wyse p20 + USB cd/dvd drive

[chaz112182]

has anyone found a USB cd/dvd drive that works consistently with the Wyse p20 (or any zero client for that matter) ??  we have several users that have a Sony model connected and it causes their sessions to disconnected repeatively throughout the day. We have also tried a Buffalo model and that caused the disconnects as well.  Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

[chillware1]

We have the Iomega Super Slim DVD USB writers, and after the latest firmware that teradici just released a week or two ago they work great now. Before the latest firmware it was impossible to burn a DVD, now I can burn them with out issue.. although it's a little slow.. take about 45+ mins to burn a full ISO.

[ludchrs]

do you experiance any disconnects using the Iomega drives?

[chillware1]

no, w/ the latest firmware (3.3.0) there has been no issues reported yet.. other than long burn times for DVDs .. try the latest firmware before spending some money on new drives..

[chaz112182]

we have confirmed disconnects with firmware revision 3.3.3 using both the buffalo and sony models referenced previsouly.   appreciate the response ill likely pick an iomega up and give it a go. 

cheers.     

[cpekar]

On the Iomega, do you use both usb connections on the wyse, and the 1 on the dvd drive?  Or do you use the power connector also?

[DDSoutheast]

we had Wyse V90LE thin clients for a while and according to wyse.com, they fully support the CD/DVD drives from Addonics  http://addonics.com/products/external_cd/pocket_usib.asp .  we bought some and they worked great with the V90's.  we just recently switched to using P20's, and i actually just plugged one today actually into a P20.  it works fine for reading discs (CD-R's, DVD-R's, and music CD's) but i havent tested burning one yet.  sorry i can't help you there, but we will be testing this in the next few days and i will update this post with the results.  they are good drives though regardless and work just fine.

[chaz112182]

@ddsoutheast thanks for that info.  i think what we'll do is pick up an iomega and an  Addonics for testing.  if the  Addonics is supported by wyse that may be the may to go.  good to know that people have found a working solution. i'll keep you guys posted.

cheers.

[DDSoutheast]

here is wyse's list of certified peripherals http://www.wyse.com/products/hardware/peripherals/Wyse_Peripheral_List.pdf  .  although it shows that very few items are certified for thin OS.  that doesn't mean it won't work obviously, but they don't officially support it.  like i said, so far so good on the Addonics drives w/ wyse P20's.  once i test the burn/rip process with them i'll let you know.

[eeg3]

DDSoutheast, that's a pretty cool list, I didn't know that was available. It looks like it doesn't cover the P20 though, but that kind of makes sense. Teradici would probably be the vendor that would release such a list for the P20.

[DDSoutheast]

wait...so maybe i'm incorrect in assuming that the P20 uses wyse thin OS?  i thought that's what it ran on? 

[eeg3]

The P20 actually runs Teradici's zero client firmware.

[DDSoutheast]

ah....well crap :smileylaugh:.  oh well, i guess that could be a good thing. 

i just went to teradici's site and found the following firmware update http://www.teradici.com/pcoip/pcoip-technology/zero-client-update.php  .  i then went and checked out the support section of teradici's site http://techsupport.teradici.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=15164  .  there is a lot of info there, but the thing that caught my eye was the firmware updates.  there are some cool features that have been added via firmware update so make sure you check that out...but also make sure you read over the release notes as it appears that the latest release completely disables the use of RDP (by design). 

one thing that i will definitely be using is a new feature they've added that allows for "auto logon" if the user is entitled to only one desktop.  we have a lot of users that have just one assigned to them, and i always thought it was dumb that they had to click "connect" even if they only had one desktop.  now it seems like we can just check that box and be done with it.

[cpekar]

3.2 also had the ability to "auto logon" if entitled with one desktop.  This 3.3 update is the release that is compatible with view 4.6, from the release notes.  So, I wonder if view 4.6 will have some interesting features added.  I personally have no idea.

[DDSoutheast]

just tested burning and ripping with the Addonics USB CD/DVD drive and it worked just fine. 

one thing i've noticed however is that sometimes the USB passthrough doesn't "stick".  i had to unplug the usb drive and plug it back in for the drive to show up in My Computer as a selectable source.  I don't think that's a problem with the drive as it is a problem with XP/View and usb redirection.  thoughts?

[DDSoutheast]

okay i have an update here.  right before i left the office today one of the 3 users that we have using P20's told me that she was getting disconnected from her session repeatedly.  i looked at the event viewer on the desktop and saw errors relating to "PlugPlayManager" as seen here http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=12&eventno=2984&source=PlugPlayManager&phase=1 .  so it appears that the Addonics drives are causing the same problems you are experiencing chaz112182. 

i find it hard to believe that all of these drives have something in them that's messing up the View session.  i'm guessing this is a problem with the pcoip connection.  this user is a heavy cd/dvd user as she pulls statements off of cd's throughout the day.  what's odd is that i have another user in the same department that only uses the cd/dvd drive occasionally but hasn't reported any disconnects.  SO...here is my thought...

after looking at the event ID shown in the link above, and watching what happens sometimes when the user tries to use the cd drive...i'm thinking that what i said initially in that the drive doesn't "stick" during the session.  as in, after it's done being used, sometimes it just disappears from My Computer.  so that could be possibly be the cause of the problem as it's being "removed" over and over again...and thus causing the error in event viewer.  this is most likely a teradici problem, but i dont guess it will be resolved soon....that's a problem.

any thoughts?

[cpekar]

Could this be power saving mode, where the computer will turn off devices that are not in use?

[DDSoutheast]

well thats a good thought, but i dont think thats the issue.  power save mode would be an XP setting i would need to change, so that would be a base image change.  thing is, the employee right next to the user with the problem is using the exact same base image and the exact same USB CD/DVD drive.  she is getting the error messages in event viewer as well, but she isnt getting disconnected from her session.  the user that is working just fine is on a different thin client however...a Wyse V90LE with XPe.  so to me, the problem lies with the P20 itself, or more specifically, the firmware.

the problem user has a usb laser printer attached as well, and I've noticed that she gets the PlugPlayManager errors relating to both usb devices right around the time she gets disconnected.

[DDSoutheast]

just following up here to see if anyone has found CD drives to work with p20s?  ours "work" but they seem to get disconnected from the session from time to time...and we have a user that complains that her session itself disconnects when using the cd drive.

[chaz112182]

yes if you look at FAQ on the Wyse product support page for the p20 it states that cd/dvd players aren't supported. specifcally, p20's use usb 1.1 and these devices require usb 2.0. so i guess we are all sol. NOT WINNING.