Accessing a USB Device?

[Fazer]

Hello,

I have a MP3 and I want to access the songs in them. I was wondering
if Python could help me do that. I understand that this can be done
using Linux by mountig it as a file system, but I am not on Linux and
this is mainly for a Windows platform. Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks,

[Stephen Horne]

On 11 Oct 2003 21:20:08 -0700, fa****@jaredweb.com (Fazer) wrote:

Hello,

I have a MP3 and I want to access the songs in them. I was wondering
if Python could help me do that. I understand that this can be done
using Linux by mountig it as a file system, but I am not on Linux and
this is mainly for a Windows platform. Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks,

Assuming it is a USB device, if the included drivers do not allow
mounting it as a filesystem (my own MP3 player does not, but flash
readers seem to do this as standard) you probably have an extreme
uphill battle accessing it from Python.

Basically, while USB is a serial bus, it isn't like the old serial
ports. It isn't something that's easily handled in a high level
language. If you want to access a USB MP3 device from Python, you will
need...

1. A good understanding of how USB works at a low level.

2. Documentation of the probably proprietary protocol that the MP3
player uses.

3. A driver development kit and C compiler.

Basically, you'd probably need to write an alternate driver for your
device (which would probably block out the original one) and a Python
extension which communicates with that driver.
--
Steve Horne

steve at ninereeds dot fsnet dot co dot uk

[Miki Tebeka]

Hello Fazer,

I have a MP3 and I want to access the songs in them. I was wondering
if Python could help me do that. I understand that this can be done
using Linux by mountig it as a file system, but I am not on Linux and
this is mainly for a Windows platform. Can anyone shed some light?

I think it's configured just like a serial port. If I'm right try pyserial.

HTH.
Miki

[Andrew MacIntyre]

On Sun, 11 Oct 2003, Fazer wrote:

I have a MP3 and I want to access the songs in them. I was wondering
if Python could help me do that. I understand that this can be done
using Linux by mountig it as a file system, but I am not on Linux and
this is mainly for a Windows platform. Can anyone shed some light?

Just plug the thing in and access it as a removable drive (which is all
mounting it as a filesystem really is). You should be able to view the
MP3s with Windows Explorer

--
Andrew I MacIntyre "These thoughts are mine alone..."
E-mail: an*****@bullseye.apana.org.au (pref) | Snail: PO Box 370
an*****@pcug.org.au (alt) | Belconnen ACT 2616
Web: http://www.andymac.org/ | Australia

[Stephen Horne]

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 08:09:53 +1000 (EST), Andrew MacIntyre
<an*****@bullseye.apana.org.au> wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2003, Fazer wrote:

I have a MP3 and I want to access the songs in them. I was wondering
if Python could help me do that. I understand that this can be done
using Linux by mountig it as a file system, but I am not on Linux and
this is mainly for a Windows platform. Can anyone shed some light?

Just plug the thing in and access it as a removable drive (which is all
mounting it as a filesystem really is). You should be able to view the
MP3s with Windows Explorer

That depends on how the PC connectivity for the MP3 player works.
Mine, for one, doesn't work that way. It provides an application which
looks a bit like explorer, but you don't get a drive letter - you just
get two listview panes in the application listing the MP3s in the
built-in flash and the extension flash of the device.
--
Steve Horne

steve at ninereeds dot fsnet dot co dot uk

[Fazer]

Stephen Horne <$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$@$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.co.uk> wrote in message news:<19********************************@4ax.com>. ..

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 08:09:53 +1000 (EST), Andrew MacIntyre
<an*****@bullseye.apana.org.au> wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2003, Fazer wrote:

I have a MP3 and I want to access the songs in them. I was wondering
if Python could help me do that. I understand that this can be done
using Linux by mountig it as a file system, but I am not on Linux and
this is mainly for a Windows platform. Can anyone shed some light?

Just plug the thing in and access it as a removable drive (which is all
mounting it as a filesystem really is). You should be able to view the
MP3s with Windows Explorer

That depends on how the PC connectivity for the MP3 player works.
Mine, for one, doesn't work that way. It provides an application which
looks a bit like explorer, but you don't get a drive letter - you just
get two listview panes in the application listing the MP3s in the
built-in flash and the extension flash of the device.

That's exactly right. I hoped that I could mount it as a drive, but I
can't. However, in Linux, is it possible to mount such a MP3 Player
as a mountable drive?

[Stephen Horne]

On 13 Oct 2003 14:51:37 -0700, fa****@jaredweb.com (Fazer) wrote:

Stephen Horne <$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$@$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.co.uk> wrote in message news:<19********************************@4ax.com>. ..

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 08:09:53 +1000 (EST), Andrew MacIntyre
<an*****@bullseye.apana.org.au> wrote:

>On Sun, 11 Oct 2003, Fazer wrote:
>
>> I have a MP3 and I want to access the songs in them. I was wondering
>> if Python could help me do that. I understand that this can be done
>> using Linux by mountig it as a file system, but I am not on Linux and
>> this is mainly for a Windows platform. Can anyone shed some light?
>
>Just plug the thing in and access it as a removable drive (which is all
>mounting it as a filesystem really is). You should be able to view the
>MP3s with Windows Explorer

That depends on how the PC connectivity for the MP3 player works.
Mine, for one, doesn't work that way. It provides an application which
looks a bit like explorer, but you don't get a drive letter - you just
get two listview panes in the application listing the MP3s in the
built-in flash and the extension flash of the device.

That's exactly right. I hoped that I could mount it as a drive, but I
can't. However, in Linux, is it possible to mount such a MP3 Player
as a mountable drive?

Good question. In fact, better question - can you access the device at
all in linux?

AFAIK there is no standard protocol for accessing MP3 players, so
unless someone has written a specific driver for your specific device
you will probably be out of luck.

All I can suggest is that you google for "linux driver" and the make
and model of your MP3 player.
--
Steve Horne

steve at ninereeds dot fsnet dot co dot uk

[Andrew MacIntyre]

On Tue, 13 Oct 2003, Fazer wrote:

Stephen Horne <$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$@$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.co.uk> wrote in message news:<19********************************@4ax.com>. ..

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 08:09:53 +1000 (EST), Andrew MacIntyre
<an*****@bullseye.apana.org.au> wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2003, Fazer wrote:

> I have a MP3 and I want to access the songs in them. I was wondering
> if Python could help me do that. I understand that this can be done
> using Linux by mountig it as a file system, but I am not on Linux and
> this is mainly for a Windows platform. Can anyone shed some light?

Just plug the thing in and access it as a removable drive (which is all
mounting it as a filesystem really is). You should be able to view the
MP3s with Windows Explorer

That depends on how the PC connectivity for the MP3 player works.
Mine, for one, doesn't work that way. It provides an application which
looks a bit like explorer, but you don't get a drive letter - you just
get two listview panes in the application listing the MP3s in the
built-in flash and the extension flash of the device.

That's exactly right. I hoped that I could mount it as a drive, but I
can't. However, in Linux, is it possible to mount such a MP3 Player
as a mountable drive?

What filesystem is reported for the mount in Linux?? If it is FAT or
FAT32, I would suggest that the Windows application is getting its mitts
on the device before explorer attempts a removable device mount. In this
case you might try uninstalling the application and any drivers it may
have loaded.

--
Andrew I MacIntyre "These thoughts are mine alone..."
E-mail: an*****@bullseye.apana.org.au (pref) | Snail: PO Box 370
an*****@pcug.org.au (alt) | Belconnen ACT 2616
Web: http://www.andymac.org/ | Australia