Introduction: Retrofit the RockBand Hub for Pc Use (without External Power)

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Alrighty, well while searching for a decently priced usb gamepad, I wandered into a GameStop, There I did find a 10 dollar usb gamepad, but I also noticed they had a used rockband hub with power supply for 2 bucks. Well, this actually gives me two awesome parts that I could use. The first being the hub itself. The second being a power adapter that I can retrofit a female usb fitting on, and instant usb charging for a cellphone, ipod, w/e. But more on that later. The Rockband hub requires an external power source, rightfully so as those 360 controllers have a pretty mean amp draw on them. However, I have a keyboard, mouse, cellphone, and gamepad that could all be using only one port on my pc, instead of 4. So, not wanting to use the external power to the hub (like a normal person) I wanted to power this off my computers bus. Please note: After you perform this NEVER EVER plug it back into the wall, I'm not really willing to find out what would happen.

Step 1: Crack Open the Casing.

Easily enough, if you have fingernails, running them along the sides where the top and bottom meet, you'll find the casing will pop right open

Step 2: Pretty Basic From the Top

Once the top is off, make sure you didn't break any clips :)

Step 3: Carefully Turn Board Over.

Make sure not to stress the wires attached to the board feeding the usb into this hub.

Step 4: Find Your Solder Points.

You will be attaching a small INSULATED wire between point A and point B.

My board had a small pad on what said L20 next to it that's the feed for the middle pin on the power adapter (the 5v positive).

You want to attach L20 (or where ever you get a 5v feed from the usb hub when it's plugged into the wall only)

You might need a multi-meter for this (I would highly recommend it)

Plug the usb hub into the wall, but not the pc, and probe around until you find a 5 volt feed.

Once you have found your power source, unplug the adapter from the wall socket and get your jumper wire.

I booted into windows for this, because it has that annoying "BE DOOP" sound when you attach for detach a usb device. Plug the adapter into the pc and use your jumper to bridge your two points. If you hear that sound, you're ready to solder.

Detach the hub from your pc and fire up the soldering iron (I used .022 dia solder.) and attach your two points with your jumper. Be VERY careful not to drip, or get any solder anywhere else aside from these two pins (don't wanna short out your pc) Once the solder has cooled off, plug it in and listen for the sound, if you have it. You're done. Make sure your wire is attached firmly and close up the case. Once again. DO NOT plug this back into the wall. It'll now pull it's 5v .5A from your pc.

In linux you'll get
Bus 001 Device 018: ID 0409:005a NEC Corp. HighSpeed Hub

as the output of "lsusb" if you have done this correctly.