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[Q] Can the XOOM act as a USB Host?

Hi, can anyone who owns a XOOM pls let me know if you can plug in:
1) a USB flash drive to the XOOM, and view and open files on the drive?
2) an external hard drive and view and access files from your XOOM
Many thanks

masrinz said:
Hi, can anyone who owns a XOOM pls let me know if you can plug in:
1) a USB flash drive to the XOOM, and view and open files on the drive?
2) an external hard drive and view and access files from your XOOM
Many thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the Xoom have a USB port? Pretty sure it only has MicroUSB. I guess they do have microusb flash drives not that I look.

Hi. Yup its only got micro USB, but I guess you could use the included adapter cable to plug in a flash drive.... we don't have the XOOM here yet, but the functionality of being able to connect a flash drive, move files e.g. PDF or .doc and then view them is important to me.

masrinz said:
Hi. Yup its only got micro USB, but I guess you could use the included adapter cable to plug in a flash drive.... we don't have the XOOM here yet, but the functionality of being able to connect a flash drive, move files e.g. PDF or .doc and then view them is important to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As of today what you want is not avab. The cable it comes with doesn't take input. They do have a cable online that will do this one day, but doesn't do it yet.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

The cable that Motorola "will" be selling is a micro-usb to standard usb (female) adapter. I'll look around for the sources, but I know that I saw this detailed in a few videos from Motorola techs and at least one reviewer site.
The cable is not just a straight conversion of form factor, but has the necessary pinout to instruct the Xoom to jump into usb host mode. From the reports that I saw, it would absolutely provide the ability to plug usb drives, cameras and other accessories into the xoom for direct access. In fact, the reviewer that I saw, made a comment that they had verified the functionality by plugging in a couple usb keyboards... supposedly worked like a champ.
Lame that we need a "special" adapter, but I can imagine that if it is just a pinout issue, it may be possible for the good folks here at XDA to craft a software solution that would allow us to bypass the motorola-branded cable... It would have been WAY cooler if it was a standard usb port, like some of the other tablets on the horizon.

Thanks. They mention in many reviews and I think Google mentioned it too that you can attach a mouse or keyboard by cable (I know about Bluetooth) which suggests that it should support input, so is it just a hardware interface thing or an actual firmware OS/software issue?
Edit: thanks for the great response gigglebox.... we posted simultaneously

Is this it?
http://www.clove.co.uk/motorola-xoom-camera-connection-kit

masrinz said:
Is this it?
http://www.clove.co.uk/motorola-xoom-camera-connection-kit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Visually, yeah. Looks like they took it off their site for some reason. In fact the only times that I saw this on Moto's site, was in the day or 2 leading up to the launch... when typing in xoom into the search bar on their landing page, it would spit out a drop-down menu listing the Camera Connection Kit (by name and pic).
I dont like the fact that they call it a "camera connection", but they werent pulling any punches about it serving as a host. They did note that the external storage (thumbdrives, etc) were not yet supported, but that they would be. The cameras and (according to them) keyboards were working now.

I believe it is possible but right now it is a software limitation.
More info here: https://supportforums.motorola.com/message/329075

Droid4All said:
I believe it is possible but right now it is a software limitation.
More info here: https://supportforums.motorola.com/message/329075
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, the engineer from moto definitely says the hardware should accept any usb 2.0 or higher device, but it's a software issue. Toshiba have a straight usb and a micro usb port on their device so hopefully they're working on this.
We don't have the XOOM here yet, but hopefully by the time it becomes available (approx April) we might have the option of the Toshiba as well.

I use this USB host cable and it works great. Have tested it with my 750gb Oyen and 320gb WD Passport external HDD's, several usb flash drives (8-16gb), San disk USB memory card reader, and a USB keyboard.
For those having issues getting their Xoom to recognize USB storage devices here's what I've got and did to get it to work: I flashed my XOOM (3.1) to the 2.6.36.4 Tiamat_Xoom-v1.4.4-Full_Throttle Kernel and was unable to get the USBMount to recognize drives or storage at first. I installed USB Mass Storage Watcher from the market (it's free) and it works awesome! Can mount any storage I want (NTFS, FAT16/32, HFS, HFS+, EXT2, ETX3, EXT4) with any capacity. I think this app will work with any rooted Xoom (or other devices). Under my Kernel my USB host is located under/usbOTG.
Hope this helps.

FYI ... I've checked it and stock ROM Xoom without root is able to operate standard PC keyboard/mouse using basic one-to-one usb->microusb adapter (without any electronics onboard).
Probably with proper dual socket usb adapter (also without electronics onboard) it would be possible to connect both keyboard and mouse at once.

irekd said:
FYI ... I've checked it and stock ROM Xoom without root is able to operate standard PC keyboard/mouse using basic one-to-one usb->microusb adapter (without any electronics onboard).
Probably with proper dual socket usb adapter (also without electronics onboard) it would be possible to connect both keyboard and mouse at once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you have a Logitech keyboard and mouse that connect by the unifying receiver,or mostly any keyboard+mouse combo that connects by one receiver, then only a standard OTG cable should work.

[Q] Can you use USB in host mode?

Can you use the USB in host mode on the transformer?
Can it host multiple USB storage with a USB hub? (say a camera and a hard drive, so I can get the files off)
Thanks

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1056592&highlight=gender+changer

People have said you can use the USB ports on the dock as a host for thumb drives and such. And if the dock does not enable it today it should work 3.1 ships. Check the second item (USB), http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.1-highlights.html

Thanks guys, I have done the search already.
I'm more interested in the experience of the transformer users, and would love to know if anyone got it to work

^^ the link i posted has several users and their experiences with what did and did not work.....

Not sure if I understand the question correctly. This morning I "loaded" my TF with everything I had: microSD, SD, external HDD, and MP3 player, all at once, while connected to the PC using the proprietary ASUS cable. I could access everything without problem.
For those who wonder - I did this only to find out where what is mounted...

funnycreature said:
Not sure if I understand the question correctly. This morning I "loaded" my TF with everything I had: microSD, SD, external HDD, and MP3 player, all at once, while connected to the PC using the proprietary ASUS cable. I could access everything without problem.
For those who wonder - I did this only to find out where what is mounted...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, did you use a USB hub? or were you using the docking keyboard that has multiple usb ports?
Thanks

TheFlyingPig said:
Nice, did you use a USB hub? or were you using the docking keyboard that has multiple usb ports?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All with the dock No USB hub.

[Q] External HDD?

Hi,
I was thinking of buying an external hdd to connect to my TF, however, try as I might, I can't find anywhere that confirms that it will work. I don't want to shell out for one and have to send it back if not.
Thanks in advance.

kingronnie said:
Hi,
I was thinking of buying an external hdd to connect to my TF, however, try as I might, I can't find anywhere that confirms that it will work. I don't want to shell out for one and have to send it back if not.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can plug my portable USB hard-drive directly into either of the USB ports on the dock and it works fine. It appears in the notifications area as a hard-disk icon. Clicking on this shows me all the files on the drive. I was able to start watching an mp4 video from the HDD, although I didn't watch it all the way through.

That's great news
Just out of interest, did you format it using the TF, or was it pre-formatted? If so, are you using FAT32 or NTFS?
Sorry for the barrage of questions!

kingronnie said:
Hi,
I was thinking of buying an external hdd to connect to my TF, however, try as I might, I can't find anywhere that confirms that it will work. I don't want to shell out for one and have to send it back if not.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A quick search for HDD shows the following:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1067975&highlight=hdd

Thanks. I'd searched for Hard Disc.
Sorry to be a pain.

interestingly though, honeycomb doesn't automatically mount the external harddrive unless it's fat32 or NTFS. No idea why this is the case as ext 2/3 are clearly supported.
Regardless, I was able to manually mount my external HDD once I found out where the device was.
Is anybody familiar with the auto mounting scripts enough to know offhand where you would look to add ext support? My knowledge of this kind of thing ends with fstab unfortunately and I don't know too much about how honeycomb works yet as I just got my transformer yesterday night.

Both NTFS and FAT32 are supported.
I was really glad NTFS is supported out of the box.
I use both Toshiba portable HDD and WD portable HDD and have no problem.

Just to update, I bought a 250G Seagate laptop drive and put it in a caddy, hooked it up and it worked and mounted first time

USB connection for xoom to iPod shuffle

Is there any way to connect an mp3 player to my xoom and manage my music without using a PC? I'm specifically asking about an iPod shuffle. My xoom is rooted and is running rana kernel. When i plug in my shuffle, my xoom registers that I have plugged something into the otg cable but does not open it. Is there an app for that?!
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App

Yep, there are more apps like usb mass storage watcher otg and drive mount.

I have both apps and they recognize that there is a device connected via USB but it doesn't give me Amy options to open it or do anything really. Drive mount allegedly mounts the device but again, does not give me any options after that.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App

sabconnelly said:
I have both apps and they recognize that there is a device connected via USB but it doesn't give me Amy options to open it or do anything really. Drive mount allegedly mounts the device but again, does not give me any options after that.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The question is, what does the Xoom think it is? An external hard drive? How is it formatted? Can the Xoom recognize the music file format? I wouldn't think they would be compatible.

One app that will solve file transfer problems?

Hi, Hoping there are some out there that have experience with file transfer from an Android phone. I am somewhat new to the arena and it looks like there is apps out there but I'm wondering if there is an all in one for my needs... I would like to be able to:
Transfer larger files from my phone to my NAS (Diskstation) and my PS4. At home wireless might not be the fastest but probably the most practical. I have tried BubbleUpnp but it looks like all I can do is stream from the phone to a device, not transfer the files. If I have that wrong please let me know. Also I've had times when in Hotel rooms the wireless is not strong enough to transfer files, and would like to be able to transfer from phone to PS4 over USB if possible. If that amounts to a couple different apps that's ok, just was trying to make this as simple as possible. Thanks in advance for any help!
Edit: I have a Motorola Droid Turbo 2

GLE3 said:
Hi, Hoping there are some out there that have experience with file transfer from an Android phone. I am somewhat new to the arena and it looks like there is apps out there but I'm wondering if there is an all in one for my needs... I would like to be able to:
Transfer larger files from my phone to my NAS (Diskstation) and my PS4. At home wireless might not be the fastest but probably the most practical. I have tried BubbleUpnp but it looks like all I can do is stream from the phone to a device, not transfer the files. If I have that wrong please let me know. Also I've had times when in Hotel rooms the wireless is not strong enough to transfer files, and would like to be able to transfer from phone to PS4 over USB if possible. If that amounts to a couple different apps that's ok, just was trying to make this as simple as possible. Thanks in advance for any help!
Edit: I have a Motorola Droid Turbo 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, that didn't go well.. How about just this. I have an SD card formatted to FAT32. I plug my phone via cable into my ps4, select transfer files in the automatic menu that pops y on the phone and my ps4 doesn't recognize it. Is there a way to get my phone to recognize the storage while in the phone and through USB? Must I take it out of the phone and put into a USB reader? Thanks for any help..

GLE3 said:
Ok, that didn't go well.. How about just this. I have an SD card formatted to FAT32. I plug my phone via cable into my ps4, select transfer files in the automatic menu that pops y on the phone and my ps4 doesn't recognize it. Is there a way to get my phone to recognize the storage while in the phone and through USB? Must I take it out of the phone and put into a USB reader? Thanks for any help..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do have a few options:
1. get an OTG (on the go) micro usb to full usb (female) adapter, attach a usb stick to your phone using the adapter, copy the files to the stick and pack to the ps4
2. ES File Explorer is an app that supports file transfer over http (amongs other things) and through it's help section it shows you how to do it if you do not know how. however that requires that the ps4's internal drive is shared over your network.
Hope that helps

GLE3 said:
Hi, Hoping there are some out there that have experience with file transfer from an Android phone. I am somewhat new to the arena and it looks like there is apps out there but I'm wondering if there is an all in one for my needs... I would like to be able to:
Transfer larger files from my phone to my NAS (Diskstation) and my PS4. At home wireless might not be the fastest but probably the most practical. I have tried BubbleUpnp but it looks like all I can do is stream from the phone to a device, not transfer the files. If I have that wrong please let me know. Also I've had times when in Hotel rooms the wireless is not strong enough to transfer files, and would like to be able to transfer from phone to PS4 over USB if possible. If that amounts to a couple different apps that's ok, just was trying to make this as simple as possible. Thanks in advance for any help!
Edit: I have a Motorola Droid Turbo 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe this will simplify some things for you.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=77134367&postcount=26829
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

metallas said:
You do have a few options:
1. get an OTG (on the go) micro usb to full usb (female) adapter, attach a usb stick to your phone using the adapter, copy the files to the stick and pack to the ps4
2. ES File Explorer is an app that supports file transfer over http (amongs other things) and through it's help section it shows you how to do it if you do not know how. however that requires that the ps4's internal drive is shared over your network.
Hope that helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, the otg is a good idea, need to find one with a keychain. Never been able to keep track of a USB stick for very long. Anyone happen to know why some phones are recognized and some aren't through a USB cable?

GLE3 said:
Thanks, the otg is a good idea, need to find one with a keychain. Never been able to keep track of a USB stick for very long. Anyone happen to know why some phones are recognized and some aren't through a USB cable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the thing.
It depends on the phone itself. Some phones, when connected to pc/other devices are recognised as mass storage devices (like any other usb stick).
Most phones though, especially after android 4.4 are recognised as mtp (media transfer protocol) devices, meaning that it depends on the target device (pc/ps4/etc) on how its is going to be handled or managed.