Gotek shorting with reversed USB stick

[arpruss]

Sometimes, especially in the dark, I begin to insert my Verbatim low-profile usb stick upside down into the Gotek. The result is a short, which reboots the host. Has anybody else had this problem? Any solutions, other than not inserting upside down?

[Jeff]

Sometimes, especially in the dark, I begin to insert my Verbatim low-profile usb stick upside down into the Gotek. The result is a short, which reboots the host. Has anybody else had this problem? Any solutions, other than not inserting upside down?

The VBUS output is not protected / limited. So without hardware modification, no there is no solution.

[arpruss]

Any thoughts on what hardware modification might help?

I don't exactly how the short happens. My best guess is that perhaps the upside-down USB plug's shield sometimes touches the +5V line inside the USB socket while at the same time touching the USB socket shield. Since the socket shield is grounded, this results in a short from +5V to ground. As far as I can tell from the web, it's standard practice to ground USB socket shields. But perhaps if one ungrounded it, or had it grounded through a resistor and capacitor, it might help avoid the problem?

[Jeff]

Cut the VBUS going to the USB connector and add an usb current limiter ic :

https://www.ti.com/product/TPS2530
https://github.com/wtarreau/usb-current-limiter
https://www.nxp.com/products/power-mana ... NX5P3090UK

You can also try a PTC :

https://www.digikey.fr/fr/articles/prot ... wer-surges


These mandatory safety things should be on the Gotek emulators before going the market many years ago but this still not the case...