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Convert a regular USB hard drive to networked drive



  • Hi there,

    I got this 1TB USB 2 hard drive in a case that's rather roomy, enough for an Onion+Mini Dock. I just wondered if the Onion would have enough power to make it a decent networked drive. More specifically, would there be file sharing protocols packages available for it?

    I know this isn't really IoT.



  • @Patrick-Nou In principle this should be possible.
    I run my Omega with a 32GB USB memory drive stick plugged in to the USB port
    The USB port derives it's power from power supplied to the Micro-USB connector.
    The USB drive can be mounted on any suitable directory on the Omega - see https://wiki.onion.io/Tutorials/Using-USB-Storage
    Additionally, any such USB drive can be used to extend the Omega's available system disk space - see https://wiki.onion.io/Tutorials/Using-USB-Storage-as-Rootfs
    The file system on the Omega can be accessed using FTP or SCP

    My only concern might be over whether the power regulator that supplies power from the micro-USB port to your 1TB USB drive on the USB port has sufficient capacity for your drive.



  • In fact I doubt the micro USB port would provide enough power. As this is a 3.5 inch hard drive, I thought it would be easier to use the existing 12V power supply, buck it to 5V to feed the Onion.

    But no other option than FTP or SCP?



  • @Patrick-Nou You are probably right about the power.

    FTP and SCP are the only ones I know about since I use them and they do all I want.
    However, a quick search also suggests that there is a SAMBA server available on the Omega. Doing opkg list samba* shows:

    • samba36-client - 3.6.25-5 - Samba 3.6 SMB/CIFS client
      samba36-server - 3.6.25-5 - The Samba software suite is a collection of programs that implements the
      SMB protocol for UNIX systems, allowing you to serve files and printers to
      Windows, NT, OS/2 and DOS clients. This protocol is sometimes also referred
      to as the LanManager or Netbios protocol.


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