make a USB device

I’ve downloaded some tools from the USB implementers’ forum but I can’t seem to get the USB Command Verifier to work for me. I was interested in its debugging features. I’m not sure if my issues lie within my operating system or elsewhere. All the devices I have plugged in so far appear as compound devices even though to me they are just USB devices. The Command Verifier just spits out failed test messages.

There have been a few days where I have not made progress on this project. I need to get back on track. I remember a line from the Mythical Man Month which went something like this:

How does a project get a year behind? One day at a time.

The credits are gone. There is no power to the flippers, magnets, and lights. The machine is turned off. I’m going to miss playing pinball until I complete my USB project or until 1July2008.

So what went wrong? Where did the time go?

• being too tired to work
• telling myself that I can work later
• procrastination (watching tv, wasting time on the Internet, playing video games)
• playing pinball

• knowledge issues – not knowing technical aspects
• resource issues – not having required hardware
• other resource issues – wanting to learn about technical specifications but not having the reference books and standards documents available
• information obscurity – knowing that I have a knowledge issue and not knowing how to acquire the knowledge needed
• time management – not using my time well
• documentation – poorly recorded work and shoddy notes that lead to designs that don’t make sense and a lot of review and relearning

• improve my focus on this project and make daily progress
• purchase the required pieces of hardware
• allow myself to make mistakes – but try to make inexpensive mistakes
• assign a monetary value to calendar time and realize what it costs to procrastinate
• learn from my mistakes
• have better awareness of knowledge issues
• write more in my project notebook and less on my white board (which get erased)

I was chatting with a friend who asked me how my life was going. I told him that I was trying to make a USB device and the conversation took a severe left turn. It turns out he had misheard me and he thought that I said that I was trying to make an ESP device.

I’ve turned this project into some sort of epic problem that isn’t realistic. I need to focus on learning about making USB devices and add incrementally to the project. There have been too many ideas in my head and not enough focused effort. I’m going to look at the basic/required features and get those working.

I’ve started reading about how a computer identifies the devices that are attached to its bus. This project seemed so much easier when I added it as a goal. At least I’m learning through the process.

After a good few days of working on this I have stalled on this project. I keep coming up with excuses to not do the work. I know that if I continue to not put time into learning about USB and making my device I won’t achieve this goal. I’m going to start recording my excuses and then figure out how to overcome them. My recent two excuses are that I’ve been tired and that I can work on this later.

Even if I am tired I can still exert effort. I must find time to do this work. It is important enough for me that I can make time. I am still in over my head. I need to work on this both now and later. I need to make sure that I remember to enjoy the process and it will be fun to do this work now.

It’s official. I’m in over my head again. Trying to read and understand the USB documentation has been overwhelming.

I’m attracted to the Cypress EZ-USB chipset. The have a lot of good documentation guides and datasheets. Some university projects have used EZ-USB. I’m also considering a PIC chipset. These evaluation boards cost hundreds of dollars and the debugging tools can run several thousands. I don’t think I’ll order an evaluation board until I know more about the USB protocols and what I specifically need.

I’ve downloaded the USB 2.0 specification. It’s 600 pages and not an easy read. I’ve also started reading the book USB Complete. I plan on ordering a micro controller evaluation board sometime during early January. I’ve also set this goal as a personal challenge. I’d like to get this accomplished in a 2 month time frame even though I set the challenge with a 3 month time frame.