Puzzled About Why USB Hubs Help

[Ernie Balch]

Thanks Brady, now you tell me! The board I got worked with the PCI express slot and was supposed to be much faster, well live and learn!

I have been avoiding Belkin products after getting a usb hub that didn't seem reliable.

In any case, I purchased a new controller board and am currently running the first job with it. The usb cable that came with it has a noise suppression choke on it and plugs directly into the control card which appears to be 9 revisions newer than the one I took out.

I don't know what improvements were made but I hope it fixes my problems.

ernie

[Bob Eustace]

Well thanks to Garry and Brady our problems are no more. Simply follow the golden rules!

1. Always use safely eject hardware

2. Always put SB3 in PREVIEW mode before inserting or removing flash drive

3. Always copy the SB3 file to hard drive.

Thanks guys - we no longer need Vallium!

[Ernie Balch]

Installing the new control board has apparently fixed my connection problems. I was able to run a 2 hour job with no losses in communication and no usb hub. The speed test showed 89%

ernie

[gerryv]

Ernie,
Can you please tell me what you mean by new controller board? Does this refer to a USB board? What brand/model/cost? I'm not experiencing any comm problems with my present machine but just in case I ever want to "beef up" your 89% is the highest number I've seen so why not go for the best. Glad to see that things have worked out so well for you.

[Ernie Balch]

I have a 5 yr old PRS Alpha the control board is the brains of the shopbot controller, it is a small board that is about 3x4 inches that connects to the usb cable and has the conversion hardware that outputs pulse and direction data to the stepper drivers.

My system originally had a 9 pin serial interface with a special serial to usb converter cable. The new design included a standard usb cable that plugs directly into the control board instead of the backplane.

That being said, I think the communication speed is mostly a function of the computer itself. I have a Dell Vostro system with windows 7. I can move the usb cable to different ports and get different speed test values ranging from 56 to 89.

[Brady Watson]

I have been avoiding Belkin products after getting a usb hub that didn't seem reliable.

I am by no means endorsing Belkin (Kin of Baal?) as the end all be all of hardware...because I still avoid them for pretty much everything else...This card was what they had at Staples, which actually worked. Most people have a Staples near them - so that is the only reason I recommend that brand.

Feel free to experiment with other brands, but avoid USB3.0 right now until they sort out all the driver issues.

-B

[shilala]

Just a thing...
The Iogear USB hub that came with my machine had terribly sloppy female connectors. I used rubber bands, double sided tape, squashed my usb cable a bit, bolted down the usb cable and twisted it, all trying to make the connectors tight.
Still, every now and then when the machine banged or if I brushed the cable or if the wind hit it right, it'd lose connection and throw a comm error.
I called Frank at Shopbot and he sent me a new one. It's perfect.
Why mine was so sloppy, I have no idea. I'm just thrilled that I'm back in business and no longer live in constant fear of that stupid adapter.

[ron_moorehead]

Hi Brady,

I was wondering which belkin card you got, the USB 2.0 card by Belkin their two port external with one internal or the 5 port external model.

Thanks

[Brady Watson]

Hey Ron - I'm pretty sure the one I have on my machine is a 4-port...but it has been a number of years since I put that one in. I have though, installed the 2-port ones in customer's machines that had marginal computer hardware - that worked well. In either case, they are internal PCI expansion cards for desktop machines.

You may also want to look into a PCMCIA to USB card if you are running a laptop and having COM problems. If you read the reviews for a given piece of hardware on NewEgg that will give you a pretty good idea of what is junk and what isn't.

-B