USB selector via transitors

[andrewlapham]

Ive been playing around with a cheap car stereo i got from aliexpress and was thinking of expanding on its stock USB playback. The idea is to use the existing buttons on the headunit that select radio memory, cut their traces and feed them into an arduino that selects from multiple USB drives hidden inside the case. This way i can have a fast way of changing through my music genres and styles.
I was hoping this could be achieved by just using simple transistors on the positive rail of each USB disk?
So all the disk drives would be wired into the back of the USB port and the transitors would be breaking the connection to each 5v rail until one of them is pulled high via the microcontroller.
Would this work?

[Manul]

No, because ESD diodes will be effectively shorting the data lines if you have unpowered devices on the bus.

[andrewlapham]

What if i connected 5v and GND straight through and only swiched the D+,D-?

[OwO]

You have to switch the D+ and D- pins but you might be able to get away with leaving everything powered on. RF switches might do the job but beware that unselected ports get shorted to ground.

[langwadt]

You have to switch the D+ and D- pins but you might be able to get away with leaving everything powered on. RF switches might do the job but beware that unselected ports get shorted to ground.

that depends on what kind of rf switch

[Manul]

Out of interest I measured my SanDisk ultra usb 3.0. Data lines clamp at 0.8V while injecting 1mA of current. So, no, you can not switch just +5.

[janoc]

Why not use something that is actually designed for the purpose?

https://eu.mouser.com/Semiconductors/Switch-ICs/USB-Switch-ICs/_/N-7590j?P=1ynzmed

E.g. ISL54225 (2:1 multiplexer) or MAX4899AE  (4:1 multiplexer) sound just like what you need.

If you want more than 4 devices I would rather start thinking about a different solution - implement a mass storage device using a microcontroller that will permit you to swap between music collections (I guess the idea is to swap between them quickly without going through the clunky radio menu) and will pull data from one or multiple memory sticks/cards attached via a regular USB hub.

Definitely a better solution than trying to physically switch the USB lines (which could end up even corrupting your USB sticks if you switch at the wrong moment).

[andrewlapham]

Ok ive completely shifted gears and gone with an RPI with a voice assistant that pulls music from a local source.