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I want to use a Netduino Plus 2 for a commercial product. The thing is that this product is required to be able to communicate with a PC over USB and I want to know if there is a way for me the use the buil-in micro usb connector for communication. I know I can simply use an external usb serial adapter but that would be costly and impractical and I do not plan on having any pins available for it. I could though open then for programming if needed but not for use in my product.

I have found this article http://forums.netduino.com/index.php?/topic/1514-driverless-pc-netduino-communication-using-usb/ but it seems that it is not compatible with the newer firmware. I have also read that the new Plus 2 comes with hardware that makes theis more possible but I could not find any references as of how to use it.

Do any of you know if and how I can do this?

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Onboard USB is used to connect to the debugger. I recommend not giving up debugger functionality - you will need it.

There is a number of .net Micro compatible boards with two USB connections.

Have a look at STM32F4Discovery on which .net micro also runs. It has two USB Client connectors, one of which can be used to communicate with the computer. It is also very nicely priced.

You may want to look into FEZ Cerbuino bee, which is Arduino compatible, which has an extra USB Host adapter. But I do not know if you can use that to connect to the computer.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks, is there any place that I can check how many and what type of pins are availble on the discovery board? \$\endgroup\$
    – Gerharddc
    Aug 13, 2013 at 13:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ I also need SD card capabilities and would really want ethernet connectivity. You do not by any chance know of a cheap extension board that will add these capabilities? \$\endgroup\$
    – Gerharddc
    Aug 13, 2013 at 13:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ ST loves to re-organize their website so it's often easier to find their data sheets via links from digikey. SD is a trivial hand-wirable breakout, ethernet a bit more complicated but I believe there are 3rd-party add-ons for that. But grafting on an ethernet PHY becomes a bit silly as a method of avoiding grafting on a USB-serial. For production though, I'd think a better solution would be something with an on-board communication interface, and making the debugger be what gets grafted on, in one or two examples, for development. Too bad if .net doesn't support jtag/swd, or serial debug? \$\endgroup\$
    – Chris Stratton
    Aug 13, 2013 at 14:19
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks, I guess I could leave the ethernet for now, I wanted to add the basic feature but I guess it is a bit unneeded. SD is very important but I guess I should be able to add it. But is there any documentation as to how many PWM, analog etc. pins are on the board? \$\endgroup\$
    – Gerharddc
    Aug 13, 2013 at 14:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ STM32F4discovery has on-chip ethernet, you would only need to connect a PHY breakout. Check mikrocontroller.net/topic/epj-15-seite-10 \$\endgroup\$
    – posipiet
    Aug 13, 2013 at 14:35

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