USB Mass storage devices

Hi all
http://www.usb-software.org
Bring you up-to-date information about USB Device Classes,
Embedded USB Software & USB Software, their modules and their products
Helpful for usb developers and much references to usb softwares .
USB On-The-Go, USB Host Stack , USB Device Stack, USB Mass Storage , USB HID , USB CDC , USB Remote NDIS , Wireless USB , PictBridge , MTP , USB Video, USB Tester….
Further information about USB Mass storage devices :
http://www.usb-software.org/usb_mass_storage.php

sorry, I didn't see the second page, i was refering to the last reply of the first page

If that doesn't work, how can there be cables to connect PDA's to cellular phones and GPS units? Like on this websitehttp://www.gomadic.com/neidi2tohpip.html . Couldn't you, in theory, cut open the ipaq to usb cable, cut open the phone to usb cable; and then attach the approiate wires (ie blue to blue, red to red, whatever they are???). Or just use a female to female connector to do the same thing that Gomadic is doing??? I don't really know, but it seems like that would work.

A really informative thread on ASUS WL-HDD can be found athttp://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=119477 - highly recommended!

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quote:Originally posted by merolius

www.glasslantern.com/articles/PocketPCDrives/
try this link for usb mass storage setup .
i have also heard ppl buying cf type 1 to pcmia adapter ,
then buying usb adapters for pmcia slots , using usb powered hubs
and usb laptop enclosures . and using the following driver found here www.deje.gmxhome.de/
hopefully this helps.
regards mero

Speaking of this article, the following section:

"Ratoc sells a Compact Flash USB host adapter bundled with a mass storage driver. It does not run under Windows Mobile 2003, so is only an option on older devices. We do not have information about this device's performance or reliability. "

is certainly not true. The Ratoc card is 100% compatible with WM2003+.

www.glasslantern.com/articles/PocketPCDrives/
try this link for usb mass storage setup .
i have also heard ppl buying cf type 1 to pcmia adapter ,
then buying usb adapters for pmcia slots , using usb powered hubs
and usb laptop enclosures . and using the following driver found here www.deje.gmxhome.de/
hopefully this helps.
regards mero

BTW, as far as the Ratoc card is concerned, it seems to have problems. You may want to read eschelar's comments athttp://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37467 on the subject.

quote:Originally posted by Deklan

hey

I had the same idea. But i have been think and have looked in to it. I have just thought. Connect a ipod to your ipad! And i even know how!

Right firstly

Get Linux for a ipod (very cool) and host a ftp server on it.
Connect your ipaq to it. I belive it is the red and black cableins in the sync cable just add a 5V current to it to charge the ipaq and ipod and basicly set up a network between them. So virtulise a usb network and bingo. Go on the ipaq in Internet explorer and in the adress bar put Ftp://ipod and well theres all the files on your ipod you can even stream videos!

Thats My idea not sure if it would work but fear not i am working hard on this job! lol

Deklan

Even if it worked (which I seriously doubt), the speed you could achieve would very slow - 115 000 bit/s at most, that is, almost the same as those of most MP3's. (Compare this to the speed of 200-400 kbytes/s of today's USB host-equipped PDA's communicating with USB hard disks - an order of magnitude faster!) It would take ages to transfer anything between the two devices.

hey

I had the same idea. But i have been think and have looked in to it. I have just thought. Connect a ipod to your ipad! And i even know how!

Right firstly

Get Linux for a ipod (very cool) and host a ftp server on it.
Connect your ipaq to it. I belive it is the red and black cableins in the sync cable just add a 5V current to it to charge the ipaq and ipod and basicly set up a network between them. So virtulise a usb network and bingo. Go on the ipaq in Internet explorer and in the adress bar put Ftp://ipod and well theres all the files on your ipod you can even stream videos!

Thats My idea not sure if it would work but fear not i am working hard on this job! lol

Deklan

You may want to check this out.
http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/subpages/cfu1u.html

Regards
TSAK

thanks for your infomation about ASUS WIFI case. But this model is supports only WIFI NEtworks under an AP. But most PDA users like me needs that using of mass storage units as largest capacity memory. for this purposes we need ADHOCs compatiable product.
Thanks again.

quote:Originally posted by hakantunga
I think the best solution is that we should find a case with supporting bluetooth or WIFI funcionality. Nowadays this type solutions are too expensive.

Not THAT expensive, I'd say. The Asus WL-HDD 2.5 Wireless Hard Drive Box I've also spoken above is only 99 US$ at ProPortable (http://www.proportable.com/detail.aspx?ID=77 ); off eBay or other vendors, it may even be cheaper.

The female to female convertor won't work. First mass storage needs 5 V DC energy. So in your existing solution you need energy source.
In stead of this connection please use a USB switch with suporting DC energy. But in this case you will be not get definite results because of PDA will not read data from your PDA due to there is no usb hosting specifications.
I think the best solution is that we should find a case with supporting bluetooth or WIFI funcionality. Nowadays this type solutions are too expensive.
I am investigating this type if I find some thing I will inform all's.
Thanks.[8]

BTW, here's the ASUS WL-HDD 2.5 Wireless Hard Drive Box I was speaking about:

http://www.proportable.com/detail.aspx?ID=77

Haha, was just a thought, oh well, thanks for all your help anyway, i feel a little bit stupid being told the same things over an over again, and still trying to find a way round them hehe

Unfortunately, it's not like the old-style serial connections where a null modem adapter would be enough to let you get a working connection. The needs of that com connection are pretty simple and the data transmission rate slow. USB is much faster, which allows use of peripherals that serial could never accomodate. As pointed out, it has host and client sides, though, and you cannot fool the connection into thinking there is a host where none exists.

A second issue would involve the cable, anyway, since the sync cable with your device has the device end the client and the PC end the host.

It would be a good thought, but it goes back to the first reply by Menneisyys:
"You can't because your PDA has no USB host functionality"

That was weird - didn't see the most recent reply just before mine - sorry.

quote:Originally posted by jonolomu

SOrry, but i was looking through my local computer store and an idea hit me, though im almost sure im wrong, but couldnt you

connect 'a female a to female a usb connector'

Nope, it won't work. If it worked, all PDA users would have been happily using their USB peripheres ever since the introduction of USB to WinCE devices (2000) :)

Unfortunately, USB hosting requires dedicated PDA-side support and wiring. That is, not even a software upgrade could help - that is, a current PDA that doesn't have USB host capabilities will never have it.

SOrry, but i was looking through my local computer store and an idea hit me, though im almost sure im wrong, but couldnt you

connect 'a female a to female a usb connector' ( ) to the 'ppc/computer link cable' and to 'the usb mass storage device'????

This is a picture of what i mean

And i think there are usb mass storage device drivers on the net, but would they work from this port (the ppc/pc cable for an ipaq 1940)?

Bugga, oh well, thanks for your help anyway.

quote:Originally posted by jonolomu

Sweet, thanks for your help, but do u know of anything sort of like that, but with:
a) a built in hard drive
b) portable

Thanks for any help

AFAIK, there're no portable, battery-enabled Wi-Fi based solutions as yet, unlike with USB.

Sweet, thanks for your help, but do u know of anything sort of like that, but with:
a) a built in hard drive
b) portable

Thanks for any help

quote:Originally posted by jonolomu

quote:Originally posted by Bob_Katayama

The speed is also a benefit when using something like a Snap Server.
The connections are via ethernet thus fast 100 transfer rate between the Snap server and the WiFi Router.

Thanks mate, I went to the site, but i couldnt find anything of a handy size, like sumthing the size of a small ppc.

You may want to check out for examplehttp://www.netgear.com/products/details/WGT634U.php . An excerpt from their stuff:

"Directly Attach Your External USB Drive or Memory Stick
With NETGEAR's 108 Mbps Wireless Storage Router you can have convenient access to your media and other files wherever you go. Just attach a USB hard disk drive or memory stick to your router and store all your files from any computer on your home network. From then on, you can remotely access your MP3s, photos and other stored files on the USB disk or memory stick from any wireless LAN notebook or desktop PC in your home or office, and from any web-connected PC away from your home or office. Wherever you are, you can seamlessly share files with your friends and family members by using the familiar Windows click commands, "File>Open" and "File>Save As" or by using the "drag-and-drop" icon method. And wherever you are, you can easily retrieve or save files to your router-attached disk drive by simply clicking on a remote file access icon on your PC desktop screen."

It is (or any router/access point with USB host capability) a great solution if you have an external USB hard disk you would like to access from a non-USB-host enabled PDA. It also supports USB2.

quote:Originally posted by Bob_Katayama

The speed is also a benefit when using something like a Snap Server.
The connections are via ethernet thus fast 100 transfer rate between the Snap server and the WiFi Router.

Thanks mate, I went to the site, but i couldnt find anything of a handy size, like sumthing the size of a small ppc.

The speed is also a benefit with using something like a Snap Server.
The connections are via ethernet thus fast 100 transfer rate between the Snap server and the WiFi Router.

Bob

Microsoft MVP - Windows Mobile Devices

www.technobrains.com
Your Neighborhood PDA Cafe
Pocket PC Games
Pocket PC Applications

Another solution may be getting an access point that also accepts external USB HDD's - they are pretty good if you already have a USB hard disk (e.g. an imagetank or a dedicated MP3 player) and you don't want to/may not swap the hard disk between it and the file server/Wi-Fi AP. (It's the case with me: I already have a USB2 image tank/mp3 player and woulnd't want to put its 60G HDD into another device that doesn't have mp3/flash card backup capabilities.)

Unfortunately, the last time I checked (some 2-3 months ago), all Wi-Fi AP were USB1.1 only, meaning 800-900 kbytes/s transfer speeds at most.

You may want to check this out.
http://www.snapappliance.com/page.cfm?name=2200main&nav=2200

This is a file server that you can connect to a WiFi Router.

Advantages is it is fully secure instead of just an open storage folder if you use a USB or other mass storage unit. The ones built into routers are good but limit long term upgradability or flexibility since the WiFi is built in.

Bob

Microsoft MVP - Windows Mobile Devices

www.technobrains.com
Your Neighborhood PDA Cafe
Pocket PC Games
Pocket PC Applications

Sweet, thanks for your help.

quote:Originally posted by jonolomu

What about if i got an sd to cf adapter, thne put the usb host cable into the sd to cf adapter and downloaded the usb host drivers...would that be possible, or is it a firm NO!???

I only know of CF ->PCMCIA adapters, no SD -> CF adapters.

You'd better
1, get a Wi-Fi card and a wi-fi enabled 2.5" HDD enclosure (there're some access points/routers that have this capability, from, for example, Asus)

2, get a USB host-enabled PPC when you upgrade your 1940

What about if i got an sd to cf adapter, thne put the usb host cable into the sd to cf adapter and downloaded the usb host drivers...would that be possible, or is it a firm NO!???

Damn it, oh well, thanks anyway.

quote:Originally posted by jonolomu

Can anyone please help me use my usb mass storage device on my ipaq 1940 pocket pc? and can u please tell me where i can get the equiptment and software i need.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers
Jono

You can't because

1, your PDA has no USB host functionality
2, your PDA has no CF slot for USB host cards (they're all CF; no SD versions are available).