Database Users

Has anyone tried plugging in a USB HDD?

i was wondering, what if i got a USB harddrive, and plugged it into my hermes?
would WM6 even notice its there?
this is assuming i've got a externally powered HDD that uses the normal USBHOST.
i searched "usb harddrive" in the hermes forums and not many things turned up..

If you have one lying around, give it a go?!

JamesHolden said:
i searched "usb harddrive" in the hermes forums and not many things turned up..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that might be the clue to your answer..... the usb port in the phone lacks the capability to host an actual usb device, whether the external device is powered or not... But give it a go anyway... i cant think of any harm in trying... unless there is some kind of major power backflow, but that shouldnt happen unless your external device is faulty

the OS may support it, but hardware-wise - i dont think the Hermes supports USB hosting? or does it?

My brain says no...
But the hope in me says yes...

Wondered about this myself before.
Doesnt the HTC have the ability to act as an external UsB drive through the USB port when connected to a PC using the Advanced USB settings. Maybe its just a question of reversing the settings maybe with an added utility or something i have an external hard drive but not converter to convert the full usb to a mini usb

4Site said:
Wondered about this myself before.
Doesnt the HTC have the ability to act as an external UsB drive through the USB port when connected to a PC using the Advanced USB settings. Maybe its just a question of reversing the settings maybe with an added utility or something i have an external hard drive but not converter to convert the full usb to a mini usb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
having the device mimmick and external drive and plugging in external storage through USB are 2 completly different things... and it all comes down to the USB host... when you plug your phone into your pc your computer then is able to act as a usb host, as it has the power and the drivers necessary for that... the phone itself lacks the abiltiy to be able to become a usb host...
but hey, at least your thinking

So it may be possible to access a USB HDD if we catered for it using a driver of some sort (written by us guys ofcourse). This may even show up in the file manager as something like /Hard_Drive.?

main procesor (and also OS itself) have support for USB host, but for some reason HTS decide to not enable this feature, it was asked many times, but solution doesnt exist yet... I used this functionallity on my old Fujitsu-Siemens LOOX n500 without necesity to install any drivers, or registry hack, after connection device had available after few second. It was WM5 device.

well think about this:
keep a laptop usb HDD in your car, 160GB of music at your command, with TCPMP who needs a ipod?
i've already modded my stock headset cable to have a 1/8" miniplug AND RCA's on it, so i'm set for the output, but my 4GB of microsd cards just don't cut it
so i'm working on tryin' to find a usb mini b male to usb b male cable right now, might just have to solder one up myself-- i'll post to see how it goes.

I think I've seen them for sale at Radioshack and Compusa - might try peaking in there though if you have a bunch of USB cables kicking around probably cheaper to solder

IF you look around on the net somewhere, someone successfully made a wifi hard drive, and i think it was fairly inexpensive... He loaded tons of mp3's and would access them from his phone via wifi.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/consumer_electronics/DAVE/
How about this?

skunker said:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/consumer_electronics/DAVE/
How about this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I got to get me one of these. So many toys, not enough time.

jcb_home said:
Now I got to get me one of these. So many toys, not enough time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks nice!

I just tried this. And nothing happens. Tried a usb memory key (low power), an external HDD (on its own power supply) and a card reader, none of them did anything.

thanks for the go.. after my weekend spent messing with *nix and tryin' to get into locked up wifi, i was spent.

USB hosting ENABLED on XOOM!

While I know that honeycomb does not support this yet (but likely will with the sd card upgrade), there have been rumors that the micro USB slot on the XOOM is actually capable of hosting.
Does anyone know this for sure?
Basically, im trying to decide between the XOOM and the unamed Toshiba tablet.
I like that the Toshiba tablet has Hosting with a full usb port, and Im wondering if the XOOM will be able to do the same (albeit with an adapter).
Though, I dont even know if The toshiba tablet will release in the US any time soon.
ALL THANKS TO ROEBEET WHO HAS ENABLED HOSTING OF THUMB STICKS ON THE XOOM! - scroll through this conversation to get to roebeets post!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Motorol...1218305636450&skuId=1946179&st=xoom&cp=1&lp=1
Look down the page a bit for ...
Note: Optical drive not included
Compatible with optional external recordable CD/DVD drives (not included).
This would imply it does.

Yes, it most definitely will have that capability. Please see the thread here that I started a while back on the Moto Owners Forum, where I was able to get not only Moto reps to confirm this, but also was fortunate enough to get the actual Moto tech who worked on the Xoom's USB to chime in with some info. My guess is, the same software update that will enable the microSD card will also enable the USB host capabilities of the micro USB port (both external data storage).

The USB hosting being locked down software wise, at least initially, is being done to get some quick cash on their accessories. The unlock that they MIGHT provide later would allow 3rd party keyboards and other accessories access to the Xoom.
I really doubt that they will do a software lock later but the fact that it is software locked and not hardware means that someone here in XDA will be able to unlock it for us eventually.

how hard would it have been to put a full sized USB. Seriously.

Germwise said:
how hard would it have been to put a full sized USB. Seriously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would make the tablet thicker. micro USB is fine since most of us already have tons of those cables.

Germwise said:
how hard would it have been to put a full sized USB. Seriously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
look at the thickness of Notion Ink Adam becuase of 2 USB adapters

I did a bit of research on this.
So it appears the same situation exists for the dell streak. It also has USB host like motorola (confirmed by moto engineer).
Some guy here: http://linuxslate.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1286562168
Shows how to get USB drives mounted and usable on dell streak running android 2.1 - this appears not to work on android 2.2 and higher.
OF NOTE: with the right cable (apparently some exist that support OTG hosting capabilities) and the right developer - we can absolutely get USB hosting onto the xoom.
Likely, a couple of scenarios exist to getting this working. First, we wait for the microsdcard update for the xoom - which may make it easier to host from the USB port; Second - we wait for a smart developer to port this sort of code into and app or custom rom; Third - we wait for the toshiba tablet to come out (as it has a full USB port for host) and steal its rom and port it to the Xoom.

I have a Nokia OTG cable that I misakenly bought for an Archos 32 (didn't work), and I tried it on my Xoom. I can use a USB keyboard with it, FYI. But a USB mouse I tested does not work.
USB thumb drives may not work as there's no mount point - I might try to create a custom boot.img and test that out, if I have time.
This is the cable I have: http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-USB-Host-...314427?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item3a640778bb

roebeet said:
I have a Nokia OTG cable that I misakenly bought for an Archos 32 (didn't work), and I tried it on my Xoom. I can use a USB keyboard with it, FYI. But a USB mouse does not work.
USB thumb drives may not work as there's no mount point - I might try to create a custom boot.img and test that out, if I have time.
This is the cable I have: http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-USB-Host-...314427?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item3a640778bb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the post Roebeet;
This sounds excellent - im happy that xoom has the ability to host - that was the last piece of the puzzle for me - cant wait for the custom roms that implement this ability!

USB thumb drive confirmed working
Needed to make a boot.img change, however. I'm going to write up a HOWTO, shortly.

roebeet said:
I have a Nokia OTG cable that I misakenly bought for an Archos 32 (didn't work), and I tried it on my Xoom. I can use a USB keyboard with it, FYI. But a USB mouse I tested does not work.
USB thumb drives may not work as there's no mount point - I might try to create a custom boot.img and test that out, if I have time.
This is the cable I have: http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-USB-Host-...314427?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item3a640778bb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't even get a mouse to work with BlueTooth, so that's probably why a USB mouse doesn't work...

USB thumb drive instructions (with altered boot.img link)
Dropped the instructions here: http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php...le-usb-host-mode-ie-thumb-drives-on-the-xoom/
I have this running on my Xoom right now - thumb drive can see files and play content (like music and video).

Awesome! Time to order an OTG cable
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App

roebeet said:
Dropped the instructions here: http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php...le-usb-host-mode-ie-thumb-drives-on-the-xoom/
I have this running on my Xoom right now - thumb drive can see files and play content (like music and video).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are amazing as always man - Im from the NIH community as well (flaunt)
Thanks so much for this!

Salpula said:
Awesome! Time to order an OTG cable
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That eBay guy is going to wonder why the sudden surge of cable orders, soon.
It's coming from Hong Kong, but I think I got mine in less than 2 weeks - this was back in November. I had ordered this cable with an Archos 32 in mind, but I screwed up the first time and got the wrong cable. I'm happy to report that it's finally getting some use.

roebeet said:
Dropped the instructions here: http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php...le-usb-host-mode-ie-thumb-drives-on-the-xoom/
I have this running on my Xoom right now - thumb drive can see files and play content (like music and video).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are AWESOME.

Hey roebeet, Quick question:
Does this allow you to transfer or write files to the USB drive as well? Or will we have to wait for honeycomb to support sd cards to do this?
Can files be written onto the thumb drive or moved there using a file explorer?
Just wondering!

anyway to translate this mod to getting the micro SD slot working

Flaunt77 said:
Hey roebeet, Quick question:
Does this allow you to transfer or write files to the USB drive as well? Or will we have to wait for honeycomb to support sd cards to do this?
Can files be written onto the thumb drive or moved there using a file explorer?
Just wondering!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't look like it's mounted read-only so I'd say yes.

[Q] Using desktop/Laptop as a USB drive for Update

This is kind of a question and also kind of a suggestion.
I have seen a lot of info in the forums about using USB Host cables to update xooms, but I have heard no mention of using your PC as a USB drive for the update. I am sure there is probably a good reason for this, but I thought I would ask anyways and see what the response was.
Is it possible to mount your PC hard disk, or possibly a USB drive that is plugged into another port, on the xoom and place the update file there? I tried Googling some info on doing this but was not sure what I should be looking for.

You could put a mac in "drive" mode and do this... in fact, I'm going to try it now... thanks for the idea!
* edit: since my mac drive is hfs, I'm betting it won't be readable by the xoom.... do I care enough to repartition a small section to make it FAT32? nah.

No this won't work for a variety of reasons. Honestly the crazy ideas people come up with just to avoid rooting.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

Well I would root, but I use my xoom in such a manor that I am not willing to risk having it out of commission for a few days, if something was to go wrong.

I think using a USB hub would work. Haven't tried though. But the principal is you have your xoom usb cord and plug it into the hub. Then plug your FAT32 USB into the hub. Now they are linked together. Hubs are cheap and can get them anywhere and most likely you have one and its worth a try. Let me know if it works.

@prime said:
This is kind of a question and also kind of a suggestion.
I have seen a lot of info in the forums about using USB Host cables to update xooms, but I have heard no mention of using your PC as a USB drive for the update. I am sure there is probably a good reason for this, but I thought I would ask anyways and see what the response was.
Is it possible to mount your PC hard disk, or possibly a USB drive that is plugged into another port, on the xoom and place the update file there? I tried Googling some info on doing this but was not sure what I should be looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure this wouldn't work because you have to boot your xoom from the usb device you are using, basically like way back when, when you use to have to shove a floppy into a computer before starting it to redo some of its bios work. You're basically trying to load an "os" like file from your external harddrive (well a flash drive really) and pluging the Xoom into your computer is a whole other concept.

3.1 & USB Peripherals

I know that 3.1 added support for a broader spectrum of USB devices, and I thought it would be interesting to compile a list of what works and doesn't work!
So far, I've tried:
ACER LIQUID E - Basically just charges the phone and allows for tethering (wish I could mount it) **UPDATE** After rooting and installing busybox and drive mount, Liquid E is able to mount! (Thanks, entropy)
HP WIRELESS MINI KEYBOARD (Model #U10G) - Works flawlessly! Prior to the update, only the keyboard worked, but now the mouse works too, as expected!
SONY CYBERSHOT (Model #DSC-W55) - At first the Iconia didn't detect it, but after I went into the camera menu and changed USB connect mode from "auto" to "mass storage" and plugged it back into the tablet, the Gallery app opened automatically and the pics from the camera magically appeared! Woohoo!
LOGITECH ATTACK 3 JOYSTICK - Not too useful, but it works! Basically it works as a glorified mouse, scrolling up/down/left/right. Pretty basic for now, but perhaps a good flight simulator will come out in the future?
SAMSUNG STORY STATION 1 TB HARD DRIVE - My biggest disappointment... I know there are workarounds to get external drives to work, but I was hoping 3.1 would provide a fix for this. It is formatted FAT32, so I'm not sure what the problem is, but my Iconia isn't picking it up **UPDATE** After rooting and installing busybox and drive mount, Story Station is able to mount! (Thanks, entropy)

I can confirm the iphone 3gs will charge and you can import photos/movies taken on the camera.
I have a cannon camera at home. I know they have a strange interface which always requires me to load a separate driver in windows. I will test it later and let you know.

vanisleguy1976 said:
SAMSUNG STORY STATION 1 TB HARD DRIVE - My biggest disappointment... I know there are workarounds to get external drives to work, but I was hoping 3.1 would provide a fix for this. It is formatted FAT32, so I'm not sure what the problem is, but my Iconia isn't picking it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming you are rooted - try "drive mount" (free from market) - solved all my USB storage device problems.

entropy.of.avarice said:
Assuming you are rooted - try "drive mount" (free from market) - solved all my USB storage device problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. I'm not currently rooted, but I'll likely take that plunge soon. I was hoping 3.1 would cure that in the stock software, but we can't always get what we want
pacificwing said:
I can confirm the iphone 3gs will charge and you can import photos/movies taken on the camera.
I have a cannon camera at home. I know they have a strange interface which always requires me to load a separate driver in windows. I will test it later and let you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How ironic that an iProduct will work as a peripheral, but not another Acer product!
*edit* Just tested my old BLACKBERRY CURVE 8310 and it mounts no problem! Wtf?
Thanks for the info!

vanisleguy1976 said:
Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. I'm not currently rooted, but I'll likely take that plunge soon. I was hoping 3.1 would cure that in the stock software, but we can't always get what we want
Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting stock 3.1 takes about ten seconds - i have successfully ran a Logitech laser mouse, a Saitek Eclipse 2 keyboard, a old crappy external 60gb USB hdd, and a 16gb flash stick all at once

Does a non powered usb hub work??
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App

vari9 said:
Does a non powered usb hub work??
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using a non powered hub as I type - 4 devices connected, including a sweet keyboard with led back lighting (saitek eclipse 2) - all 4 devices work even if I am not connected to power.

Is there an * easy * way to make this tab use huwaei dongle for internet...???
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App

vari9 said:
Is there an easy way to make this tab use huwaei dongle for internet...???
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea - would probably involve a rooted device and a custom rom - head to the dev section.

Logitech mx510 and mx518 mice confirmed.
Xbox 360 wired controller works but found no games that use it and it is very clunky for nav'ing the UI in general.
Wacom Bamboo powers but nothing functions.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

Is there a safe way of removing these usb devices without having to power down?

peejayw said:
Is there a safe way of removing these usb devices without having to power down?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A "safe" way? I'm pretty sure it won't explode if you just unplug them.
In all seriousness, you should be able to just unplug them without losing data. At least I always have.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the reason you have to "eject" removable media from windows is because windows has some sort of drive caching to speed things up. This means that just because you have copied a file to your usb drive, doesn't mean the data has actually been written right away.
Furthermore, Windows also locks out files that are in use by an active application. As such, windows makes you "eject" the media in order to give the OS a chance to check to see if any of the files are still in use, to avoid the application having a brain fart and crashing. Also, if an application is in the process of writing to a file and you yank out the drive, the file could become corrupt.
I think both scenarios are not likely to occur on an Android tablet, mainly because its based on a real operating system not designed to treat you like an idiot. Just make sure none of the data is being used by any open apps and you should be fine.
That being said, always make sure to keep backups.
Cheers,
-PW

Anyone able to use an Xbox 360 controller. I have a wireless with PC USB dongle, would like to use it if I possible.

Just want to say i can see my files in my x10 mounting it with drive mount and view it with file expert

entropy.of.avarice said:
Rooting stock 3.1 takes about ten seconds - i have successfully ran a Logitech laser mouse, a Saitek Eclipse 2 keyboard, a old crappy external 60gb USB hdd, and a 16gb flash stick all at once
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! After rooting, installing busybox, and Drive mount, I now am able to mount my phone and external hard drive!

vanisleguy1976 said:
Thanks! After rooting, installing busybox, and Drive mount, I now am able to mount my phone and external hard drive!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yay! Glad it worked for you. Enjoy!

Looks like USB storage is indeed supported [Updated]

Phil Nickinson from AndroidCentral has posted that USB storage doesn't show up properly on the Nexus Player:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PhilNickinson/posts/MiyoNJmtGK8
Of course, it looks like he tried to directly plug in a USB key into the micro USB slot instead of using an OTG cable, if I'm not mistaken. If anyone who gets their shipment today could verify one way or the other that'd be very useful for those of us who can still cancel our pre-orders if USB storage is a no go.
Update: it is indeed supported but needs root for better visibility across apps.

The ADT-1 has a full USB port and a USB Key is unreadable in that as well. It doesn't mount.

Mi|enko said:
The ADT-1 has a full USB port and a USB Key is unreadable in that as well. It doesn't mount.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. On the ADT-1 is their a way to make its USB port a master with a hub attached? Have you tried keys, hard drives, etc using a hub?

Mi|enko said:
The ADT-1 has a full USB port and a USB Key is unreadable in that as well. It doesn't mount.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjuanw_KLTc&feature=youtu.be
this guy is running emulators on an adt1 with all the roms on a flash drive he plugged in, so there must be a way to read it on the dev unit, if not the nexus

jnrbshp said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjuanw_KLTc&feature=youtu.be
this guy is running emulators on an adt1 with all the roms on a flash drive he plugged in, so there must be a way to read it on the dev unit, if not the nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting! I wonder what he's got it formatted as. . . time to start some testing (note: I tested this on the original OOB firmware, but haven't tested it since updating to 13D).
Update: Just used a jump drive and tried Fat32, ExFat, and ext4. . . no dice.

I've just opened a USB stick and installed an APK off it with my Nexus Player. I used OTG Disk Explorer Lite, which I had to sideload. I imagine StickMount will work great once we've got root, and any app could also do the same USB mounting probably.
USB drive was formatted FAT from Windows 7.

Good to hear the OTG cable works. Now I wonder if it'll take a keyboard or ethernet adapter.
Sent from my Oneplus One with Tapatalk Pro.

I'll be damned. So, I never bothered to root my ADT-1 (silly me). So, I just spend 2 minutes doing that, pushed the USB OTG apk over, and voila. I now have external storage. Holy hell. Let's see if my 1TB HDD works. . .

reverenddak said:
Good to hear the OTG cable works. Now I wonder if it'll take a keyboard or ethernet adapter.
Sent from my Oneplus One with Tapatalk Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keyboard, mouse, and Ethernet all work. Some new gigabit Ethernet adapters won't work though; you have to get one that was supported as of Linux kernel 3.10.

xBIGREDDx said:
I've just opened a USB stick and installed an APK off it with my Nexus Player. I used OTG Disk Explorer Lite, which I had to sideload. I imagine StickMount will work great once we've got root, and any app could also do the same USB mounting probably.
USB drive was formatted FAT from Windows 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question for you. Have you tried navigating to the external storage using Root Explorer or anything similar? The only way I can seem to access the content on my drive is through the OTG app, which is kind of a bummer for what I have in mind.

Mi|enko said:
Question for you. Have you tried navigating to the external storage using Root Explorer or anything similar? The only way I can seem to access the content on my drive is through the OTG app, which is kind of a bummer for what I have in mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far I've only got it working through the OTG app. I think if I got StickMount working, that would enable it to work through other apps.
Interestingly, I installed XBMC (Kodi 14 Beta 1) and then used the OTG app to select an MKV file off the USB stick. It then opened it with XBMC and played. But when I tried to navigate storage with XBMC, it couldn't find the USB stick by itself.

xBIGREDDx said:
So far I've only got it working through the OTG app. I think if I got StickMount working, that would enable it to work through other apps.
Interestingly, I installed XBMC (Kodi 14 Beta 1) and then used the OTG app to select an MKV file off the USB stick. It then opened it with XBMC and played. But when I tried to navigate storage with XBMC, it couldn't find the USB stick by itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem solved. So, the rooting and installing an OTG app was only half of it. You also need to disable SELinux. This app did the trick. After installing it, setting permissive, and rebooting, I'm in business.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mrbimc.selinux
Note: This is on the ADT-1, but I would think the implementation should be nearly identical once the NP gets root.

hi can you please add instructions on how to sideload applications because I'm getting mine shipped next week and would like to sideload xbmc thanks in advance to however helps this site has helped me alot in the past. I don't plan on using my player for games just tv

Mi|enko said:
Problem solved. So, the rooting and installing an OTG app was only half of it. You also need to disable SELinux. This app did the trick. After installing it, setting permissive, and rebooting, I'm in business.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mrbimc.selinux
Note: This is on the ADT-1, but I would think the implementation should be nearly identical once the NP gets root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so what exactly is solved now?? can you browse the drive using xbmc or any file explorer app?

jnrbshp said:
so what exactly is solved now?? can you browse the drive using xbmc or any file explorer app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that's what he meant.
Sent from my Nexus 5

According to Phil Nickinson over at Android Central, it looks like external storage is possible via a USB OTG cable. I'd post the link...but, the 10 post limit thing is holding a brutha back.

Y2Dre said:
According to Phil Nickinson over at Android Central, it looks like external storage is possible via a USB OTG cable. I'd post the link...but, the 10 post limit thing is holding a brutha back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up... this is very good news. Here's the link:
The Nexus Player works with external storage and USB ethernet

I have an ADT 1 and my hard drives and all things work after mounting from USB OTG Helper. Needed to root first.
---------- Post added at 11:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 AM ----------
It's possible for Nexus Player too. Just wait until you get the root

Harkunwar said:
I have an ADT 1 and my hard drives and all things work after mounting from USB OTG Helper. Needed to root first.
---------- Post added at 11:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 AM ----------
It's possible for Nexus Player too. Just wait until you get the root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so usb otg is supported for the adt-1 ? everything is working well ?

For me it does