Max number of FB3 from USB hub

[dave]

Hey guys - I had a quick search, which didnt turn up anything.

Can anyone tell me what the max number of FB3's that can be used from a single USB port via a USB hub?

[norty303]

The hub shouldn't be the limit if its powered, you should get the same bandwidth as being plugged directly into the port on the machine.
Ironically, it was a post by yourself that indicated 5 plugged directly into the machine which had the most info!

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...=fb3+bandwidth

IIRC USB2 is 480Mbit/s and you can view the FB3 connection speed in the interface properties in Beyond. Divide one by the other with a bit to spare for other devices like control surfaces. 6 should be possible, maybe stretching to 8, but I don't have Beyond in front of me. I think it reports 50Mbit/s at USB2 and 12Mbit/s at 1.1

Note that it will run on USB1.1, but quality will reduce and flickering, but it does run. I had a port drop to 1.1 in the middle of a job and the show (3x FB3QS) went on, albeit less pretty. I'm not sure anyone other than me noticed though.

[rMuD]

FB3's can suck as much as 500ma per unit. Well the FB3-SE's which may have a more power hungry Processor. So a powered USB hub, and even better find one that is recommended for BitCoin mining , the USB modules used a lot of power, and have to be able to run at full current for months. I ran 4 fb3-SE's over a single startech extender last weekend no problem showing about 60fps doing beams on all 4 channels. I've run 1-2 over USB ports that Pangolin warns are running at USB 1.1 speeds due to bad drivers on the laptop.

I was also talking to someone that is going nuts trying to figure out why Beyond is so jumpy compared to LD2000 in frame rates.. I really did not notice until I started programing this 4 head show laser night... Almost want to try to do some tests today but I gotta get this show done for the weekend.

[Pangolin]

QuickShow supports up to 9 FB3s, and we had 6 running on a single PC with no external hubs (back when laptops had six USB ports). More recently we've had 6 running on a 6-port USB hub.

It has been a while since I measured the current draw on an FB3, but I would be surprised if it exceeds much over 250mA.

With StarTech, some of the folks from SELEM were talking about running six FB3 on a single Startech, using an external USB hub after the Startech. Some of our clients have run up to 14 FB3 (with BEYOND) on USB extenders made by Geffen.

Regarding QM2000, yes, the way BEYOND communicates with that old hardware platform it is not nearly as smooth as our FB3 or FB4. Kind of ironic given how smooth native LD2000 content runs on that board... We hoped to have an alternative communication method for QM2000 and BEYOND by now but that hasn't happened. We've tried a few alternatives, but let's just say it's harder than it looks...

Best regards,

William Benner

[dave]

I ended up doing some tests, and couldn't notice any issues with them all plugged into the 1 port via a 9 way USB hub

[rMuD]

I was just going on a quote from Bill on the 500ma when there was talk about FB3-SE's and using the jumper to enable USB Power. I use 4 all the time on the USB Extender. or a basic powered USB hub.