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todbot / blink1

Official software for blink(1) USB RGB LED by ThingM
https://blink1.thingm.com/
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Some notes regarding blink(1) mk3 powered by Mac keyboard USB hub #667

Open atchoo78 opened 2 years ago

atchoo78 commented 2 years ago

I don't know if this is just a coincidence, but I just discovered that if you have defined a "startup action" (no computer) for a blink(1) mk3 and you try to use one the USB ports of a Apple USB keyboard (Mac keyboard hub with 2x USB ports integrated), you'll get a warning message saying that you have to use another USB port (due to the limited max power consumption of the USB hub).

However, if you set the startup action to "None" in Blink1Control2 and unplug/plug the blink(1) device, it will stop the "low power" nagging in macOS, and the blink(1) will work properly without a long extension cord 😀

todbot commented 2 years ago

This is very helpful, thank you! I'll look for a good place to put this! Leaving this issue open for now.

I always assumed the keyboard's USB hub was detecting the power setting for blink(1) and disallowing it. blink(1) advertises needing 100mA max and many USB keyboards can only support 50mA devices, which is most mice and some thumbdrives. But its doing current draw detection instead!

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