Compatible ext. USB HD?

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: Compatible ext. USB HD?
started by: dslfool

Posted by dslfool on May 31 2004,01:42

I have a 3-4 year old? Genesys external USB 2.5" hard drive case with a 10GB HD installed. This case/drive mounts on Macs w/ OS 8.6 or higher and PCs with Windows versions > 98 (or with 98 if a driver is installed), but I haven't been able to get it to mount in any version of Linux other than Knoppix 3.4 using the 2.6 kernel (and only the usb-storage.o module installed, so I can't do much else when Knoppix is loaded this way).

I'm wondering if anyone else is currently using with DSL a drive with the following specs and can let me know the brand & model:
- external USB
- bus-powered
- case only, for use with one's own 2.5" hard drive

I don't need to boot DSL from the drive, but I'd just like to carry a small, bus-powered drive with me which has more storage capacity than my USB flash drive.

Anyone using a drive like this with DSL?

Posted by cbagger01 on June 01 2004,02:15

Your best hope is to try it and see what happens.

Make sure that your drive is plugged in and powered up before you turn on your PC and start the DSL boot process.

If the device complies with the USB Mass Storage spec, it should appear on your mount.app (Choose "Enhance" from the desktop menu).

Go to the Mount program in the bottom right corner of your screen. Scroll through your mounting options until you see something like "USB Drive".

Then push the button to mount it.

Finally, open up Emelfm or MC and go to the appropriate directory. For example, /mnt/sda1

Go to this site for Linux USB compatibility information:

< http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/ >

Good Luck.

Posted by dslfool on June 01 2004,02:59

Thanks cbagger. I was hoping that someone could verify that Brand [abc] model [xyz] USB drive case works with a stock DSL - I don't have the budget to buy other cases and find that they don't mount and I wasn't sure if the Linux compatibility site would necessarily represent devices that would work with (again, stock) DSL - most of the comments are re other distros.

Tiny USB flash drives are awesome, but I'm willing to tote a PDA-sized drive to get 10- or 20GB of portable storage. (And I've got the drives, just need a case I can expect would work with DSL.)

If I do find a drive case that works, I'll report it here.

Anyway, thanks.

Posted by cbagger01 on June 01 2004,13:09

External USB hard drives should perform in a manner similar to a USB flash drive, provided that the drive follows the universal USB Mass Storage Specification.

When looking for such a beast, my adivce is to look in the product description for language like this:

Works with PC or Mac
No special driver needed for Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
Special driver needed for Windows 98 only.
Linux Compatible (like you need me to figure that one out)

The USB compatibility web site is also a good reference. If you find the product listed as compatible "success" and the "Driver Used" is called usb storage, then it will most likely work out of the box with the DSL distro.

Good Luck.

Posted by dslfool on June 01 2004,16:18

Will do. The hunt is on!

Many thanks again.