Finders, Keepers
Caveats
Although USB/IP is pretty awesome, there are some disadvantages you may want to consider before deploying it for everyday use. For starters, as it is underused, many distributions have scatty support for the USB/IP tools usbip
and usbipd
. Many distros include old versions, and different versions have different parameters. Some versions don't work at all.
Secondly, you have to attach and detach devices as root, which makes it inconvenient and a bit dangerous. Also, while a device is attached, it is blocked for other clients, and you have to remember to detach it when you have finished using it.
If you have a large number of client machines, by using USB/IP, you will have to install drivers onto each and every one of them. If you want to share a printer, CUPS may be the way to go, as you only have to install and maintain drivers on the server. If your scanner plays well with SANE's network system, this would also be the best way of cutting back on installing, configuring, and maintaining drivers.
Make It Better
That said, you can make USB/IP much friendlier if, for example, you load modules at boot time both on the server and client and turn usbip
into a service on the server.
USB/IP also allows you to use a Raspberry Pi as a server for devices – even if the Pi doesn't understand them. You see, many vendors with proprietary drivers only provide drivers for Intel-based machines and do not supply any for the Pi, since it is an ARM-based computer. This is the case of the printer/scanner that kicked all of this off. With USB/IP, however, you can still use the Pi as a printer/scanner server because it doesn't actually have to load any drivers: The Pi just has to forward the whole USB connection to the client machine, where the driver is installed.
Is that cool or what?
Infos
- XSane: http://xsane.org/
« Previous 1 2
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
MNT Seeks Financial Backing for New Seven-Inch Linux Laptop
MNT Pocket Reform is a tiny laptop that is modular, upgradable, recyclable, reusable, and ships with Debian Linux.
-
Ubuntu Flatpak Remix Adds Flatpak Support Preinstalled
If you're looking for a version of Ubuntu that includes Flatpak support out of the box, there's one clear option.
-
Gnome 44 Release Candidate Now Available
The Gnome 44 release candidate has officially arrived and adds a few changes into the mix.
-
Flathub Vying to Become the Standard Linux App Store
If the Flathub team has any say in the matter, their product will become the default tool for installing Linux apps in 2023.
-
Debian 12 to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.27
The Debian development team has shifted to the latest version of KDE for their testing branch.
-
Planet Computers Launches ARM-based Linux Desktop PCs
The firm that originally released a line of mobile keyboards has taken a different direction and has developed a new line of out-of-the-box mini Linux desktop computers.
-
Ubuntu No Longer Shipping with Flatpak
In a move that probably won’t come as a shock to many, Ubuntu and all of its official spins will no longer ship with Flatpak installed.
-
openSUSE Leap 15.5 Beta Now Available
The final version of the Leap 15 series of openSUSE is available for beta testing and offers only new software versions.
-
Linux Kernel 6.2 Released with New Hardware Support
Find out what's new in the most recent release from Linus Torvalds and the Linux kernel team.
-
Kubuntu Focus Team Releases New Mini Desktop
The team behind Kubuntu Focus has released a new NX GEN 2 mini desktop PC powered by Linux.