Hugely disappointed in the absence of an iPad-like USB plug allowing cameras, drives, etc. to be accessed via the usb port, I thought for a moment and realized something. I know an alright amount when it comes to hardware vs. software questions and know that USB otg is not necessarily a hardware issue...the Motorola Xoom was released with Honeycomb and it supports USB Host. Now that very early versions of Honeycomb have been ported to the Galaxy Tab, theoretically shouldn't that mean it now supports USB Host mode (or at least in the near future)? Any thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated as I'm aware that there are many others waiting for this awesome capability for their tab!!
With past versions of android already fully supporting USB host, I don't see why they don't other than they want you to buy the version with the largest storage space... Android should in theory already have the support as it is an update to the existing android not a new os completely... I feel mostly its just a dirty marketing scheme... (Note: My Archos 101 has a full sized USB port on it with full functionality...)
For a project me and two fellow students are supposed to do for college I'm looking for a cheap Android phone that supports USB Host mode.
According to the official Android developers guide here: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/host.html from the software side only Android 3.1 or above is required for host mode support but from what I read so far both in this forum and on sites I found trough Google it seems that not nearly every phone running Android 3.1+ actually supports USB host mode.
I read that apparently the Galaxy S2 & S3 do support it (although I also came across a thread that said that for the S2 it doesn't work with certain newer ROM versions) but since this is for a college project (and so our college will probably pay for the phone that we're going to use for our project) we were looking for sthg much cheaper than an S2 & S3.
I guess the "optimum" price range (that I guess our college would pay no problem) would be between 100 $ - 200 $.
It would be nice if the device would support it out of the box but if a phone only supports USB host using a custom ROM it would be fine too as long as both the ROM itself & the USB host functionality are stable and as long as the official Android USB host API is supported.
One phone that would deff be in our optimal price range is the HTC Desire (non-HD) but I read mixed statements about whether it supports USB host mode or not.
If there are no phones supporting USB host in that price range another option would be to flash an Android ROM to my HTC HD2 and to use that for our project then (sine I already orderer a Lumia 920 and as soon as that arrives I won't need the HD2 as my primary phone anymore)
Unfortunately the only thing I found regarding the HTC HD2 and USB host was based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and not Android.
Another thing I couldn't find a real answer to is the maximum current one can draw from a USB host mode capable Android device. I read 100 mA on one site but that information was specific to one particular phone I guess. I'm wondering if this 100 mA limit is valid for all USB host capable Android devices or if that limit depends on the device's hardware (which would make a lot of sense I guess).
If it depends on the device what is the highest current that can be drawn from (some) phones?
I also came across this tool (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1493325 that can check if a given Android phone & ROM does support USB host but since I don't have a phone yet but rather have to decide which one to get it doesn't really help me either.
Any help on this topic would be highly appreciated by me and my two fellow students who are working with me on that project.
Thanks a lot for reading
Regards,
karlmueller
Today I bought a Sony Xperia tipo (because several websites claim that it supports USB OTG / USB Host) but after doing a test using "USB Host Diagnostics" I had to find out that apparently it doesn't support it.
When I connect an USB thumb drive directly to the phone using a USB OTG cable the LED indicator on the thumb drive doesn't even light up so the phone doesn't seem to provide any power to the drive. I then tried to put a powered USB hub in between the phone and the thumb drive but the phone still doesn't detect the thumb drive and the "USB Host Diagnostics" tool still says that only the classes are found but that no devices were detected.
Fortunately the retailer I bought the phone from assured me that I can return it if the USB OTG feature doesn't work.
Or do you have any idea how I could get this phone to support USB OTG?
thx
karlmueller
I need help... I am new to Android tablets and operating systems so I apologize if I don't give enough information right from the start and if I am asking too simple of a question. I recently purchased an iRulu 10.1" tablet. I am very happy with it since it does what I purchased it for with one exception... I wanted to use one of the USB ports to connect my USB to 9 pin serial adapter so that I can console into different devices we use at my work. Both ports work since I am able to plug in a mouse or keyboard and both function, but the USB dongle I use on my laptop will not even be recognized on the tablet... Someone please tell me what I am missing. Is it a driver? New USB adapter? Some app? I've tried a few solutions and they have not yielded any positive results. I have installed a couple of apps and they don't even recognize the adapter as being connected. Thank you for any and all assistance!!
Noe
I wouldn't expect a usb dongle to work because I don't believe any of the Irulu devices have bluetooth capability from what I understand. I don't know for sure though since I am new to this device. I just got one (Model#: AN101 AllWinner A10 CPU) myself on Thursday and doing the research trying to flash JellyBean onto it for now.
Mine came with it's own USB keyboard/stand combo so I don't expect to need a BT keyboard but they are so nice you never can tell what I may want once I get JB on here.
I just figured I'd post to keep this thread alive for ya and input. Good luck
So I'm looking too redo my car audio system. Obviously this may not be the best suited forum for this topic as a whole, but I'm primarily concerned about the tablet (Asus Transformer TF201).
Looking at wiring an OTG cable with power to that tablet as to get both the media out & charging capability. The cable I'm ordering has many people backing it by saying it does allow for charging AND media playback over the cable without any issues, however I can't quite locate information on the TF201 to being able to do that / anyone has tried it.
I've got the 3rd plug on the OTG, being a Female USB plug that runs to a DAC for RCA Output which leads to my sound processor, then amplifiers.
I guess what I'm asking is, does the TF201 support playing audio over a capable OTG cable AND charging at the same time?
Also, is there an easy way of connecting an external hard drive to the tablet? I'm sure I can construct by DIY or some $ a powered hub to feed some juice to everything but I don't personally believe the TF201 would be able to manage both audio playback, charging, and read access from a hard drive. But I'm down to give it a shot if nobody has. Biggest doubts would be the factory TF201 firmware may not support it but some root/unlock and flashing (of, say, the proper kernel and OS) could fix that.
EDIT:
Just realized the docking keyboard for the tablet has a USB port, haha. So I'm going to assume that it could power the external hard drive I have (if not I have another plug to power the HDD from my battery when ignition is ON).
TKTAB911 said:
So I'm looking too redo my car audio system. Obviously this may not be the best suited forum for this topic as a whole, but I'm primarily concerned about the tablet (Asus Transformer TF201).
Looking at wiring an OTG cable with power to that tablet as to get both the media out & charging capability. The cable I'm ordering has many people backing it by saying it does allow for charging AND media playback over the cable without any issues, however I can't quite locate information on the TF201 to being able to do that / anyone has tried it.
I've got the 3rd plug on the OTG, being a Female USB plug that runs to a DAC for RCA Output which leads to my sound processor, then amplifiers.
I guess what I'm asking is, does the TF201 support playing audio over a capable OTG cable AND charging at the same time?
Also, is there an easy way of connecting an external hard drive to the tablet? I'm sure I can construct by DIY or some $ a powered hub to feed some juice to everything but I don't personally believe the TF201 would be able to manage both audio playback, charging, and read access from a hard drive. But I'm down to give it a shot if nobody has. Biggest doubts would be the factory TF201 firmware may not support it but some root/unlock and flashing (of, say, the proper kernel and OS) could fix that.
EDIT:
Just realized the docking keyboard for the tablet has a USB port, haha. So I'm going to assume that it could power the external hard drive I have (if not I have another plug to power the HDD from my battery when ignition is ON).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, USB port can be used for powering an external hd. Although some hard drives need a separate power line.
If you have questions about your tablet, best to ask in the Eee Pad Transformer Prime Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting forum.
Good luck !
Thread closed. Thank you!
Hello,
before I begin explaining my issue, I would like to apologie for my bad english.
I sometimes like to use my phone like notebook: connect mouse and keyboard to it. Z3 have OTG capability, so it(s fine. But one thing is not: ethernet adapters after updating to 6.0.1 using this doesn't seems to work.
First of all: i've thought, that you either have OTG or not. Not just for some devices. That it works like regular USB. It seems not. I have USB 3.0 powered hub conected to OTG cable and to the hub I've connected keyboard and mouse and tried to cennect already 5 different USB 3.0 gigabit ethernet adapters. They didn't work. On Android 5.1.1 worked my (all in one) USB OTG ethernet hub (3 USB 2.0, ethernet connector, micro USB wit OTG), but it was not powered, so I decided to upgrade.
Why? Simple. Power. I do this because for few day in near future I will be without my notebook (dedicated GPU is broken, i will have new one). I've been like this already for 3 days. And if i've been using my phone with keyboard and mouse (only use, which is comfortable for long time), I've noticed that is not possible to run this on battery. So my idea was to take as much as i can from the phone: controls and internet connection, and power that externally. And in addition buy the docking station and use the dock charging port. I've did all of this. And it works like magic: phone is powered from charger. All the time you might ask, why the hell I just don't use built in WiFi. Energy. That is the reason. WiFi just eat too much: if I pull up brightness of display and actually DO something on that phone, even wit plugged in docking charger, it just drain power faster, than charger charging (measured). For some reason the dock charging give about 0,45 A, not full 1,5 or something like that. Keyboard and mouse eats about 0,3 A, with some ethernet adapter it would be about 0,5 A. SO…a lot of power.
Android is based on Linux, so I have question (and I pretty much know the answer): is there ANY way how to install drivers for ethernet adapter on Z3? I obviously have root, I know about some terminal apps. But if I google this, it gives me only how to install drivers for phone on PC. That is not very helpful. I thing that this is most likelly impossible.
So I've searched something like list of supported devices. No suprise there: no relevant results. Sony Z3 AND Android 6.0.1 AND OTG device list, is probably too specific question.
Another idea what I had is try to use USB 2.0 adapters. You see, I wanted USB 3.0 (even though Z3 have only 2.0 (I still don't get it. Why the hell?)), because they have 1 Gb networks and I could use this adapter sometimes later for different device, like super thin notebook (if I ever would need some light device for travels). Another thing is the fact that 100 Mb is slow for large file transfer (movies and so on, so I have some entertainment, when I will not have my ntb). USB 2.0 can handle up to 480 Mb (in real life more like 300 Mb tops), which is still more than that network. But at this point I just gived up on this, and I will be happy if any ethernet adapter will work.
SO…do you know about any custom ROM, which would handle that? OTG USB ethernet support. Because not even that thing, which worked under 5.1.1 doesn't work under 6.0.1.
Sorry for long post, I needed to give you lot of informations, and why's.
Update
Update 0: OTG USB ethernet adapters doesn't work only on 6.0.1 or on this based ROM's. USB 3.0 doesn't work at all, but USB 2.0 works just fine on 5.1.1.
So…5.1.1 is most likelly the version, which I will be using. 6.0.1 has certain advantages, sure, but to me it seems like completely stupid to remove support for OTG USB ethernet adapters. More devices should be supported in nwer version, not less. And the inablity to remove bloatware even with root… No, this is just wrong. SO I buy my phone, but I have to have some apps, which I don't want and don't use? Ehm…no?
Update 1: I've decided doing it little bit differently. I've installed this ROM. I like how debloated it is, and many other things. USB ethernet adapter doesn't work (obviously), OS doesn't even know that something like ethernet exist. So I decided to try build my own drivers (by compiling source code) or app, or something. Any help is welcome.
Update 2: I currently have this thing. It's just USB 2.0 and 100 Mb/s, but…whatever. Tested on 5.1.1, transfers was 3× faster than on Wi-Fi and batery-enery-usage free (this is why I do this). Now, as stated before, I am on 6.0.1. That ethernet adapter has source code drivers available here. But here is the thing: they keep saing that
the support of this function must be included by the manufacturer directly in the particular Android device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(source) and the source code page saying that it is supported up to Android 5. So…what has changed in Android 6? Why the support is gone? And what will happend if I will try do something in Android studio?
Hello do you have z3 or z3+? I used to Havre z3 and with Lollipop ethernet became broke after 5.1.x I think so I had to reroll kitkat..I gave it away and now I am thinking to buy one z3+ but was fearing Ethernet won't work because it comes delivered with lollipop but now your post gives hope that it is still available. Other phones also have Ethernet capabilities but I found Sony best ... only the loudspeakers are not clear enough for me ... here you find a list with models that support Ethernet
http://plugable.com/products/usb2-otge100/
mrkapqa said:
Hello do you have z3 or z3+? I used to Havre z3 and with Lollipop ethernet became broke after 5.1.x I think so I had to reroll kitkat..I gave it away and now I am thinking to buy one z3+ but was fearing Ethernet won't work because it comes delivered with lollipop but now your post gives hope that it is still available. Other phones also have Ethernet capabilities but I found Sony best ... only the loudspeakers are not clear enough for me ... here you find a list with models that support Ethernet
http://plugable.com/products/usb2-otge100/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, I have also tested ethernet adapter and it does not work with 6.01 on xperia z1, huawei p9 lite, lenovo yoga 3 tablet.
In xperia z1 with 5.1.1 it works correctly. Something has happened with 6.01 but anyway not all phones or tablets with 5.1.1 work because lenovo yoga 3 with 5.1.1 does not recognize the ethenet adapter.
I think the manufacturer is responsible for not working when it does not integrate the necessary drivers and does not support ethernet. It is the conclusion I came to verify that not all 5.1.1 recognize ethernet adapter and in 6.01 I read that some if you comment that the adapter works (especially in nexus and motorola).
What would be interesting is what comrade BiPentHexium says to be able to include in our room the ethernet support being root.
---------- Post added at 01:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:01 PM ----------
On the list of models that support the ethernet adapter, it only refers to the Plugable brand adapter and is based on the reports of its customers. But in that list does not appear the xperia z1 and I can confirm that it works correctly with ethernet adapter (I do not have the plugable)