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Homebrew Snap Server / Netdisk ?



 
 
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  #11  
Old September 9th 03, 03:16 AM
Peter da Silva
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In article ,
Maxim S. Shatskih wrote:
- PS/2 hole for keyboard
- serial port for serial-attached hardware or serial mouse
- PS/2 hole for mouse
- parallel port for printer
- custom PCMCIA card for scanner


Without USB I need:

PS/2 hole for mouse.
Serial port for printer, handheld, and other serial devices.
Cardbus slot for Ethernet/Modem or SCSI or firewire.
PCMCIA-CF adapter.

and so on. With USB, all you need is a hub, and only if you have more then 2
devices to attach to the laptop.


With USB I need:

USB hole for mouse.
Serial port for printer and other serial devices.
Cardbus slot for Ethernet/Modem or SCSI or firewire.
PCMCIA-CF adapter.
USB port for handheld. Nominally 12 MB/s, practically 56K.

If it's a "legacy-free" laptop, add:

Overpriced USB-serial dongle for serial devices.
Replacement overpriced USB-serial dongle when it gets lost or stolen.
USB hub.

If it's an aggressive "legacy-free" laptop, add:

Overpriced USB modem dongle.
Annoying USB flash memory dongle that I keep leaving at home.
Another USB hub because the first one keeps resetting the mouse
when I plug in the annoying USB flash memory dongle.
Another annoying USB flash memory dongle because I left the
first one at home, remember?
A couple of extra A-B and A-A cables because I keep leaving them
in hotel rooms.

And if I need to read DVDs or get online:

New laptop with cardbus slot for ethernet/SCSI/firewire
because USB is still too frigging slow.

--
I've seen things you people can't imagine. Chimneysweeps on fire over the roofs
of London. I've watched kite-strings glitter in the sun at Hyde Park Gate. All
these things will be lost in time, like chalk-paintings in the rain. `-_-'
Time for your nap. | Peter da Silva | Har du kramat din varg, idag? 'U`
  #12  
Old September 9th 03, 03:25 AM
idunno
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On Tue, 9 Sep 2003 00:39:58 +0400, "Maxim S. Shatskih"
wrote:

On laptops, USB is very, very great. Maybe USB is one of the

greatest ideas
of
the laptop computing.
Without USB, you have nearly no ways of attaching hardware to

laptop.

The PC-Card (PCMCIA) and Cardbus interfaces were intended to be for
this, in exactly the same way that the ISA and PCI busses are the
mechanisms for attaching harware to a desktop.


Without USB, you will need:
- PS/2 hole for keyboard
- serial port for serial-attached hardware or serial mouse
- PS/2 hole for mouse
- parallel port for printer
- custom PCMCIA card for scanner

and so on. With USB, all you need is a hub, and only if you have more

then 2
devices to attach to the laptop.

Max


Port replicators have done this type of thing very well long before
USB. They are also more robust devices designed especially for easily
plugging/unplugging daily for years.
  #13  
Old September 9th 03, 10:57 AM
Jeff Sutter
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(idunno) wrote in message . com...

I think what you want is a snap appliance. Certainly I think you have
to look at something bigger or more expensive than you were hoping.
What you are looking for sounds like a great product but I don't think
it's here yet. If you could make it and bring it to market - I'd buy
it!


Newer hardware seems to handle USB better than those days (which I
agree was horrible). USB did flounder very badly for a few years.

Sorry I confused network disks with FAT32 - Win95 acts funny when
using Windows Networking, access volumes 32G, or with very large
directory trees. I presume an NAS box could be configured to appear
as multiple network drives of 32G, yes?

Win9x acts funny and gets confused in all kinds of scenarios and has
lots of limitations. Networking in general can be very screwy and
often takes some finessing to kinda work right or get it running
again. I just have no patience for it or the machines of that era. I
was not aware of that limitation esp bc I dumped it long before 32G
drives were ever made. At a certain point eventhough a machine still
"runs" it still can become more trouble than it is worth.


Precisely the reason I stick with old, proven, reliable hardware and
software. It is my new hardware (Athlons, Dell P3's) which continue
to fail miserably at maintaining working USB devices for more than a
week at a time. Friends call me all the time asking for support on
their W2K/XP systems - inevitably, something to do with USB
functionality.

Far be it for me to sing praises of Win95, but it does 99% of
everything I need or want, and I can live with 32G slices, and I have
no network problems. My Win95 systems, given sufficient memory,
suffer no complications. I don't mind doing a little custom
configuration to match everything else that is known to work. A
decent, 5" slimline NAS box definitely is in order. Guess maybe I
will have to build it, after all.

Its a bit off-group-topic, but does anyone recommend a pentium-class
SBC that will fit in a 1/2 height 5" CDROM enclosure, with room for a
3.5" device?

Thanks again.
Jeff.
  #14  
Old September 9th 03, 02:14 PM
Maxim S. Shatskih
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With USB I need:

USB hole for mouse.
Serial port for printer and other serial devices.


No. USB hole for printer :-)

Cardbus slot for Ethernet/Modem or SCSI or firewire.


Firewire and Ethernet are inside the laptop (the modern ones), the modem is
either inside or USB one, SCSI - yes, SCSI requires the CardBus slot.

USB port for handheld. Nominally 12 MB/s, practically 56K.


Dunno on handhelds, but with USB-to-USB bridge (used to connect laptops
together) or the scanner the speed is much higher. 12MB is the physical layer
speed, packet headers and transaction phases require some overhead.

Another USB hub because the first one keeps resetting the mouse
when I plug in the annoying USB flash memory dongle.


Bad hub, which violates the spec.

And if I need to read DVDs or get online:

New laptop with cardbus slot for ethernet/SCSI/firewire
because USB is still too frigging slow.


Large laptops have the DVD drive in them. External drive is necessary for
smaller ones only (subnotebooks, 1.1kg weight). Modem is also there. For faster
connection, you can attach the cellphone to USB outlet (or use Bluetooth
attached to USB outlet) and use GPRS, or use the USB-attached ADSL modem.

--
Maxim Shatskih, Windows DDK MVP
StorageCraft Corporation

http://www.storagecraft.com


  #15  
Old September 9th 03, 02:16 PM
Maxim S. Shatskih
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Port replicators have done this type of thing very well long before
USB. They are also more robust devices designed especially for easily


I disbelieve that on-the-knee-made port replicator (which violates lots of
specs - PS/2 one for sure) can be _more robust_ then USB.

--
Maxim Shatskih, Windows DDK MVP
StorageCraft Corporation

http://www.storagecraft.com


  #16  
Old September 9th 03, 02:16 PM
Maxim S. Shatskih
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Far be it for me to sing praises of Win95, but it does 99% of
everything I need or want, and I can live with 32G slices, and I have
no network problems. My Win95 systems, given sufficient memory,


Am I right that Win95 cannot utilize more then 64MB of host memory?

--
Maxim Shatskih, Windows DDK MVP
StorageCraft Corporation

http://www.storagecraft.com


  #17  
Old September 9th 03, 06:45 PM
Peter da Silva
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In article ,
Maxim S. Shatskih wrote:
With USB I need:


USB hole for mouse.
Serial port for printer and other serial devices.


No. USB hole for printer :-)


Then I need a hub.

Cardbus slot for Ethernet/Modem or SCSI or firewire.


Firewire and Ethernet are inside the laptop (the modern ones),


Ah, now you're changing the rules. Adding more ports.

USB port for handheld. Nominally 12 MB/s, practically 56K.


Dunno on handhelds,


I do.

Another USB hub because the first one keeps resetting the mouse
when I plug in the annoying USB flash memory dongle.


Bad hub, which violates the spec.


Then it seems at least 3 out of 4 "compact" hubs violate the spec.

New laptop with cardbus slot for ethernet/SCSI/firewire
because USB is still too frigging slow.


Large laptops have the DVD drive in them.


Ah, so that's another non-USB port.

External drive is necessary for
smaller ones only (subnotebooks, 1.1kg weight). Modem is also there.


And another one.

So... with a non-USB laptop I have:

PS/2 port for mouse.
Serial port for handheld or printer or router config.
Parallel port I don't use.
Cardbus slots.
Ethernet.
Modem.
Media bay.
PS/2 splitter if I want an external keyboard.

Now, with USB that's been reduced to:

USB port for mouse.
USB port for handheld or printer.
Firewire port I don't use.
Cardbus slots.
Ethernet.
Modem.
Media bay.
USB hub if I want an external keyboard.
USB serial dongle for router config.

This has clearly reduced clutter.

Actually, what I have on my laptop is:

USB port for handheld.
USB port for keyboard.
PS/2 port for mouse.
Ethernet.
Modem.
Media bay.
IR port.
Serial port.
Parallel port I don't use.

Don't get me wrong. USB is useful. But... removing the PS/2 and serial
ports is a step backwards.

--
I've seen things you people can't imagine. Chimneysweeps on fire over the roofs
of London. I've watched kite-strings glitter in the sun at Hyde Park Gate. All
these things will be lost in time, like chalk-paintings in the rain. `-_-'
Time for your nap. | Peter da Silva | Har du kramat din varg, idag? 'U`
  #18  
Old September 10th 03, 01:33 AM
Eric Lee Green
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In article , Peter da Silva ruminated:
In article ,
Maxim S. Shatskih wrote:
Without USB I need:

PS/2 hole for mouse.
Serial port for printer, handheld, and other serial devices.
Cardbus slot for Ethernet/Modem or SCSI or firewire.
PCMCIA-CF adapter.

and so on. With USB, all you need is a hub, and only if you have more then 2
devices to attach to the laptop.


With USB I need:

USB hole for mouse.


USB mouse.

Serial port for printer and other serial devices.


USB printer.

Cardbus slot for Ethernet/Modem or SCSI or firewire.


Ethernet, modem, firewire are built in.

PCMCIA-CF adapter.


???

And if I need to read DVDs or get online:


DVD-ROM built in.

New laptop with cardbus slot for ethernet/SCSI/firewire
because USB is still too frigging slow.


In reality, the only cardbus card that I use is an old 802.11b card
that I use for wireless networking. My printers all connect via USB.
I must admit that I do miss the serial port on my HP laptop, I work
with a lot of equipment that wants to be set up via a serial port.

--
Eric Lee Green
Linux/Unix Software Engineer seeks employment
see http://badtux.org for resume


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
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  #19  
Old September 10th 03, 05:38 AM
idunno
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On Tue, 9 Sep 2003 17:16:05 +0400, "Maxim S. Shatskih"
wrote:

Port replicators have done this type of thing very well long before
USB. They are also more robust devices designed especially for

easily

I disbelieve that on-the-knee-made port replicator (which violates

lots of
specs - PS/2 one for sure) can be _more robust_ then USB.


I think I was unclear. I just mean that the connector's tend to be
beefier. It usually isn't possible for a user to jiggle it when
inserting or removing. These connectors *should* last longer. There
is also no possibility of trying to insert it the wrong way (like a
USB port on the rear of a laptop) which is a little easier if you are
rushed.

Of course there are design compromises and many caveats when making
generalizations about proprietary solutions. Whether or not you find
them unsatisfactory, they have offered similar functionality as
discussed before USB was available.
  #20  
Old September 10th 03, 05:51 AM
idunno
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"Maxim S. Shatskih" wrote in message ...
Far be it for me to sing praises of Win95, but it does 99% of
everything I need or want, and I can live with 32G slices, and I have
no network problems. My Win95 systems, given sufficient memory,


Am I right that Win95 cannot utilize more then 64MB of host memory?


It can take a lot more than that

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q253912
 




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