http://support.google.com/ics/nexus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2386439&topic=2375623&ctx=topic
According to the official Google Help Page, it should support USB Host. However searching online have returned a lot of out-dated threads about how the USB chip works when it was still running Gingerbread.
I have purchased a USB adapter, tried to connect any USB device to my Nexus S, and nothing happens. The USB port will not be powered. However quoting Google's official help text :
You may need an adapter to connect the keyboard or other device to your phone's USB port. To connect more than one USB device at a time, use a powered USB hub to reduce the drain on your phone’s battery.
This implies that connecting devices to your Nexus S will drain your battery?
I am very confused. I have no powered USB hubs so I cannot try to see if the USB host function is purely limited by the lack of power or the USB chip.
I am sure I am not the only person who would love this to work. Is there anyone who knows what does it take to get USB Host to work on Nexus S upgraded to ICS? (Despite Google's help site indicating that it should just works out of the box)
Thanks a lot.
So, I spent some money and bought a powered USB hub.
No it didn't work.
I think the reason is that the power is not being transferred UPSTREAM. For example, I have connected the USB hub to my Nexus S, and a Logitech wireless mouse receiver to the powered USB hub.
Although I am sure that the Logitech wireless mouse receiver has power (from the USB hub), the Nexus S does not recognize the existence of the USB hub, since the power is not transmitted from the USB hub back INTO the Nexus S.
Feeling disappointed, I repacked everything nicely and exchanged my purchase for a slightly more useful 16GB SD Card.
Does anyone has any information to how is this supposed to work?
Or should we assume Google has made a stupid typo in their help articles, and that the Nexus S will not actually work in USB Host Mode ??
anyone please?
I too am looking for answers. Anyone?
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
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.
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has had any success using a USB hub with the Asus Transformerpad TF300T? Powered/unpowered? Found some information mostly saying they will work in theory. Hoping someone can prove that in practice.
Also was curious has anyone found a reliable USB and/or BT controller for use with emulators that does not require root (I read some good things about Wii Classic controllers). Worst case scenario, I will use the PS3 pairing tool and root.
Thanks for any help you can provide me!
wilkie1020 said:
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has had any success using a USB hub with the Asus Transformerpad TF300T? Powered/unpowered? Found some information mostly saying they will work in theory. Hoping someone can prove that in practice.
Also was curious has anyone found a reliable USB and/or BT controller for use with emulators that does not require root (I read some good things about Wii Classic controllers). Worst case scenario, I will use the PS3 pairing tool and root.
Thanks for any help you can provide me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Gear Head USB hub(4 port - $4.99) which works with the Asus USB adapter and with the dock. The only thing I have used it for is to access 2.5" usb drives (fat32 and ntfs). It always works without any changes.
Be mindful that the drives always pull power when plugged in even with the tablet powered off.
There is no part number or other identification on the unit.
I forgot! I have also used the hub with a wifi mouse and a 2.5" drive at the same time (prior to getting a dock).
tobdaryl said:
I have a Gear Head USB hub(4 port - $4.99) which works with the Asus USB adapter and with the dock. The only thing I have used it for is to access 2.5" usb drives (fat32 and ntfs). It always works without any changes.
Be mindful that the drives always pull power when plugged in even with the tablet powered off.
There is no part number or other identification on the unit.
I forgot! I have also used the hub with a wifi mouse and a 2.5" drive at the same time (prior to getting a dock).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good price too. I did not know that drives pull power, even when the power is off. That actually explains some things haha.
Thank you, sir.
wilkie1020 said:
Good price too. I did not know that drives pull power, even when the power is off. That actually explains some things haha.
Thank you, sir.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome! Good Luck.
As a note the 2.5 drives work without external power but 3.5 drives require external power.
Has anyone pulled off using getting USB OTG+Charge mode working on the SHIELD?
I tried to splice in the 5VDC line from the SHIELD charger to a regular OTG cable, and while the charging light on the back of the device lights up orange and the data port works (a connected mouse works fine), Android does not report the device is charging :S Sometimes some devices have needed a resistor across certain pins, but I'm not sure what to try out on the SHIELD yet.
Would be nice to enable this under the TV in console mode, would get GRID streaming, PC streaming over my wired network rather than wireless, as well as all my emulators etc.
I stumbled upon a similar issue but with nexus 7, and there laid the answer. The micro-controller that is capable of switching usb port to OTG mode and backwards in nexus 7 is capable of powering one device at a time. Battery or the one connected through OTG.
Theoretically in nexus 7 it's possible to modify kernel to power it's battery instead instead in OTG mode, and through some powered USB hub, provide power to the external device.
Or to re-solder pins, but its not worth imho.
We can assume that the issue with Shield is similiar.
But we won't be sure until s1 finds Shiled's USB OTG micro-controller tech specs.
Subscribing in the hopes that this will be possible in future
I think If you had something similar to http://www.amazon.com/OEM-UTStarcom...&qid=1392490266&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+y+adapter you could use the charger to power both you usb device and the shield. It will just need to connect power to all 3 ends.
chevyowner said:
I think If you had something similar to (...) you could use the charger to power both you usb device and the shield. It will just need to connect power to all 3 ends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If i am not mistaken in how shield is built - not possible.
Gamperuss said:
If i am not mistaken in how shield is built - not possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless there are diodes on the usb connector on the shield that will prevent power going into the shield while in usb host mode, I do not see why it wont.
I already tried something like this: putting 5V on the power pins when the shield was in OTG mode. Didn't work, the SHIELD didn't recognize the charge in software.
vostok4 said:
I already tried something like this: putting 5V on the power pins when the shield was in OTG mode. Didn't work, the SHIELD didn't recognize the charge in software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another idea I have for this would not allow charging but it would slow down the rate of battery drain.
I doubt you would find this cable premade, but instead of applying power to the usb otg circuit it would only connect the 2 data wires to the shield, and the 2 power wires to the wall charger. That should allow your usb device to be powered by the wall charger and no the shield allowing the battery to last longer.
Yet another possibility is to add a diode in to circuit to only allow power to flow into the shield on the 5v+ line.
Just an update, support for charging while in OTG is announced with the April update! http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/gtc-2014-nvidia-shield-software-update-announcement
So no hacks needed
Damn,... all the good stuff happens after I've sold my Shield
Can anyone verify this works out of the box now? USB-OTG host mode while the tablet is fast-charging?
I'm looking at doing this for my in-car installation, I posted this over on the geforce forums:
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/812455/shield-tablet/shield-in-car-installation-/
I want to take advantage of the S5 MHL capability. Perhaps eventually using the phone as my everyday computer.
So I would need to have usb keyboard and mouse while connected to a monitor.
I have ordered the device pictured below, it reportedly supports the S5 in some kind of half-assed way, meaning that you may have to fiddle with inserting cables in a certain order to get it to work.
This is what I read anyway.
I want to know if any of you have used the Galaxy S5 in such a way. Will my device work? Know of a better solution?
I had some dreams of making my own Diy S5 dock, but I would have to know what kind of electronic/hardware configuration works (if any), as the S5 is different in that it does not support dock mode (Why samsung... why?).
Well I can report that it works. HDMI out works with sound, and it charges while doing so, but the USB port and the card reader does not work apparently.
Obviously the form of the device is a poor match for the Galaxy S5. I had to remove the plastic housing to make it fit, because of the watertight hatch in front of the USB port. Later I will use a USB extender cable.
Hopefully there is a possibility to make OTG (or host mode, or whatever it's called) work.
It appears this device supports the S5
http://andromiumos.freeforums.net/thread/4/officially-supported-android-phones?page=1&scrollTo=4
http://www.andromiumos.com/
There is two question marks here.
1) Does S5 support simultaneously operation with OTG active and HDMI output active.
2) Does this gadget also support such a functionality?
I don't know. I've read people claiming that you can use both hdmi & otg at the same time including post's on xda. But i've also read people saying you can't. I certainly havn't seen any video demonstrations.
By the way i currently have my S5 displayed on my monitor using mhl->hdmi adapter and have my pc mouse and keyboard working on the S5 wirelessly with Samsung SideSync. I opened the xda app with the pc mouse and have typed this reply with the pc keyboard. I've done some navigation on the phone, opened and used a range of apps. All is well till i opened firefox and the mouse disappeared from the monitor. It's still displayed and functional on the S5 screen though. Closed firefox and the mouse is displayed on the monitor again.
Sent from my SM-G900I using XDA-Developers mobile app
mbdroidsony said:
All is well till i opened Firefox and the mouse disappeared from the monitor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Therefore your new question this is : Does Firefox (Android) this supports four input devices connected at the same time?
Android Keyboard = 1
External keyboard = 2
Android touch pad = 3
external mouse = 4
And all that active by also active HDMI
I would be surprised if Android OS has such potentials.
I was using Andromium OS app which gives you option to turn off android keyboard and dim S5 screen. Both those functions worked. Andromium OS has 3 menus from start menu. Andromium Apps(browser, file manager), Supported Apps (gmail, youtube), Unsupported apps (all other apps installed on device). PC mouse and keyboard worked fine with Andromium Apps & Supported App. PC mouse and keyboard also worked fine with most unsupported apps i tested except firefox browser and adblock browser. If i get my hands on a bluetooth mouse/keyboard i'll test again to see if it works with firefox browser and adblock browser from monitor.
Personally I am going to use my HP iPAQ FA287 Bluetooth keyboard at S5 ( or at least I will try).
Also ordered one OTG cable (CY U2-166) that hopefully this will offer power to the phone and External HDD, due micro USB (female input for charger cable) and this will become also my mouse input too.
Therefore I am interested for your inquiry / investigation, possibly as much you do, because I do also favor Firefox.
I favour android firefox browser and adblock browser because they are consistent in providing desktop view. I'll provide an update here when i get my hands on a bluetooth mouse & keyboard.
Kiriakos-GR said:
Personally I am going to use my HP iPAQ FA287 Bluetooth keyboard at S5 ( or at least I will try).
Also ordered one OTG cable (CY U2-166) that hopefully this will offer power to the phone and External HDD, due micro USB (female input for charger cable) and this will become also my mouse input too.
Therefore I am interested for your inquiry / investigation, possibly as much you do, because I do also favor Firefox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, did this cable charge your S5 while using OTG/USB Host?
Sent from my SM-G900I using XDA-Developers mobile app
mbdroidsony said:
Hi, did this cable charge your S5 while using OTG/USB Host?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My cable did not arrive yet from China.
But even so, in the past days I did some research about finding more details by discovering the factory that makes those cables.
According to real Specifications: (after me correcting errors due bad translation)
High quality Original USB 2.0 Micro-B HOST OTG CABLE
Interface:
Micro USB male: = Output To be connected with OTG complying device ( Your phone or tablet).
Micro USB female: = DC input To charge = Supply of Power due micro USB female connector ( This is only to supply DC voltage to USB A plug this powering hard drives etc etc).
USB female: To connect with USB A device.
Therefore or in conclusion, this cable is not in position to supply power for the phone and the external hard drive.
Later on, that I did the electrical math, I can now explain and the why ? (this cable cannot do both).
By assuming that mobile phone or tablet this requiring 450mA at charging (due PC USB plug), and removable hard-drives (some of them requiring another stable supply of 500mA) the sum this is almost 1A of power.
Manufacturing of OTG cables this requiring from the manufacturer, him to make a product according to OTG cable international standards (compatibility - safety - functionality).
Only if Samsung makes a OTG cable specifically for S5, this will be able for active Host and charging.
All cables available at the moment, them have generic compatibility and non of them will work as we expect or wish.
Kiriakos-GR said:
My cable did not arrive yet from China.
But even so, in the past days I did some research about finding more details by discovering the factory that makes those cables.
According to real Specifications: (after me correcting errors due bad translation)
High quality Original USB 2.0 Micro-B HOST OTG CABLE
Interface:
Micro USB male: = Output To be connected with OTG complying device ( Your phone or tablet).
Micro USB female: = DC input To charge = Supply of Power due micro USB female connector ( This is only to supply DC voltage to USB A plug this powering hard drives etc etc).
USB female: To connect with USB A device.
Therefore or in conclusion, this cable is not in position to supply power for the phone and the external hard drive.
Later on, that I did the electrical math, I can now explain and the why ? (this cable cannot do both).
By assuming that mobile phone or tablet this requiring 450mA at charging (due PC USB plug), and removable hard-drives (some of them requiring another stable supply of 500mA) the sum this is almost 1A of power.
Manufacturing of OTG cables this requiring from the manufacturer, him to make a product according to OTG cable international standards (compatibility - safety - functionality).
Only if Samsung makes a OTG cable specifically for S5, this will be able for active Host and charging.
All cables available at the moment, them have generic compatibility and non of them will work as we expect or wish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung hasn't made it easy for us S5 users. Might have to resort to wireless charging at this rate.
Samsung Galaxy S5 Qi Wireless Charging Kit EP-WG900IBEGWW
Just going to throw this out there...
Why not use a bluetooth mouse/keyboard (or even one of those combined ones) with the phone mirroring it's screen to a ChromeCast plugged into your monitor? There's minimal (and I mean you're looking at 10ms) lag - or that's my experience, but I have a really really really fast router etc - and if you're planning on using it essentially as a PC, this setup will work wonders. Plus you can plug the phone in. I've considered using my old S3 in this way.
yetep said:
Just going to throw this out there...
Why not use a bluetooth mouse/keyboard (or even one of those combined ones) with the phone mirroring it's screen to a ChromeCast plugged into your monitor? There's minimal (and I mean you're looking at 10ms) lag - or that's my experience, but I have a really really really fast router etc - and if you're planning on using it essentially as a PC, this setup will work wonders. Plus you can plug the phone in. I've considered using my old S3 in this way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Charging the S5 through 2A cable would be faster than wireless charging. MHL to HDMI adapter charges the phone as well as mirror your phones screen. I've never used bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Would the S5 support pairing and using both mouse and keyboard at the same time?
By the way there are products for the S3,S4 that support mhl, otg & charging at the same time like the UNITEK Y-2165.
http://www.amazon.com/UNITEK-Multim...5&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00OFKY4XA#Ask
mbdroidsony said:
By the way there are products for the S3,S4 that support mhl, otg & charging at the same time like the UNITEK Y-2165.
http://www.amazon.com/UNITEK-Multim...5&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00OFKY4XA#Ask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaking of compatibility, S5 this is a brother model to Note III.
I do such an assumption due the identical charging system specifications.
From the other hand with all those variants of G900, there is no chance to offer an 100% reliable prediction if you do not test any such OTG product with your own phone.
The link above this is about a Currently unavailable product.
Even so it is interesting that this worked for someone with Note III.
mbdroidsony said:
Charging the S5 through 2A cable would be faster than wireless charging. MHL to HDMI adapter charges the phone as well as mirror your phones screen. I've never used bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Would the S5 support pairing and using both mouse and keyboard at the same time?
By the way there are products for the S3,S4 that support mhl, otg & charging at the same time like the UNITEK Y-2165.
http://www.amazon.com/UNITEK-Multim...5&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00OFKY4XA#Ask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S5 (or certainly my model, G900T) DOES support everything I mentioned however my bluetooth mouse/keyboard is a 2 in 1 setup with the mouse being a trackpad below the keyboard, similar to a laptop. It mirrors directly to my monitor and I've forced Landscape orientation throughout the OS so it works wonderfully. I've not tried yet with the S3, but I'd assume it'd work the same way. Just need to force the screen to stay always on, pop the screen brightness right down and hide it away in a cupboard and boom, full android computer.
On the original question, a cable must exist but unfortuantely I don't know where.
yetep said:
Just need to force the screen to stay always on, pop the screen brightness right down and hide it away in a cupboard and boom, full android computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definable this is a bad idea the screen to stay always on.
Does phone screen brightness this have any effect at HDMI output (brightness) ?
Nope, but turning it off does. I don't mind it burning out as it's an old device I don't use.
yetep said:
Nope, but turning it off does. I don't mind it burning out as it's an old device I don't use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bet 20 Euros that every one reading this topic he/her, will wonder of why you/he, does not simply turn the brightness down.
Either way, Android it is crippled operating system with out offering much of productivity as it does one regular Windows PC.
Neither a smartphone this is capable for long term gaming, the poor thing does not even have active cooling, and CPU will start slowdown so to protect it self from overheat.
My 0,2 cents, you are in a wrong path.
Kiriakos-GR said:
Speaking of compatibility, S5 this is a brother model to Note III.
I do such an assumption due the identical charging system specifications.
From the other hand with all those variants of G900, there is no chance to offer an 100% reliable prediction if you do not test any such OTG product with your own phone.
The link above this is about a Currently unavailable product.
Even so it is interesting that this worked for someone with Note III.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The link i gave has a few reviews that can give you an idea of what phones are compatible and which ones arn't. Youtube has video demos of the UNITEK Y-2165, unfortunately none for the S5. It appears the desktop dock feature is on the Note III where as samsung removed the dock feature from the S5.
---------- Post added at 12:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:24 AM ----------
yetep said:
The S5 (or certainly my model, G900T) DOES support everything I mentioned however my bluetooth mouse/keyboard is a 2 in 1 setup with the mouse being a trackpad below the keyboard, similar to a laptop. It mirrors directly to my monitor and I've forced Landscape orientation throughout the OS so it works wonderfully. I've not tried yet with the S3, but I'd assume it'd work the same way. Just need to force the screen to stay always on, pop the screen brightness right down and hide it away in a cupboard and boom, full android computer.
On the original question, a cable must exist but unfortuantely I don't know where.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh ok, so only 1 device paired.
There's a great app for having screen brightness right down called Screen Standby.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkahoang.screenstandby&hl=en
The adronium os app forces landscape.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromium.os&hl=en
I tell you what, i really like the concept of carring you desktop in your pocket. Can you imagine that, doing your desktop stuff, unplug the phone and head out with everything you did at home on the desktop in your pocket. I know microsoft have a desktop adapter for their Lumia 950 XL phones which changes the layout to desktop mode on the monitor/tv to give you that PC-like experience.
Microsoft Display Dock
https://www.microsoft.com/en/mobile/accessory/hd-500/
It's a real shame samsung removed dock support from the S5.