I don't think there's enough room on the backplate. Internal headers could be done though.

wiretap wrote on 2021-12-23, 16:57:

I don't think there's enough room on the backplate. Internal headers could be done though.

Perfect!

wiretap wrote on 2021-12-23, 16:57:

I don't think there's enough room on the backplate. Internal headers could be done though.

Oh, there's always enough room for a USB hub.

For 'reasons'(tm) I needed to fit a memory stick in the bezel of a laptop which has a USB webcam. So I managed to cut in to the cable, run the D+/- and power from the laptop in to the inputs, then reconnect the webcam to one output port and the memory stick to the other. Not pretty, soldering was a pain, but tiny (~7mm x 7mm).

Don't give me ideas, now I wanna put a bootable ubuntu USB in a machine like that and take it to BestBuy and say I can't get it to load windows...

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-12-23, 18:37:

Don't give me ideas, now I wanna put a bootable ubuntu USB in a machine like that and take it to BestBuy and say I can't get it to load windows...

They probably don’t even know what Ubuntu is 😂

My generic ATX Form Card rev 1.0 arrived the other day from CablesOnline. This one uses ferrite beads, resistors, and capacitors for EMC protection and filtering. There's also a fuse for overcurrent conditions. JP1 is for adding an internal USB header.

Pics:

Just checked, CablesOnline charges $70 for shipping to EU (via Fedex) .... insane.
I'd be willing to buy one or two via ebay or privately, if anybody is ordering.

stef80 wrote on 2023-03-13, 10:25:

Just checked, CablesOnline charges $70 for shipping to EU (via Fedex) .... insane.
I'd be willing to buy one or two via ebay or privately, if anybody is ordering.

Same to Australia, 72 USD (~107 AUD) shipping for a 7 dollar part.. WTF

There is no fucking way it costs that much to send this tiny part via any postal service, might be cheaper to just reverse engineer this and build the damn thing myself.

I've looked into this myself and unfortunately Fedex will charge a minimum amount to send parcels overseas. Even if this thing fits nicely in a padded envelope (which it does), Fedex will still charge the minimum box requirements for parcels. So in essence this is the minimum they can charge for sending this thing via Fedex International. I've got an Asus Mir that I'm looking to populate with the missing bits at some stage and use that. For the money they charge for an ATX form card I could buy a whole SS7 motherboard.

Managed to find 3 locally, including cables. One with all of the ports and 2 with just USB, so I'm ok for now 😉.

wiretap wrote on 2021-12-23, 16:47:

Nice. I'll build a KiCAD project based off that one, with a 3D printable bracket.

Just curious if you ever got around to this, I have a Pentium II motherboard that has the full "ATX Form Card" port.

BTW, I love your "Not A Varta" adapters, using them on a couple computers!

Its on the back burner in my list. Not sure when I'll get around to it. I have a few other higher priority projects I'm working on right now.

I whipped up a clone of that breakout board in Kicad. If anyone has the exact dimensions of the board that'd be helpful. Otherwise It can jsut be As Is. I will whip up a 3D Model of the blanking plate this week some time that will fit this design. I haven't built or tested it yet as I don't yet have a P5A-B (although I am on the lookout).

If anyone wants to sanity-check it, please let know if you find any issues. Also, I'll upload the gerbers for it if someone wants to have a go at building it. It's all 0805 SMDs and 2 electrolytic capacitors, and the USB and PS2/IR connectors are standard.

I don't know if there are really any critical dimensions other than you can fit it on a bracket. Personally, I would size it so as many as possible fit on the "$2" PCB size, what's that? 100x100mm, so you could get maybe 3 on it with perforations drilled to separate them. Also, I would try to get maximum USB port spacing for fat dongles and thumbdrives. Though maybe PS/2 spacing needs to be preserved for use of adapters. (AT-PS/2, USB-PS/2 etc)

Another thought would be to make it just narrow enough to fit in a 3.5" drivebay, so you can use them on a floppy blanking plate maybe.

Yeah it could easily work with both a rear-facing plate and a 3.5" Bay. The final dimensions are 90mm x 41mm. Gives plenty of room between the connectors, (more than the original), and still fits comfortably in a rear-plate and a 3.5" Bay. Two mounting screw holes are 2.5mm so will handle clips or some M2.5 screws as well. Updated the labelling, and tidied up the layout.

Will put the source files up on github for anyone that wants them, including the gerbers.

https://github.com/optoisolated/ASUS_P5A-B_USB_MIR_Breakout