[nelsonj3]

I am looking to get an Eee PC but would like to have an external hard drive that I could use to put all my media on. I would be traveling with this computer and using it for taking notes in class. Since I don't need all my media with me all the time put it on an external drive would be fine. Do external drives work with Xandros (specifically the Eee PC distribution) like they do in Windows? Meaning, is it plug and play or do I have to set the thing up each time? Even if I had to set it up once and it was plug and play after that, I would be fine. I am trying to avoid installing Windows XP on the Eee PC. If Xandros won't do it does anybody know if Xubuntu will?

Related question, is there an external DVD drive that will work as well? Again need plug and play functionality.

Thanks everyone!

[HROAdmin26]

Hmmm....

You may want to give this a quick read - Linux is not Windows

In all seriousness, if you want to use a device in the exact same way that Windows uses a device, you may want to keep using Windows. Linux is not Windows, so you should expect that you will not be doing things "the same way."

The short answer is yes, you plug in a device (HDD/DVD) and most Linux distributions will detect the device. Does every Linux distro detect the device the same way - No. Do some have more steps than others - Yes. Can you automate those steps if needed - Yes.

You will have to answer the question yourself of whether or not you like using Linux as a whole. It will be different and it will take some learning/getting used to.

HTH.

[nelsonj3]

Thank you for your response. I will read that article you suggested.

[sdimhoff]

Hi Nelsonj3-

I just gave it a try on a friend's eee pc and not only did it recognize that there was a device, but instantly asked if I wanted to open it in a file manager. Very slick. In this respect it looks like they went to great lengths to make things easy for the end user. Happy computer purchasing!

As an additional note, it looks like the eeepc can also read ntfs formated external drives. I also did a write test and it looks like there were no issues copying files onto the ntfs drive as well. I am always a little leary about writing to ntfs from a linux box unless I know they are using reputable drivers, but... this one seems ok.

You may want to shoot an email to asus or look at their documentation to see if there are any recommended periferals (e.g. USB DVD Drives).

[nelsonj3]

Thank you so much! I appreciate you trying it for me. I am glad to hear that even NTFS works on the Eee PC. I have been all over Asus' website for this info, but I didn't even think to send them an email.
Thank you!

[drjoewebb]

I use Xandros desktop and do not have an Eee; I also use Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS and have always had them detect external devices, whether hard drives or USB thumb drives, quickly and without problems.

[nelsonj3]

Good to know, thank you.

[lam]

You might look here - (Un)supported Hardware [EeeUser Eee PC Wiki]