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[on:]

hi all
my router is running linux and it is missing of any usb port ='(
fortunately i've got 3 miniPCI slots in where usually people put a wifi card
(usually  atheros-wifi card, which is the suggested and well tested one)

it would be nice if i could put a miniPCI-usb
in order to add one or the usb port to my router =D

i have an other technical request about this miniPCI card:
it MUST be pci-mem-only
because my router is not able to handle any pci-IO card

i live in italy
any idea about where i could buy such a strange toy ?

regards =)

[Reply #1 on:]

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Express-SuperSpeed-Adapter-MPEXUSB3S2/dp/B004NO0LK8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1345574473&sr=8-4&keywords=mini+pci+usb+card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158292&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA

[Reply #2 on:]

ops, thanks but they are PCI Express, i have no PCI Express slot in my router, only miniPCI =P

[Reply #3 on:]

(eheehehe it's not so easy job, i think =P)

[Reply #4 on:]

Then use this in combination with above.
http://www.amfeltec.com/products/flexible-minipci-to-minipcie-adapter.php

[Reply #5 on:]

interesting, thanks =D

[Reply #6 on:]

also i have found this one

http://www.abigo4u.com/tf-per-c20u-a10-mini-pci-usb-2-0-module.html?___store=en&___from_store=default

it's cheap, only 60 euro shipping included

the mounted chip is NEC μD720101

unfortunately i can't find the datasheet to check if it is pci-mem-ony (no pci-IO) compliant

but i know that a similar chip, NEC uPD720200, is pci-mem-only

well, i wander if i should give it a try crossing my fingers =P

[Reply #7 on:]

the mounted chip is NEC μD720101

Ok, it seems that it doesn't matter which chip you have mounted
pci-mem vs pc-io is depending on how the chip is programmed

Dear Sir,
Thank you for contacting us.
Our PER-C20U is PCI IO space based.
If you want to use it with MEN space, we have to modify that.

[Reply #8 on:]

Hi,
I got myself into similar sotuation. Did you manage to get USB port as minipci sollution on a non-io slot?
I have ubiquity device that I need to extend.

[Reply #9 on:]

just one usb port ? what about using an usb hub ?
have you evaluated penalties to the usb bandwidth ?

[Reply #10 on:]

I want to use usb lcd 2x40 screen. The screen will be inside the case. I have spare minipci slot that is not pci-IO compliant.
USB hub is not realy an option, since I cannot place it inside the case.

[Reply #11 on:]

it seems impossible to find out a miniPCI board which uses pci-mem instead of pci-io, and your router is not able to work with pci-io
personally i have only seen the mem-only used in wifi miniPCI card, but we are talinkg about something made and sold by the same people who sell your router.
it seems there are no other miniPCI card on the market, i guess
i wonder if somebody has ever seen them and could suggest us something about. dunno.

btw, any free GPIO inside your router ? couldn't use GPIO to bit anging a sort of i2c, or SPI or uart ?

[Reply #12 on:]

Thank you for the reply. You are correct for the WiFi part - there are plenty of WiFi cards that work with my router, though all of them are based on Atheros chipset.
There are 7 gpios available, but I don't even know where to start in order to use them.

[Reply #13 on:]

is your kernel able to put on/off the GPIO's pins ? if so you could use an SPI to UART.

[Reply #14 on:]

Yes, I can control the GPIO pins. Can you point me to a place where I can educate myself about SPI to UART?
Though, this is GPIO, not UART?