PSP as USB master (the Killer App)

BlackPaladin · Post by **BlackPaladin** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:50 am

I know we can't do this yet because it seems the PSP USB stuff is not yet fully known and not yet fully explored. But I'm wondering how far we are from getting the PSP to act as a USB master with a mass storage slave.

The way I see it, pretty much the killer app for PSP would be one like File Assistant ++ but with support for copying to and from other USB mass storage devices. Eg: I have my iPod hooked up as a USB device and the iPod is mounted by the PSP. I then use the PSP app to move files back and forth from the memory stick and the iPod. I can now carry hours of movies with me on the iPod/USB drive/USB Flash stick, and move them to the PSP when I want to watch them. Games, too, for that matter.

What are the remaining hurdles, and is there anyone else who would be interested in working on a solution to this? I am an experienced programmer just starting into PSP stuff and I see this as an area where a huge leap could be made if we can sort it out. I have seen some exploration by DrVegetable and others. I would like to use this thread as a place to talk about how to accomplish this scenario.

Well-formed and thoughtful commentary welcome.

groepaz · Post by **groepaz** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 5:59 pm

you would need to reverse the usb stuff completely so you can use it without sony drivers, and then you'll eventually find out that the psp can not act as a true usb host at all (it might be able to do usb-on-the-go style stuff).

pablowe · Post by **pablowe** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:40 pm

Hi there, I got a PSP for christmas, I had also got a GPS device a number of months back which hooks via USB to my laptop. The GPS device is at http://www.navsync.com/docs/CW19-NAV_DS_Rev1.pdf. Its a pretty good unit with the laptop so my next desire is to hook it up to the PSP.
I've seen the link with the Garmin unit at http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/21/gpsp-gps-on-the-psp/ though I didn't see any report on how well it works or even what software was used with it to utilise the GPS data which is output from the device.
I understand that my GPS unit needs to work with a USB host and thats why I have responded to your post, can the PSP be made to accomodate that. How risky is it to plug my unit into the PSP. If you could make it a host, what software is available to utilise GPS info.........No pressure I just thought I'd throw this out for discussion if anyone could contribute

funetik · Post by **funetik** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 5:05 am

I don't fancy your chances, pablowe. Might want to read this - http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=2 ... hlight=gps

It seems that the guy uses the serial interface.

BlackPaladin · Post by **BlackPaladin** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:43 am

Looks like there is already a simple hardware solution to what I want to do:

http://www.buyaleratec.com/usbcocrplpa32.html

Think I'll be picking one of those up shortly.

As for the USB port... I _REALLY_ doubt the hardware is limited to slave only. Yes, I know you would have to write your own drivers, but it comes down to mostly being able to figure out which chipset it used and getting the specs on the chip. This is all very hard, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

As for me, the simple hardware solution above looks good enough.

AZImmortal · Post by **AZImmortal** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:54 am

BlackPaladin wrote:As for the USB port... I _REALLY_ doubt the hardware is limited to slave only.

Do you have any reason to believe this other than pure speculation? I don't see why Sony would build the PSP using a host chipset when it's purely intended to act as a client.

BlackPaladin · Post by **BlackPaladin** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:34 am

It is pure speculation at this point, just as it is pure speculation to say that it doesn't support it. Secondly, most things on the PSP appear to be overbuilt, and with more supported than anyone expected (full rs232 serial on the remote port? Full IrDa?). Thirdly the cost differential between the chipsets is pretty much non-existent in any volume and having master support will allow the PSP to have a much wider range of peripherals for games.

If someone can prove me wrong then I'd be happy to have that usb chipset knowledge public, but it's my opinion that there are a lot more reasons why Sony would build it to support being a master than there are reasons to believe that they didn't.

jimparis · Post by **jimparis** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:45 am

BlackPaladin wrote:It is pure speculation at this point, just as it is pure speculation to say that it doesn't support it.

Huh? Go listen to the Breakpoint 2005 talk by Markus Glanzer of SCEE where he explicitly states that it is client only. You're just wasting our time...

BlackPaladin · Post by **BlackPaladin** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:23 am

I think I was being pretty polite and talking about something that interests people, so I'm not sure where the rudeness comes from. No one is making you read this thread, hence it's not wasting your time unless you choose to read it.

So it sounds like you know more than I do. Here's a question: the Talkman microphone is a USB master, then? That would be interesting given that it is not powered. If it IS acting as a master somehow, that provides hardware hacking of the Talkman itself as a possibility for adding devices. Can you back up your statement with any information on how the Talkman handles this, then?

BlackPaladin · Post by **BlackPaladin** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:25 am

Hmm perhaps those two pins on the Talkman on either side of the USB are powering it as a master?

jimparis · Post by **jimparis** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:38 am

All of this has been discussed in other threads, please search the forums.

Post by **mrbrown** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 1:48 pm

Locking this down due to lack of content, idle speculation, and redundancy.

forums.ps2dev.org

PSP as USB master (the Killer App)

PSP as USB master (the Killer App)

GPS as slave to PSP host