On Mon, Feb 26, 2024, at 18:09, Andrew McGlashan via luv-main wrote: > I wonder if you could do just as well with a USB-C to USB hub device > attaching a HDD to a mobile (or directly without a hub). > > The mobile will be so much faster.
Good idea. I've done this. Doing it on a mobile phone with dongles and cables hanging off it is a bit more cumbersome than doing it on a laptop, but it works. And it sure is less to carry. In my case, I took along a such a hub (with SD and μ-SD readers) on my last big trip, intended just as a backup to my laptop, in case of failures. (I also took a small chording keyboard — Decatxt.) But when my laptop became unusable from a broken hinge mount (Librem-13v4, long tale of woe omitted), that backup plan got enacted, with the hub connected to my Pinephone. As the laptop runs Debian and the Pinephone Mobian, I could do all the same stuff (which entails some bulk, scripted, systematic renaming of image files to a consistent pattern across images taken on different cameras and mobile phones, in different time zones). But if all you're doing is copying files, then plugging into any phone and copying via the file manager should do the job — though that might restrict your choice of filesystem on the external drive. A few things to be aware of if you take this route: 1. Some phones can't output enough power through their USB-C port to power the hub and even just one or two attached low-power devices. So you (or your friend) will probably need to supply power to the hub through its USB-C port (for which you can probably use your phone's power supply). If you want to store the photos on your phone as well as on the external drive, then you can just copy the photos off the SD card onto the phone with a suitable reader on one pass, and then copy the photos from the phone to the external drive on a second pass. Then you could do without the hub, though you might need a USB-C to USB-A adapter and a power supply for the external drive. Another variation, if it works, is to put a μ-SD card into your camera (likely with a full-size SD-card adapter), and then slip the μ-SD card into your mobile phone's μ-SD-card slot to get the photos off the card. Then you wouldn't need a separate card reader. But that depends on how much free space you have on your phone, and how many photos you take each time. And on many phones, the card slot isn't hot-swappable, so you have to got through shutdowns and power-ups. Whatever you do, try out the setup before you travel. 2. Some USB-C plugs and sockets aren't snug enough, and can wiggle about, causing annoying disconnections. That's part of what can make it a cumbersome setup, in that you may have to avoid jiggling connections while using the phone. 3. When travelling, my usual regime is to store the photos on my laptop (or on a phone with a big µ-SD card), and on an external drive (or big enough USB flash stick). I make sure, as far as possible, they're kept separately. If the laptop's in my carry-on backpack en route, then the external drive is in the hold luggage; if I leave the laptop in my hotel room, then I take the external drive in my day-pack backpack. For this sort of thing, one immensely useful gadget is a tiny USB-C to USB-A adapter. (I got mine off eBay, but there must be many sources.) It's a USB-C plug attached to a small board with USB-A contacts designed to slip inside the shell of a USB-A plug. I think it does only USB2 speeds, though. Again, I hope this is useful. And thanks to Russell Coker for his comments. Implicit in that is the need to try things out before you travel. I don't know, doing a fresh install is not all that much trouble, I think, so maybe still worth doing even on an old machine. — Smiles, Les. _______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list -- luv-main@luv.asn.au To unsubscribe send an email to luv-main-le...@luv.asn.au
