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Alright guys, I have a question in how to solder an additional USB port to the board. I have an old security camera system dvr that I've taken apart and gutted to install my raspberry pi and tb hard drive that hosts my webpage and shared drive for the house. With this enclosure it doesn't allow easy access to any of the ports. However, the front of the case has a female USB plug with 4 wires that no longer connect anywhere since I removed the board from the dvr.

Is it possible to solder those wires somewhere on the board to gain access to the USB functionality? If so, are there any instructions of how to do so? I've searched and have come up with anything, it all relates to pi zero or upgrading A to B.

Thanks!

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  • Why not using an usb hub ? Not cheap ones of course, some of them can't read hdd's or usb sticks etc.
    – ahmetertem
    Commented Apr 3, 2016 at 6:26
  • Reason being the box already has a female USB end with the four wires connected to it. If it had a male end on it that would be that and I'd plug it in. I may just end up cutting an old cable for its male end and do it that way, but would still like to know the original questions answer.
    – Brett Reinhard
    Commented Apr 3, 2016 at 12:34
  • There are no 'spare' USB connection points on the board. The out-of-the-box sockets are all there is. If you really really wanted to you could, I suppose, desolder one of those and connect the enclosure's socket to that, but it seems like a hell of a long way round.
    – goobering
    Commented Apr 3, 2016 at 12:37

1 Answer 1

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The easiest thing to do is just cut the female end off a USB A male to female cable, then solder the connector on the chassis to the cut end. The male end plugs into a socket on the pi.

USB A male to female cable

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  • Maybe I wasn't clear, I already have he female end that is secured to the front casing of my new device which has 4 wires coming from it. I need to find a way to use those with the pi to make it useable
    – Brett Reinhard
    Commented Apr 3, 2016 at 12:36
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    Indeed. So, my answer recommends that you remove the female end from the cable and solder the cut cable to the existing connector.
    – goobering
    Commented Apr 3, 2016 at 12:38
  • Ah ok I misunderstood. With your comment above as well explains the any doubts I had about not cutting a cable. I'd rather ruin a cable than desolder a USB port. Not the answer I was looking for but it looks like it's the only answer.
    – Brett Reinhard
    Commented Apr 3, 2016 at 14:17

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