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External WiFi antenna

So, i was wondering, coukd it be possible to plug an external wifi antenna to gain great wifi support?
@ HTC Wildfire w/ XDA App.

Anyone?
@ HTC Wildfire w/ XDA App.

The phone would have to have an external wifi antenna port, and I have never seen a phone with one.

or you could open the phone, track where the wifi module is and sold a cable to make an external plug for the antenna.

why not just use connectors from HTC's female to a regular usb female and connect the WiFi adapter to it?
the hardest part is not connecting the two,
It's making so that HTC recognizes it as a wireless adapter and be able to use it.
But another problem would probably be that the Wireless adapter would take up too much power from the phone, which will: a. drain the battery very fast or b. not get enough power and therefor not work at all.
This is just my guess, I really want this to be possible in the near future..

[Q] How to enable UMS/Mass storage mode??

Yesterday I made a custom usb Y cable and connected it to a USB OTG adapter to our phone and supplied a external +5v power then connected USB keyboard and mouse both worked.
But when i tried connecting my pen drive it did not shown any sign of life.
I searched and narrowed these methods:
http://www.chinadigitalcomm.com/how-to-mount-usb-flash-drives-t1865.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1334444
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=997187
According to these two methods I should get sda1 and sda 2 in dev/block after connecting a USB pen drive but that is not happening.
Then I searched and found out that our kernel should have UMS enabled to mount any usb storage device as stated here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22597744&postcount=3
I am really confused now, I know I have enabled USB Host mode as usb mouse and keyboard are working but dont know how to modify our kernel to get usb pen drive work.

prasannapmv said:
Yesterday I made a custom usb Y cable and connected it to a USB OTG adapter to our phone and supplied a external +5v power then connected USB keyboard and mouse both worked.
But when i tried connecting my pen drive it did not shown any sign of life.
I searched and narrowed these methods:
http://www.chinadigitalcomm.com/how-to-mount-usb-flash-drives-t1865.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1334444
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=997187
According to these two methods I should get sda1 and sda 2 in dev/block after connecting a USB pen drive but that is not happening.
Then I searched and found out that our kernel should have UMS enabled to mount any usb storage device as stated here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22597744&postcount=3
I am really confused now, I know I have enabled USB Host mode as usb mouse and keyboard are working but dont know how to modify our kernel to get usb pen drive work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you won't be able to modify our kernel with our locked bootloader, but your problem could be elsewhere. the drive requires more power than a mouse or keyboard, so it just may not be getting enough. will your power supply give a full 500mA that is what a normal usb port gives, and is probably overkill for a flash drive, but it would prove whether that is the problem or not.
Does the drive have a light on it that usually turns on when you plug it in? if so, does it come on when you plug it in with your splitter into the phone.
It may be that it is just not supported on our phone, but I think a power problem is much more likely.
EDIT: once you think it is getting power, check for it in /dev/block by running this in terminal emulator. you can check before and after to see what changes, if anything in case it is not named /sdxx
Code:
ls /dev/block

lkrasner said:
you won't be able to modify our kernel with our locked bootloader, but your problem could be elsewhere. the drive requires more power than a mouse or keyboard, so it just may not be getting enough. will your power supply give a full 500mA that is what a normal usb port gives, and is probably overkill for a flash drive, but it would prove whether that is the problem or not.
Does the drive have a light on it that usually turns on when you plug it in? if so, does it come on when you plug it in with your splitter into the phone.
It may be that it is just not supported on our phone, but I think a power problem is much more likely.
EDIT: once you think it is getting power, check for it in /dev/block by running this in terminal emulator. you can check before and after to see what changes, if anything in case it is not named /sdxx
Code:
ls /dev/block
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is right, our phone does not provide power on the usb connection, it is a one way charge only, no matter which cable you use, it is an issue with moto's implementation of the USB protocol.
---EDIT---
I do think that I read that someone was able to get it working by using a powered usb hub attached in between the A2 and the usb device. WARNING some assembly/dis-assembly was required!

jimbridgman said:
That is right, our phone does not provide power on the usb connection, it is a one way charge only, no matter which cable you use, it is an issue with moto's implementation of the USB protocol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
devices do work as long as you provide external power, which is what he has done. basically you cut the power wires out of the cable and hook them up to a power supply, thus givng the power and giving the data to the phone. Since it supports host mode, it SHOULD work with a flash drive as well as mice, I have heard of people doing it.

lkrasner said:
devices do work as long as you provide external power, which is what he has done. basically you cut the power wires out of the cable and hook them up to a power supply, thus givng the power and giving the data to the phone. Since it supports host mode, it SHOULD work with a flash drive as well as mice, I have heard of people doing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this does not explain it, but it is mentioned that a powered hub is needed.... This person was thinking of making basically a DIY HD doc, and there was someone else on here that has done it too, but I can't find that post and I can't remember the users name.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1462541
A cheap hub will do the job much better, and I have heard of other users having trouble with the otg cable and usb storage.
Just more information to think about and look into.

Try this
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.stickmount&hl=en
Motorola lied and I'm still locked mb865

I've tried every single thing that I can to make Usb flash drive work but its something in our software that is restricting it detect any of my storage devices.
I saw one more thread yesterday it was for XOOM which says kernel has to be modified in order to get usb Drives work:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1068999
I now understand that with locked bootloader it will not be possible to modify the kernel so i am abandoning this project and hope we find a way to unlock bootloader soon in the future.

You can try by using a self powered hub which provide power to devices, If it works do post the results as I am also looking forward to use USB HOST feature

john1989 said:
You can try by using a self powered hub which provide power to devices, If it works do post the results as I am also looking forward to use USB HOST feature
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive done this. I have a powerd usb hub, otg cable hooked up and it does not recognize drives or mice. None of it is working. Beginning to think there is not a way to make this work.

It does work when you connect pen drive to lapdock so its not software/firmware/kernel issue.
Easy solution: buy a lapdock or a media dock with usb ports and connect your drive there.
Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

I did finally get this to work.
One caveat, you have to connect the power directly from the cable to the otg cable. Basically power the hub and the otg cable from one line even though they are connected. This is what did the trick for me.
Ill post pictures when i can if its still foggy.
Sent from my MB865 using xda premium

Rebelj12a said:
I did finally get this to work.
One caveat, you have to connect the power directly from the cable to the otg cable. Basically power the hub and the otg cable from one line even though they are connected. This is what did the trick for me.
Ill post pictures when i can if its still foggy.
Sent from my MB865 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update and edit. No automounting at all. Have to use an external program to mount. Been trying to debug this for a while but the OS is not seeing the usb device.
Using USB host diagnostics Android api does not detect the device. Although the claims and classes were found. Kernel is in the green here too. Unfortunitely this makes it so that the USB device cannot be used by 3rd party programs. Still working on figuring this out. I saw a post about shorting out the 4 and 5 line of the microusb cable. Going to try that see where it goes.

[Q] Help with USB Host (OTG)

Hi All,
I'm trying to get a USB device connected to my phone (specifically an OBDII reader with Torque Pro). No matter what I do, I can't get it to recognize on my Nexus S 4g. When I run USB Host Diagnostics, it basically says it can't find anything.
I'm running a flavor of Cyanogen 10 with its stock kernal.
My questions are:
Do I need to go through a powered USB hub to get the proper power?
Do I need a specific kernel with the correct host modules enabled? (if so, can someone point me to one)
Thanks,

Torque Pro worked fine with my NS4G with a cheap ebay bluetooth adapter with no hassle. That adapter had no batteries at all, it was powered through the ALDL port on the car. I couldn't imagine needing power since no scanner I know of needs power at the ALDL port, it pulls it from the port itself. I would bet it is USB driver problems, or problems reading the USB adapter through Jellybean because of this new MTP protocol that sucks

Good to know.
Should I try a HoneyComb ROM? I guess it COULD be the OTG cable I got from amazon. Maybe it's not plugging in all the way.
thx
DizturbedOne said:
Torque Pro worked fine with my NS4G with a cheap ebay bluetooth adapter with no hassle. That adapter had no batteries at all, it was powered through the ALDL port on the car. I couldn't imagine needing power since no scanner I know of needs power at the ALDL port, it pulls it from the port itself. I would bet it is USB driver problems, or problems reading the USB adapter through Jellybean because of this new MTP protocol that sucks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

shelbydz said:
Good to know.
Should I try a HoneyComb ROM? I guess it COULD be the OTG cable I got from amazon. Maybe it's not plugging in all the way.
thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No Honeycomb roms for Nexus S...
I highly suggest a OBDII bluetooth adapter. They're 15$ on the net and will spare you the trouble. Make sure you find one that has good reviews, some cheap ones have problem connecting to some cars because of broken J1850 PWM (i think it's PWM, might be VPW) protocol.

[Q] Nexus 5 and USB-Ethernet

Is the Nexus 5 able to connect to ethernet via some USB-RJ45 adapter without any tweaking like Nexus 7 and so? or otherwise it needs some minor tweeks? or its totally impossible to get ethernet connection in this phone without HUGE changes?
Thank you in advance.

Anyone?

I can't believe noone is interested in this

RusherDude said:
I can't believe noone is interested in this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm just curious, and please don't take this as a troll, but why would you want or need to? Smartphones are designed as wireless devices.

RusherDude said:
I can't believe noone is interested in this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried it and no go. I did get it working on my N7, but I'm not sure at this point if a similar tweak will get it going on the n5 or not.

tomvankirk said:
I just tried it and no go. I did get it working on my N7, but I'm not sure at this point if a similar tweak will get it going on the n5 or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
probably because the kernel for n5 doesn't have the driver module, while n7 kernel has it?
have a usb 3.0 ethernet dongle and Y cable... will try it, and maybe compile and modprobe the module if necessary
EDIT: /proc/kmsg recognises my device as a ax88179 usb 3.0 ethernet chip when connected, but that's about it for now... no lights flashing on the NIC (I am using a powered USB Y cable, so it should be working), no ifconfig/network changes

afazel said:
I'm just curious, and please don't take this as a troll, but why would you want or need to? Smartphones are designed as wireless devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 im actually surprised that theres such a thing as microusb to ethernet.

I actually got a microusb to 10/100 ethernet adapter to try this. To answer a previous question, sometimes when traveling hotel wifi is awful or spotty but they have a serviceable ethernet port. Wifi hotspot from cellular on roaming data is unacceptably expensive and there's no wifi mirroring support that I know of that would let you find a spot in a room with a Wifi signal and mirror it to the rest of the room. So if you can connect the phone by ethernet as in internet source then share that through wifi or bluetooth hotspot you have a convenient mini router in your phone.
In any case, when I tried it the adapter seems to get power, it lights up and the light flashes when I connect it to my network but if I disable the wireless radios on the phone it gets no internet access. Are there drivers we can install that would enable this?

afazel said:
I'm just curious, and please don't take this as a troll, but why would you want or need to? Smartphones are designed as wireless devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not? Just in case of hotels with no wifi or other strange situations. If you travel a lot, you will find them, and ethernet is everywhere.. wifi isn't.
tomvankirk said:
I just tried it and no go. I did get it working on my N7, but I'm not sure at this point if a similar tweak will get it going on the n5 or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I got it to work stock on the nexus 7 (I think its because Asus puts the drivers for all their tablets) and it doesn't work on nexus 5.. damn.
paperWastage said:
probably because the kernel for n5 doesn't have the driver module, while n7 kernel has it?
have a usb 3.0 ethernet dongle and Y cable... will try it, and maybe compile and modprobe the module if necessary
EDIT: /proc/kmsg recognises my device as a ax88179 usb 3.0 ethernet chip when connected, but that's about it for now... no lights flashing on the NIC (I am using a powered USB Y cable, so it should be working), no ifconfig/network changes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the effort mate. It sucks that there's no support.
TheAtheistOtaku said:
+1 im actually surprised that theres such a thing as microusb to ethernet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said to the other guy, ethernet is everywhere, wifi isn't. If you traveled a lot you'd know :good:.
tmagritte said:
I actually got a microusb to 10/100 ethernet adapter to try this. To answer a previous question, sometimes when traveling hotel wifi is awful or spotty but they have a serviceable ethernet port. Wifi hotspot from cellular on roaming data is unacceptably expensive and there's no wifi mirroring support that I know of that would let you find a spot in a room with a Wifi signal and mirror it to the rest of the room. So if you can connect the phone by ethernet as in internet source then share that through wifi or bluetooth hotspot you have a convenient mini router in your phone.
In any case, when I tried it the adapter seems to get power, it lights up and the light flashes when I connect it to my network but if I disable the wireless radios on the phone it gets no internet access. Are there drivers we can install that would enable this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the effort. I am trying to find info on this.
EDIT: look!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47078685
gingerneil says he's got the n5 with ethernet working!! :fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed:

I'm really sorry about reviving this super duper old thread, but this is the first Google result for "nexus 5 ethernet" (without quotes). I just want to report that on my Android M developer preview Nexus 5, ethernet does indeed work out of the box without needing root. I suspect it should also work in Lollipop but I haven't tested it (supposedly ethernet on the Nexus 5 was added then).
You can see in that image my phone accessing my router's admin page, which is blocked on WiFi and is only accessible over ethernet.
I'm using this microusb to ethernet adapter:
Plugable® USB 2.0 OTG Micro-B to 10/100 Fast Ethernet Adapter for Compatible Tablets and Smartphones (ASIX AX88772A chipset)

Robpol86 said:
I'm really sorry about reviving this super duper old thread, but this is the first Google result for "nexus 5 ethernet" (without quotes). I just want to report that on my Android M developer preview Nexus 5, ethernet does indeed work out of the box without needing root. I suspect it should also work in Lollipop but I haven't tested it (supposedly ethernet on the Nexus 5 was added then).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad you did revive the thread. I just plugged the "pluggable" brand micro usb to ethernet adapter that I've used with a Nexus Player successfully into my Nexus 5 on M preview 2. It works. It shows a little ethernet status icon in the status bar. However, there doesn't seem to be any way to customize the settings. Like switch it from DHCP to a fixed address. Any idea if that's possible??
As a side note, plugging in the Chromecast ethernet/power combo into the Nexus 5 will charge, but is not recognized as an ethernet network.

Ethernet in nexus5
Hi friends, I hv Nexus 5 with marshmallow. The USB Ethernet works in office but not in my home. Net is working in home. Any suggestions? Thank you

Google's "Ethernet Adapter for Chromecast"
Averix said:
plugging in the Chromecast ethernet/power combo into the Nexus 5 will charge, but is not recognized as an ethernet network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The kernel has to support charging in USB host mode I would suggest. I want to get Google's "Ethernet Adapter for Chromecast" to work on my Nexus 7 2013: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ne.../googles-ethernet-adapter-chromecast-t3547827

[HOWTO] 100m Ethernet on NP

Simply purchase one of these adapters: http://goo.gl/D3fEu9 and this OTG cable: http://goo.gl/lJNqai
Before rebooting, disconnect your WiFi, plug in the adapter and the ethernet dongle, then boot. If you need IP settings other than DHCP, you'll have to manually configure it, but your Nexus Player will autodetect the dongle upon boot and you'll have options.
Note that the adapter is only 100Base-T, I haven't found a gigabit unit that is recognized by the kernel yet.

At first I thought this was about a 100 meter cable from the title. Might want to edit the title.
Great find though! I'd like to potentially add ethernet at some point to mine. I at least have an AC network.

peef said:
Simply purchase one of these adapters: http://goo.gl/D3fEu9 and this OTG cable: http://goo.gl/lJNqai
Before rebooting, disconnect your WiFi, plug in the adapter and the ethernet dongle, then boot. If you need IP settings other than DHCP, you'll have to manually configure it, but your Nexus Player will autodetect the dongle upon boot and you'll have options.
Note that the adapter is only 100Base-T, I haven't found a gigabit unit that is recognized by the kernel yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 GBs would need USB 3 which isn't on the NP.

isketerol said:
1 GBs would need USB 3 which isn't on the NP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are USB 2.0 gigabit adapters like this one:
http://www.amazon.ca/Plugable-Gigabit-Ethernet-Network-Adapter/dp/B003VSTDFG/
I don't have that one, but I know the chipset it has in it is fully supported in lollipop. While the above wouldn't give you true gigabit speeds due to usb 2's 480mpbs ceiling, you'd get close to 300mpbs which is three or more times what you get out of a 100mbps adapter.

peef said:
Simply purchase one of these adapters: http://goo.gl/D3fEu9 and this OTG cable: http://goo.gl/lJNqai
Before rebooting, disconnect your WiFi, plug in the adapter and the ethernet dongle, then boot. If you need IP settings other than DHCP, you'll have to manually configure it, but your Nexus Player will autodetect the dongle upon boot and you'll have options.
Note that the adapter is only 100Base-T, I haven't found a gigabit unit that is recognized by the kernel yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can confirm this works on initial boot, bypassing the prompt for WiFi settings.

jumpmanjay said:
Can confirm this works on initial boot, bypassing the prompt for WiFi settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an old usb 10/100 ethernet adapter that i used to use with a really old WDTV box. I plugged it in (using an OTG adapter) before my first boot. Everything worked perfectly without any intervention on my part. There weren't any prompts regarding the network that I remember.
4.3gb bluray rips play fine using Kodi beta 5. I haven't had any network throughput issues.

Can someone with a working adapter post a link for it, preferably an Amazon link if it exists? I bought this one and it doesn't work - nothing gets detected.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KBZF20W/ref=pe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1

same here
nyijedi said:
Can someone with a working adapter post a link for it, preferably an Amazon link if it exists? I bought this one and it doesn't work - nothing gets detected.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KBZF20W/ref=pe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep got the same one off of ebay and doesnt work!
pretty bummed but would love if someone could please share one that does work!

The one I linked to in the first post definitely does work. I first tried one "for Android" on Amazon that had a Micro USB plug and it did not work. If someone finds one with a Micro USB, I'd love to know because it would eliminate the cable requirement. FYI, the one I linked in the first post has an "ASIX AX88772 USB 2.0 Ethernet" chipset.

Me again
So I modified my right angle USB OTG because I didn't want to wait for shipping on getting a new one. I have a TRENDNet USB Ethernet adapter (TU2-ET100 I believe but mine is blue) and it works just fine. Thought I would mention that and maybe they have a 10/100/1000 that might work.

This adapter works great:
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_1048_1051&item_id=077935

nyijedi said:
Can someone with a working adapter post a link for it, preferably an Amazon link if it exists? I bought this one and it doesn't work - nothing gets detected.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KBZF20W/ref=pe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ET4KHJ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I bought this one, works fine for me
Also keep in mind that for some adapter you need to boot into recovery first.... than boot into Android. dont ask me why that works but i had to for my adapter. try it with yours before you buy another.

mejdam said:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ET4KHJ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I bought this one, works fine for me
Also keep in mind that for some adapter you need to boot into recovery first.... than boot into Android. dont ask me why that works but i had to for my adapter. try it with yours before you buy another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link, and thanks for the tip about booting into recovery. I was unaware of that.
Is there any way to boot into recovery on this thing without hooking up to a PC and using adb? The location of my Nexus Player doesn't make it easy to connect to a PC while keeping the power on.
EDIT: Nevermind. I found that button on the bottom. Are you saying you just boot into recovery with the ethernet cable already attached, and then boot from recovery and the Ethernet connection is then automatically detected? If so, that unfortunately still doesn't work with my adapter. I'm going to order that other one that you posted. Thanks.

nyijedi said:
Thanks for the link, and thanks for the tip about booting into recovery. I was unaware of that.
Is there any way to boot into recovery on this thing without hooking up to a PC and using adb? The location of my Nexus Player doesn't make it easy to connect to a PC while keeping the power on.
EDIT: Nevermind. I found that button on the bottom. Are you saying you just boot into recovery with the ethernet cable already attached, and then boot from recovery and the Ethernet connection is then automatically detected? If so, that unfortunately still doesn't work with my adapter. I'm going to order that other one that you posted. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep thats exactly what i meant. sorry it didnt work

mejdam said:
yep thats exactly what i meant. sorry it didnt work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im having same trouble too,im running lollirock 1.6 , cant seem to connect ethernet, the lights come on,.... on the router the uploading light comes on but not the downloading.........

Trendnet USB 3.0 Gigabit works fine
I bought a trendnet usb 3.0 gigabit adapter and it worked fine (I know it's not actually gigabit since the usb port is USB 2.0 on nexus player). The dongle was like 19 bucks at Frys. I also bought another gigabit dongle from frys as I needed the trendnet one for my chromebook and the new one I bought worked fine too, I just forgot the brand it was.

i have seen some of these that already have the micro usb plug so u dont need an otg cable. saw them on ebay.