Dongle

Last updated October 31, 2024

A dongle is a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on another device to provide it with additional functionality, or enable a pass-through to such a device that adds functionality.^[1]

In computing, the term was initially synonymous with software protection dongles —a form of hardware digital rights management in which a piece of software will only operate if a specified dongle—which typically contains a license key or some other cryptographic protection mechanism—is plugged into the computer while it is running.

The term has since been applied to other forms of devices with a similar form factor, such as:

adapters that convert ports to handle different types of connectors (such as DVI to VGA for displays, USB-to-serial data communication, and in modern computing, USB-C to other types of ports, and Mobile High-Definition Link),^[2]
USB wireless adapters for standards such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
USB flash drives (more commonly described as "USB stick" or "USB key")
small form-factor digital media players that plug into HDMI ports (most commonly described as a "media player dongle" or "media player stick")

Etymology

There are varying accounts on the etymology of the word "dongle"; in a 1999 paper, P. B. Schneck stated that the origin was unclear, but that it was possibly a corruption of the word "dangle" (since these devices "dangle" from a port on a PC).^[3]

A 1992 Byte magazine advertisement by Rainbow Technologies claimed that dongles were invented by and named after a person named "Don Gall", which spawned an urban legend. Linguist Ben Zimmer noted that the claim was likely a by-product of their "tongue-in-cheek" marketing style, and "was so egregiously false that the company happily owned up to it as a marketing ploy when pressed by Eric S. Raymond, who maintains the Jargon File, an online lexicon of hacker slang."^[3]^[4]

Examples

Copy protection

Software protection dongles are typically used to help prevent unauthorized use and copying of certain forms of software. Initially using ports such as the serial port or parallel port, most are now in USB format.

Small peripheral appliances

In the mid-to-late 2010s, the dongle form factor was extended to digital media players with a small, stick-like form factor—such as Chromecast and Fire TV Stick—that are designed to plug directly into an HDMI port on a television or AV receiver (powered via Micro USB connection to the television itself or an AC adapter), in contrast to a larger set-top box-style device. Single-board computers, such as the Intel Compute Stick, have also been produced in a similar means.^[5]^[6]

Adapters

Very short cables that connect relatively large jacks to smaller plugs allow cables to be easily installed and removed from equipment with limited space available for connectors.

Other

Cassette adapters enable cassette-radios to allow AUX in, as with iPod/MP3 player/smartphone/portable CD player.
Personal FM transmitters allow content from a portable media player, portable CD player, smartphone, portable cassette player, or other portable audio system to be heard on an FM radio.
IDE/PATA connectivity can be re-channeled with some dongles:
- Both floppy disk and hard disk drives have been emulated on solid-state "dongles" to ensure legacy recognition, allowing SD cards to serve software to old Commodore 64 and Apple II era computers.
Old school video game consoles:
- The Everdrive series of game cartridges has enabled classic systems such as the Sega Mega Drive and Nintendo 64 to allow one cartridge to have a number of games that were formerly on multiple cartridges of their own, by use of an SD card with ROMs on them; since it can allow a real game console to access ROMs, which an emulator would normally do.
- The Sega 32X was an add-on for the Sega Megadrive which allowed a 32-bit library of games to play on a system that was normally just 16-bit, though it suffered from having its own AC adapter in order to work.
The Nintendo DS contains a cartridge slot used primarily for Game Boy Advance games, but was also used as a slot for add-on dongles such as the Rumble Pak.^[7]
USB host connectivity grants more flexibility to computer-based devices
- Bluetooth
- legacy game controllers have special adapters
- GPS receivers
- SD card readers
- Flash drives
- Mobile broadband modems
- Network interface controllers
Older cars that "externalized" their CD players and changers from the head unit can now use "emulators" that allow USB and SD cards with MP3s and other audio files to be recognized as "tracks" to the CD control unit circuitry.
Adapters that convert miniature implementations of an interface to the full-sized equivalent, or are required to provide the electrical and mechanical interfaces for expansion cards that cannot physically accommodate them (such as PCMCIA, Compact Flash and ExpressCard expansion cards which are just millimetres thick, too small for a standard connector without having the connector and housing extend beyond the dimensions specified by the standard). Although commonly referred to as "dongles", the alternative term "Pig-tail" is favoured by some in the IT industry, due to the appearance of a full-sized connection element, with a short, thin wire extending, somewhat reminiscent of the rear of porcine animals. The term is somewhat descriptive, and allows one to avoid using the word dongle except for its original meaning.^{[ citation needed ]}

Related Research Articles

PC Card is a parallel peripheral interface for laptop computers and PDAs. The PCMCIA originally introduced the 16-bit ISA-based PCMCIA Card in 1990, but renamed it to PC Card in March 1995 to avoid confusion with the name of the organization. The CardBus PC Card was introduced as a 32-bit version of the original PC Card, based on the PCI specification. The card slots are backward compatible for the original 16-bit card, older slots are not forward compatible with newer cards.

A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices, such as digital cameras as well as in many early games consoles such as the Nintendo Wii. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a socket instead of protruding USB flash drives.

The game port is a device port that was found on IBM PC compatible and other computer systems throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It was the traditional connector for joystick input, and occasionally MIDI devices, until made obsolete by USB in the late 1990s.

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A software protection dongle is an electronic copy protection and content protection device. When connected to a computer or other electronics, they unlock software functionality or decode content. The hardware key is programmed with a product key or other cryptographic protection mechanism and functions via an electrical connector to an external bus of the computer or appliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USB flash drive</span> Data storage device

A flash drive is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc, and usually weighs less than 30 g (1 oz). Since first offered for sale in late 2000, the storage capacities of USB drives range from 8 megabytes to 256 gigabytes (GB), 512 GB and 1 terabyte (TB). As of 2023, 2 TB flash drives were the largest currently in production. Some allow up to 100,000 write/erase cycles, depending on the exact type of memory chip used, and are thought to physically last between 10 and 100 years under normal circumstances.

The xD-Picture Card is an obsolete form of flash memory card, used in digital cameras made by Olympus, Fujifilm, and Kodak during the 2000s. The xD in the xD-Picture Card stands for eXtreme Digital.

An adapter or adaptor is a device that converts attributes of one electrical device or system to those of an otherwise incompatible device or system. Some modify power or signal attributes, while others merely adapt the physical form of one connector to another.

A multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be plugged in simultaneously in a manner similar to a power strip or a USB hub. A multitap often takes the form of a box with three or more controller ports which is then connected to a controller port on the console itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flash cartridge</span> Cartridge containing flash memory developed for use in video game consoles

A flash cartridge is a homebrew video game cartridge that uses flash memory for storage as well as running applications. These cartridges enable homebrew applications and games to be used and played when they are inserted into an otherwise officially licensed game console. The game storage can be in the form of onboard flash memory on the cartridge, although newer cartridges usually use external memory cards as storage in place of onboard memory, such as Compact Flash or Secure Digital. Recent flash cartridges may also use RAM instead of ROM for flashing games to run on the console as a way to offer faster loading times than what is possible on reprogrammable ROM.

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An adapter in regard to computing can be either a hardware component (device) or software that allows two or more incompatible devices to be linked together for the purpose of transmitting and receiving data. Given an input, an adapter alters it in order to provide a compatible connection between the components of a system. Both software and hardware adapters are used in many different devices such as mobile phones, personal computers, servers and telecommunications networks for a wide range of purposes. Some adapters are built into devices, while the others can be installed on a computer's motherboard or connected as external devices.

Various accessories for the PlayStation 3 video game console have been produced by Sony and third-party companies. These include controllers, audio and video input devices like microphones, video cameras, and cables for better sound and picture quality.

A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments.

GameCube accessories include first-party releases from Nintendo, and third-party devices, since the GameCube's launch in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game backup device</span> Device for backing up ROM information from a video game cartridge

A game backup device, informally called a copier, is a device for backing up ROM data from a video game cartridge to a computer file called a ROM image and playing them back on the official hardware. Recently flash cartridges, especially on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS platforms, only support the latter function; they cannot be used for backing up ROM data. Game backup devices also make it possible to develop homebrew software on video game systems. Game backup devices differ from modchips in that modchips are used in conjunction with systems that use generally available media such as CDs and DVDs, whereas game backup devices are used with systems that use cartridges.

'Commodore 64 disk/tape emulation and data transfer' comprises hardware and software for Commodore 64 disk & tape emulation and for data transfer between either the C64 computer, the Commodore 1541 disk drive or Commodore 1530 Datasette tape deck, and newer computers.

Various accessories for the PlayStation 2 video game console have been produced by Sony, as well as third parties. These include controllers, audio and video input devices such as microphones and video cameras, and cables for better sound and picture quality.

The Retrode is a USB adapter for legacy video games that enabled the use of game cartridges and controllers with emulators. Technically, the Retrode could be considered a ROM dumper in that it could create a copy of the cartridge content. Unlike most such devices, the Retrode could be operated without drivers or special software under the most popular operating systems. It further allowed the emulator to directly access the game data through the file system, eliminating the need to create a ROM image as a separate step. By default, the Retrode was equipped with cartridge slots and controller ports for the SNES and Sega Genesis game consoles; support for cartridges and controllers for other systems could be added via so-called plug-in adapters that users can buy online or make themselves.

The Chromebit is a stick PC running Google's ChromeOS. It is able to be plugged into any display via HDMI to act as a personal computer. Keyboards and mice are able to be connected over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The device was announced in April 2015 and began shipping November 2015.

References

↑ Watson, David Lilburn; Jones, Andrew (2013-08-30). Digital Forensics Processing and Procedures: Meeting the Requirements of ISO 17020, ISO 17025, ISO 27001 and Best Practice Requirements. Newnes. ISBN 9781597497459.
↑ Lee, Dave (2016-11-07). "Discussing the dongles". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
1 2 Garber, Megan (2013-07-29). "The Origin of the Word 'Dongle': 7 Leading Theories". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
↑ Schneck, P.B. (July 1999). "Persistent access control to prevent piracy of digital information". Proceedings of the IEEE. 87 (7): 1239–1250. doi:10.1109/5.771075.
↑ Welch, Chris (2016-03-09). "Intel Compute Stick review: Windows 10 for your TV". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
↑ Bohn, Dieter (2016-04-27). "This $70 computer stick is designed for Ubuntu". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
↑ "Metroid Pinball Rumbles", IGN , retrieved 2019-08-26

External links

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[1] Watson, David Lilburn; Jones, Andrew (2013-08-30). Digital Forensics Processing and Procedures: Meeting the Requirements of ISO 17020, ISO 17025, ISO 27001 and Best Practice Requirements. Newnes. ISBN 9781597497459.

[2] Lee, Dave (2016-11-07). "Discussing the dongles". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-04-21.

[:0-3] 1 2 Garber, Megan (2013-07-29). "The Origin of the Word 'Dongle': 7 Leading Theories". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2019-04-21.

[4] Schneck, P.B. (July 1999). "Persistent access control to prevent piracy of digital information". Proceedings of the IEEE. 87 (7): 1239–1250. doi:10.1109/5.771075.

[5] Welch, Chris (2016-03-09). "Intel Compute Stick review: Windows 10 for your TV". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-04-21.

[6] Bohn, Dieter (2016-04-27). "This $70 computer stick is designed for Ubuntu". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-04-21.

[7] "Metroid Pinball Rumbles", IGN , retrieved 2019-08-26

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