darkSpyro

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e5be/



Yeah... that'd be cool. :D

a simple wall outlet works, you just have to make sure you got the right adapter and resisters for the type and number of led's your using. but other than that... holy crap 24 ports, who has that many usb devices they need to plug in all at once? but its a powered hub so thats very nice. i like the description, daisy chain 127 usb if your crazy. and 50 bucks not bad ether.

How do you get a wall outlet to work? I was pretty sure the portal had to have a signal, of some sort, from the console. I've wanted to use the portals we had for display, but never could get them to light up.

humm i never thought about using a portal as part of a display, but i just tested it with my computer right now. it light the portal up no issues. i then tested it using my cell phone charger, it didnt light up. i did a quick search on it and really didnt come up with much. but im sure you can rewire a portal to light up using any usb device. it wont work well for the game after but yea.

Oh god not this again.

IT WILL NOT WORK WITHOUT A PC.

The USB port needs to mount SOME kind of driver to get it to light up, otherwise it just does nothing. This also applies to powering light core figures.

Search for the MANY threads on powering lightcore figures. If you want the portal to "just" light up then you are better off modding it to connect the LED directly to power internally. Do not attempt if you don't know enough about electronics to do so.

Quote: Pyrofer

The USB port needs to mount SOME kind of driver to get it to light up, otherwise it just does nothing. This also applies to powering light core figures.

Not entirely true. I presume my Dish Network receiver does not have a driver for the portal in it, yet plugging my portal into the USB port on the front works just fine for lighting the portal and a LightCore figure (Ninjini, for reference). Likewise with the USB port on the back of my Blu-Ray player and my DVD/Surround Sound. If it weren't such a pain, I'd be interested in trying the USB port on the back of my TV, but it's a 65" wall-mounted flat panel that just wasn't designed with easy access to the ports in mind (and I already have a USB-powered Wii/Wii U sensor bar plugged in, so I'd have to unplug it, manage to get the portal plugged in, then unplug the portal, and then get the sensor bar plugged back in... ugh.)

If your display was near-enough to a compatible USB port, something like this would be a pretty easy way to get it working, without needing to know anything about electronics/risk burning your house down.

Would an iPhone chargers USB port work to power a portal perhaps?

I've got a "smart" charger that lights up my SSA PC portal. The lights will cycle when plugged in. This charger also always causes my phones / tablets to pop up the USB drive prompt implying that the charger is communicating as a PC. This charger also works on my PS3 controllers as a matter of fact.

Quote: ninja9351

Would an iPhone chargers USB port work to power a portal perhaps?

I've never gotten one to work.

So spurred on by this I took an old Wireless portal and started to hack.

I removed the wireless chip and am removing the CPU from it.

I have forced the power supply to stay on and found the io pins that trigger the R, G and B in the LED. GOD that thing is bright without the portal cover on.

Once I have removed completely the old CPU (nightmare! it's an epoxy blob) I will add in a cheap chinese Arduino clone in it's place.
hopefully I can hook into the RFID chip and control that so that I will have full control of the "portal" with my own CPU.

I can then light figures, read/write their data and flash the portal at will from the chip inside it.

The original goal for this hack was a nightlight for my kid, so the RF part is very very not needed and i might just remove it all to save power. I am going to write some code to gently pulse the led for 15 or 20 minutes then slowly fade to off and put the CPU into low power sleep. The power button on the front of the portal will wake it and start the light sequence again. As it has batteries already it will make a great nightlight for my youngest.

Anyway, my 5 year old will now have a Portal of Power nightlight he can have next to his bed without the need for a power socket or crazy tiny lithium button cells.

Quote: Pyrofer

So spurred on by this I took an old Wireless portal and started to hack.

I removed the wireless chip and am removing the CPU from it.

I have forced the power supply to stay on and found the io pins that trigger the R, G and B in the LED. GOD that thing is bright without the portal cover on.

Once I have removed completely the old CPU (nightmare! it's an epoxy blob) I will add in a cheap chinese Arduino clone in it's place.
hopefully I can hook into the RFID chip and control that so that I will have full control of the "portal" with my own CPU.

I can then light figures, read/write their data and flash the portal at will from the chip inside it.

The original goal for this hack was a nightlight for my kid, so the RF part is very very not needed and i might just remove it all to save power. I am going to write some code to gently pulse the led for 15 or 20 minutes then slowly fade to off and put the CPU into low power sleep. The power button on the front of the portal will wake it and start the light sequence again. As it has batteries already it will make a great nightlight for my youngest.

Anyway, my 5 year old will now have a Portal of Power nightlight he can have next to his bed without the need for a power socket or crazy tiny lithium button cells.

I commend you for your skill and enthusiasm. Imho, installing and coding an arduino is a bit overkill if there is an off-the-shelf solution available. Hopefully a simpler circuit, ie mintyboost, could be used.

EDIT: These chargers light up my SSA PC portal when plugged in. The lights will cycle through RGB colors.
http://www.amazon.com/DLO-007-...d/dp/B000ITZIM8
Mine is a slightly different model number but looks exactly the same. Currently $4 shipped.

http://www.amazon.com/Playstat...3/dp/B001H4NMNA
Dualshock 3 charging dock. Has 2 extra usb ports, which is what I plugged the portal in to try it. I would presume that any standalone Dualshock controller charger with USB ports would light the portal as the controllers require a USB Host signal to initiate charging as well.

Quote: Pyrofer

So spurred on by this I took an old Wireless portal and started to hack.

I removed the wireless chip and am removing the CPU from it.

I have forced the power supply to stay on and found the io pins that trigger the R, G and B in the LED. GOD that thing is bright without the portal cover on.

Once I have removed completely the old CPU (nightmare! it's an epoxy blob) I will add in a cheap chinese Arduino clone in it's place.
hopefully I can hook into the RFID chip and control that so that I will have full control of the "portal" with my own CPU.

I can then light figures, read/write their data and flash the portal at will from the chip inside it.

The original goal for this hack was a nightlight for my kid, so the RF part is very very not needed and i might just remove it all to save power. I am going to write some code to gently pulse the led for 15 or 20 minutes then slowly fade to off and put the CPU into low power sleep. The power button on the front of the portal will wake it and start the light sequence again. As it has batteries already it will make a great nightlight for my youngest.

Anyway, my 5 year old will now have a Portal of Power nightlight he can have next to his bed without the need for a power socket or crazy tiny lithium button cells.

Cool Pyrofer...sounds like it going to be rather cool...lets have a look see once you get it built bro.