LINUX LEECH

Step 5 YOUR DONE

The voltage supplied by the battery pack is enough to run the USB wireless card and an external USB hard drive. This is my first instructable so let me know what you think.

Comments

[L337Sh4d0w]

 Um, can anyone tell me what is the difference between this and just plugging your usb to the host computer itself?

[irishjim68]

This also ensures your Linux distro ALWAYS has a wifi adapter which it can use, because, as stated earlier, Linux dostros do not support ALL wifi or ethernet adapters.

[toogers]

this organizes everthing and eliminates the number of ports needed for it all.

[deusprogrammer]

I bet the library doesn't like this one bit. I mean to us it's obviously harmless. But these librarians...who knows what they would think. They might think it was a bomb or some hacking tool. You should put a label on it that says "NOT A BOMB"

[Schober]

This is by no means harmless, if the owner/administrator of the computer wasn't smart enough to password protect his/her boot settings you are one setting change from complete access. All you have to is boot this and you have unrestricted access to the computer's hard drive (provided it's not encrypted). Once those files are open you can do something a simple as delete a few OS files or something as drastic as formatting the hard drive. Either way you have still made it rather difficult for the owner to fix the problem.

[DemonSpawn]

 Why have batterys on board, why not just have the hub with usb with linux on it and the wireless. further more why have the wireless if your going to the libry witch have internet surly you dont need it.. please explain im confused... 

[Schober]

By adding his own wireless hub he can insure that he always has working internet. Linux may not support the network hardware in the computer your are using, or it may not include the driver. As far as the batteries, most usb hubs require an external power source. The reason for this is because most USB Devices require power and if you split the voltage running through a USB port (5 volts) across multiple devices none of the devices will have enough power to run effectively.

P.S. Ever heard of spell check?

[pcgate]

Not everyone uses engrish as a phirst language. U obviously understood wat he typed, why be a grammar nazi. No one likes grammar nazis. Not even nazis.

:)

[calinux]

I like your answer can I use it too in other posts ??? thank you anticipated!!!!

[pcgate]

Only if it's used for good. :)

[dungeon runner]

If someone wishes to communicate to me in my langauge I expect them to do it correctly. Just as if I learned their language, I would work towards getting it right and he open to correction if I made a mistake. I don't call that fascism, I call it proper communication. Yes, this still applies if English is your native language (scratch that, ESPECIALLY if this is so).

Sorry for the rant.

[pcgate]

"I would work towards getting it right and he open to correction..."

need we say more. :)

[timagal]

Well, you yourself obviously do not know how to get it right either. Have you actually read what and how you have written your post?

By the way, English in not my first language, but what really upsets me are the people whose mother tongue actually is, do not know how to write in it, and still complain about the non-native speakers. That is absolutely abominable.

[Bayfielder]

I like this project very much! I personally see it as part of a larger project...

If you ad this to a micro computer it's great. They usually only have one or two USB ports, and have a case about the same size as this project. Some have VESA mounting holes that you can (if you measure for it) mount this project to. If you increase the available mAh of the power supply, and add a second USB WLAN... you can use it as a relay. Put this box where you can get the signal well, and have it rebroadcast --use it as a repeater. It may help to use a 3-5ft USB male to female to keep the two WLAN nics apart.

There are Linux distros that can do this... somebody will share a link I'm sure.

Add a LCD screen (projects right here on this very site) that can show you a few lines of txt, and a few buttons (borrow a project from a M.A.M.E. cabinet) and you could make it select a network (and allow you to enter WEP/WPA/WPA2 key). Now you got a self sufficient WLAN relay, to use in any legal, or illegal way the end user wishes.

On it's own it's still a good way to keep your desk looking neat.

[sergiovl]

Nice job!

[aleixoar]

 Lol...he want to work i think, it stills need a computer with an usb...

[x2percentmilk]

i just might have to make use of this, im already dual booting two OS's and would love to start playing around with a linux distro. not to mention the added handiness of no footprint on the host computer.

nice job A+

[Lance Mt.]

 You only need a USB.

[Stanislaw]

 This is a great instructable, I have completed a similar project using DSL (DamnSmallLinux). I didn't include the battery pack...
I would suggest getting a 'WiFi buster' and/or 'LAN cracker' program for your linux distro, this could help if your local library/coffee shop have restrictions placed on their local networking hubs.

[jdsarasin8194]

what does this do???

[dombeef]

It connects via USB... which is connected to the motherboard.

[jdsarasin8194]

i know im new at this just plz help

[dombeef]

It connects via USB... which is connected to the motherboard.

[vladi]

HOW BOOTING ? Where is the BIOS - boot loader? If this work the CPU servers with RAM will be all dead trash. need cpu ram and etc.

[kagenin]

You would plug this into nearly any Windows-based PC, and it will boot it - you may have to change the BIOS settings in the host PC (but only to change the boot order to look for a bootable image off the USB). Thus the name "Linux Leech." You'd be leeching off the facilities of a host system to create a usable, custom computing environment that can travel with you.

[Syko Pyro]

So whats with the whole USB router thingie? If you plug the USB stick into the windows computer and blah blah blah why did he bother eplaining the USB router thingo mag jigiee??

[kagenin]

It's just self-containment. You can run a variety of devices off the USB router. And if the box you're leeching off of only has one USB port (maybe the box only has 2, and the other is being used for a printer, or something else), then having a USB hub (routers are networking devices - there's a distinction in the terminology) would come in handy. The point of this is to take a custom Linux environment with you, and to be able to use it without altering the host system. Have you ever tried to set up a dual-boot scheme on a system with only one hard drive? If you have, you should clearly be able to see the advantage this offers. Making a dual-boot scheme can take a lot of work, and it isn't without inherent risk. This takes all the risk and difficult configuration out of the equation. If you don't understand, it isn't for you. It's that simple.

[dinsterzz]

as i am dumb... do u work on it via extern bureau thingy(dunno in english)? looks really cool and fun to do now :D

[cdnsniper827]

remote desktop

[JammerLammy]

the usb hub is so your wireless adapter can be contained within your case, rather than have two seperate usb connections coming from the case, you only have one from the hub, so your wireless stick and storage stick can be kept inside the case.

[Koil_1]

Personally I would put all this into an eyeglass case minus the battery pack. Most standard USB ports have plenty of power for this kind of thing... It would be really easy to run an extension cable down your sleeve and try to sneak a quick hack. This is to be used for legal security and penetration testing of course. I take no responsibility for people who use this for ill intended means.

[arcane2rox]

you don't need a usb hub power supply !I have done this with out it and it works fine so this thing is a little overkill. all you have to do is plug your wifi and bootable drive into a PC once and configure it. then save the configuration. then if the host PC has 2 usb ports there's not even a need for a usb hub either . the only use for the power supply is maybe save some time on laptop batteries and thats if you use a laptop ,but this does look cool

[Koil_1]

There is one good reason. Stealth. It's pretty easy to sneak a USB cable into an open port. If you have to walk away just pop it out and go. That's not to say that you should be doing nefarious acts with such a thing. This is just a note of thought from a security/penetration tester. So if you get caught doing something you shouldn't, don't blame me.

[stone3408]

It actually depends on what your running from the hub. If you are running portable hard drives, memorystick with OS, bluetooth, and wifi then you will need need the extra power. If you do not the stick with the OS will fail due to lack of voltage. You are correct in that if you use the configuration shown you may not need the power. You still may though on older hardware that dosen't supply the same voltage as current machines. So if plan to be creative with this idea and expand upon it then I would build the batteries in.

[mac84]

not to sound rude, but this just seems to be an over the top carrying case for 2 usb devices?

[JamesRPatrick]

Welcome to Instructables! I was more disappointed in the misuse of "You're" in the step title. As with all Instructables, this one could use some improvement, but this is not meant to be a USB carrying case Instructable. Nonetheless, the carrying case has great aesthetics and seems rather durable.

[pleasant18]

I was reading and one thing you could also try is Dam Small Linux there is a embedded version that includes a batch file that you can just click on and it will load up. Its cool. ftp://ftp.oss.cc.gatech.edu/pub/linux/distributions/damnsmall/archive/dsl-1.4-embedded.zip

[Jran Sakarra]

Oh wow this is a very nice trick to using a computer to run Linux and leave not a single trace of what you have done. Kinda hard, but it seems to be perfect for those who travel a lot.

[sirdude]

I don't get it? What are the hub and wireless adapter for? I understand you are powering the hub, but why? Plug the usb stick into the host and boot from there. Right?

[NatureTM]

I don't understand why the battery is necessary. Shouldn't the host machine be able to power this device when conncted by usb?