×
SparkFun will be closed on Tuesday, December 24th, and Wednesday, December 25th, in observance of the Christmas holiday. Any orders qualifying for same day shipping placed after 2:00 p.m. (MST) on Monday, December 23rd, will be processed on Thursday, December 26th, when we return to regular business hours. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday from all of us at SparkFun!
Please note - we will not be available for Local Pick up orders from December 24th-December 27th. If you place an order for Local Pick-Up we will have those ready on Monday, December 30th.
- Home
- EasyUSB
EasyUSB
The EasyUSB gives your microcontroller access to 2MB that can be seen as a mass storage device in most operating systems. Now your microcontroller can easily read and write files in a file system that your computer can easily understand.
Check the SDK below for examples and libraries.
- FAT16 file system
- 2MB memory size
- 3.0-5.2V input voltage
- Baud rate: 9600 - 921600 bps
- DIP8 package
EasyUSB Product Help and Resources
Core Skill: Soldering
This skill defines how difficult the soldering is on a particular product. It might be a couple simple solder joints, or require special reflow tools.
Skill Level: Noob - Some basic soldering is required, but it is limited to a just a few pins, basic through-hole soldering, and couple (if any) polarized components. A basic soldering iron is all you should need.
See all skill levels
Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Noob - You don't need to reference a datasheet, but you will need to know basic power requirements.
See all skill levels
Comments
Looking for answers to technical questions?
We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.
Customer Reviews
No reviews yet.
Neat device!<br />
But is availability going to be an issue if/when the sole proprietorship for this item refocuses?<br />
<br />
Thanks stevech. The device will be available indefinitely, produced directly or by third parties.
Has anyone been able to get this board to mount as a mass storage device? No luck here.
where from i buy this product in india(mumbai)?
hi sir my name is hemant
can we insert mouse driver in to the EasyUSB?if we insert then it will be perform the all function of mouse?if yes, then can you send me a driver for mouse that are perfect for EasyUSB on hemusalvi@gmail.com.
thanking you.
So is this basically a hard drive for the microcontroller that allows you to plug it into a computer and make it show up as a flash drive? If so that is a pretty nifty concept.
Is it possible to write and delete files from the microcontroller when connected to a host. I would like the controller to write new files and the host to read them every few minutes. Is this possible?
Assuming this is a low-speed USB device (as opposed to high-speed) with a data throughput limited by the max baud rate?
Thanks
Hi !
I think this is great !
The mBed has that : it shows as a mass storage, where you can upload the mBed's code and also deposit files the mBed can read, and at the same time shows up as a serial link. It's a very neat feature, and this product allows to get closer to it in custom projects.
However, this thing has a big handicap : it's closed source ... Will it stay that way, or are there plans to opensource it ? Being able to mess with it's guts, to add/change stuff, would make it a much more usefull toy. Ok forget what I just said, I just went to the thing's website, and it's all about patents and that kind of dirty stuff. That's sad.
the datasheet says "2mb to 16mb". My question: will the 16mb available soon?
Hi swort,
4MB, 8MB and 16MB versions are available under request.
It's also available the MCU only, in order to integrate it into your own design.
Contact the development team: info@inventionslab.com
thanks!
It's odd that writes are limited to 32 characters. Even in the 8 bit micro world, that's a pretty tiny chunk of data.<br />
<br />
It's also awkward that the serial device has no easy way to discover what files are on the device, and how much data is in them.<br />
<br />
And while you're at it, maybe just mount a mini-USB jack on the board?<br />
Hi saccade, this is intended to be a low cost interface. Additional features or components would increase the costs. Please read the previous comment.
What would be really cool is if, on the device side, you could open a file and then seek to where you wish to read or write. It appears now that you can only read or write the entire file without ability to position within that file.<br />
<br />
So, I'd offer that the thing needs<br />
open, seek, read, write, close<br />
functions.<br />
<br />
It also looks like there is no way from the device side to get a "dir" or catalog of files residing on the device. I think it needs that too.<br />
<br />
Is there a way to update the firmware in the device so that these features might appear later?<br />
<br />
Hi N0JCF, this is a low cost interface with a high optimized firmware, so there is no room for additional features. However the provided functions are sufficient to easily make read/write operations.<br />
In the future will be released an advanced module with other interesting features and the functions that you have proposed will be included.<br />
"...before their project catches fire or is stolen by an angry dog..."<br />
<br />
LOL!!!<br />
<br />
Have you been spying on me??<br />
<br />
Rob<br />
It isn't entirely "without drivers' headaches". The serial connectivity appears to rely on a library that has to be run on the host system. It can be present in this device's 2MB of storage, but that gives you less space for your angry dog GPS tracking data.<br />
<br />
I haven't found it stated in the data sheet what OSs this library supports, but since the spec sheet mentions distributing the library as a DLL, it may be Windows-only.<br />
<br />
Cheers,<br />
- Dean<br />
<br />
brondani:<br />
<br />
Hi Dean, on the SDK there are Windows and Linux libraries and examples. The library's scope is to get an even easier software development: there are only small read/write functions.
I'm glad to hear Linux is covered too, but as a Mac user, that doesn't help me.<br />
<br />
As for the library, it sounds like that is the only way to get to the virtual serial port. In other words, it doesn't show up as a hardware serial port that terminal emulators can talk to directly. You have to write your code to use this library explicitly.<br />
<br />
This is still a handy feature, but I would have preferred that this device showed up as both a Mass Storage device and a CDC-compliant serial device, in which case no special driver would be needed (at least on the Mac ;)<br />
<br />
Cheers,<br />
- Dean
Actually, not rely on CDC drivers or composite peripherals could be a huge advantage (specially on Windows). I believe the multifunctional solution fully based in a high compatible mass storage device can be useful in a lot of projects.
bogus post - please delete
I'd like to point out that, more than a simple mass storage system, it allows the implementation of a serial communication link between software and device without drivers' headaches... that's an easy and fast way to get USB connectivity on custom devices. Check the datasheet and the SDK.
I dunno; this seems too cheap. I mean the two chips that are in this thing cost all of $5. But you do get a patented command line serial interface (good luck with that, Daniel). Except that it's FAT16 with apparently no directory or LFN support (so you are limited to 512 files and can only use 8.3 style filenames). And nothing is said about wear leveling or provisioning, so it will probably brick itself at somewhere between 100,000 and 1M writes. But if you can live with these limitations maybe it'd be a molto buono companion for your Arduino.<br />
Hmm... I've complained about typos in product posts and even prices for things that didn't match other prices on this same site, but the arguments you're making...? I'm not seeing the reasoning. For someone that could use something like this but doesn't have the skills to put one together themselves? $35 would be a steal. I mean, hell - just to easily make a datalogger that saves text files that are USB accessible - that could be a big draw for someone. And you're complaining that it doesn't have wear leveling? This is SparkFun, not Intel. 100k-1m writes is more than most hobbyists might do before their project catches fire or is stolen by an angry dog.<br />
<br />
I think you need to worry a little less about what sparkfun is posting. I think it's great that they have so much variety. Even though I have zero use for this, I know more than a few people will be thrilled it's here.
+1 for "stolen by an angry dog" lol
We realize some products are not for everyone. We all know that a seasoned EE probably won't see much value in this. But the beginner will see an easy way to store data to something that can easily show up as a mass storage device on a computer, which is pretty cool for $33.
I absolutly agree.