More about the Raspberry Pi's USB ports

Published: past

Last updated:

Raspberry Pi B models have v USB ports. The USB type and speed improved with later versions. Here nosotros hash out the Raspberry Pi's USB ports.

Introduction to the Raspberry Pi's USB ports

Raspberry Pi B models have 5 USB ports — one for power input and four to connect peripherals to. On the Raspberry Pi 4B the USB-C port doubles as an "OTG" port.

The iv standard USB (Type-A) ports are used to connect peripherals such as a keyboard and mouse, game controllers, USB Drives, USB adapters, and external hard drives.

When more than than four peripherals are required, a USB hub tin can be used to add additional USB ports to a Raspberry Pi.

Important factors when it comes to the USB ports of the Raspberry Pi are the type of USB ports, the USB port transfer speed, the current limit per USB port and USB boot capabilities. OTG functionality for the Raspberry Pi 4B is also discussed.

Raspberry Pi USB port information
Comparison between Raspberry Pi model's USB version numbers and amount, recommended ability supply, maximum USB current and Max USB port speed. Notation that the Max. USB current and Max. port speed is shared between the 4 USB Type-A ports.

Sponsored links

Please back up united states past using these links they come at no boosted cost to yous, but we become a little commission each time they are used. These and others are available from Amazon.com and BangGood.

We have tested almost of these products ourselves. Other selection criteria include affordability, quality, availability and average user rating and popularity by other buyers.

Links will open in a new window.
(Dead or old links can be reported in the comments section below.)

Catda Raspberry Pi 4B Starter Kit

Catda Raspberry Pi 4B Starter Kit
2019 Model B, 4GB RAM

1.5GHz 64-bit quad-core CPU & 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB ii.0/3.0, headphone jack and duel Micro HDMI (4K). Kit includes power supply, MicroSD, USB MicroSD card reader, a instance with heatsink and fan, mini-HDMI cable and USB-C PiSwitch.

Bachelor from BangGood

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4B 8GB Starter Kit

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4B 8GB Starter Kit
2019 Model B, 8GB RAM

ane.5GHz 64-chip quad-core CPU & 8GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB two.0/three.0, headphone jack and duel Micro HDMI (4K). Kit includes ability supply, MicroSD, USB MicroSD card reader, a case with heatsink and fan, mini-HDMI cable and USB-C PiSwitch.

Available from Amazon.com

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB Starter Kit

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB Starter Kit
2019 Model B, 4GB RAM

1.5GHz 64-bit quad-core CPU & 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB 2.0/3.0, headphone jack and duel Micro HDMI (4K). Kit includes power supply, MicroSD, USB MicroSD card reader, a case with heatsink and fan, mini-HDMI cable and USB-C PiSwitch.

Bachelor from Amazon.com

Raspberry Pi USB types

Power to the Raspberry Pi B+, 2B, 3B, and 3B+ is supplied using the Micro-B USB (aka Micro USB) port on the side of the board. This port has been replaced past a USB Type-C on the Raspberry Pi 4B.

Raspberry Pi USB ports
The USB connectors used on Raspberry Pis are USB Type-A, also known equally the common USB port, Micro USB (aka Micro-B USB), and USB Type-C (aka USB C or Micro-C USB). The Micro USB or USB Type-C ports are used for powering the Raspberry Pi.

The four larger Blazon-A USB ports at the bottom of the lath range from four 10 USB two.0 on the Raspberry Pi B+, 2B, 3B, and 3B+ to 2 x USB ii.0 plus two x USB iii.0 on the Raspberry Pi 4B.

Raspberry Pi USB port speed

USB Wink drives and external hard drives are usually connected to transfer information to and from a Raspberry Pi. For data transfer, the faster USB iii.0 ports are preferred over USB 2.0 ports. At the time of updating this post, it was just the Raspberry Pi 4B that had USB 3.0 ports.

USB port speeds are dependant on their version and tin be classified as follows:

  • USB 1.0/1.ane (low-speed) = 1.5Mbit/s
  • USB 1.0/ane.1 (full-speed) = 12Mbit/due south
  • USB 2.0 (high-speed) = 480Mbit/due south (60MB/s)
  • USB three.0 (SuperSpeed) = 4.8Gbit/s (600MB/s)

Unfortunately, these are not the actual USB port speeds of the Raspberry Pi. The USB ports of Models B+, 2B, 3B, and 3B+ accept a unmarried root USB bus from the processor which is shared with Ethernet. This ways that the maximum bandwidth (480Mbit/s) is shared between the four USB ports.

The Raspberry Pi 4B has a PCIe lane running from the processor to the PCIe-USB Chipset, significant its maximum bandwidth (4.8Gbits/southward) is also divided between the four USB ports. The USB 2.0 ports will be limited to loftier-speed.

Changing the port speed of the Raspberry Pi

Sometimes the Raspberry Pi gives issues afterward connecting older USB 1.0/1.ane devices. In these cases, it might be necessary to change the Raspberry Pi's USB port speed from loftier-speed to full-speed.

This can be done by adding the speed parameter to the USB driver in the /kicking/cmdline.txt file. By default, this parameter will not be ready.

To admission and append the cmdline.txt file for this purpose, the nano last command can be used (with sudo privileges):

sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt

and adding the following line to the end of the file:

dwc_otg.speed=1

The file can be saved and airtight by pressing Ctrl + 10 and then Y and Enter.

The trade-off of downgrading the USB port speeds on the Raspberry Pi is that newer devices might at present start to give issues. If this is the case, it's better to change the USP port speeds back to their default and upgrade the devices instead.

Raspberry Pi USB electric current limits

Another important attribute of the Raspberry Pi USB ports is their current limit.

When the recommended power supply is used, the cumulative electric current output of the Raspberry Pi B+ and 2B USB ports is 600mA. This can exist increased to 1.2A by changing the max_usb_current boot parameter in the kick configuration file.

To access and append the boot configuration file for this purpose, the nano final command can be used (with sudo privileges):

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

and calculation the post-obit line to the stop of the file:

usb_max_current = 1

The file tin can exist saved and airtight by pressing Ctrl + X and then Y and Enter.

Since the Raspberry Pi 3B, the maximum current of the USB has been increased to one.2A and it can't be changed.

When the cumulative current of the connected USB devices is higher than ane.2A, the Raspberry Pi is starting to requite errors or show abnormal behaviour or external USB drives are to be connected, information technology is ameliorate to use a powered USB hub (see below).

5V 2.5A Power Supply With On/Off Switch (US, EU)

5V two.5A Power Supply With On/Off Switch (United states of america, Eu)
For Raspberry Pi ii/iii

Input 100-240V AC. 75x41x29mm. Micro-B USB connector.

Available from BangGood

CanaKit 5V 2.5A Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Power Supply (US)

CanaKit 5V 2.5A Raspberry Pi iii B+ Power Supply (US)
For Raspberry Pi ii/3

UL Listed. Input >100V AC. three.75 10 ii.75 x 1.25 inches. Micro-B USB connector.

Available from Amazon.com

Official 5.1V 3A Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply (US)

Official 5.1V 3A Raspberry Pi 4 Ability Supply (US)
For Raspberry Pi 4

UL Listed. White. Input: 100-240V 50/60Hz 0.5A, Output: v.ane-3.0A. 3.27 ten 2.4 x 1.93 inches. USB-C connector.

Available from Amazon.com

Connecting a USB hub to a Raspberry Pi

A USB hub is a device that expands i USB port into several. This will allow more, the usual, iv USB devices to connect to a Raspberry Pi. Up to 15 USB devices tin can be connected to a Raspberry Pi at the same time.

USB hub
Example of a USB hub. In this instance, one port is extended into 4 ports, giving 3 extra USB ports.

Some USB hubs are powered, while others draw their current from the primary USB connectedness. Considering the current limit on the Raspberry Pi'due south USB port is fairly depression, especially when other USB devices are besides connected, it is brash that a powered USB hub is used instead.

Amazon Basics 7 port USB 2.0 hub 5V,4A power adapter

Amazon Basics seven port USB 2.0 hub 5V,4A ability adapter

Black. Includes 0.9m / 3ft. USB ii.0 cable, Plug-and-Play, backward uniform with USB ane.1, Transfer speeds of up to 480Mbit/due south. Max. output per port is 500mA for 5 regular USB ports and i.5A for two USB fast charging ports, max. ouput 20W (5V/4A) across all 7 ports.

Available from Amazon.com

Raspberry Pi USB boot

The Raspberry Pi 4B has USB kick capabilities. This feature allows the Raspberry Pi to boot from a bootable Wink drive connected to ane of the USB ports.

Any Raspberry Pi compatible operating system tin can be installed onto a USB Flash drive in the verbal same way information technology is installed on a MicroSD card.

USB boot is configured in the Raspberry Pi'southward bootloader, which is stored in the EEPROM. Older versions of the bootloader still have USB kicking disabled. Fortunately, past merely updating the Raspberry Pi'southward firmware, the bootloader volition too be updated to enable USB kicking. Even if USB boot is enabled, the Raspberry Pi will revert back to the MicroSD carte du jour if no bootable USB device is available.

The Raspberry Pi's firmware is updated using the following last command:

sudo apt-get dist-update

The updates will but take effect on the adjacent kicking, but before and so the USB Wink drive tin can exist connected and the MicroSD bill of fare needs to exist removed. The Raspberry Pi can be safely close down by using the shutdown final control:

sudo shutdown

To kick the Raspberry Pi after it has been shut down, simply connect the ability supply again.

Raspberry Pi USB On-The-Go functionality

The Raspberry Pi 4B has so-called On-The-Go (or OTG) USB functionality on the USB-C port.

Technically speaking, OTG is a technology that allows a USB device (east.chiliad. a mobile telephone) to human activity as a host for devices such as keyboards, Wink drives, cameras, etc. It allows the mobile phone to switch back and along betwixt the host and peripheral.

Although referred to as OTG, the Raspberry Pi 4B USB-C port was designed to turn it into a peripheral. The other four USB ports can be used when the Raspberry Pi is to be used as a host.

This, for case, allows the Raspberry Pi to be continued directly to a PC using a USB-C cable and take SSH admission to it. In this case, in that location is no demand for a network connection, keyboard, mouse and/or screen.

Amazon Basics USB-C to USB-A 2.0 Fast Charging Cable

Amazon Basics USB-C to USB-A ii.0 Fast Charging Cable

Various colours, double-braided nylon cable, fast charging cablevision, 3A, ninety cm / 3 ft. Can also be used to connect a Raspberry Pi 4B to a personal computer.

Bachelor from Amazon.com

Raspberry Pi USB accessories

To get started with the Raspberry Pi, the following accessories might be required.

Decision

Here we discussed the Raspberry Pi's USB ports. The boards come standard with 4 USB ports which tin can be used to connect peripherals such equally a keyboard and mouse, game controllers, USB Drives, USB adapters, and external hard drives. A USB hub tin can also be connected to the Raspberry Pi to extend the number of available USB ports.

Important factors when it comes to USB ports are their data transfer speed, the amount of power they can supply and USB kicking capabilities.

The type of USB ports, the USB port transfer speed, the electric current limit per USB port, USB OTG functionality and USB boot capabilities of the Raspberry Pi were as well discussed.

Almost the author

Renier busies himself with improving his English writing, artistic web design and his websites, photoshopping, micro-electronics, multiple genres of music, superhero movies and badass series.

Behind the Scenes is a free, informative website. If y'all find value in any of our content, please consider making a donation to our cause, or condign a Patron for exclusive content.

Save, share & discuss

Your annotate is important, simply don't be a knob. Go on it constructive and polite.

More Raspberry Pi and microelectronics related posts

Running Steam Link on a Raspberry Pi

Running Steam Link on a Raspberry Pi

ix March 2022

The Steam Link App streams games from your PC's Steam Libray. It can be installed on a Raspberry Pi allowing Steam games to be played remotely over a LAN. More…