[Q] micro usb to usb adapter - General Questions and Answers

Here's a cross post from the Mesmerize thread where I'm not having any luck:
I have a 2.2.1 (rooted) Mesmerize and I can't get it to recognize anything plugged into the Samsung Micro USB to USB Adapter I just bought.
The phone is set to "Mass Storage" for USB and I've tried both USB Debugging on and off.
I can't get it to recognize any of 5 thumb drives that I've tried connecting to it. So either it's a bad cable, or something else in the phone is preventing the connection. Help, please!
EDIT: I'm possibly naive in assuming that this (reading a USB thumb drive from the phone) will work at all, but since they (Samsung) sell the cable and tout it as being capable of it, I must just be missing something such as a setting or the necessary version of Android or a wonderful hack from this group.

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A

What you are asking for is a USB host function on your phone. As far as I know there is none for the Mesmerize or android. The cable is to connect your device with a pc or other that does have usb host drivers.
there are probably other, better ways of getting extended storage. what exactly are your trying to accomplish?

I just figured it would be cool to read off a thumb drive (or usb card reader set up as a thumb drive with an sd card or micro sd card attached) from my phone. For instance, if I'm out somewhere and I take a picture with my camera and I immediately want to get that picture from the camera to the phone (without using a pc as a bridge)... I could just remove the sd card from the camera, plug it into my card reader, plug my card reader into the micro usb to usb adapter and then plug that into the phone. Whereupon the phone would recognize a thumb drive is attached and let me navigate it the way I navigate the internal micro sd card.

yeah I don't think usb hosting was available until 3.1
I don't even know how easy it is with newer devices.

What about with a custom mod/ROM?

mad towner,
i would like to know how did u root ur phone. i have a tab with same os as yours. but i find it very difficult to root.
thanks in advance.

Related

[Q] USB Hosting

I bought a small micro - usb female adapter. When I plug it in, no matter what device i use it seems as those the xoom is not sending any power through it.
Ive tried
Camera
Charge Phone
usb mouse
usb wireless mouse
nothing is getting power.
Is there something i need to enable or do? Or has anyone esle has this issue? I am on 3.1....
You can not use a simple micro usb adapter cable, it has to be an OTG USB Host cable like the official Motorola camera connection kit that is now available. This is a bit expensive but readily available at your local Best Buy.
Take a look at some of the many posts on OTG cables and you can find info on cheaper cables that have been verified to work or on how to make your own.
you need a USB Host cable. Not just a regular sync cable. You can google for one or search the threads here where others have linked to confirmed working cables.
dang, thanks guys
I ordered one from ebay! hope it works
I have a question that applies here, I am on stock 3.1 Xoom WiFi/3G and just got my OTG cable, plug it in usb drive blinks like its working but where is it located on the Xoom? I've been looking around for it with Astro and File Explorer and I'm unable to find it... could someone tell me the path?
Techsniffer said:
I have a question that applies here, I am on stock 3.1 Xoom WiFi/3G and just got my OTG cable, plug it in usb drive blinks like its working but where is it located on the Xoom? I've been looking around for it with Astro and File Explorer and I'm unable to find it... could someone tell me the path?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i believe stock 3.1 only supports MTP, hence no USB mass storage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol
I've heard many conflicting stories, I would like some sort of confirmation rather then speculation about what will/will not work with the Moto Xoom (Stock 3.1) Wifi/3g and an OTG cable because I've seen posts saying yes and no to USB, portable HD's etc etc. Can anyone even provide me with some informative links? Everything I've searched for has been less than informative.
So, stock 3.1 Xoom is an MTP device, that is true.
However, with latest series of Tiamat custom kernels by Bigrushdog (see Android Development section) the usbOTG has been enabled. If you have already rooted and installed the proper bootloader/Tiamat kernel, then in File Expert you will find the usbOTG folder on the root directory, same level as internal sdcard and data folders. If you go up a step in sdcard, you should see your external sdcard. Is this clear?
I have rooted, using the Tiamat 1.6, I have access to the sdcard now but I am still unable to access my usb drive (thumb drive). I have an OTG usb cable and when I go into the /OTGusb its empty. The drive blinks as if its initializing but then nothing.
On a side note, I have looked through both OTGusb folders, restarted the Xoom with the OTG and usb plugged in as suggested in another post and nothing I've tried has worked in locating the usb drive.
Techsniffer said:
I have rooted, using the Tiamat 1.6, I have access to the sdcard now but I am still unable to access my usb drive (thumb drive). I have an OTG usb cable and when I go into the /OTGusb its empty. The drive blinks as if its initializing but then nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've found that there are two factors which may be in play here...
1. When I connect a flash drive it takes a bit of time for the directory structure to parse... It does show up in the OTGusb directory.
2. I've found that anything larger than 8GB (I've seen it stated in the forums as well) does not work (of if it does it takes forever and a day to become available)
Hope it helps...
I have same problem here. whenever I try to connect the USB with Motorola connector, it doesn't appear anything in otgusb
I'm not sure I am going to get what I want at this time with the OTG cable. My goal is to be able to use the OTG cable to connect a USB thumb drive to so I can carry additional movies, documents, etc without completely consuming the main Xoom storage.
Can the OTGusb cable support this? Do I need to wait for yet another update?
TIA

[Q] micro usb to usb adapter

I have a 2.2.1 (rooted) Mesmerize and I can't get it to recognize anything plugged into the Samsung Micro USB to USB Adapter I just bought.
The phone is set to "Mass Storage" for USB and I've tried both USB Debugging on and off.
I can't get it to recognize any of 5 thumb drives that I've tried connecting to it. So either it's a bad cable, or something else in the phone is preventing the connection. Help, please!
EDIT: I'm possibly naive in assuming that this (reading a USB thumb drive from the phone) will work at all, but since they (Samsung) sell the cable and tout it as being capable of it, I must just be missing something such as a setting or the necessary version of Android or a wonderful hack from this group.

[Q] Stupid questions thread 2

Thought I'd start a second thread since the first stupid questions thread is already forty something pages long.
USB storage -- is that just being able to access the SD card from the computer via the USB cable when the phone is booted up, being able to read off a USB flash card from the phone, or being able to access the computer from the phone via the USB cable?
I haven't heard of the third thing but I read about some tablets being able to read USB flash drives.
I read more of the original stupid questions thread and it is really good. Maybe the monitors can close this thread. Sorry.
nazcalito said:
USB storage -- is that just being able to access the SD card from the computer via the USB cable when the phone is booted up, being able to read off a USB flash card from the phone, or being able to access the computer from the phone via the USB cable?
I haven't heard of the third thing but I read about some tablets being able to read USB flash drives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say "USB storage" is accessed when the phone is connected to the computer as a "mass storage device" giving access to read or write on the sd card no matter the state of the device.
As for accessing the computer from the phone I don't think this would qualify or that there are any apps that support this type of connection via USB. I do use apps to access my computer via wifi for file transfer and mouse/keyboard control but don't sewer the point either with a USB connection. Realistically if your phone is connected to the computer you are in a close enough proximity to just use the computer unless you have a really really really long USB cord.

One S USB mounting problem

Hi all,
Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere but I have looked and cant find anything.
My One S is Jelly Bean 4.0.1 (un-rooted)
The problem I have is basically this.
I have a Micro-B Usb Otg On The Go Cable and Integral MicroSD USB Card Reader with a 32gb Micro SD.
When I first put all this together and plugged into the USB slot of the phone everything was fine, the little red light on the Integral MicroSD USB Card Reader was lit up. The message of Unable To Charge Device was coming up but the phone was also mounting the storage for reading via Astro File Manager no problem, so I was able to play MP3's and 4's and so on. But then it literally just stopped reading the Micro SD card and the Micro USB Card Reader is not lighting up at all.
Any help will be greatly appreciated as I am at a lost as to why it would be working perfectly one second and then not another.
Thanks you.
Follow up.
Been doing a little bit more looking into this and it looks like it has to do with USB hosting. Is there any reason my phone would just stop hosting a OTG USB Flash Drive? As i mentioned before it work fine for a while and literally just stopped recognizing that there was any Mini Sd attached.
spruggs said:
Hi all,
Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere but I have looked and cant find anything.
My One S is Jelly Bean 4.0.1 (un-rooted)
The problem I have is basically this.
I have a Micro-B Usb Otg On The Go Cable and Integral MicroSD USB Card Reader with a 32gb Micro SD.
When I first put all this together and plugged into the USB slot of the phone everything was fine, the little red light on the Integral MicroSD USB Card Reader was lit up. The message of Unable To Charge Device was coming up but the phone was also mounting the storage for reading via Astro File Manager no problem, so I was able to play MP3's and 4's and so on. But then it literally just stopped reading the Micro SD card and the Micro USB Card Reader is not lighting up at all.
Any help will be greatly appreciated as I am at a lost as to why it would be working perfectly one second and then not another.
Thanks you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem to be stock so not sure what's up with that but could try factory reset in the bootloader has long has you haven't changed recovery but backup what's on the SD Card because that will get wiped too.
Darknites said:
You seem to be stock so not sure what's up with that but could try factory reset in the bootloader has long has you haven't changed recovery but backup what's on the SD Card because that will get wiped too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Darknites,
I have reset hard from the settings menu, does it make a difference if i reset from bootloader? I have downloaded USB Host Controller and look at what results I get from running that and I get the SC3 USB Host Driver Not Found which I believe is something to do with the chip set which doesnt apply to my phone but I also get the message of USB Root Hub Present but I also get Not Present sometimes when re-running and the same with USB Host Mode is Active and then sometimes Not Active after re-running the Host Controller App.
I did read somewhere that its possible that certain chip/chips might have been damaged/fried by an extended use of USB Hosting to a flash drive, is this correct?
Thanks again for the reply.
spruggs said:
I did read somewhere that its possible that certain chip/chips might have been damaged/fried by an extended use of USB Hosting to a flash drive, is this correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I havnt heard of that in YEARS, and even that was in most cases a false rumor. I have never encountered a chip dying by being used properly.
If you short-circut the cables or something - then yeah, thats a different story.
spruggs said:
Thanks Darknites,
I have reset hard from the settings menu, does it make a difference if i reset from bootloader? I have downloaded USB Host Controller and look at what results I get from running that and I get the SC3 USB Host Driver Not Found which I believe is something to do with the chip set which doesnt apply to my phone but I also get the message of USB Root Hub Present but I also get Not Present sometimes when re-running and the same with USB Host Mode is Active and then sometimes Not Active after re-running the Host Controller App.
I did read somewhere that its possible that certain chip/chips might have been damaged/fried by an extended use of USB Hosting to a flash drive, is this correct?
Thanks again for the reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya in bootloader everything gets wiped even sd.
I did cross my mind re the cable because the drives are fine in my PC, I know they are powered there though. I might try another OTG cable, there cheap as. Its just strange that one minute the Micro SD drive was working perfectly and then kaput.

Flash Support for Non-Supported USB OTG Devices

Noobie question here. Is there any way to transfer files to and from directly to flash if the phone you have DOES NOT have USB OTG support? No PC in the mix, just a flash, cable adaptor and phone itself. If so, is it possible to do it without rooting? I've tried the PNY Duo-Link as well, without success (r/w from the laptop, phone does nothing). See I prefer to have the flash as my main datastore, independent of internet transfer and local to the PC, laptop, phone, etc.
Recently purchased a Verizon LG Transpyre, Model Number: VS810PP. The closest solution I've found is WiFi File transfer. However, I want to take the PC out of the equation (don't run M$) for the driver:
http://androidxda.com/download-lg-usb-drivers
Any help would be appreciated, maybe I should have gone the Moto E?
Wifi File Transfer does require not only Mobile Hotspot, but Mobile data too ;( You get an ugly Verizon subscription message with Mobile data even though you want to tranfer from YOUR PC to YOUR flash. Still a lot of hassle to go through though all you want is a non USB OTG phone to flash.
I can use bidirectional transfers via a miniUSB to USB cable on the Transpyre, but the flash isnt there. Had a talk with Sandisk technical support about non USB OTG solutions they may have for file transfers. Basically with OTG (MTP) only Microsoft supported scenarios work to a PC, there are no flash options and to to try Amazon. Bottom-line is, according to them, is if you have a non USB OTG phone, your only option is a SD option.
I just like everything I have on one media i.e. not multiple, SD, CD, flash etc. On top of that I want a bootable media. What would fit the bill would be a male SDmini cable into the phones slot to a female USB adapter for the flash drive, I dont think thats possible. So, some sort of SD adapter for the non USB OTG device is all I can come up with. What do others use for their main bootable datastore media for the phone, PC, Stereo, etc. i.e. the flash drive, SD, SD to USB adapter, DVD, etc.? Or should I just throw the phone and get a USB OTG one
Now the question is bootable SDCard vs USB for all around bootable media for storage to any device. This is what I did, almost there...
Bought a neat little kit from Walmart, Mobile Junkie's 3-in-1 mobile Kit. Basically, I took it's miniSD stuck it in my phone. I can use a miniUSB toUSB cable to the PC and pull the miniSD when I want and slide it into the kit's USB for the PC or booting. Getting close to all the functionality I want other than it's a pain to open up the phone and the bootable USB image I have did not work on the miniSD. The kit also has a regular SD, i.e. miniSD > USB > SD. Not sure if this type of USB/miniSD connection is bootable. But I think all I need to do is create a bootable to the miniSD from the PC.
Any experiences out there between bootable USB's vs SD's?
Conclusion - I'll never buy a phone again without USB OTG support.

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