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#1 2010-03-18 19:55:15

saft
Member
Registered: 2010-03-04
Posts: 36

I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

I need some ideas, and the more the better smile you seem like a brainy, problem-solving lot on this forum, so I'm going to outline what I'd like to do and see if anyone can think outside the box and come up with the perfect solution to what I'm trying to do.

My current situation and setup is this:

I am running arch on a netbook, which I use in various places around the house and occasionally at university and on my lunchbreaks at work.

On my desk at home is a 500GB usb HDD, which back when I got it was described as "portable," although it really isn't as it requires a power supply. Most of my music, videos, images etc are on this hard drive. The netbook has a 8-9 hr battery life (supposedly), so I rarely plug the ac in, and I don't want my usb hard drive to limit me to being near a socket to use the files on this hard drive. To add to this, when I copy files onto the netbook via USB, the CPU almost maxes out, and it takes longer than it would using any other pc or laptop. This isn't a problem I have with network access, as pacman with powerpill downloads huge files at the speed of light.

My other laptop, which runs windows vista for Adobe CS4 and audio editing software (I'm a graphic design student) is usually on my desk at home, next to the portable HDD but often switched off. These days I'm really only using it when I sit down to work on graphics, audio, or video projects as I have arch set up nicely for browsing and general use. It also has various folders full of files on it.

What I'd like to be able to do is simply access the files on the laptop and HDD from the netbook. Given that I am a poor student and electricity bills are a pain, I'm wondering if there's a way I can do this without having the work laptop witched on all the time. For example, I don't want the laptop running as a server 24 hours a day in my work room incase I need to access a certain file from the bedroom. My housemates would be annoyed at me for running up the bill roll Another thing I don't want is to copy files onto the netbook and end up with several copies of the same file - one on the usb hard drive, one on my netbook, etc. As I deal with project files for university, it can be very confusing not knowing which are more recent.

I'm not really looking to spend any money on new equipment like a new router I can plug the hard drive into.

I am willing to make compromises, as I'm probably hoping for some magic answer to this which doesn't exist. Hopefully though someone will suggest something as close to my ideal situation as possible. The only half-formed idea I can think of is some way of synchronising the netbook with certain folders on the usb hard drive every now and again via the home network or through the internet.

Let the brainstorming (or posting of obvious and overlooked answers) begin!

(And just so we don't get too techy or too dumbed down, let me say that I know my way around the arch system, but I'm not what I think of as an advanced user. I am, however, a proud user of the google search engine cool)

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#2 2010-03-18 20:07:15

toad
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From: if only I knew
Registered: 2008-12-22
Posts: 1,775
Website

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

If you've got some kind of network this will help you:

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Samba


never trust a toad...
::Grateful ArchDonor::
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#3 2010-03-18 20:07:35

Daenyth
Forum Fellow
From: Boston, MA
Registered: 2008-02-24
Posts: 1,244

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

You want a NAS

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#4 2010-03-18 20:23:01

saft
Member
Registered: 2010-03-04
Posts: 36

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

I should add that the native vista folder sharing functions are completely rubbish, and for some reason decide to freeze near enough every time I try to share or stop sharing a file, so I guess if I use Samba I'll need some kind of server app on the laptop.

I'm curious about the NAS though, but the only machine I have that could do that is an ancient old compaq laptop with a broken screen and no USB ports. That solution would involve spending more money than I have.

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#5 2010-03-18 20:23:05

olvar
Member
Registered: 2009-11-13
Posts: 97

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

I know you said you don't want to spend money, but I just found this and think is great!! http://plugcomputer.org
Other way around, may be is to set the wake-on lan on the main computer, so you can just wake it up, sync and the shut it off from your netbook.
That way it doesn't have to stay turned on all day long, and you don't have restrictions on when to get your music big_smile

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#6 2010-03-18 20:23:42

toad
Member
From: if only I knew
Registered: 2008-12-22
Posts: 1,775
Website

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

NAS costs money. I'd like to have one, but I'd want a router with a usb port. Must look at those NAS cases again, maybe they got cheaper...

EDIT:
No separate server app on the laptop, it's all samba

Last edited by toad (2010-03-18 20:25:14)


never trust a toad...
::Grateful ArchDonor::
::Grateful Wikipedia Donor::

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#7 2010-03-18 20:36:27

saft
Member
Registered: 2010-03-04
Posts: 36

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

set the wake-on lan on the main computer

The laptop's too far away from the router to be connected by ethernet. It's all wifi. sad

No separate server app on the laptop, it's all samba

The files are on a windows laptop and a hard drive hooked up to the windows laptop. The windows share server is pants, so I'd need some sort of third party server running. Maybe you weren't suggesting to use Samba to connect to the windows share though?

I'm glad that you've all understood my ramblings and taken and interest, thanks smile The way I see it, I can't be the only netbook user these days looking for this kind of convenience, and I certainly won't be once chrome and moblin hit the market.

Last edited by saft (2010-03-18 20:38:08)

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#8 2010-03-18 21:31:23

antonikus
Member
Registered: 2009-11-22
Posts: 42

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

There is an adapter for harddrives so you can give the HDD power from your USB ports.

It is a usb-connector-to-power-in on hdd cable basically.

However you have to check the voltage your HDD takes (its written on the adapter of it) and check how the connector which goes into the HDD looks like, then see if a shop nearby you has these otherwise internets.

That way your hdd truly becomes portable.
You'd just have two wires from your netbook or laptop connected to it.


Linux user since redhat 6.1. former gentooer, former slacker. Now arher.

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#9 2010-03-18 21:38:02

skanky
Member
From: WAIS
Registered: 2009-10-23
Posts: 1,847

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

The fact that it requires a power supply suggests that it's 3.5", yes? You could try and swap it for a smaller (capacity) but otherwise equivalent laptop drive and stick it in a usb caddy. They draw power from the usb port so don't need external power (I use one at work salvaged from an old laptop).

Otherwise, you could try and get salvaged laptop one (just a few tens of GB) cheaply and use that. You could swap stuff to it from the main HDD at various times but keep the main stuff on the one at home - which also means you're not carrying it around and risking losing the lot.


"...one cannot be angry when one looks at a penguin."  - John Ruskin
"Life in general is a bit shit, and so too is the internet. And that's all there is." - scepticisle

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#10 2010-03-18 22:54:30

saft
Member
Registered: 2010-03-04
Posts: 36

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

Yeah it's an old freeagent, judging by the size I'd guess it's a 3.5". The usb power adapter is definitely worth considering as I'm guessing it would be cheaper than buying a 500gb laptop drive. The casing has never struck me as particularly sturdy though; I'm not too sure how it would fare inside a backpack, for example.

I do actually have a 30gb laptop and a caddy, but it had some odd read and write errors last time I tried to use it. If I could get that working, any suggestions for some kind of script or app to synchronise folders, to avoid unnecessary duplicates as I mentioned before? I'm quite enjoying the diversity of these ideas smile

Last edited by saft (2010-03-18 22:57:24)

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#11 2010-03-18 23:54:37

ABCC
Member
From: Netherlands
Registered: 2007-01-05
Posts: 2

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

According to ebay an 2nd hand Linksys NSLU2 can be had for ~35$. I've tried the old laptop and powered usb hdd options myself but since I acquired one of those things have become much simpler. Theyre nice toys too, once you flash it with some custom firmware youve got a full on mini linux server.

As for syncing directories look no further than rsync.

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#12 2010-03-19 08:07:09

skanky
Member
From: WAIS
Registered: 2009-10-23
Posts: 1,847

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

If you needed to, you could pick up another 30GB laptop drive pretty cheaply on ebay, I'd bet. It's hard to find a laptop that comes with such a small drive, these days. You could see if you've got any mates thinking of upgrading theirs, too.


"...one cannot be angry when one looks at a penguin."  - John Ruskin
"Life in general is a bit shit, and so too is the internet. And that's all there is." - scepticisle

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#13 2010-03-20 12:31:39

saft
Member
Registered: 2010-03-04
Posts: 36

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

The linksys router is a strong contender at the moment. I gather that it doesn't have wifi, but I have a spare wireless router I could connect it to.

So I figure, 500gb HDD connected to linksys router (usb port), connected to a wireless router (via ethernet), giving it internet access too via my housemates airport, would be a beautiful system. I'd be able to access it through the local network and the internet. I could use it as a basic server for web development too. It would take up near enough a whole shelf of space though smile

But as I've not got any experience with this kind of home network (I've only really ever had one PC at a time), could anyone enlighten me as to the kind of access speeds I would have with this setup?

Say that I had a 200mb photoshop document on the hard drive, and I wanted to open it directly through the network - would it take longer than opening it from the hard drive connected straight to my laptop through usb?

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#14 2010-03-24 17:12:15

antonikus
Member
Registered: 2009-11-22
Posts: 42

Re: I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know how to do it.

saft wrote:

Yeah it's an old freeagent, judging by the size I'd guess it's a 3.5". The usb power adapter is definitely worth considering as I'm guessing it would be cheaper than buying a 500gb laptop drive. The casing has never struck me as particularly sturdy though; I'm not too sure how it would fare inside a backpack, for example.

I do actually have a 30gb laptop and a caddy, but it had some odd read and write errors last time I tried to use it. If I could get that working, any suggestions for some kind of script or app to synchronise folders, to avoid unnecessary duplicates as I mentioned before? I'm quite enjoying the diversity of these ideas smile

Its quite sturdy, I had a WD external one and replaced the HD inside. That thing was so difficult to put back together, I still havent succeded. I hate the design, but the plastic is really hard.


Linux user since redhat 6.1. former gentooer, former slacker. Now arher.

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