[HN Gopher] HIDman Adapting USB devices to work on old computers
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HIDman Adapting USB devices to work on old computers
Author : CTOSian
Score : 123 points
Date : 2024-09-02 15:06 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| godzillabrennus wrote:
| You know this will end up in some power plant or military
| facility to get another 30 years out of something that works and
| no one wants to deal with. Very cool project.
| ranger_danger wrote:
| USB to PS2/serial adapters and converters have existed for
| decades though.
| AnotherGoodName wrote:
| Those typically aren't what they seem. They are dumb socket
| wiring adapters and the peripheral itself needs to support
| both usb and ps2 for it work. Those peripherals are really
| rare now (they were around for the usb changeover).
| teruakohatu wrote:
| While there are passive adapters for late model PS2
| keyboards, there are also cheap active adapters utilising
| the CEC CSC0101A.
|
| https://www.micros.com.pl/mediaserver/info-
| uicsc0101a-s16.pd...
|
| But they are not as compatible as the open source one being
| developed.
|
| Edit: I got it the wrong way around, see wolrah below.
| wolrah wrote:
| > there are also cheap active adapters utilising the CEC
| CSC0101A
|
| "The CEC CSC0101A is an integral micro-controller for
| converting PS/2 interface signal to USB applications"
|
| That's the other way around, for which adapters have been
| widely available since the dawn of USB.
|
| Adapters like the subject of this thread allowing modern
| USB HIDs to be connected to older computers are much
| harder to find. I remember at one point seeing one
| advertised in a CDW catalog, but just that statement
| alone should date it.
| teruakohatu wrote:
| I indeed got it the wrong way around!
| userbinator wrote:
| There are active adapters around: https://commons.wikimedia
| .org/wiki/File:Active_USB_to_PS2_Ad...
|
| But they aren't cheap. I hope open-source projects like
| this one will result in them being cheaply available on
| AliExpress and the like.
| SkyPuncher wrote:
| No, there are active adapters as well.
|
| I use to be into RC flight. Back then, the controllers
| could plug into a PC via a serial port. I had to buy an
| active adapter to use it since I didn't have a PC with a
| serial port, anymore.
| AnotherGoodName wrote:
| Note the above is going from usb peripheral to serial
| port on the pc with no drivers.
|
| USB to serial adapter are a dime a dozen but they do the
| opposite of this. The usb side is on the pc which has
| drivers to handle a lot of the complexity.
| cruffle_duffle wrote:
| Man to go off topic I remember the days when USB was new and
| all those USB keyboards never seemed to work right "at boot".
| Sure they worked okay once you got into windows but the BIOS
| didn't seem to accept them.
|
| For a few years the most reliable way to use a USB keyboard
| was through a PS/2 adapter that plugged into the motherboard.
| I remember there was quite some time where USB keyboards came
| with PS/2 adapters and sometimes even a pigtail to go to
| whatever that bigger round jack was called (a DIN connector?)
| landgenoot wrote:
| > Simply open a text editor on your target PC (eg notepad, edit,
| vi), then hold HIDman's power button for a few seconds. The menu
| will be typed out into your text editor.
|
| That's very cool and clever.
| actionfromafar wrote:
| That's mindblowing to me.
|
| Reclaiming the serial terminal in a USB way.
| actionfromafar wrote:
| It could have modes for Notepad, vim, and plain vt100
| compatible :-)
|
| It alao makes for a really cool out of band communication
| path. Pondering what this coupled with WiFi could do.
| alfanick wrote:
| I vaguely remember playing with some physical keylogger
| (ps/2?) back in early 2000s that had similar feature - to
| configure it you enter some magic key sequence then it
| ,,typed" the menu and you execute some configuration commands
| via typing on a keyboard.
| hbossy wrote:
| I did something similar using Raspberry Pi 2040 - it pretends
| to be a USB keyboard, opens browser using 0xf0 key, types in
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ and press play
| after connecting to the PC.
|
| https://github.com/EddieTheHead/RPIPicoRickRoll
| freedomben wrote:
| I'm guessing this was killed because of the rick roll (heads
| up in case you click the youtube link before reading the repo
| name, the youtube link above is a rickroll) but I vouched for
| it because the linked github repo is genuinely very
| interesting. Thanks for sharing!
| dazhbog wrote:
| His YouTube channel is awesome!
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBsv-jRiIT8
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=putHMSzu5og
|
| https://www.youtube.com/@TheRasteri
| mschuster91 wrote:
| > Hub support can be hit-and-miss. This is (mostly) not HIDman's
| fault - many modern hubs don't support low-speed USB devices
| properly.
|
| Just... how? USB hubs have been around for > 2 decades, the IP
| cores for USB 1 used in hub chips should have stabilized _long_
| ago...
| shakna wrote:
| Pretty much every single USB device ever created fails some
| part or another of the USB spec. Because the spec is enormous,
| truly giant, and ambiguous in parts.
| actionfromafar wrote:
| I guess using a hub for a keyboard is a little more niche.
| iforgotpassword wrote:
| Heh funny I have a laptop connected to the USB hub in a
| relatively recent Fujitsu screen and then an old USB 2.0 hub
| connected to that one with keyboard and mouse connected to
| it. Works flawlessly. Guess I got lucky.
| kalleboo wrote:
| I would have assumed that connecting your PC to a hub built-
| in to your monitor then connecting keyboard and mice into the
| monitor would be a somewhat common configuration
| actionfromafar wrote:
| I would guess hubs built into monitors to be tested with
| this exact use-case.
| TeMPOraL wrote:
| I don't know; I tried this once (on a Dell U2715H), and the
| input from both the mouse and the keyboard got very
| jittery, to the point of making the computer very difficult
| to operate. I suppose there was some interference from
| processing and displaying HDMI signal; whatever it was, I
| decided not to bother with built-in display USB hubs.
| officeplant wrote:
| Most of my computing life the last decade is living off a
| laptop hooked up to a dock and a dinky little 4port usb2.0
| hub plugged into that dock for webcam, mouse, keyboard, midi
| controller. It's pretty nice to just one cable my laptop into
| a desktop.
| pjc50 wrote:
| Huh. I use a hub as a cheap KVM equivalent, and noticed that
| every now and again the keyboard just fails to work until
| replugged. Guess this is a bit more widespread, but you'd
| thought they'd test with keyboards.
| TheCipster wrote:
| Now, if only this supported ADB too...
| peterburkimsher wrote:
| There's a list of projects at the end of this article:
|
| https://paperstack.com/adb_usb_converter/
|
| The ADB-USB Wombat is a pretty decent solution if you prefer to
| buy something already made.
| ecliptik wrote:
| The usb4vc supports ADB [1].
|
| I have one for my Macintosh 512ke and it works great for the
| non-adb mouse and keyboard.
|
| I choose it over the HIDman since you can buy it assembled and
| it works with a RaspberryPi 3.
|
| 1. https://github.com/dekuNukem/USB4VC?tab=readme-ov-
| file#apple...
| snvzz wrote:
| Hopefully something like this will be adapted for Atari Joystick
| Port.
|
| The existing solutions for that are proprietary hardware or
| firmware.
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