Pi Zero and powered USB hub

[GianniDPC]

Hello,

First of all, I had a USB Hub laying around that was not externally powered I tried that with the Pi Zero but ofcourse it didn't work, If I connect a USB device let's say a keyboard or mouse directly to the Pi Zero it works fine.

I read on the forums that I needed a powered USB hub. So I bought one from ebay (a cheap one for 8 euros). It has 7 usb ports and a DC input (to power it from an external source).

The problem now is that it also doesn't work with the Pi Zero, strange thing is my wireless logitech mouse works when I put the receiver in the hub, but other devices that work when connected directly to the Pi don't work in the hub. How do I solve this?

What I tried:

* Without external power source.
* The external power source that came with the unit 1A/5V.
* use a usb A to A cable and put it in one of the female usb ports connected to a 4A/5V charger.
* Connected the usb hub to a female to male(usb extender) cable to the Pi Zero (with OTG ofcourse) and cut the VCC wire. So only current could flow from the external power source.
* Powered the Pi Zero with power coming from the hub.

Below is the output of lsusb, in first instance a usb mouse connected directly to the Pi Zero with OTG, and in the second instance same thing but with the USB Hub.
http://imgur.com/a/XmdR7

[aBUGSworstnightmare]

No picture for me, so I need to guess what your wiring is; your writeup let's me assume it's a rats nest but hopefully it's just my misunderstanding!

If you power the RPi Zero from your powered hub simply use a standard cable and connect the Hubs data port (to host) to the connector labeled USB. No need to connect something to PWR!

Why do you think you need to cut any wires in that cable?

O.K.
1. Since your USB hub has it's own power supply connect it!
2. Connect the USB data port of your hub to the USB socket of the RPi Zero
3. Connect RPi Zero PWR input to your 5V/4A charger (hopefully this is a USB charger ...)

No need to worry since you now have a common ground connection between your two power supplies.

P.S. what devices do you want to connect to your USB hub? 7 ports and supplied with a 1A only power supply looks like crap to me if you consider that each (standard) USB device is allowed to source 500mA ...

[FTrevorGowen]

...
I read on the forums that I needed a powered USB hub. So I bought one from ebay (a cheap one for 8 euros). It has 7 usb ports and a DC input (to power it from an external source).
...

Was it something like this one?
http://www.cpmspectrepi.uk/raspberry_pi ... rtHub.html
Historically some variants were supplied with very poor quality PSU's (as was my sample):
http://www.cpmspectrepi.uk/raspberry_pi ... st_Results
Trev.

[drgeoff]

...
I read on the forums that I needed a powered USB hub. So I bought one from ebay (a cheap one for 8 euros). It has 7 usb ports and a DC input (to power it from an external source).
...

Was it something like this one?
http://www.cpmspectrepi.uk/raspberry_pi ... rtHub.html
Historically some variants were supplied with very poor quality PSU's (as was my sample):
http://www.cpmspectrepi.uk/raspberry_pi ... st_Results
Trev.

I too had one of those 4 years ago. I returned it within a few days as the PSU was incapable of maintaining 5 volts even with 0.5 amp loading. There was also a Youtube video about the PSU showing the abysmal electrical performance and the dreadful standard of electrical safety (lack of) in its design and construction.

[GianniDPC]

No picture for me, so I need to guess what your wiring is; your writeup let's me assume it's a rats nest but hopefully it's just my misunderstanding!

If you power the RPi Zero from your powered hub simply use a standard cable and connect the Hubs data port (to host) to the connector labeled USB. No need to connect something to PWR!

Why do you think you need to cut any wires in that cable?

O.K.
1. Since your USB hub has it's own power supply connect it!
2. Connect the USB data port of your hub to the USB socket of the RPi Zero
3. Connect RPi Zero PWR input to your 5V/4A charger (hopefully this is a USB charger ...)

No need to worry since you now have a common ground connection between your two power supplies.

P.S. what devices do you want to connect to your USB hub? 7 ports and supplied with a 1A only power supply looks like crap to me if you consider that each (standard) USB device is allowed to source 500mA ...

Yes I know I shouldn't use the hub to connect devices that ask a lot of power, but for now I'm just using a usb mouse in the hub and that doesn't work either. See the screenshots in the link below.

I made a screenshot showing my setup, and the other one is the output in lsusb. So what I did is connect a USB mouse to the hub and connect everything like you told in the steps. But it doesn't seem to be working.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3VQ- ... HY4T3FNMDg

[GianniDPC]

...
I read on the forums that I needed a powered USB hub. So I bought one from ebay (a cheap one for 8 euros). It has 7 usb ports and a DC input (to power it from an external source).
...

Was it something like this one?
http://www.cpmspectrepi.uk/raspberry_pi ... rtHub.html
Historically some variants were supplied with very poor quality PSU's (as was my sample):
http://www.cpmspectrepi.uk/raspberry_pi ... st_Results
Trev.

Funny thing is it is exact the one from the link..

[aBUGSworstnightmare]

So at least your Raspberry is working.

Is it correct that you're powering your Zero from the hub too?

Is your mouse working in case of removing power from the hub and supplying your RPI Zero from the other power supply? This is a typical bus-powered configuration. If this is not working most likely your hub is damaged (or pretty bad designed).

There is a nice 4-port USB hub available which can be mounted below your Zero - it's in a similar price range as yours http://www.uugear.com/product/zero4u/
I've used them in self-powered and bus-powered mode, they're just working as they should.

[GianniDPC]

So at least your Raspberry is working.

Is it correct that you're powering your Zero from the hub too?

Is your mouse working in case of removing power from the hub and supplying your RPI Zero from the other power supply? This is a typical bus-powered configuration. If this is not working most likely your hub is damaged (or pretty bad designed).

There is a nice 4-port USB hub available which can be mounted below your Zero - it's in a similar price range as yours http://www.uugear.com/product/zero4u/
I've used them in self-powered and bus-powered mode, they're just working as they should.

Are you sure that this is going to work? I don't want to waste money again as I bought the pi zero because I'm on a tight budget in the first place.

I want to use a mouse and keyboard and a wifi dongle in the hub is this going to work? Or is it better to sell the whole thing and get the Pi 3 anyway..

[fruitoftheloom]

So at least your Raspberry is working.

Is it correct that you're powering your Zero from the hub too?

Is your mouse working in case of removing power from the hub and supplying your RPI Zero from the other power supply? This is a typical bus-powered configuration. If this is not working most likely your hub is damaged (or pretty bad designed).

There is a nice 4-port USB hub available which can be mounted below your Zero - it's in a similar price range as yours http://www.uugear.com/product/zero4u/
I've used them in self-powered and bus-powered mode, they're just working as they should.

Are you sure that this is going to work? I don't want to waste money again as I bought the pi zero because I'm on a tight budget in the first place.

I want to use a mouse and keyboard and a wifi dongle in the hub is this going to work? Or is it better to sell the whole thing and get the Pi 3 anyway..

I power my Zero from a decent 5V2A PSU and use a £0.99 HUB (un-powered) from Ebay which works with a Keyboard / Mouse / WiFi Dongle:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Ports-USB2- ... 2253292330

[GianniDPC]

So at least your Raspberry is working.

Is it correct that you're powering your Zero from the hub too?

Is your mouse working in case of removing power from the hub and supplying your RPI Zero from the other power supply? This is a typical bus-powered configuration. If this is not working most likely your hub is damaged (or pretty bad designed).

There is a nice 4-port USB hub available which can be mounted below your Zero - it's in a similar price range as yours http://www.uugear.com/product/zero4u/
I've used them in self-powered and bus-powered mode, they're just working as they should.

Are you sure that this is going to work? I don't want to waste money again as I bought the pi zero because I'm on a tight budget in the first place.

I want to use a mouse and keyboard and a wifi dongle in the hub is this going to work? Or is it better to sell the whole thing and get the Pi 3 anyway..

Then how is it possible that mine won't work with ot without external power? I'm confused.
I power my Zero from a decent 5V2A PSU and use an un-powered £0.99 HUB from Ebay which works with a Keyboard / Mouse / WiFi Dongle:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Ports-USB2- ... 2253292330

Then how is that possible? Because mine doesn't work unpowered nor external powered. I'm confused.

[steveb4pi]

Plugging A into A may have damaged one or more ports on the hub (specifically, blown the power on that port)... Your could try moving the working dongle from port to port to test each one ..

I have used A+ and Zero with the older '99p shop' and '£1 shop' hubs and they have all worked just fine with any keyboard & mouse I've ever plugged in ..

With the Pi zero I now use a hub with 3 USB prts and an Ethernet (about £2.50, eBay, China) and it also works fine with keyboard, mouse and connected to my LAN.

The 'key' seems to be getting a decent Pi power-supply = I use 'Blackberry' PSU's rated at 1.5A at 5.2v (I got half a dozen from CPC on 'special' for about £4 each when they were 'discontinued', which is a real shame as CPC have nothing nearly as good)

[davidcoton]

See this thread about different USB hub chipsets on the Pi.

[GianniDPC]

I bought the Zero4U usb hub as suggested before. Will report back if it works when I receive it.

[The_Saint]

I just got a Pi Zero and connected a powered Hub I already had to it, this is a Belkin F5U027 7 port which works fine with a Raspberry Pi 3 that doesn't need it but not at all with the Zero.
Is there a difference in the way the USB works from the Pi 3 to the Zero?

[davidcoton]

Is there a difference in the way the USB works from the Pi 3 to the Zero?

Yes. The B models have a USB controller on board, which allows the use of multiple ports. The Zero USB is connected directly to the SoC. It seems that some USB hubs work on the Zero, and some don't -- it may depend on whether the hub controller is clever enough or if it tries to delegates some functions upstream that the Zero can't handle.

[UK_Ham]

Pi Zero here with a cheapo ebay wi fi dongle , mouse from the local pound shop, keyboard from ebay and this one. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322069790147? ... EBIDX%3AIT
Screen is a VGA monitor connected through the HDMI port with an adaptor. Connected the hub first, make sure it is the right way round, plugged in mouse and keyboard to two of the bank of 3 ports on the side and the wi fi dongle into the port on the end.
Plugged in the 2A psu for my android tablet to the power microusb and powered up. Worked first time. Excluding the PSU that I already had every thing elseincluding the Zero cost the grand total of £26.00 including the monitor(from a local charity shop)

[The_Saint]

Thanks both for the info and Ebay link.
Late last night I found a powered USB hub I don't recall buying which is USB 2.0 and works, even powers the Zero if I disconnect the Zero's normal power supply which I wasn't expecting.
I will definitely explore the passive options though.