3-0-to-u...ter-33944.html

This is to show what the adapter does. Convert
old motherboard to new tray. New tray runs in USB2
mode only (as the USB3 pins are disconnected)

Mobo USB3 Tray End
2x5 2x10 male

VBUS ----------- VBUS
D+ ----------- D+
D- ----------- D-
GND ----------- GND
X---SSTX+
X---SSTX-
X---GND
X---SSRX+
X---SSRX-

VBUS ----------- VBUS
D+ ----------- D+
D- ----------- D-
GND ----------- GND
X---SSTX+
X---SSTX-
X---GND
X---SSRX+
X---SSRX-

Shield ----------Shield

HTH,
Paul

On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:04:30 -0400, PC Guy "PC"@Guy .com wrote:

This is a photo of a drive-bay panel-mounted passthrough USB-3
connector:

==================
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...YL._SX425_.jpg

USB 3.0 3.5 inch Front Panel with 2 USB 3.0 Ports Hub [20 Pin Connector
& 2ft Adapter Cable]
==================

I'm told that these USB-3 bay-mounted connectors became available as
soon as the 20-pin connectors were standardized.

For years I've been looking for something similar for USB-2, but have
never seen one.

Can anyone explain why nobody has ever made one?

The answer can't be because they weren't needed, because obviously the
exact same use-case and retail market situation exists for a product
like this for both the USB-2 and USB-3 formats.

In fact, I'd like to see a 4-port USB-2 version.

Two or 3 times I've made my own, by taking a bracket-mounted USB-2
connector and removing it from the bracket and mounting it to a blank
3.5" front-panel bezel with a rectangular hole cut into it. I shouldn't
have had to resort to making such an obviously useful accessory in this
day and age where all manner of accessories (from useful to ridiculous)
exist for desktop and tower computers.

Huh? Yup, I don't see one, either. I've got a nice system for a
5.25" bay but I've never had an occasion to look for a 3 1/2". I
guess they figure most front panel bays are 5.25" since they usually
hold opticals or non-drive items these days.

On Fri, 18 Jul 2014, Loren Pechtel wrote:

On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:04:30 -0400, PC Guy "PC"@Guy .com wrote:

This is a photo of a drive-bay panel-mounted passthrough USB-3
connector:

==================
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...YL._SX425_.jpg

USB 3.0 3.5 inch Front Panel with 2 USB 3.0 Ports Hub [20 Pin Connector
& 2ft Adapter Cable]
==================

I'm told that these USB-3 bay-mounted connectors became available as
soon as the 20-pin connectors were standardized.

For years I've been looking for something similar for USB-2, but have
never seen one.

Can anyone explain why nobody has ever made one?

The answer can't be because they weren't needed, because obviously the
exact same use-case and retail market situation exists for a product
like this for both the USB-2 and USB-3 formats.

In fact, I'd like to see a 4-port USB-2 version.

Two or 3 times I've made my own, by taking a bracket-mounted USB-2
connector and removing it from the bracket and mounting it to a blank
3.5" front-panel bezel with a rectangular hole cut into it. I shouldn't
have had to resort to making such an obviously useful accessory in this
day and age where all manner of accessories (from useful to ridiculous)
exist for desktop and tower computers.

Huh? Yup, I don't see one, either. I've got a nice system for a
5.25" bay but I've never had an occasion to look for a 3 1/2". I
guess they figure most front panel bays are 5.25" since they usually
hold opticals or non-drive items these days.

ANd there may not even be a place for a floppy drive at this point. I
know I've bought cheap at garage sales USB floppy drives, just in case.

That said, one could buy a 3.5" blank (if those are still available) and
transfer the connectors from a 5.25" blank panel. Though, maybe it won't
fit? That might play into this.

I'm not finding interesting computers waiting for the garbage (interesing
meaning "better than I have") but I check them anway, for this sort of
thing. That's how I added USB ports to my previous computer, I'd found a
PCI USB card in a junk computer, just when I was about to buy a hub. I
had a wifi card out of a junk computer, ready for when I actually got wifi
18 months ago. I've grabbed USB connectors and their panel off the fronts
of computers, just in case.

On the other hand, when I put together some junk in 1992 to get an "IBM
PC", the drives I scrounged were for the IBM Portable or whatever it was
called. So I made a front panel for the scrounged case. So I had a
serial port on the front, for a mouse. I can't remember what else, but
since I had a blank panel to start with, I was able to put things on the
front that generally weren't.

Michael

On Thu, 17 Jul 2014 22:40:12 -0400, PC Guy "PC"@Guy .com wrote:


Again, if I want to make use of my motherboards many on-board USB ports
(the ports that are not brought out through the back edge of the board
and accessible through the interface shield) then why on earth has
nobody made a god-damn simple and USEFUL item like a drive-bay mounted
panel-mount cable and connector set?

Look at Front-X's stuff. I'm a happy user but they only provide a
5.25" offering.

Loren Pechtel wrote:
On Thu, 17 Jul 2014 22:40:12 -0400, PC Guy "PC"@Guy .com wrote:

Again, if I want to make use of my motherboards many on-board USB ports
(the ports that are not brought out through the back edge of the board
and accessible through the interface shield) then why on earth has
nobody made a god-damn simple and USEFUL item like a drive-bay mounted
panel-mount cable and connector set?

Look at Front-X's stuff. I'm a happy user but they only provide a
5.25" offering.

They seem to be frozen in time.
No USB3, no 3.5" stuff.

Still, they're the only example of their
kind that I know of.

Paul