USB 2.0 Headers

[Vamo_Elysian]

Hi all,

 

I recently added some new fans to my system, 3 x Cirsair SP 120 RGB Pro's, very pleased with them! However I've ran into a little snag...

 

They come with their own "CORE" controller, which allows for 6 RGB fans to be connected to it, great, not an issue, however...it also requires to be hooked up to a 9-pin USB 2.0 header., which I only have ONE of on my board, and is currently occupied by my H150i AIO cooler. So it's a toss up between controlling the RBG/Monitoring the temps etc of the H150i, or being able to change the RBG on my new fans.

 

Is there anything I can buy to split a USB 2.0 header, or give myself an additional one or some kind of workaround to allow me to plug two devices that require a USB 2.0 header in somehow?

 

Thanks and hopefully this was the right place to post! 

 

Dale

[minibois]

1 minute ago, Vamo_Elysian said:

Is there anything I can buy to split a USB 2.0 header

Yup: 

Simple hub: https://www.amazon.com/Micro-Connectors-S08-303-IA-Internal-Expansion/dp/B07QHQF92K/

This one also allows for fan control: https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Fan-Controller-Commander-CL-9011110-WW/dp/B0725HP1J2

3 minutes ago, Vamo_Elysian said:

give myself an additional one or some kind of workaround to allow me to plug two devices that require a USB 2.0 header in somehow?

You can combine two USB 2.0 headers into one, because the USB 2.0 internal cable has 9 connections, one of which is unconnected entirely and then USB 2.0 only uses four. So four connections are left empty, which you could place the remaining connectors from the other cable into.

See the diagram here for a better explanation:

 

[manikyath]

do they both use all 9 pins, or do they each only use 'half' of the connector? (leaving half of it empty / not connected)

[Haro]

4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

leaving half of it empty / not connected)

Afaik ( and I could be wrong ) they use half and then you can just put another pair of 2.0 pins into one and then have 2 2.0 connectors into one slot.

[Vamo_Elysian]

20 minutes ago, manikyath said:

do they both use all 9 pins, or do they each only use 'half' of the connector? (leaving half of it empty / not connected)

They only use half each, so I could do what was linked above and try and combine the two into the one connector, however I do not have the eyesight for what seems like it might be a rather fiddly job. It seems like buying some sort of splutter would be the way to go for me. 

 

I was having a look at This one on Amazon and must say the 1 star reviews terrified me! It's made me second guess buying one at all with talk of them frying entire systems....

 

 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Vamo_Elysian said:

They only use half each, so I could do what was linked above and try and combine the two into the one connector, however I do not have the eyesight for what seems like it might be a rather fiddly job. It seems like buying some sort of splutter would be the way to go for me. 

 

I was having a look at This one on Amazon and must say the 1 star reviews terrified me! It's made me second guess buying one at all with talk of them frying entire systems....

 

 

if you can put a sim card in your phone, you have the dexterity required for swapping the pins.

 

it's easier than it looks, basicly the pins have an 'indent', and the plastic housing has a piece that clicks into said indent, you can use something like a sim removal tool to move that piece out the way, and pull the wire free. placing them back in is as simple as pushing the pin into the hole (heh..) with the side with the indent facing the correct way.

[Vamo_Elysian]

22 minutes ago, manikyath said:

if you can put a sim card in your phone, you have the dexterity required for swapping the pins.

 

it's easier than it looks, basicly the pins have an 'indent', and the plastic housing has a piece that clicks into said indent, you can use something like a sim removal tool to move that piece out the way, and pull the wire free. placing them back in is as simple as pushing the pin into the hole (heh..) with the side with the indent facing the correct way.

Oh, After reading what you said, I looked up some videos and that definable seems much more doable than I first thought, I was thinking It was going to involve some soldering and fiddly little wires lol.

 

Thanks for your advice, I'll give that a bash tomorrow!

 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Vamo_Elysian said:

Oh, After reading what you said, I looked up some videos and that definable seems much more doable than I first thought, I was thinking It was going to involve some soldering and fiddly little wires lol.

 

Thanks for your advice, I'll give that a bash tomorrow!

 

a lot of the 'classic' connectors in computers (USB 2.0, the vareous power connectors, audio header, etc.) are actually connectors designed to be hand-serviceable.

[Vamo_Elysian]

8 minutes ago, manikyath said:

a lot of the 'classic' connectors in computers (USB 2.0, the vareous power connectors, audio header, etc.) are actually connectors designed to be hand-serviceable.

 

Funny you should mention the audio header, I noticed earlier that with my case is is an extreme stretch to get that cable to plug into the header, and accidentally managed to pull out (and probably snap by the looks of it) the blue wire from the connector....it's probably an easy fix if it works the same way as you described with the USB header, but as it looks like it's snapped I imagine i'll need to take all the wires out and strip them back a bit to be even sized again, meaning it will be even shorter and probably won't reach the header at all lol.

[Xplo1t]

I have the NZXT one and it works well for most things.  However, ASmedia controllers found on many AMD boards has issues with hubs.

[Vamo_Elysian]

On 7/5/2020 at 9:47 PM, manikyath said:

do they both use all 9 pins, or do they each only use 'half' of the connector? (leaving half of it empty / not connected)

Hey all, sorry to bump this up again.

 

I had a look into doing this today, and despite what I thought about them both only using half of the available pins, it seems that the Corsair CORE uses 5...I drew a quick thing in paint to show how it;s set out.

 

 

With this layout, Is it still possible to join the other 4 wires from the H150i's USB 2.0 cable? Or not possible as the Corsair Core is taking up 2 x Red and 2 x Black spaces?

[manikyath]

31 minutes ago, Vamo_Elysian said:

Hey all, sorry to bump this up again.

 

I had a look into doing this today, and despite what I thought about them both only using half of the available pins, it seems that the Corsair CORE uses 5...I drew a quick thing in paint to show how it;s set out.

 

 

With this layout, Is it still possible to join the other 4 wires from the H150i's USB 2.0 cable? Or not possible as the Corsair Core is taking up 2 x Red and 2 x Black spaces?

is it possible to make a clear image of the corsair header?

[Vamo_Elysian]

1 hour ago, manikyath said:

is it possible to make a clear image of the corsair header?

I took this one, couldn't get a clear image of it from the wire side facing up but it matches the diagram I showed above.

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Vamo_Elysian said:

I took this one, couldn't get a clear image of it from the wire side facing up but it matches the diagram I showed above.

-snip-

 why do manufacturers do this...

 

so.. there's two options here:

- either corsair engineers decided to use both power pins on the connector to spread the power draw

- or they are completely incompoetent, and those lead to different systems inside the device.

 

given that we assume corsair engineers are not completely incompetent, you can just leave one red and one black wire 'disconnected' (wrap them in tape so they dont hit anything) and you should be good.