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Thread ID: 91222 2008-06-30 02:38:00 1 usb hdd, 2 devices? No1Daemon (13582) Press F1
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683829 2008-06-30 02:38:00 Hi all.
Can anyone tell me if I can get 1 large capacity external hdd and connect the same drive to 2 different units.

For instance could I connect it to a media player and use it to store my movies and also connect it to a satellite receiver that can record to hdd and use it to store recorded shows.

If I have devices that support multiple partitions then would it work?

If it could work, can you get a cable that is 1 usb to 2 usb?

Thanks.
I always find media devices too limited and home theatre pcs too windows to work properly and anything that does work well is too expensive to contemplate.
No1Daemon (13582)
683830 2008-06-30 03:18:00 No, get a usb hub Bantu (52)
683831 2008-06-30 03:25:00 And a hub may not necessarily work either. Not all USB devices like them. Speedy Gonzales (78)
683832 2008-06-30 03:32:00 No, get a usb hub
I have a usb hub however that doesn't neccessarily mean 2 devices can use 1 usb hdd at once does it?

I have seen things like a usb switch out there but I am unsure if 2 different hdd partitions can be accessed by 2 different devices or if you need to manually swap devices on the switch every time you need one of the devices.
No1Daemon (13582)
683833 2008-06-30 03:48:00 A hub should let you use whatever is plugged into it (thats if the USB device likes it).

You shouldnt have to pull anything out (If the hub and the device is USB 2 that is which will help things as well).
Speedy Gonzales (78)
683834 2008-06-30 04:02:00 A hub should let you use whatever is plugged into it (thats if the USB device likes it) .

You shouldnt have to pull anything out (If the hub and the device is USB 2 that is which will help things as well) .

I intend to buy a new satellite receiver that can also act as a pvr recording onto hdd . I also need a seperate media player for movie formats etc that it cannot handle .
My hub I use at the moment currently has i usb output(from my usb on laptop) which splits it so 2 or 3 devices can be plugged into it .

But I am concerned about the fact that data would be going both ways . The sat receiver would be sending data to be written to the hdd while the media player would be reading from the hdd and they are both quite demanding so I just wanted to check that it could be done .
No1Daemon (13582)
683835 2008-06-30 04:07:00 Maybe USB Sharing page will help
www.usbgear.com
Some of that is probably available in NZ
Bantu (52)
683836 2008-06-30 04:11:00 you shouldn't ever plug two pc's together usb - usb which is what would happen if there was such a thing as a double adaptor. There are usb equivalents of crossover cables with an active device in the middle which can be used as a network cable but otherwise it's a no no.

What you want would be a cheap NAS or one of these www.netgear.com
which call themselves something else but are still a NAS. Any pc on the network would then be able to access the drive.
dugimodo (138)
683837 2008-06-30 04:13:00 Maybe USB Sharing page will help
www.usbgear.com
Some of that is probably available in NZ
Thanks. I had seen similar, thats why I thought it wasn't as easy as just using a hub.
The only one that looks like a viable option is the autosharing switch which can change between devices automatically without you needing to manually do it, however if you read and write to the drive at the same time, it wont work.
No1Daemon (13582)
683838 2008-06-30 06:41:00 I have to agree with dugimodo - you want simultaneous access to the shared drive, not switching it manually via a USB sharing device. Get a NAS device - some are coming out with 10/100/1000 ethernet now - ideal if your LAN supports it. MushHead (10626)
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