Apple Airport Express - Connecting Ext HDD to USB port ?

iBarcode · Apr 17, 2005, 09:57 AM

Hey all,

Well today for my 21st my family purchased me an Airport Express as part of my birthday present. I am curious, as I do not need to use the USB port to connect a printer (i do all printing at uni), and I am using the device to extend my Network in the house from my wireless Netgear DG834G, an of course broadcast my iTunes music to my sterio. So the usb port in all this is left redundant. I am curious as to if there is a way or if it is possible to connect my external 3.5" usb2 hdd to the USB port on the Airport Express, and be able to access it from my G4 Powerbook ? This means I can sit in bed, and don't need to keep reconnecting the ext hdd each time i forget a file on there.

Any ideas if this is possible ? Has it been done ? Or how to do it ?

Regards,

iBarc0de

mad jew · Apr 17, 2005, 10:01 AM

First of all, happy birthday!

Unfortunately, at the moment you can't connect an external hard drive to the Express but I'm living in hope that someone will make it possible soon because I'm pretty sure it's software based. That is, the Express is probably capable of having a drive attached but nobody's written the right code just yet.

PlaceofDis · Apr 17, 2005, 10:10 AM

its actually a combination of firmware and software i believe

from the firmware side, the express just cant read the hard drive, and cant transmit that kind of data, software-wise OS X wouldnt know how to mount this drive currently, so the OS would have to be tweaked to allow this, as well as the airport software, plus it would be difficult to have the express sending so much data, now sure how useful this would be, although it would be nice

printing thats easy, one way transmission, and only one communication.....

lets up something like this will work though

mad jew · Apr 17, 2005, 10:15 AM

So if it's a firmware issue as well, does this mean it could potentially be fixed by a downloadable update from Apple rather than having to buy a whole new AirPort when/if this feature arises? Firmware's just the underlying software of an electronic device, right?

PlaceofDis · Apr 17, 2005, 10:18 AM

correct, but creating the right firmware and software is so complex that i am sure that if apple could release expanded capabilities for the basestations they would, but im sure that its not very reliable or works the way that people would like at this point

its just a regular usb port, i dont know if it is 1.1 or 2.0, that would make a difference if you were to connect anything besides a printer to it, and might require an upgrade, but as it stands it COULD be done, but its harder than you or i could imagine, Apple intentionally limited the capabilites of the USB port because they did not want people complaining about other equipment not working

thats my opinion though

mad jew · Apr 17, 2005, 10:24 AM

Yeah that's a very good point about them not wanting to have to accommodate for many more uses of their USB port. But it's still a little bit promising that it could potentially be provided to current AirPort users. I'm with you though, I'm not holding my breathe because I can't imagine it'd exactly be a walk in the park for the Apple engineers.

iBarcode · Apr 18, 2005, 03:08 AM

OK in that case, is it possible to connect my USB HDD to my Netgear DG834G router ? Via a usb to ethernet adapter and access it that way ?

Apr 17, 2005, 09:57 AM	#1
iBarcode macrumors newbie Join Date: Apr 2005	Apple Airport Express - Connecting Ext HDD to USB port ? Hey all, Well today for my 21st my family purchased me an Airport Express as part of my birthday present. I am curious, as I do not need to use the USB port to connect a printer (i do all printing at uni), and I am using the device to extend my Network in the house from my wireless Netgear DG834G, an of course broadcast my iTunes music to my sterio. So the usb port in all this is left redundant. I am curious as to if there is a way or if it is possible to connect my external 3.5" usb2 hdd to the USB port on the Airport Express, and be able to access it from my G4 Powerbook ? This means I can sit in bed, and don't need to keep reconnecting the ext hdd each time i forget a file on there. Any ideas if this is possible ? Has it been done ? Or how to do it ? Regards, iBarc0de

Apr 17, 2005, 10:01 AM	#2
mad jew Demi-God (Moderator emeritus) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Adelaide, Australia	First of all, happy birthday! Unfortunately, at the moment you can't connect an external hard drive to the Express but I'm living in hope that someone will make it possible soon because I'm pretty sure it's software based. That is, the Express is probably capable of having a drive attached but nobody's written the right code just yet. __________________ Some things are better mad...

Apr 17, 2005, 10:10 AM	#3
PlaceofDis macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Chicago.	its actually a combination of firmware and software i believe from the firmware side, the express just cant read the hard drive, and cant transmit that kind of data, software-wise OS X wouldnt know how to mount this drive currently, so the OS would have to be tweaked to allow this, as well as the airport software, plus it would be difficult to have the express sending so much data, now sure how useful this would be, although it would be nice printing thats easy, one way transmission, and only one communication..... lets up something like this will work though __________________ dim my eyes on the waves of confessions... SpringWarmCold

Apr 17, 2005, 10:15 AM	#4
mad jew Demi-God (Moderator emeritus) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Adelaide, Australia	So if it's a firmware issue as well, does this mean it could potentially be fixed by a downloadable update from Apple rather than having to buy a whole new AirPort when/if this feature arises? Firmware's just the underlying software of an electronic device, right? __________________ Some things are better mad...

Apr 17, 2005, 10:18 AM	#5
PlaceofDis macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Chicago.	correct, but creating the right firmware and software is so complex that i am sure that if apple could release expanded capabilities for the basestations they would, but im sure that its not very reliable or works the way that people would like at this point its just a regular usb port, i dont know if it is 1.1 or 2.0, that would make a difference if you were to connect anything besides a printer to it, and might require an upgrade, but as it stands it COULD be done, but its harder than you or i could imagine, Apple intentionally limited the capabilites of the USB port because they did not want people complaining about other equipment not working thats my opinion though __________________ dim my eyes on the waves of confessions... SpringWarmCold

Apr 17, 2005, 10:24 AM	#6
mad jew Demi-God (Moderator emeritus) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Adelaide, Australia	Yeah that's a very good point about them not wanting to have to accommodate for many more uses of their USB port. But it's still a little bit promising that it could potentially be provided to current AirPort users. I'm with you though, I'm not holding my breathe because I can't imagine it'd exactly be a walk in the park for the Apple engineers. __________________ Some things are better mad...

Apr 18, 2005, 03:08 AM	#7
iBarcode Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Apr 2005	OK in that case, is it possible to connect my USB HDD to my Netgear DG834G router ? Via a usb to ethernet adapter and access it that way ?

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