Database Users

[Q] Audio Through USB

I'm currently aching to be able to play my own music through my car speakers, weird place for this yes.. if it's the wrong section to post this please let me know.
But, I was wondering if it's at all possible to feed the phone's audio through the USB.
For example, I have a USB port on my stero in my car, and when I plug it in..i'm able to feed off my SD card to play the music thats on it. But.. I'd like to be able to play pandora as well..which I'm currently unable to do.
Was wondering if this is possible. If i've confused you feel free to ask more questions
XtaC318 said:
Since it isn't possible.. what about an app that allows me to control the music played? I can stream music from the sd, but its got to mount to read therefore I don't have access to the stock music app. Only way to control what's played is the buttons on the stero and its pain staking..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I don't believe this is possible. As far as I know, when you use the usb the deck itself is decoding the mp3's (or whatever music files you're using) directly. It doesn't support playing music through the usb, it just uses the usb to get the files. I hope that makes sense...

So is that why I ca never plat music on my xbox whenever I have a phone hookedup to charge? I thought my xbox just didn't play nice with phones
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

XtaC318 said:
I'm currently aching to be able to play my own music through my car speakers, weird place for this yes.. if it's the wrong section to post this please let me know.
But, I was wondering if it's at all possible to feed the phone's audio through the USB.
For example, I have a USB port on my stero in my car, and when I plug it in..i'm able to feed off my SD card to play the music thats on it. But.. I'd like to be able to play pandora as well..which I'm currently unable to do.
Was wondering if this is possible. If i've confused you feel free to ask more questions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So your car stereo has a USB input but no auxiliary? If so, your best bet would probably be to get an FM transmitter. Like the poster above said, your car's stereo is merely mounting your phone as a mass storage device and reading the mp3 files off the SD card and decoding and playing them locally.

It sees it as you do on the computer, just a drive. The only way to get what you want is to use a source from the phone that plays audio. Head phone jack or Blue Tooth. Your stereo... if it has USB should also have an AUX input or BT. Havn't come across to many that have USB and not an AUX or BT. Its nice though... having Pandora in the car.
If you tell me the Model of the Stereo I can help you out. I have seen a BT to FM Mod. Those are kinda cool. If your in a pinch with a stock stereo.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

a454nova said:
It sees it as you do on the computer, just a drive. The only way to get what you want is to use a source from the phone that plays audio. Head phone jack or Blue Tooth. Your stereo... if it has USB should also have an AUX input or BT. Havn't come across to many that have USB and not an AUX or BT. Its nice though... having Pandora in the car.
If you tell me the Model of the Stereo I can help you out. I have seen a BT to FM Mod. Those are kinda cool. If your in a pinch with a stock stereo.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makes sense. My stero does have an auxiliary port on it, but due to recent events I'm really short on cash lol, was wondering if there was a work around so I'm not limited to my sd for music.
Since it isn't possible.. what about an app that allows me to control the music played? I can stream music from the sd, but its got to mount to read therefore I don't have access to the stock music app. Only way to control what's played is the buttons on the stero and its pain staking..

XtaC318 said:
Makes sense. My stero does have an auxiliary port on it, but due to recent events I'm really short on cash lol, was wondering if there was a work around so I'm not limited to my sd for music.
Since it isn't possible.. what about an app that allows me to control the music played? I can stream music from the sd, but its got to mount to read therefore I don't have access to the stock music app. Only way to control what's played is the buttons on the stero and its pain staking..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope... The phone isn't even connecting to your stereo. When you put it into USB mode so it can read the SD, it unmounted from the phone. Its as if you pulled the SD out and slid it into a card reader. When you pull the plug... It will remount to the phone. You'll notice it scanning for media at the top.
Now when you go BT... You can control it via the stereo or phone, using the Aux you can control it by the phone. "They" could make the phone controllable via USB like an Iphone but they would have to built that into the stereo like they do the Iphones/Ipods. Not likely to happen unless the Galaxy S takes off like IPOD did.

In theory, a rooted Epic with proper kernel support and hacked cable (since they don't exist commercially) can repurpose the data pins on its USB port for left and right analog audio thanks to the Fairchild FSA9480 USB switching chip inside the phone (the same chip enables the USB pins to be repurposed as a serial port with nonstandard voltage levels, enables the normally-unused fifth pin to be used as mic input, enables it to be used with a special "JIG" interface for JTAG reflashing without having to hand-solder anything to the microscopic internal pads, and apparently can also work its magic in conjunction with a chip by Silicon Imaging to use 5 pins to output a signal that can be transformed by a companion chip (embedded in the cable's connector shell) into valid HDCP-compliant HDMI. I'm pretty sure the 9480 can also repurpose the two data pins for external I2C, but don't quote me on it.
Check out the I9000 boards... they're about 2 months ahead of us. If you google for FSA9480, you can find a brief (but revealing) dialogue between a Samsung engineer and the Kernel.org folks regarding a kernel addition to support the chip. He had a few issues, because on one hand he's apparently not allowed to say much about how the chip works or what it does, but the kernel folks managed to wring much of it out of him one juicy detail at a time. If you check Fairchild's site, they don't even acknowledge that the chip EXISTS, but it's been photographed inside all the Galaxy S phones in various teardowns.
In English -- yes, the hardware exists today to connect your phone to a stereo's analog inputs via a cable that repurposes the USB port... but the official software to make it work from Samsung and Sprint doesn't exist, and the information needed to make it work ourselves on a rooted Epic with AOSP isn't quite available yet.
I'm personally quite happy about the uart, because that means we DO have an easy, low-ceremony way to do i/o between something like a gamepad built into a hardcase a-la-iphone-GameBone that doesn't require Bluetooth (note that if something IS using the USB port for UART purposes, the USB port is still active, but the phone sees it as having nothing connected because the signals from the D+ and D- pins are physically re-routed by the 9480 to the CPU's UART pins. Think of the 9480 as being like an old-fashioned telephone panel with cables that can be moved around to connect the USB port's 5 physical pins to different pins inside the phone.
I'm now pretty sure that this is why there are exactly 7 contacts on the microUSB connector inside the phone -- 5 are used to get the pre-HDMI signals out of the phone, and the other 2 (3, if you count the ground/anchor tabs and assume they carry a signal as well in addition to mechanically anchoring it in place) are used to supply +5v and ground, and possibly one wire for half-duplex signaling purposes.

Wow that was a lot of info... lol. I didn't know that about the usb tho. That's good to know. I was thinking of taking it apart to see.
But... I think he's wanting a UI via the USB like the way some players will do for the IPODs, not analog. To go throught all that when the Head Phone jack will do the same... I could only see that if it was broken or if you really really want only one cord to the phone.
; )
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

I've got an Alpine unit, I hook my USB up - turn on the TUNER. Mount the Drive and once the phone is done - swap back over to USB and i can get all my MP3S. sadly I get all of my ringtones too - odd when the radio is full blast and a track changes - none the less works well for me. Try it.

I purchased this Kensington LiquidAUX Bluetooth Car Kit for my phone a few days ago. It works perfectly on my sister's iPod touch (no AVRCP [silly apple]) and an old WinMo 6.1 phone.
I just got my Epic in the mail today so I'll be testing it out soon.

WTF. AVRCP (bluetooth remote control) is really buggy with this phone. I used the LiquidAUX with an old Omnia for a week with no problems. The Epic connects and plays audio just fine. I can also pause and play music but the forward and back buttons don't work. When I first pair the phone with the device everything is fine, but after disconnecting and reconnecting the remote control stops working. I got it to work after un-paring and re-pairing but it only worked once.
The Moment I had before this had really choppy audio.
EDIT: I had the phone opened up in DDMS and the phone is receiving signals from the remote. But it only reacts to them when the media player is on the screen. Weird.

Trying to add an external hard drive to webtop

I have Rooted this phone and installed the custom Adeo (is that the name of the ROM or the hacker?) ROM. I also did the webtop-mod-without-a-dock because I was bored. I have the HD dock and think it would be great if I could have my external Drive show up in the file browser. I could play my music and videos from there. I don't know how hard this would be so I figured I'd ask you guys that have much more Android experience.
**SOLVED** see page 2
Also, I would really like to play music from my phone over USB in the deck in my truck. The deck is made for "ipods" or iPhones and won't see my Atrix as a media device. Is there a mod I could do to the phone to make my deck recognize it and let me play music? Thanks guys
EDIT
USB thumb drives work just fine, why won't it pick up my external hard drive? Does it need to be formatted a certain way?

seh6183 said:
I have Rooted this phone and installed the custom Adeo (is that the name of the ROM or the hacker?) ROM. I also did the webtop-mod-without-a-dock because I was bored. I have the HD dock and think it would be great if I could have my external Drive show up in the file browser. I could play my music and videos from there. I don't know how hard this would be so I figured I'd ask you guys that have much more Android experience.
Also, I would really like to play music from my phone over USB in the deck in my truck. The deck is made for "ipods" or iPhones and won't see my Atrix as a media device. Is there a mod I could do to the phone to make my deck recognize it and let me play music? Thanks guys
EDIT
USB thumb drives work just fine, why won't it pick up my external hard drive? Does it need to be formatted a certain way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your thumb drives are probably FAT32 and your external drive is likely NTFS. The webtop cannot read NTFS drives, they need to be FAT32 or some form of EXT

id hate to format it to find out it doesn't work lol

I use a FAT32 external drive and it works fine.

thank you very much sir

Any advice on how to get my deck to recognize the phone as an MP3 player?

seh6183 said:
Any advice on how to get my deck to recognize the phone as an MP3 player?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you'll be able to. You can try setting the phone as mass storage, but I doubt it will work.

This is 2011, these car audio manufactures need to realize that an ipod is not the only mp3 player on the market.
This sucks.

seh6183 said:
This is 2011, these car audio manufactures need to realize that an ipod is not the only mp3 player on the market.
This sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but unfortunately it IS the mp3 player of the masses... and that's all they care about =\

There HAS to be a hack for this!!!!
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App

IMO this is the worst part about being an Android owner. Most consumer electronics are catered to iProduct.
My solution to the car stereo thing was to buy a deck that uses bluetooth audio.Works great that way.

booty hater said:
IMO this is the worst part about being an Android owner. Most consumer electronics are catered to iProduct.
My solution to the car stereo thing was to buy a deck that uses bluetooth audio.Works great that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is definitely a solution, as is a standard headphone cable for the aux port. Problem is, bluetooth degrades quality and the aux cable doesn't charge. Also I like being able to change songs from the deck.
I think my solution will be to buy an old ass ipod on craigs and run the wire into my glovebox and just leave it in there.
That is of course unless someone figures out how to modify the usb certificate on the atrix to fake an ipod so I can just plug my phone in.
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App

Actually screw that.
I frequently use all my battery throughout a single work day. I need that usb port to charge my damn phone! This needs to be figured out
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App

seh6183 said:
I have Rooted this phone and installed the custom Adeo (is that the name of the ROM or the hacker?) ROM. I also did the webtop-mod-without-a-dock because I was bored. I have the HD dock and think it would be great if I could have my external Drive show up in the file browser. I could play my music and videos from there. I don't know how hard this would be so I figured I'd ask you guys that have much more Android experience.
Also, I would really like to play music from my phone over USB in the deck in my truck. The deck is made for "ipods" or iPhones and won't see my Atrix as a media device. Is there a mod I could do to the phone to make my deck recognize it and let me play music? Thanks guys
EDIT
USB thumb drives work just fine, why won't it pick up my external hard drive? Does it need to be formatted a certain way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if this has been answered but my WD "Mybook" took over 45mins to get "recognized" the USB thing popped up and it just said prepairing for like 30minutes or more.
Now whenever I plug it in it's basically instant on. I think it indexes it prior to using or something.

booty hater said:
IMO this is the worst part about being an Android owner. Most consumer electronics are catered to iProduct.
My solution to the car stereo thing was to buy a deck that uses bluetooth audio.Works great that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SOLVED
When you plug the phone into the deck, pull down the notification bar and select usb, for the type select "mass storage". Works great.
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App

bringing this back. I finally got around to formatting my external drive to fat32 and every worked perfectly! excpet...
Fat32 has a severe limitation as it will not allow to me transfer any files onto the drive that are over 4gb. well most blu ray rips are at least 7gb. I know I can split the files up and recombine them, but that is extremely time consuming and clunky!
I then read that formatting the drive to an apple standard (hsp+ or something) would allow me to get passed the 4gb cap. while it may have, the webtop wont recognize the drive. so I'm back to square one.
not only that but I can't get the drive formatted back to a windows standard.
All im looking to do is have this drive be recognized by webtop and let me store all my media on it. If I can't get this figured out I'm buying an s2: (

Just an FYI, but the Atrix car dock provides audio out via USB. This means it will charge and play audio without having to do anything other than dock the phone. The included USB cable has a 3.5mm jack and includes the 3.5mm cable. The Car Dock app also provides a quick link to the music player.
The car dock is well worth the 40 bucks.

naplesbill said:
Just an FYI, but the Atrix car dock provides audio out via USB. This means it will charge and play audio without having to do anything other than dock the phone. The included USB cable has a 3.5mm jack and includes the 3.5mm cable. The Car Dock app also provides a quick link to the music player.
The car dock is well worth the 40 bucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was already solved without a car dock earlier
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

seh6183 said:
This was already solved without a car dock earlier
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is why I posted it as an FYI! The OP is not the only one who is reading this thread and it may be a valuable piece of information for anyone looking for a way to charge and play music with their Atrix.

Old HTC Evo 4G needs new life

I've been thinking about what I could do with an old smartphone. I've done a lot of googling and see most people use their device for internet phone calls, media, wifi only, etc... but I want to do something more.
it has so many sensors and an hdmi port that i think should be made useful. Looking for some suggestions.

If it has hdmi, hook it up to your tv as a media player- play movies from it etc. get a wireless usb/keyboard mouse and connect it to your phone with a usb otg adapter. Connect to your home pc with ES File Explorer.

I mean, what could I do if I took the phone apart and utilized the internals for another project?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium HD app

My S2 as a Smart TV hub idea

Hi all,
I had my S2 for a while now and I'm thinking of just connecting it to my TV to be use as a smart hub (media centre) as I don't have a smart TV. I'm sure I'm not alone with an aging S2 and moving onto a newer smart phone.
My Idea are:
- connect the S2 via HDMI to the TV
- use a small Bluetooth keyboard with track pad or maybe some other remote.
- try out probably XBMC
- Disable any phone feature from it (ie phone, sms, etc..)
My goal are:
- use it as a online player - Netflix, youtube, etc...
- Skype
- video player
- stream video from network
- audio player
This will be my first attempt and will be spending some money for the accessories.
Has anyone done a similar set up.
It will be great for some opinions or advice. Or issues it might not work.

Interesting idea.
You might want to think about how you're going to use it with the limited battery life first, because you won't be able to charge the phone when connected through HDMI.

I already do this occasionally albiet minus the keyboard atm,... I use it on short breaks away I took my Mhl cable and a short 1m hdmi cable to plug into the tv in the hotel room using Catchup TV app for more channels than they offered and TV Portal for streaming (free hotel Wi-Fi ftw! )... also use it for some other stuff such as watching avis I have already put on my 32gig card and finally playing my music collection through the tv speakers
re: power supply Mhl cable needs power/charger cable to work anyway also it charges at the same time
I always carry a spare charger

crobat said:
Interesting idea.
You might want to think about how you're going to use it with the limited battery life first, because you won't be able to charge the phone when connected through HDMI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
of course the phone charges when connected to hdmi. it does not even work if not plugged into the power outlet first.

Flog your S2 and buy a Pendroid.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B007FR9OIK
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Raspberry pi with xbmc
Sent from my GT-I9100P using Tapatalk 2

Thanks guys.
I got a mhl cable and it's awesome. just plug it in and it works straight away. Got the cheap version though but I guess it won't make that much difference. All I need to do is get a mod to permanently set it up as landscape mode and probably increase screen size. Will look for a new rom probably that can cater the mod.
Just need to figure this all out before spending more on a keyboard.

I had pretty much the same idea. Works well. Here is my thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2569613
I am going to try running xbmc and see how that goes.

Just to let you know, I installed xbmc...details on my thread (see the above post!)

Car Install - Mitsi EVO 9

Hi Guys,
Recently put the finishing touches to my Nexus 7 install so thought i'd share some pics.
Im running 5.0.2 lollipop and Timur Kernel, with the following attached;
OTG Cable - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B5T4A60?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00
Powered 4 port usb hub - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ICZL3KG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s02
Behringer USB DAC - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000KW2YEI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01
256gb External SSD - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JQRB0I4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
Generic DVB-T usb stick and SDR Radio - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009VBUYA0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00 - used these 2 adapters to enable me to use the car aerial, works a treat - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00F347YA2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00 & http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00118YG5K?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
Alpine 4 Channel Amplifier - http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-bbx-f1200_p-32324.htm
Audio Volume is controlled with this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00RM75NL0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
Power supply is from a 2amp (5v) cigarette usb socket, which is wired up behind the dash and not using the original cigarette socket in centre console.
I installed the amp under the passenger seat and run all the cabling under the carpet and out, where needed, behind the facia panel, the dac is also situated there and i ran the usb hub into the glovebox. You literally cannot see any wiring bar in the glovebox as i wanted to maintain a stock look throughout the car as best i could, everything is also revertable back to stock if the need ever arises, the only thing i had to do was screw the amp into the carpet under the seat, but the small holes left would never be seen anyway.
The facia panel was designed and made by a lad named reece who runs http://www.rtafabrication.com/ - top bloke and did an amazing job and the finish and quality of the panel is top notch. I went for a wired dash panel but he can also do wireless panels too!!! - if your thinking of a car install contact him to see if he can design a facia panel for your vehicle.
android apps i use
poweramp,
sat nav is navfree
video is archos Kodi.
As you can see, also for fun have a megadrive emulator with ps4 pad to play games lol. Also can use either torque pro or OBDlink II for my OBD Link LX bluetooth OBD port reader. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H9S71LW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00)
Had an alpine before which was a great piece of kit, but nothing compared to this.
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCYpLold_jQ&feature=youtu.be
Cookie

Lots of people viewing this thread but no responses. I'll be the first to say AMAZING JOB!! :thumbup: :beer:
I may try this is my wife's Scion xB.. Or my Expedition 4x4.
Sent from my Nexus 7 2013 using XDA Free mobile app

Got any videos of it all in action?

Awesome job

I'm planning on doing the same, but not spending as much as you lol. I see so many integrations with android to car, but no discussion.
Great integration btw!

You installed your wheel on the wrong side! A common mistake on these installations

Great Job!
Dis the same on my S2000
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

nice job
nicely done looks clean..i,ve istalled mine but not in dash i am using the holder .planning to get it in dash.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-7-2013/general/nexus-7-2013-car-install-looking-t3035967

zekemo said:
You installed your wheel on the wrong side! A common mistake on these installations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, I see why you did there[emoji23]

I came running once I saw Evo in the title, That's my favorite car of all time, and to do that with a nexus 7 gets me hyped to do the same once I save up for one

Now just get digital car app ....gotta sign up on g+ for it ...
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

Nicely done! I'm running a similiar build in my car, using glitch kernel not Timur's. How are you finding Timur's? Reliable? I find glitch occasionally needs rebooting as it fails to mount my USB DAC.

ratykat said:
Nicely done! I'm running a similiar build in my car, using glitch kernel not Timur's. How are you finding Timur's? Reliable? I find glitch occasionally needs rebooting as it fails to mount my USB DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi finally got around the making a video of it running, here is the link and added it to OP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCYpLold_jQ&feature=youtu.be
In terms of Timur ROM reliability, its great and had no issues worth mentioning so far
Cookie

Im thinking of buying his rom when i can afford it. But i have it in my car without a usb otg. So the rom is not fully functional to what it can do once i get around to get a usb otg.

cookie12 said:
Hi finally got around the making a video of it running, here is the link and added it to OP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCYpLold_jQ&feature=youtu.be
In terms of Timur ROM reliability, its great and had no issues worth mentioning so far
Cookie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What the advantages of having Timurs Kernel? I have ElementalX.... Thanks

Deeco7 said:
What the advantages of having Timurs Kernel? I have ElementalX.... Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never used Elemental X but my understanding of using Timur over any other Kernel was that it uses his own Powerevent Manager app which can do things like wake up when power is applied and deep sleep when power is removed, something i believe Tasker can do. Also not sure if Elexmental X allows simultanious USB hosting and charging + Fast Charging. Supports certain Rear Camera's. Automount of upto 4 FAT32 drives, custom boot animation and shutdown video's, block wakeup alarms. People using other kernel may tell me otherwise but this is what i came up with when researching which to go for.
Cookie

Just a question to be sure I understood everything.
Without USB Hub, you plug the OTG cable to the tablet and USB DAC to the USB port. Then the USB DAC is connected to the amp using RCA correct?
Currently my setup is not using a DAC (rca to jack directly connected to the amp) and I have interferences because of that so I'm thinking about using a DAC. Is it natively managed by Android?
Thanks,
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

Bingoig11 said:
Just a question to be sure I understood everything.
Without USB Hub, you plug the OTG cable to the tablet and USB DAC to the USB port. Then the USB DAC is connected to the amp using RCA correct?
Currently my setup is not using a DAC (rca to jack directly connected to the amp) and I have interferences because of that so I'm thinking about using a DAC. Is it natively managed by Android?
Thanks,
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep that is pretty much it, OTG cable then USB DAC straight into USB port, and connect it to your amp / stereo via Red & White RCA jacks, or as i did - - - - - Nexus 7 - OTG cable - USB Hub (4 port) - USB DAC - AMP
I believe Lollipop handles USB audio natively, anything before needs a kernel to implement it - again if anyone knows different then please let me know

Is audio taken from usb? I didn't think any Android can send audio from the usb? Or is that why I need the OTG-cable?

That looks amazing, stock even, imagine having Andoid auto on there.
Any pics of the evo?