Split internal USB pinouts - is it possible?

Question

I've currently got a situation in my PC where I have 3 devices that connect to the motherboard via the onboard USB pinouts.

The problem is, I only have two sets of USB pinouts on my motherboard.

Is there any way of connecting two devices to one set of pinouts? Essentially, I'm looking for the functionality of a USB hub, but I'd like it to be inside the case, and provide pinouts rather than regular USB ports.

Update: I don't need any more USB ports, I have devices that use the USB pinouts. I already have extra USB ports that aren't used, so adding an PCI USB card doesn't really help anything.

Answer 1

Another option is an internal USB expander -- this is basically a hub that connects to internal power and a single motherboard USB header, and provides multiple USB headers and possibly some internal ports.

• NZXT IU01 internal USB expansion -- 3 headers, 2 internal ports (8 ports total). Available at various internet retailers.

  

• iBuyPower IES system -- 2 headers, 1 internal port (5 ports total). Have not seen it available except from iBuyPower; does not appear to be available for online ordering from the manufacturer.

  

These appear to be very niche products; I'd like to know of other similar products.

Answer 2

You could go about this a couple ways. The easiest is to buy a cheap $10 usb card with another usb header on the card that you could connect to. This way you do not jerry rig anything and do not endanger us all. ;):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815201008

Or there is an adapter that goes male usb header to USB A: Not sure if this would actually work with the device you have though.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1116

And here is the pinout's you requested:

http://pinouts.ru/Motherboard/usb_internal_pinout.shtml

http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml

Answer 3

If you mean like this:

Then yes it is technically possible, but there are drawbacks:

But if one or both devices draw power FROM the USB header then the wheels fall off. A device connected to the USB header will hang onto the connection even if the software for it is shut down and the device is "powered off."

See: http://icrontic.com/articles/rewire_usb_ports

Answer 4

Update from below: There is a hack to add an internal USB hub to a UMPC. Maybe this is what you are requesting.

Here is another USB Internal Hub which has a PCI bracket:

JUST COOLER UH-100 INTERNAL 4-PORT USB HUB

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You would have to use a hub to connect two devices to one USB header. One 4 or 5-pin USB header = 1 USB port.

Two devices on one USB port cannot work reliably at the same time. The reason for this is (this is from memory, so it may be a little out off or missing steps):

1. Once a device is plugged in, it performs a hardware handshake with the controller.
2. The controller then tells the OS that a device was plugged in.
3. The OS detects what the device is and loads the correct drivers.
4. The driver polls the device periodically to see if there is anything to communicate and performs the transactions until the device is removed.

USB is a very host software driven interface compared to other I/O. If a second device is connected to the same wires, it could potentially cause the first device to disconnect, cause errors in the transactions, or take over the connection.

Another problem is each USB port is limited by specification to be able to supply 5V @ 0.5A max current. If two devices draw power off the port, it could trip the overcurrent sense or a resettable fuse causing the port to fault.

Answer 5

Here's another option. It's basically an updated version of the NZXT IU01: https://www.amazon.com/Internal-USB-Hub-newest-model/dp/B01IFGFTJ2

Answer 6

There are a few possibilities.

One is a card with an internal USB header. Startech do one https://www.startech.com/uk/Cards-Adapters/USB-2/Card/7-Port-PCI-USB-Card-Adapter~PCIUSB7 but be warned it seems to have compatibility issues with some motherboards (when I put one in my old Maxdata pentium 4 it failed to boot).

Another is an internal hub, NZXT do a couple of models (both already mentioned in other answers here), one is bare-board the other comes with a plastic case, I'm not aware if there are any differences beyond that. I have used the bare-board one successfully to add a media card reader to an old PC.

Another thing to note is that a standard USB header carries two USB ports, depending on what exactly your devices are you may find they only use one of the ports and with some re-wiring you can connect one device to each port.