USB 2.0 Device Features and Compatibility Issues

This feature description is new in the Solaris 9 4/04 release and applies to both x86 and SPARC platforms.

USB 2.0 devices are defined as high-speed devices that follow the USB 2.0 specification. You can refer to the USB 2.0 specification at http://www.usb.org.

Some of the USB devices that are supported on SPARC based and x86 based systems in this Solaris release are as follows:

• Mass storage devices – CD-RWs, hard disks, DVD, digital cameras, Zip drives, diskettes, and tape drives

• Keyboard, mouse devices, speakers, and microphones

• Audio devices

For a full listing of USB devices that have been verified on the Solaris release, go to:

http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/USB.html

Additional storage devices might work by modifying the scsa2usb.conf file. For more information, see the scsa2usb(7D) man page.

Solaris USB 2.0 device support includes the following features:

• Increased USB bus speed from 12 Mbps to 480 Mbps. This increase means devices that support the USB 2.0 specification can run significantly faster than their USB 1.1 counterparts when they are connected to a USB 2.0 port.

  A USB 2.0 port is defined as follows:

  • A port on a USB 2.0 PCI card

  • A port on a USB 2.0 hub that is connected to a USB 2.0 port

• USB 2.0 is Solaris Ready on all PCI-based Sun platforms. An NEC-chip based USB 2.0 PCI card is needed to provide USB 2.0 ports on SPARC platforms, and is recommended for x86 platforms. For a list of USB 2.0 PCI cards that have been verified for the Solaris release, go to http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/USB.html.

• USB 1.1 devices work as they have in the past, even if you have both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices on the same system, with one exception. See note.

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  Note –

  USB 1.1 devices cannot operate when connected to a USB 2.0 hub that is connected to a USB 2.0 port.

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• While USB 2.0 devices operate on a USB 1.x port, their performance is significantly better when connected to a USB 2.0 port.

For more information about USB 2.0 device support, see the ehci(7D) and usba(7D) man pages.

For information about USB cables and bus-powered devices, see “About USB in the Solaris Environment” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.