Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] USRP usb cable question

[Eric Blossom]

On Thu, Apr 06, 2006 at 05:41:00AM -0700, seph 004 wrote:
> Hi
>  
>  My earlier usb problem seems to be related to the cable I was
>  using. I tried my home printer's cable and it began to work.

Throw the bad one away -- I'm not kidding, and buy a cable certified
for USB 2.0. At least around here, they're only a few dollars.

>  I could load the firmware and the standard tx and rx programs worked
>  perfectly. I tried out the usrp_fft.py script. It worked initially
>  and then I got a stream of usb protocol errors which caused the
>  script to crash. When I tried to reconnect the board I saw that I
>  was back to square one with the USRP failing to connect. I also
>  noticed that even though the script crashed and the was no longer
>  running, the USRP was still drawing just over 1A.

Which distribution and kernel are you using?
>From watching the linux usb developers list, there seems to have been
some regressions with 2.6.15.  If you're using that particular kernel,
move up or back.

>  My question is: Is there any way or situation where communication
>  between the USRP and the pc could cause the usb cable to be
>  damaged? I haven't tried another cable yet, because I'm uncertain
>  if the same thing would happen again.

No, the USRP can't damage the cable.

>  I did rmmod ehci_hcd and connected the USRP to the same port. I
>  could succesfully connect and load firmware. I assumes this means
>  that the USB2 pci card is working and that the cable can still do
>  USB1.1 connections and that the USRP is fine as well. Is there a
>  very specific kind of USB2 cable I should be using? A shielded type
>  or something?

Any USB 2.0 cable "USB-A Male to USB-B Male" will work.  You don't
need the gold plated "Monster Cable".  Not sure where you live; pretty
much any computer related store will carry them.  Fry's, Best Buy, ... 
I'm sure that Office Max and Office Depot carry them too, but
they'll be more expensive there.

Jameco's got them for $1.89 if you want to mail order.

  
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=229737

Eric