On Mon, 2007-08-20 at 20:43 -0700, David Brownell wrote:
> On Monday 20 August 2007, Steve Calfee wrote:
> > You can buy a single dongle that both hosts connect to (I think as a
> > network - it just does option 2, with the connection internal to the
> > dongle). I google'd "net-linq" I think it is supported by the linux usb
> > stuff.
>
> See drivers/net/usb/Kconfig and look for the host-to-host cables.
> That gives an network type link. I don't know if that 'net-linq'
> cable has a driver, but I'd assume it does.
>
> Unfortunately most of those chip vendors haven't provided enough
> specs to support what I'd call rock-solid drivers. Most of the
> chips have awkward failure/transition modes when one end of the
> cable gets unplugged, even if the end still connected is the one
> used to power the chip inside. They may even have rude failures
> if you just throw a fat enough network load at them...
>
> Fullspeed host-host cables with Prolific chips (PL2301/2302)
> have those nasty failures. So do their high speed ones (PL2501),
> and the high speed ones from ALI (M5632). Unfortunately that
> means all the widely available cables I've seen are trouble...
>
> I've got two adapters that have been solid; both are full-speed
> only (nominal 12 Mbit/sec). I don't think either is sold any
> longer ... one has a Net1080 chip, and I think some LapLink USB
> cables ("gold"?) used them; maybe some Belkin ones too. The
> other was a predecessor design, an early Belkin adapter, which
> used two separate net2280 chips with an AVR microcontroller; the
> design was licensed by eTEK to several companies.
>
> Both those adapters have been rock solid "never misbehaved" in
> my use/testing. If you can get some of those, go for it!
> And there may be some others too ... but be careful, and test
> them aggressively before you start to rely on them.
>
> - Dave
>
Dave -
Thanks for the info; I see your footprints through a lot of the code.
First, one question: are the new Vista Easy Transfer cables (e.g. Belkin
F5U258) simply a re-branding effort? Are they basically the cables you
mention above or is there some different technology involved?
After spending a couple hours researching, I found that almost all USB
host-host cables in the US use either Prolific or PLX/Netchip. The Ali
M5632 seems to be more available in Europe. I didn't find any NET1080
devices - which seems to be EOLed. The NET2280 is used in the Belkin
F5U104, which is still in production and relatively cheap; this seems
like the best choice from your email.
But then it hit me: buying two USB-DB9 dongles and a null modem ($65) is
a good-enough-for-now solution with a couple minutes of configuration.
I'm staring at all these beautiful trees in front of me but I have to
find a way out of this forest soon - the closest exit seems to be at the
end of a DB9 plug. Cool stuff, though!
Dave
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