USB OTG Not Officially Supported?

**goathog02** · 11-17-2012, 07:25 AM

Engadget review states that this function is not officially supported. Has this been tested by one of the early recipients?

**bellken** · 11-17-2012, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by goathog02

Engadget review states that this function is not officially supported. Has this been tested by one of the early recipients?

I can attach a usb drive to my DNA, use Astro to access the music folder and play music from my usb drive. I don't know if that means that it is officially supported.

**goathog02** · 11-17-2012, 08:49 AM

Well, that sounds like 1/2 the battle. I wonder if mouse/keyboard/game controller functionality is there as well. I assume yes; my IPhone doesn't have this functionality, and am looking forward to coming back to Android.

**jamdmyers** · 11-17-2012, 08:55 AM

I've sent a email Directly to JerryH asking him to expand my thoughts on this, perhaps he'll add it here.
The phone has OTG, is it supported or coming, putting when aside pushes us to the questions above.
OTG allows USB to swap Host / Slave roles.. usually plugging your phone into a computer makes the phone a slave, but plugging a MicroSD adapter in makes it a host.
From my reading the limit is driven by the host, In the DNAs case it sounds like it reads the files system already, my question is can it write to the Slave,
I suspect I'd need some form of file manager as well, no big deal to spend $2 on a good one if this all works. For me it makes the lack of SD irrelevant

**turnstyl** · 11-24-2012, 08:47 AM

I picked up my HTC DNA on November 21 and I can confirm that the public release phone is able to read a USB flash drive.

**edoublediz** · 11-24-2012, 11:04 AM

sweet! it will funny to see all these DNA's walking around with a USB hub for all the drives and chargers needed to make it compete with the Maxx hd. but, it is skinny, oh my god, it is skinny!!!! HTC FTW!!!! The people have spoken and thin is what they want!!

**enfuego360** · 11-25-2012, 03:57 PM

has anyone tried plugging in a keyboard or game controller? i dont know if i would ever use this, but then again, i just found out that this is a possibility.

**rayzryd266** · 12-02-2012, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by bellken

I can attach a usb drive to my DNA, use Astro to access the music folder and play music from my usb drive. I don't know if that means that it is officially supported.

can you tell me how you did this - I have tried everything I know how and haven't been able to get it to work. My set up is an OTG cable with a flashdrive formatted to FAT32. When I plug it in all I get is a notification saying "Unable to charge device - please use the supported charger". Also' I haven't been able to access the "Mount USB storage" tab in settings > storage. What am I doing wrong here - do I need to be rooted to use this feature?

**bellken** · 12-02-2012, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by rayzryd266

can you tell me how you did this - I have tried everything I know how and haven't been able to get it to work. My set up is an OTG cable with a flashdrive formatted to FAT32. When I plug it in all I get is a notification saying "Unable to charge device - please use the supported charger". Also' I haven't been able to access the "Mount USB storage" tab in settings > storage. What am I doing wrong here - do I need to be rooted to use this feature?

no need to be root and I get the warning too, I just use Astro -> my files -> you will need to scroll down a bit

**rayzryd266** · 12-02-2012, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by bellken

no need to be root and I get the warning too, I just use Astro -> my files -> you will need to scroll down a bit

I tried to find ''my files'' in Astro an I don't have it listed. Are you able to access the mount usb storage tab on your phone? Mine is grayed out and says unavailable above it. I think this is why I'm not able to see the drive

**Darth Duane** · 12-02-2012, 01:09 PM

I have been able to use several different USB drives with my OTG cable for both reading and writing. I just tested a USB keyboard and mouse and both worked.

There is also a USB storage menu in the settings and a button to unmount USB storage, i think that's about as supported as you can get.

**rayzryd266** · 12-02-2012, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by Darth Duane

I have been able to use several different USB drives with my OTG cable for both reading and writing. I just tested a USB keyboard and mouse and both worked.

There is also a USB storage menu in the settings and a button to unmount USB storage, i think that's about as supported as you can get.

I went into settings > storage and have the "mount usb storage" tab, but it's grayed out, preventing me from accessing it. How do I turn that on?

**Darth Duane** · 12-02-2012, 02:50 PM

I never had to mount USB storage. Just plugging in the drive and opening ES file explorer and going to favorites ==> USB storage worked for me. I only went to that menu to dismount the drive and check to make sure it recognized my drive and reported the space. Maybe your drive is incompatable? I know it wont work with drives that require a lot of power.

**rayzryd266** · 12-02-2012, 03:17 PM

Maybe that is my problem then - I'm using two drives (8GB AND 64GB). Both are PNY Attache's and I'm getting nothing from either of them. This sucks since I just bought the 64gb specifically to compensate the DNA's shortcomings in storage.

**Darth Duane** · 12-02-2012, 03:48 PM

For the heck of it i tried a few different drives. All my flash drives worked i had 6 to test of different sizes and brands but the biggest was 32gig. An external USB powered hard drive did not work and was not recognized at all. An external AC powered hard drive was recognized but it would not mount and i got a message about it be blank or an unrecognized file system.

**rayzryd266** · 12-02-2012, 04:51 PM

Ok - I'm gonna try Verizon CS and see what happens. I've got to be missing something here

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Android Central Forums

**Darth Duane** · 12-02-2012, 05:07 PM

It could be your cable i suppose. Have you a tried a mouse or keyboard with it?

**rayzryd266** · 12-02-2012, 05:40 PM

Vz CS had no clue (said the phone was too new) transferred me to 2nd tier with the same results. Was then transferred to HTC CS who said this could not be done (WTF) I politely thanked them for their attempt to help and informed them that it WAS a capability of this phone, but I would figure it out somehow.

I don't have an external keyboard or mouse available. I will head to Best Buy tomorrow and try out a different cable (hopefully this will get me some kind of result). In any case, THANK YOU for your help - just knowing that you and others can do this motivates me to prove them wrong

**Darth Duane** · 12-02-2012, 05:48 PM

This is the cable I use:

**rayzryd266** · 12-02-2012, 06:20 PM

Originally Posted by Darth Duane

This is the cable I use:

looks exactly like the ones I have that I got through Amazon - perhaps the brands work differently....idk. I will try several in hopes that I will find the problem there. Thanks for the link

**bellken** · 12-03-2012, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by rayzryd266

I tried to find ''my files'' in Astro an I don't have it listed. Are you able to access the mount usb storage tab on your phone? Mine is grayed out and says unavailable above it. I think this is why I'm not able to see the drive

The trick seems to be plug your usb drive into the adapter 1st, then, plug the adapter into your phone.
If I try the adapter 1st, without the usb drive, I get the warning message. And, plugging my usb drive into the adapter, does not appear to do anything.

fwiw, this is adapter I am using - Amazon.com: SANOXY Micro USB Host Mode OTG Cable Flash Drive SD T-Flash Card Adapter FOR Samsung GT-i9100 i9100 Galaxy S II 2 GT-N7000 Galaxy Note: Cell Phones & Accessories

It takes a while to get it, but, for $0.82, it is a deal.

**jamdmyers** · 12-03-2012, 10:05 AM

There's my setup, You may want to ensure you have OTG specific cable (my local bbuy didn't have them I ordered one)
Note I use a Sony Mini/Mico adapter to make use of all the old micro/mini SD cards I have.. I can also plug the sony int my laptop to xfer files to it, much faster than wifi
I ordered these online, the package had the micro to usb and a micro to HMDI .

**rayzryd266** · 12-03-2012, 01:33 PM

Thanks guys - I ordered the one bellken suggested and wont get it till after Christmas :-(
The ones I have don't seem to work with this type of set up - so I will be taking one of them apart to see how it's wired (which may be the issue with it)

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Android Central Forums

**Wales Wideman** · 02-18-2013, 11:37 PM

They left this out so they can try to sell us on the flash drive size android computer

**bsnguy** · 03-21-2013, 02:06 PM

HTC still doesn't seem to support the full OTG features in Android. Yes, flash drives work (maybe keyboards/mice, too). But it will NOT support a generic device that I have written support for. This is stupid. HTC has been screwing up USB OTG/Host for years and nothing has changed. Samsung fully supports this for anybody who cares. The S2, S3 and Note II all work as does the Tab 7.2. I had hopes that HTC finally got it right, but they didn't.