USB Host / OTG support?

**sprunka** · 10-28-2011, 11:33 PM

I know that a few phones and tablets (running GB and HC respectively) have USB Host aka USB OTG.
I know a few other phones have the hardware that should support it, but "stuff" doesn't. (Carriers blocked it, manuf. didn't include the native drivers, etc)

Does anyone at all know if The Galaxy Nexus will/won't/might/should/etc have it enabled and available at launch?

(Gods, I hope it works out of the box...)

**Blitzdroid** · 10-28-2011, 11:36 PM

Yes, it has been confirmed that Ice cream sandwich will have usb host support just like honeycomb.

So Galaxy Nexus will have it available at launch.

**Blitzdroid** · 10-28-2011, 11:42 PM

I already bought a micro usb otg host adapter so I can plug in usb drives and my ps3 controller to it.

**sprunka** · 10-28-2011, 11:48 PM

I've been hoping to use this ( ) since it was announced. I was soooo tempted to switch carriers and grab an SGS2, just to use this app...

**jerrod6** · 10-29-2011, 03:05 PM

I don't know much.

I have 2 Sandisk flash drives one 4Gig the other 8Gig.

Can I plug these into the phone (or use a cable with adaptor) and if I do will the phone recognize this as storage, so I could move data between them? I can do it between the drives and my PC, will this work with the GN?

**greydarrah** · 10-29-2011, 03:38 PM

Why do we want USB OTG? What is it...what does it do?

**jamesbrown33** · 10-29-2011, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by greydarrah

Why do we want USB OTG? What is it...what does it do?

It allows android to act as a usb host device, this means that you can plug other usb devices into it such as usb sticks, usb controllers, usb printers, ect. This makes our android devices function much more like a PC.

**Blitzdroid** · 10-29-2011, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by jerrod6

Can I plug these into the phone (or use a cable with adaptor) and if I do will the phone recognize this as storage, so I could move data between them? I can do it between the drives and my PC, will this work with the GN?

Yes, you can plug in your usb drives and transfer data between them. This feature is currently available in honeycomb tablets and will work in ice cream sandwich/ Android 4.0.

**Manny83** · 11-17-2011, 10:12 PM

Does anyone know if in addition to supporting USB Host through the MHL-capable micro USB port will we be able to daisy chain a micro USB to HDMI adapter and charge the phone at the same time as using a USB OTG adapter? I mean, a self-powered USB hub to connect flash drives and input devices, HDMI output provided by one adapter, and charging of the Nexus all through the micro USB port on the phone all at the same time. The cabling would look like a mess but the functionality that can be gained is pretty cool.

I would be even better if Samsung offered a compatible dock that gets all those connections through the tiny dots on the side of the phone.

**Yadao** · 11-17-2011, 10:29 PM

I don't think that's possible. MHL is completely separate from the USB OTG functions of the connector. It basically recognizes when an MHL cable is connected and switches to MHL mode.

**Jdm4292** · 11-17-2011, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by Manny83

Does anyone know if in addition to supporting USB Host through the MHL-capable micro USB port will we be able to daisy chain a micro USB to HDMI adapter and charge the phone at the same time as using a USB OTG adapter? I mean, a self-powered USB hub to connect flash drives and input devices, HDMI output provided by one adapter, and charging of the Nexus all through the micro USB port on the phone all at the same time. The cabling would look like a mess but the functionality that can be gained is pretty cool.

I would be even better if Samsung offered a compatible dock that gets all those connections through the tiny dots on the side of the phone.

Maybe you can work that out with some hot wires and those copper contacts on the side B-)

Sent from my ADR6400L

**Manny83** · 11-17-2011, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by Yadao

I don't think that's possible. MHL is completely separate from the USB OTG functions of the connector. It basically recognizes when an MHL cable is connected and switches to MHL mode.

Good to know. The guy in this video around 15:17 mentions what you just said, but about a Galaxy Note.

I guess having a bluetooth controller and HDMI out while charging is enough to make it a nice console-like experience. Can even be paired with something like this for big screen netflix watching without a computer.

Initially I thought I could just connect an external USB harddrive full of movies and play them back on the big screen using HDMI at the same time but that will have to be done connecting the hard drive through a NAS and streaming over wifi. But that's one of the few unlikely situations where such functionality would be useful. Not a huge deal.

To think of it Motorola managed to include USB ports and HDMI on their dock because the ports are not MHL but separate ports. That's what got me thinking of this setup but I realized that.

**Manny83** · 11-17-2011, 11:39 PM

I was just thinking (probably waaaay too much) about the possibilities that USB OTG brings to phones that have limited internal storage.

Say the Nexus with no MicroSD slot. You buy this "custom case" that has a tiny MicroUSB passthrough cable of the ribbon/flat type with a built in 64GB flash drive strapped to the back of the phone. The cable would somehow still let you use your micro USB port for charging and other uses as long as the chipset doesn't shutoff any USB functionality due to a flash drive being plugged in all the time. I know it sounds crazy but they also have cases for the iphone that have a slideout keyboard and they have battery-type cases so it's not too far fetched. Patent Pending! LOL

**CynicX** · 11-18-2011, 10:25 AM

Just to be clear here it will support USB hosting but not USB mass storage just like Honeycomb. Rooting is a solution for Honeycomb with mass storage and I'm sure it will be with ICS.

Game controllers, mouse, keyboard, etc etc all work great with hc.

**Manny83** · 11-18-2011, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by CynicX

Just to be clear here it will support USB hosting but not USB mass storage just like Honeycomb. Rooting is a solution for Honeycomb with mass storage and I'm sure it will be with ICS.

Game controllers, mouse, keyboard, etc etc all work great with hc.

I havent used honeycomb. That's good to know. Thanks!

**bigcatman** · 12-28-2011, 02:37 PM

I just got my USB OTG cable. It is ing awesome by the way. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out a way that I can charge the phone while using a USB device (USB Controller to be specific). I'm absolutely scratching my brain trying to figure out how to do this. Does anyone have any ideas?

I thought about using a Y connector (one USB male and two USB females on the end), connecting the controller into one female and...what about the other one? How would I supply a charge to it?

**BSG75** · 12-28-2011, 03:48 PM

It would be nice if you could plug your ICS device into a car USB and get music controls like the iPhone has. To me that seems like one of the biggest commercial uses for this technology.