PogoPlug

A couple of weeks ago, I bought myself a Pogoplug (V2, gray) to try out. The PogoPlug comes with an embedded linux system, and is set up to externalize (through my.pogoplug.com) any USB storage device you connect to it. I wasn't as much interested in the services of my.pogoplug.com as I was in using the device as a general-purpose linux system.

After spending a couple of days playing with the capabilities of the basic PogoPlug, I decided to see what I could do to customize it for my own purposes. Following the instructions at plugapps.com (http://plugapps.com/index.php5/Official_install_on_Pogoplug_V2_Pink), I replaced the PogoPlug bootstrap loader with Uboot, and built a new, general-purpose Linux system on a 4Gb USB flash-drive.

I haven't done much with this system yet, but it seems capable enough, and quick, too. Apache, MySQL, Cups, Udev, and a whole bunch of other services mean that I can (if I want) put together a better media sharing device, a portable web server, a VPN endpoint, a print server, or even a webcam server with little difficulty.

I intend to integrate this device with my IP04 and VoIP services, and perhaps make it serve as a USB VoIP video-phone.

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It appears that since I wrote this post, plugapps.com has changed it's name, and expanded it's direction. No longer plugapps.com, the site is now archlinuxarm.org, and concerns itself with an Arch Linux distribution usable on ARM computers.

From the website:

Arch Linux ARM is an operating system, a distribution of Linux for ARM computers. We are aimed at ARMv5 platforms like plug computers, OXNAS-based ARMv6 Pogoplugs, Cortex-A8 platforms such as the BeagleBoard, and Cortex-A9 and Tegra platforms like the PandaBoard and Trim Slice. However, it can run on any device that supports ARMv5te or Cortex-A instruction sets. Arch Linux ARM is a unified effort, combining PlugApps and ArchMobile with a closer affiliation to upstream Arch Linux. This collaboration brings users the best platform, package, and installation support. We're the same people working toward the same goal, but with a different name.

The plugapps Pogoplug v2 page is now http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv5/pogoplug-v2-pinkgray