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I haven't found a lot of detail on the WeDo USB hub. Is this device usable with Linux? I found one article that indicated the OLPC XO had support for it, but it implied there was custom support added for that particular system. And this ad implies it will work with Linux.

Has anyone used this with a regular Linux distribution?

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  • Is this a questions for super user ?
    – RedRiderX
    Nov 11, 2011 at 16:29
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    No, I'd say Unix/Linux, Ask Ubuntu, or here, and this seems like the most on-topic place.. If we're going to absorb Mindstorms we need to support questions like this. But I don't think we need a linux tag.
    – user23
    Nov 11, 2011 at 16:54
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    @JeoWreschnig: I don't think the Mindstorms tag is appropriate for this question; WeDo appears to be completely independent from Mindstorms.
    – retracile
    Nov 11, 2011 at 18:51
  • @retracile, you raise a good point. From this post that I came across (welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261433), WeDo's relationship to Mindstorms is similar to Duplo's relationship to regular Legos.
    – JW8
    Nov 11, 2011 at 19:30
  • I'm using the LEGO WEDO HUB with pure JAVA controlling the USB (Linux, Mac, Win), if someone is interested please write back
    – salaboy
    Sep 22, 2012 at 15:05

4 Answers 4

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Lego's education catalog implies that the WeDo software is required for the hub to work. It states:

The two-port hub controls motors and sensors, transmits power and data to and from the computer, and is automatically detected by the WeDo™ Software when connected to the computer.

I found some info regarding WeDo software, the manual has this to say:

Q: What is the full detailed information on the compatibility with different platforms?

A: The WeDo™ software 1.1 is supported on Windows XP and Vista operating systems with the latest service packs. It is also supported on the Mac 10.5.xx operating system with Mac Intel processors. A minimum of 512 MB Ram is required and 300 MB of hard disc space. The WeDo software 1.2 is supported on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating systems with the latest service packs, as well as the Mac 10.5.xx and Mac 10.6.xx operating systems with Mac Intel processors.

In general, Lego software seems to be supported only on OS X and Windows XP, Vista, and 7. All of the software mentioned in the Lego catalog (Lego Mindstorm Education NXT Software) indicated support for OS X 10.4 or later, and Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Linux support was not mentioned.

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    The hub doesn't have any intelligence on its own and so can't work independently. It doesn't even have a power source, as a matter of fact. To be honest, compared to the NXT, is seems a bit pointless, but I suppose it's a good start for kids.
    – Joubarc
    Nov 11, 2011 at 17:57
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You can use WeDo with MIT Scratch 1.4 according to http://info.scratch.mit.edu/WeDo, and Scratch runs on Linux- and this thread https://lists.launchpad.net/scratch/msg00269.html indicates that the Linux Scratch does work with WeDo.

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I've just discover that the WEDO USB Hub just send to the motors 5V instead of 9V, so that's stopping me for doing a lot of stuff. Does anybody know how to add a separate source power and only send and read data from the USB Hub?

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    I think this would be better posted as its own question, rather than as an answer here...
    – retracile
    Oct 9, 2012 at 21:56
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For what it's worth, I have recently found that the LEGO WeDo hub connection works just fine on the Raspbian distro that comes with a Raspberry Pi, but it's not working on an Ubermix (Ubuntu) distro that I put on some Dell laptops.

See my post on this at http://scratched.media.mit.edu/discussions/bugs-troubleshooting-suggestions/scratch-wedo-linux-distro-specific-issues .

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