USB Devices (Hubs, Thumb Drives, etc)

[BLayman]

I'm bringing some info over from the brighthand forum since it solves (presumably) a problem I've had.

I've always wanted to get my thumb drive working on my E740 & E750 but never could. I've had great success using the keyboard through the USB port on the expansion pack, but always wanted to do more.

Apparently if you have this driver:
http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/support/driver/cfu1_2003.html

you can get most any USB device storage device to connect and be recognized. When you download the exe, you get three seperate drivers. A HID (Human interface Driver - keyboards mouse joysticks? etc), a host driver (I'm guessing this enables USB hub support), and a mass storage (USB drives - Thumb - HD - CD?).

Anyway, this is exciting news for me. So I thought I'd share it! :D

[tobyrne]

Wow, thanks for sharing !! :D I'll definitely check it out.

Cheers !

[yankeejeep]

The Ratoc software was actually designed to work with their CF USB adapter but works great with the USB host function on your Toshiba. Make sure you install the version compatible with your OS (I recall that WM2002 and WM2003 versions are bundled in the download). You will most likely not need the host driver as that should already be on your Toshiba (one of the nice parts of built-in host function) and you also may already have the HID driver (I did on both versions of WM2003 on my e805). The big hole that will get plugged is the mass storage driver. When connecting to external storage, remember that the USB port on your PPC will not put out the same power as a desktop's, so for any type of spinning disk you will need an external power source for it to spin up. Also optical drives (CDs, DVDs, etc) are not supported as of yet in the pretty basic WM USB model. It is terrific for flash drives and self-powered external hard drives.

[BLayman]

Great extra info jeep!

E740 & E750, I've not had any problems with the HID devices I've connected.

That tip on the power output is an excellent one.

Thanks!

Maybe an admin can sticky this thread if it hasn't already been done...