Able to Use External USB Devices

dhedrick

Active member
Apr 9, 2010
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I know you can use external hard drives, keyboards, etc. on the GSIII - can you do the same on the Nexus7? Not having a microSD slot is an issue for me, but I would survive if it would be possible to connect an external HDD (movies, etc.)

Thanks!
 
Yeah, I have to think that the Dev community is going to be all over this thing.
 
Never thought about this but it'd be nice to hook up an external HD to my GN lol
 
So theoretically, using that Amazon host cable, I should be able to plug my portable harddrive into the tablet, and access my pictures, music, and movies on the device then? Because that would be nice...basically using my portable harddrive as an alternative, "giant" sd card.
 
Per the Nexus 7 Guide book it looks like the USB host is active so yes it will work with keyboards and mice. It may require the app to mount a storage device though.

http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/support-kms-prod/SNP_2670257_en_v0

"Connect to keyboards, mice, & other devices
You can connect a keyboard, mouse, or even a joystick or other
input device to your tablet via usb or bluetooth and use it just as
you would with a PC.
You may need an adapter to connect the keyboard or other device
to your tablet?s USB port. To connect more than one USB device
at a time, use a powered usb hub to reduce the drain on your tablet?s battery.
You pair and connect bluetooth input devices to your tablet in the
same way as any other bluetooth device."
 
Didn't see this thread before I started the USB-OTG one, sorry. Mods if you want to delete my post on USB-OTG, no problem.
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU1912490

I read up on this today and alot of people report that you can use this host cable and it works on most tablets. There was no mention of using any app to get this to work.


This is just a cable, male-microUSB to female-USB, and has nothing to do with host mode. This cannot over ride what the OS doesn't have.

This will be needed for usb-2-ethernet, usb keyboards/mice etc. but cannot mount storage devices. You can plug them in, sure, but if the OS doesn't recognize the device it won't do any good.

This link has been posted before: AnandTech - Google Nexus 7 and Android 4.1 - Mini Review

Read the end on the OTG and the part about supporting storage "natively".
 
The reason google have blocked OTG flash devices to to persuade you to use the cloud. :)
 
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I just used part of my $25 Google Play credit to get the 'Nexus media importer' app. It works as advertised. OTG cable, 32gig microSD card, and a usb card reader- and I was able to stream my .mp4 movies to my unrooted Nexus 7. The app wont let you write to the sd card, but you can import pictures, songs, and videos to the tablet.
 
I use it and I like it



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What about movies? can you see them? How's the quality?

Quality of movies is fine its like playing them of a sd card. I played a NFL game in 720p fine not one problem and sound and picture was all in sync.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums
 
I use a Seagate goflex satellite so I can share 500 GB of movies between my Nexus 7, wife's ipad, and kids ipod touch all concurrently streaming hd.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2