Hacking a USB Hub to Add Internal Ports to a Toshiba Satelite (or Other Laptop)

Okay so some of us are tired of all our flash drives and wireless dongles hanging off our laptop all the time!
on most laptops this can be easily taken care of by modding the guts of your laptop - we will be doing it only with USB so no risk of electrocution or injury (unless you are truly an idiot) ****Do not do this if you are afraid of hurting your lappy or yourself - the tutorial will be detailed but i accept no responsibility for broken damaged electronics or humans**** now on to the fun stuff.


we don't want to use a ton of hubs and yet we still want access to our main USB ports.

Step 1: Supplies

1. hot glue
2. screwdriver (might need mini or precision depending on laptop)
3. usb hub (small)
4. usb bluetooth/wifi dongle or flash drive
5. solder
6. soldering iron
7 misc. items depending on the difference of your mod

talents: simple soldering, safe glue gun use, laptop disassembly (easy)

Step 2: Laptop Disassembly

start by removing the battery,
then any disk drives,
unscrew all screws and save in a dish seperated if need be,
now turn laptop over and open lid,
undo all the screws under the keyboard and anywhere else,
if the top or bottom (whichever needs to be removed to access the USB ports) does not easily unsnap and pop off then look for more hidden screws, it might need a razor slid between the case to unsnap all of the little snap connections,
once the lid is open

Step 3: Identification of Guts!

okay you will now locate the USB port you want to tap into, if you do this right (carefully) you will not harm the port, your laptop, or yourself.

this photo will also educate you about the laptops guts if you didn't already know (be careful in here and ground yourself often)

Step 4: USB Basics

okay so if you don't know already here are some pics detailing the hook-ups and schematics for type A USB , courtesy of MR. GOOGLE.

RED wire +5V
GREEN wire Data+
WHITE wire Data-
BLACK wire Ground or -5V
SHIELD wire NON-USB Connected Ground

Step 5: Hub Soldering

okay so you basicly unsolder the old usb leads and solder new ones on to the length you need - i still color coded mine. then solder the other end of the wires to the USB ports make sure the solder on both ends is clean and power everything up and test the hub before hot glueing. fix if needed.

Step 6: Placement

make sure you know where you are placing the hub so there will be room for the dongle or flash drive and the hub itself and everything closes tight and secure

replace screws and parts, then power up and test.

If it works then you are done! comment with any questions or tips to add but please nothing negative! Thank You in advance! ^_^