USB External Hard disk on Pocket PC?

[X-Mole]

Hi Guys,
I recently bought a small case for an external 2.5" laptop hard disk which I had kicking around. It's USB2 and Windows XP sees it as a second hard drive without drivers.
I've been thinking lately about buying a HDD based MP3 player, then I had an idea. My "Orange SPV M1000 Pocket PC/smart phone" ( 8O huh!) can play MP3s but has limited storage. It has an SDIO slot and the docking station has a USB link to a PC. I wonder if the two devices can be connected directly and simply so that both are still mobile (carried in pockets)? I assume some power source would be needed for the HDD.

Anyone think it's feasible?
:?:

[Sven Johannsen]

Anyone think it's feasible?
:?:

Nope. Two options. 1) The PPC/SP needs host USB capabilities. You need a host and a client to work USB. Your device is a client, as is the hard drive. There are PPCs that do have a host USB port.
2) You get a USB host adapter. Only available in PCMCIA or CF format, not SD.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

A non-exhaustive list of PDAs with USB host can be found here:

http://forum.mypdacafe.com/viewtopic.php?t=4177&highlight=

You might also refer to a post I made that details pros and cons of USB Host:

http://www.mypdacafe.com/articles.php?id=219

[X-Mole]

Oh well - Just an idea.
Thanks for the info guys.

BTW - Your Fujitsu PPC setup certainly "Loox" good! :D

[MitchellO]

BTW - Your Fujitsu PPC setup certainly "Loox" good! :D

Good call :lol: :lol: :lol:

[X-Mole]

Just bought this thing, called THEbox, it's also a USB host. :?:
A bit too big and power hungry though I expect!

http://www.theboxwork.com/

Resigned to looking for an MP3 player with no HDD now!

[MitchellO]

How big is the HDD you have?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Just bought this thing, called THEbox, it's also a USB host. :?:
A bit too big and power hungry though I expect!

http://www.theboxwork.com/

Resigned to looking for an MP3 player with no HDD now!

Cool, nice find!

[Sven Johannsen]

Just bought this thing, called THEbox, it's also a USB host. :?: Resigned to looking for an MP3 player with no HDD now!
Be careful with that assumption. It has Host capabilities designed so that you can suck pictures or videos off of cameras onto it's HD. That doesn't imply to me it has the ability to pump MP3s into an MP3 player designed to be loaded from a PC. I think you'll still need a Host capable PPC or MP3 player to use this as a big storage drive for it. With no display it would appear it relys on the connected device to provide a visual interface as well. If you plugged the output into a car stereo as is, you might be looking at an 80G shuffle.

Let us know how it works out.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Just bought this thing, called THEbox, it's also a USB host. :?: Resigned to looking for an MP3 player with no HDD now!
Be careful with that assumption. It has Host capabilities designed so that you can suck pictures or videos off of cameras onto it's HD. That doesn't imply to me it has the ability to pump MP3s into an MP3 player designed to be loaded from a PC. I think you'll still need a Host capable PPC or MP3 player to use this as a big storage drive for it. With no display it would appear it relys on the connected device to provide a visual interface as well. If you plugged the output into a car stereo as is, you might be looking at an 80G shuffle.

Let us know how it works out.

Yeah, technically, what you have is a USB On-The-Go (OTG), which has only a small subset of USB Host functions - I believe it's limited to mass storage only. I've got something similar, but without the media playing ability. On the other hand mine has an onboard LiON battery which makes it really practical as a backup device. Having said that, OTG devices are only just coming on the market, so its news to me when I see a new one.