Is it possible to cut the 5V/GND lines from an USB 2/3 connection

>>1134022
>I want to avoid that some cheap active usb hub accidentally feeds power back into my PC.

this.

also, my pringles can is empty. help?

Just remove the 5v line. You need to the ground to be common so that the usb devices can communicate. http://www.instructables.com/id/Adding-an-external-power-supply-to-a-cheap-USB-hub/

>>1134022
depends.
some devices monitor 5v line to detect plug/unplug before enabling the usb peripheral/interface.
you might not even need the 0v. in theory at all but in practice if neither is reference isolated.

You don't need either power line. I have a USB cable here that has just the data lines, and it works for any powered device.

Those ultra-thin rollup USB cables are just 2 cores, data only.

I miss the days when you could bit-bang on a serial port without dealing with the bloated 2000-page protocol that is USB.

Why couldn't they just make a better version of the serial port with better EMI filtering? It's really irksome that I can't just hook up wires directly between my PC and my experiments. No, that would be too easy. Instead I have to buy an Arduino or an FTDI hub controller or a break-out board for $50.

>>1135561
Dude, ftdi usb to serial costs a few $ at most.

>>1135600
In theory, yes, if you want the chip alone. However my soldering skills are average at best and I doubt I could deal with mounting this tiny component.

For me, I lean towards a breakout board with GPIO pins readily available. While $50 is an exaggeration, I've seen these products going on SparkFun for $15. Add shipping, currency exchange, import duties, and it's not that far off.