Dual port USB drive with Ethernet connection ??
 

I have an interesting problem. I have a Philips DVP5982 DVD player that has a USB port on the front panel. I can take AVI video files (and other formats as well) and copy them from my PC, to the USB drive, then carry the drive into my home entertainment area, and the Philips plays those files to my TV.

What I like to do is avoid having to copy the files (typically about 700Mb) to the pen drive.

So, I need a "pen" drive( or external drive enclosure-type device ) that has two ports that can be used SIMULTANOUSLY. Ideally, an Ethernet port connected to my network and a USB port, connected to the Philips player.

A better solution would be a Linux-based PC, located at the TV, with an Ethernet port connected to my network. I'd use something like VNC to control the remote PC.

BUT, the problem here is that I do not know how to make the USB port on that PC, look like a pen drive. Obviously, the USB is expecting a pen drive. I need the USB port to simulate a pen drive and a file system, so the Philips will "see" it as a readable device. Read-only of this port would be OK, as I'd write to the physical drive in the PC, over the Ethernet port, via drive mapping.

Anybody got an idea of -either- a piece of hardware the does this out of the box or a way to do this in Linux ??

I have found something made by D-Link, called the DSM520 Media Receiver, that I think would work to -replace- the Philips but then I'd need to keep the Philips in the system because the D-Link doesn't have a DVD drive.

Bill

Personally I would just get a used Xbox (they go for ~$50 USD) and install Xbox Media Center on it. You can stream any video you want (the video backend is MPlayer, so it will play basically anything) over the Ethernet network; it will even upscale to 720p/1080i if you have an HDTV. Obviously it can play DVDs as well, also with upscaling.

It would be much much easier then what you are talking about putting together here.