Ubuntu – USB data transfer from windows to linux

transferusb

I am trying to transfer data between linux and windows machines using USB (Using Amkette flash link)cable. Previously i used network protocol (UDP) to transfer data between linux and windows. But now i need to use USB cable to transfer data, is this possible ? If possible which cable we need to Use ? Is there any libraries for USB data transfer or samples ?

Best Answer

All of the "Easy Transfer" type USB data transfer cables have their own software that is required for use, either embedded in the devices or coming separately on disk. Examples of these devices include the "Easy Transfer Cable" (Software separate) and a heap of Chinese made devices similar to this one and the Amkette device you have which have the software embedded in the device.

I suspect the embedded software is in the form of an autorun that any Windows machine will start up and run to connect to the computer at the other end, which is also running the same software. Cables sold with the claim that there is "no need to install any software or drivers" simply mean that this is embedded and needs no difficult user intervention to connect two Windows computers.

Alternate methods ranging from a simple ethernet cat 5 crossover cable, large storage USB hard drives, Bluetooth, and of course fully networked groups of machines connected via a router are all so readily available that there just doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in this technology however further research (ie Google) yields the following information:

The setup appears to be what is called "USBnet", which connects two computers together as though connected by ethernet. The only advantage For Ubuntu users that I can see here is if you have a computer with a broken RJ45 ethernet port or card, or if you have a device that doesn't have one but does have a USB port you can use.

Devices that might be compatible: enter image description here

And this would include devices that use the same chip as those listed. I have no idea if the device you have is compatible. This compatibility list is taken directly from linux-usb.org - have a look at this page for more information and instructions.

Further to this, here's some instructions on how this was done on Intrepid Ibis. To quote from message 2:

#On my primary machine with Intrepid, I configured USB0 using
ifconfig usb0 192.168.1.1

#On the other machine also with Intrepid, I configured usb0 using
ifconfig usb0 192.168.1.2

Then in Network Manager:

Select edit connections > Auto usb0 and set a manual IP on both computers, using the same IP as default gateway as well.

It then goes on to give the following instructions for transfer:

Transferring files

  1. Ensure that the Firewall is switched off and you can ping each other
  2. If you can ping, setup an ftp server wu-ftp daemon on any one or both the machines.
  3. Install Filezilla FTP client on both computers
  4. Thats it !! (Really)
  5. start wu-ftp daemon using "sudo wu-ftp" on one machine
  6. use filezilla on the other machine to quickconnect. Use the User ID and password of the host machine you are connecting to.
  7. browse & transfer files

It also gives the warning that the file transfer speed was pretty slow.

Warning to others

Don't be tempted after reading this to plug a normal male-male USB cable into two computers to try it. Such a cable would attach each TX and RX pin in the computers in the wrong order (so it wouldn't work anyway) and more importantly will tie the +5 and grounds of the power supplies together. This can potentially short the two power supplies in a way that can damage them or your computer, and cause other problems up to and including having them burst into flames and burn your house down. (OK, I'm being dramatic here, but it's a really BAD idea to do this)

Related Question