USB over Ethernet

[lopar]

Does anyone know how to use the N5200 th share USB-devices over ethernet? I know N5200 have a print server but it would be great to be able to connect scanners, dvd-burners etc.

Like these products:

www.keyspan.com/products/u2s2a/homepage.spml

www.fabulatech.com/usb-over-network.html

And have a client softvare installed on my mac.

Best regards

[omega]

Nice feature....

But these are two commercial product and I assume that they are using a non-open protocol.

If you could find an open solution I might think about it...

Andreas

[sauron]

Well, if you want a challenge :-)

I don't know of a way to generically do USB over Ethernet, but for scanners and CD/DVD burners there are solutions. For scanner support, you'd just need a SANE module for the Thecus. Configuration would have to allow you to specify the appropriate backend for the specific scanner, and you'd need to run saned to share it over the network.

From there, you could scan using a Linux client with xsane or similar, or from a Windows client running sanetwain (sanetwain.ozuzo.net/), or from a CGI interface (www.boutell.com/sanecgi/).

For CD burners, one suggestion would be a module that installs webCDwriter (joerghaeger.de/webCDwriter/). This should work, but unfortunately there are commercial "add-ons" to it that they want to charge you for if you want good DVD burning functionality.

Perhaps a better way would be a Samba share with hooks where you could copy an ISO image to the share, and then either have a script auto-burn ISOs it found there, or have a web interface that allowed you to choose which ISO to burn. That should work for CD and DVD burners, with the appropriate burning software installed on the Thecus.

[omega]

Really nice ideas really not enough time at the moment

But maybe somebody else wants to take the challenge.


Andreas

[sauron]

I'm tempted to have a go - but like you, time is limited...

In case I get adventurous though, a couple of questions about module building...

What are you using as a build environment/toolchain to compile stuff that will execute on the Thecus?

Any good howto's out there on module building, and the interfaces Thecus expose, or is it just a case of looking into the existing frameworks ang going from there...

[lopar]

Thanks for all your ideas. Unfortunately I have no knowledge what so ever of programming (Apart from rather advanced Machine Code on the Commodore 64 in the 80-ies, but I guess I have no use of it now). Today I just use my mac and I am grateful to all the modules others have made to my N5200.

What I want to do is to remove some USB-devices I use seldom from my desk. I have a scanner I use maximum five times a year. I have a HP LaserJet 2200 I use three times a week etc. I just want to move my things away from my desktop.

I was thinking of buying a Primera Bravo Disk Publisher SE, a combined DVD burner and DVD printer. www.primera.com/bravose_disc_publisher.html

I could buy a hardware solution but I'm fed up with all chargers and power adaptors consuming electricity even when I don't use them. The hardware solutions I've found use 100 mbit/s Ethernet and not Gigabit. Since USB 2.0 support 480 mbit/s I'm afraid it will be slow. N5200 use gigabit so it might be fast.

I haven't found any open source projects yet but some companies offers OEM solutions like:

www.eltima.com/products/usb-over-ethernet/?gr=stec2&gclid=CLW2i9i7344CFQMfEgodjy5AQA

www.usb-redirector.com/index.html

www.intellidriver.com/products_1.16.html

Maybe Thecus can buy their software for the next upgrade.

Best regards.