USB Question

[FORTRANS]

Hi,

   What happens, if anything, if you connect two computers
with an USB cable?  It does not sound like the safest thing
to try, so I thought I would ask.  If something good happens,
is it in the hardware or up to the OS?  If something bad
happens, how bad?

TIA,

Steve

[Magnum]

I think you can use the cable to transfers files between the two computers.

[dedndave]

i don't think so - at least, not without drivers
when a USB device is initialized, it selects a mode - serial, USB 1, 2, 3
the computer port reads this and initializes as required
i don't see any way to initialize the port on one computer to tell it to be a "host", if you will

[sinsi]

You would need some sort of "smart" cable, not just a standard one, that would swap tx/rx lines.
Connecting +5V to +5V might get a bit hairy too...

[hutch--]

Sinsi is right, its a NO NO. Stick to TCP/IP with networking, its safe, fast and reliable. Get yourself two 1 gigabit PCI cards, use a twist cable and it will be a kick ass high speed connection, generally faster than either computer. I use a couple of 1gb hubs for a network and its close to being as fast as a twist cable between 2 computers and easily fast enough to back up partitions from one computer to another.

[FORTRANS]

Hi,

   Thanks for the replies.  More or less what I thought.
The idea came from someone's  locked-up notebook.  And
a bit of a long shot to recover files.

Regards,

Steve N.

[Magnum]

Have you tried using Linux on a pendrive or CD to access the files ?

Andy

[TouEnMasm]

What happens, if anything, if you connect two computers
with an USB cable?

It happens nothing until you create a new connection with windows.
When it is create you can shared your internet connection,copy files from one computer to another and more.

[dedndave]

did a little googling
what i found was that a "bridged USB cable" may be used
it is USB to USB, but there is an IC in between that provides the bridge logic

as for recovering files from a crashed laptop...
for about $4, you can buy a little adapter that can be used to connect a laptop drive to a desktop SATA port   :t

[GoneFishing]

Yes, there's a special "bridged" USB cable for the direct connection of two computers (USB DCC).
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/342-connecting-two-computers-with-a-usb-cable

Not so far ago I was also curious about networking over USB.
It would be  really very interesting to connect two PCs with simple USB cable and to see what will happen :P
One article said that it could damage both computers. Didn't try it so don't know for sure

[dedndave]

yes - the USB interface provides +5V, as sinsi mentioned
it could, conceivably, cause the voltage regulator(s) to go nuts
i would hope they were smart enough to put a diode in there to prevent that - lol
i'll let someone else test it on their machines   

[GoneFishing]

I think it's a right place to put a question like this:
What is  the "Debug port" feature in USB2.0 (and 3.0?) ?

[Tedd]

The idea came from someone's  locked-up notebook.  And a bit of a long shot to recover files.

Simple - remove the HDD, it will most likely be SATA, invest $15 in a USB-SATA caddy, connect it up, presto! It's now an external USB drive :t

[FORTRANS]

Hi,

   Yes, I think the drive is SATA.  Their (HP) manual doesn't
say so, but it says the DVD is SATA.  And yes, I have some
USB IDE external drives.  Just have to go get a SATA box I
guess.  Or have him call HP and see if they know what to do.

   Nice to know about the bridged connection thingy.  Almost
makes sense if you think about it.

Thanks again,

Steve N.

[hutch--]

I have a gadget similar to what Tedd mentioned, it plugs into a USB port and you can plug SATA hard disks into it and read them like an external drive. Its only USB2 but it works OK. You really need an external SATA port for high speed data transfer unless you have a much later board that has USB3.