someone is going to nerdsnipe me so i will add that technically its 15 registered ports per USB controller, so you can add a dongle with another USB controller and have more than 15. a mobo usually only has 1 USB controller for way more than 15 USB ports though, Apple added this arbitrary restriction for no reason since none of their devices have that many ports. so a typical PC motherboard just straight up destabilizes the system lmfao
I mean, it’s pretty easy to imagine needing 10 USB ports. I think I’m using around that many myself on my desktop. Then just add a couple more for things that may be things needed temporarily.
My kids gaming pc tower has a set of usb ports on the back and a set on the front. It’s great to have options, but he’s not going to use them all. Ie he has ten usb ports for the five he uses
Fair enough, but not everyone is your kid. Needing to have things plugged in at once shouldn’t need defending. I would prefer to leave things plugged in if I can. USB supports that, so why wouldn’t I?
The thing is though, every situation is different. I’m glad the designers of USB did not think like you do. Having the ability to use a lot of devices might be rare but it’s definitely been needed before, whether or not others can imagine it.
When I worked for Apple, I do remember the iOS devs having racks of iOS devices all being flashed at the same time off a single Mac. But I don’t remember the count and this was years ago—like Snow Leopard to El Cap era.
I was just kind of data analytics, but the labs were near my area, so can’t really give much more info, but mildly interesting, I guess?
one physical USB-A socket on the machine can read as two USB ports virtually due to that physical socket supporting USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 at the same time, I believe its a backwards compat thing. I think there might also be internal (virtual) USB ports as well but don’t quote me on that. On mobos with 8+ physical USB A sockets it can easily get past the 16 limit unless you specifically disable the USB 2.0 port, which then might break older devices relying on that and it becomes a whole headache. this person explains it better than I can
Video. If there is something mindlessly excessive, it’s always video. And if you have tree leaves for budget, instead of slightly more expensive hardware controllers or PCIe cards that can combine multiple inputs and outputs, and do it right, you default to cheap usb dongles per device used, and compose them on software level. If you collect inputs from several devices and output these to something like displays on a scene, while also collecting audio from mics, DJ deck, and outputting these too, numbers add up quickly. This clownshow is further expanded by unreliable software, usb power limits, Microslop Windows in most cases - because pros use it or Mac, no penguins. I have no pride in greatly exceeding what some random PCs could predictably do, for fixing random errors here and there when USB and USB hubs hit their practical ceiling is just another level of Dante’s hell, for all us time- and harware-restricted tinkerers.
a mobo usually only has 1 USB controller for way more than 15 USB ports though
This is not true for the last… many PC motherboards I’ve used. The USB ports are almost always split between the CPU controller and a chipset controller.
If you want to be really pedantic I guess you could argue that the motherboard only supplies one while the other comes from the CPU. :P
someone is going to nerdsnipe me so i will add that technically its 15 registered ports per USB controller, so you can add a dongle with another USB controller and have more than 15. a mobo usually only has 1 USB controller for way more than 15 USB ports though, Apple added this arbitrary restriction for no reason since none of their devices have that many ports. so a typical PC motherboard just straight up destabilizes the system lmfao
Okay but what kind of application is it used for that you exceed 15 ports filled??
Are you an apple dev?
I am just asking what they are doing to need that as I cannot think of anything off the top of my head
I mean, it’s pretty easy to imagine needing 10 USB ports. I think I’m using around that many myself on my desktop. Then just add a couple more for things that may be things needed temporarily.
My kids gaming pc tower has a set of usb ports on the back and a set on the front. It’s great to have options, but he’s not going to use them all. Ie he has ten usb ports for the five he uses
Fair enough, but not everyone is your kid. Needing to have things plugged in at once shouldn’t need defending. I would prefer to leave things plugged in if I can. USB supports that, so why wouldn’t I?
I mean the point is there’s a convenience factor where you might have twice as many ports as you’re willing to use
It’s not just that you might have more devices or want to leave them plugged in, but you may find some ports undesirable to use
I can hardly imagine needing 15 ports at the same time.
Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in your imagination.
Well I am currently using about 5-6 ports on my PC and 2 of those are not really needed. I can imagine using a couple more but certainly not 15.
I could fill them up but I don’t have a scenario where I actually need that many things plugged in at the same time in the first place.
The thing is though, every situation is different. I’m glad the designers of USB did not think like you do. Having the ability to use a lot of devices might be rare but it’s definitely been needed before, whether or not others can imagine it.
When I worked for Apple, I do remember the iOS devs having racks of iOS devices all being flashed at the same time off a single Mac. But I don’t remember the count and this was years ago—like Snow Leopard to El Cap era.
I was just kind of data analytics, but the labs were near my area, so can’t really give much more info, but mildly interesting, I guess?
one physical USB-A socket on the machine can read as two USB ports virtually due to that physical socket supporting USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 at the same time, I believe its a backwards compat thing. I think there might also be internal (virtual) USB ports as well but don’t quote me on that. On mobos with 8+ physical USB A sockets it can easily get past the 16 limit unless you specifically disable the USB 2.0 port, which then might break older devices relying on that and it becomes a whole headache. this person explains it better than I can
Ah I see. So it’s more like plugging in 5-10 things exceeds the limit.
Off the top of my head: Sensors. E.g. in some underfunded university lab.
That would make sense. Didn’t think of it.
Video. If there is something mindlessly excessive, it’s always video. And if you have tree leaves for budget, instead of slightly more expensive hardware controllers or PCIe cards that can combine multiple inputs and outputs, and do it right, you default to cheap usb dongles per device used, and compose them on software level. If you collect inputs from several devices and output these to something like displays on a scene, while also collecting audio from mics, DJ deck, and outputting these too, numbers add up quickly. This clownshow is further expanded by unreliable software, usb power limits, Microslop Windows in most cases - because pros use it or Mac, no penguins. I have no pride in greatly exceeding what some random PCs could predictably do, for fixing random errors here and there when USB and USB hubs hit their practical ceiling is just another level of Dante’s hell, for all us time- and harware-restricted tinkerers.
I helped run a Kickstarter where one of our rewards was Mac and PC software on custom USB sticks.
We had a couple hubs set up and cloned the drives 20 at a time.
This is not true for the last… many PC motherboards I’ve used. The USB ports are almost always split between the CPU controller and a chipset controller.
If you want to be really pedantic I guess you could argue that the motherboard only supplies one while the other comes from the CPU. :P