[sdiy] Daft Idea, LINUX SYNTH

[Paul Maddox]

Byron,

> The HUGE software overhead of a USB host actually led me away from using
USB
> in a commercial product recently.  We only wanted to be able to add
> something akin to a floppy drive, so it initially seemed like an OK
> technology.  The fact that the subordinate devices can be really simple is
> deceptive...a USB host controller requires quite a bit of software, and
> needs many layers of protocol, even if you only want to support a single
> class of device.  There's also a realtime impact, as the host has to do
bus
> administration every millisecond.  We wound up using NAND flash cards
> instead of disks, with relatively trivial software to control it.

have you seen these people?
http://www.ftdichip.com/

they do USB modules ( I have a DLP1 in my Waveterm C
www.ppg.wavesynth.com/wtc.htm)
that interface simply, read/write and couple of lines to let you know when
there is data in the buffer..
FTDI even provide you with drivers for windows/mac/linux..

The support they give is just superb...
and the price is VERY good..

> If the host were a PC or Mac, then USB might be OK, but building a USB
host
> around a microcontroller would not be trivial.

Agreed, the above system is ONLY with a PC as a host..
a DIY Host/USB port would be a complete nightmare!

> Anyone for a 3-wire bus?

dont say it, just dont say it....

Paul
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