PPC as USB Mass-Storage Device?

[Mark Johnson]

OK, this is a wierd question, but I'll ask it anyway:
Is there an configuration/software package that anyone knows of that will let a PPC appear as a "Generic USB Mass-Storage Device" when attached to any Windows PC?

Now since I can hear the resounding "huh?" that some of you are respongin with, let me try to explain. What I want to do is create a folder/partition on a CF card in my PPC and store common "administration utilites" (like Windows Service Packs, drivers, etc.) in it, then take the PPC and connect it to any random Windows 2000 or Windows XP workstation and have that folder show up as a drive in Windows Explorer on the PC.

It seems like this should be doable in theory. I'm wondering where the "client device identification" happens - in the hardware USB chipset or in the software? If the PC simply "finds" some unspecified USB client device chipset which then passes the "indentification process" on to the WindowsCE OS which then says "I'm a PocketPC" then there should be a way to write an application that "hijacks" that and instead says "I'm a generic USB storage device" and just points to the folder.

Clearly there would need to be a config checkbox to turn this off so that when you get back to your actual desktop PC you could ActiveSync again, but this would allow you to share files on any recent Windows PC without having ActiveSync installed on it...

Anyone heard of anything like this?

[PPCRules]

I have wondered about this, too. But having a PocketPC with only 32MB RAM, my files are most likely on a memory card anyway. I figure rather than toting the device's USB sync cable (expensive to replace) with me, to plug into anyone's computer, I might as well have a free-after-rebate one-piece CF card reader with me (less bulk). And some situations will already have a card reader.

But from a W?BIC perspective, I like the idea you present. I have never heard of anything for this purpose, but perhaps someone has developed something for this or will be inspired to work on it.

[Janak Parekh]

I understand your question perfectly, but I haven't heard of any such software for Pocket PCs. It'd have to be a low-level driver. I doubt it's totally hardware -- my i700 can switch the purpose of the USB port between ActiveSync and modem dial-out via an option in the control panel.

--janak

[Sven Johannsen]

And the bad news is that this is not a new thought or request. That's bad because if it were easy, somebody would likely have come out with the little app to do this by now.

Makes perfect sense. I can do this with a couple of my MP3 players. You hook them to a USB port and the PC sees a USB storage device that I can copy files to for transport.

[Mark Johnson]

...I figure rather than toting the device's USB sync cable (expensive to replace) with me, to plug into anyone's computer, I might as well have a free-after-rebate one-piece CF card reader with me (less bulk).


Well at least everyone is following what I'm babbling about. :D
The idea of just keeping a USB reader with me has some appeal, but what brought up this thought for me was that one of the pictures of the HP hx4705 looked like the bottom connector might be a standard USB mini jack. If so, then all I'd need would be a short, thin, really cheap USB A Standard to USB B Mini cable, which would take up less space in my already-overloaded bag-o-tricks...

Just out of curiosity, has anyone seen threads on this before?

[Mark Johnson]

I can do this with a couple of my MP3 players. You hook them to a USB port and the PC sees a USB storage device that I can copy files to for transport.

Right, that's exactly the effect I'm looking for. I use my Archos Jukebox for this...

You know, this would seem to be something that Microsoft would have some incentive to enable. There are a lot of people carrying around USB key drives for such functionality so why not promote the PPC as a replacement. Also, you can imagine the flash memory makers would love this. It might suddenly make real sense for me to be looking at that 4GB CF card.

[Mark Johnson]

...my files are most likely on a memory card anyway.


One other thought on this:
Do you get nervous about removing and reinserting the CF card more than you "absolutely have to"?

I've noticed on ALL the PPC's I've owned that there is a disturbingly high recurrence of the: Insert card I've been using for months and get prompted with "do you wish to format this card" bug. I've always felt that there is a little bit of Russian Roulette under the hood with removable storage on PPC, so I try to just leave the card in as much as I can.

[apanther28]

I am with Mark on this one. I use the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 for this. It's a little heavy, but it's bulletproof. I have about 15 gigs of music and 5 gigs of data for this very purpose.

[PPCRules]

...my files are most likely on a memory card anyway.

One other thought on this:
Do you get nervous about removing and reinserting the CF [or SD (added to expand discussion)] card more than you "absolutely have to"?

No and Yes.

I remove my CF memory card about twice a day (for three years over three different devices) to swap in a CF modem. I have never had a problem.

On the other hand, I have had a device spontaneously hard reset soon after I removed and replaced the SD card, and a couple times when I suspect I may have touched the SD card. These were mostly related to the original SD card I had, but I am pretty leary of the SD card contacts.

Comparing the contact methods of the two cards, I'd be a lot less "nervous" about frequently removing a CF card than an SD card.

[Mark Johnson]

...my files are most likely on a memory card anyway.

One other thought on this:
Do you get nervous about removing and reinserting the CF [or SD (added to expand discussion)] card more than you "absolutely have to"?

No and Yes.

I remove my CF memory card about twice a day (for three years over three different devices) to swap in a CF modem. I have never had a problem.

On the other hand, I have had a device spontaneously hard reset soon after I removed and replaced the SD card, and a couple times when I suspect I may have touched the SD card. These were mostly related to the original SD card I had, but I am pretty leary of the SD card contacts.

Comparing the contact methods of the two cards, I'd be a lot less "nervous" about frequently removing a CF card than an SD card.

Interesting observation. Now that you point it out, I can't recall having the problem back when I was using CF cards, only on my last couple of PPC's after I had switched to SD cards.