[Noisebridge-discuss] computer interfacing

[Christoph Maier]

On Sat, 2010-11-13 at 12:10 -0800, Dr. Jesus wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 11:38 AM,
> <travis+ml-noisebridge at subspacefield.org> wrote:
> > So, I've often wondered what the best way to control a computer with
> > simple NO/NC inputs would be.
> >
> > I used to rig buttons and such to the parallel port.
> >
> > But computers don't have parallel ports much any more.
> >
> > I also used to hook them to RS-232 ports.
> >
> > But those are going away too.
> >
> > So what's left?
> >
> > Last I heard, several years ago, the USB drivers were still somewhat
> > flaky.  Is it better now?
> 
> USB drivers for what?
> 
> > Also, HOW exactly do I hook up to USB?  With parallel it was just some
> > passive circuits.  (Perhaps the answer here is "use Arduino")
> 
> FTDI chips.  Just get one of these and use the GPIO pins with the
> "direct" driver:
> 
>   http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=718

Another cheap, quick & dirty solution would be
a USB to parallel cable:
http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=usb+to
+parallel&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=usb+to
+parallel&num=10&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=ivs&source=univ&tbs=shop:1&tbo=u&ei=n_LeTJ61LZLmsQP5qYCMCg&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CD8QrQQwAA&biw=1502&bih=951&fp=e5790a4486b7f45f

Unfortunately, as the complexity and miniaturization of computers
progresses, hardware hacking becomes increasingly difficult and mired in
driver issues, which are at least an order of magnitude more complicated
(read: prone to arcane bugs introduced by sloppy engineering) than
hardware.

Christoph <- fighting arcane installation issues with Eclipse for
android