Can the 770 access files stored on LAN/NAS?
 

My 770 successfully connects to my home WLAN and I am able to access the Internet. I would also like to be able to access files (photos and MP3s) stored on a NAS.

Is the 770 able to connect to the NAS? If so, how?

And if so, should I then be able to use the 770's native Image application to view photos stored on the NAS?

How about Rhythmbox? Will it be able to access the MP3 files stored on the NAS?

Thanks,
David

If you can mount the NAS with NFS, then that's a possibility for accessing the NAS, and one advantage to this is that it acts transparently like any other part of the file system, so any tools that work with the file system (like the Images application) should be able to work fine.

I've had a few complications with mounting over NFS, though - firstly, you need root access to try anything at all, and loss of the wireless connection tends to uglify things (I've had trouble unmounting when the connection is not there, for example). Also, I've had issues playing large MP3 files (>200 kbps) over NFS, e.g. occasional audible clicks in playback.

I'd love to try and get automount working so that I don't have to remount every time I want to access an NFS directory, but I haven't even experimented with it; I don't even know if the necessary tools are available.

Thanks for your response. Personally, I don't know a thing about NFS, root access, or anything else of that ilk. While skilled in the MS world, I know zippy about Linux and was hopeful to avoid having to dig too deeply to accomplish this. While I am willing to experiment, I'm fearful that my ignorance will end up hosing the device, or my network, entirely.

That said, I think I'll be patient until the interface provides the ability to browse network resources.

Ah, we're having fun? :D

Of course. By the looks of the tail, relief may be in sight.

OK, the short answer to the thread is YES.

...Wow, that tail is horrible. Sorry about that.

The long answer is: "You can mount a NAS directory but it's a little tricky." I'm sure there's an even longer answer, but I don't think anyone has written it here yet. (And no, I'm not the one to do it -- although I am interested.)

The 770 offers users a lot of opportunity to learn about driving their new device from the command line. ...Alternately, the 770 offers developers a lot of opportunity to create really good front end interfaces.

Considering the limited storage space on the 770 itself, the idea of being able to connect the device to a NAS directory sounds great. Having a GUI to manage this (for instance, something similar to the items that appear in the task status area) would be ideal.

Can the NFS shares be mounted soft? That would do away with the hangs when they are no longer accessible.

Also, since someone said it can access Windows shares, I assume the N 770 has a working SMB client. Doing a GUI for these (or porting one) like Gnomba isn't difficult and should be available soon - someone could suggest this at maemo-devs list. But it would be heaps more intuitive if it was integrated in the file browser - it could search for shares (on demand please! ;) ) and also navigate by url, Konqueror style.

That said, mounting shares is not a particular daunting task, even when done by the CLI. Windows-savvy people could take this opportunity to gain some knowledge; sometimes doing thing using a command prompt is way more efficient then using a GUI.

Here is an article on using external storage (USB and NFS) with the 770:
http://linux.seindal.dk/item91.html

The 770 has a working SMB client?

Accessing files in a WLAN (MS environment)
 

I, as David living mostly in a MS world, and my solution to the problem of accessing files on my network is as follow.

1.
I run ISS (Internet Information Services) Server on one of may computers.
This server I can access from my LAN as well as from WLAN.

2.
Sharing file on a network where the computer running on windows OS, like Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP HE and Windows XP Pro, is not always an easy task. The Firewall on the XP is one tricky thing. And the same go for encryption on the WLAN, the smallest nominator for the different OS, I have found, is WEP.

3.
All the web sites I’m running on the server have very restrict access from outside, so I have one special web site where I have given out more access, and this is the one I use for drawing files from the LAN to my 770.

4.
Fore more extensive file-transfer I of cause use the USB-cabel.

Hopeful this will eventual pointing you in the right direction.

TTP

Sorry you believe that I am being "ignorant", but rest assured I know an insult when I see one - especially those of the uncalled-for variety.

Your response to my post was neither helpful nor warranted. Thanks for your time.

I have a Buffalo Linkstation NAS. These units actually run Linux and I understand that they can be hacked so that Linux applications can actually run on them. Don't know enough to know if this tidbit is of any value, but have posted it anyway, regardless of demonstrating potential ignorance...

The 770 uses gnome-vfs as a filesystem abstraction layer.

So hopefully, once these modules are incorporated, it will provide seemless access to any network attached storage system.

Samba clients can usually access the windows shares via browser. From my experience earlier this afternoon, they may look like the NFS shares I tried: basically like your basic FTP in a browser interface. The file manager sees NFS shares just like local files (you'll have to put the "mounted-to" directory in /home/user.) The "search" and "browse" will depend on whether smb:// is a "registered" protocol (in the browser.)

Is anyone else looking at the Debian-ARM Samba packages and the package conversion utility? It looks like the only real show-stopper may be the dependent packages' dependencies...

As a complete newbie here, I hope sombody figures this out.