card readers via miniUSB

[chesbrougha]

So the jackasses as samsung took one from the apple playbook and didn't include a microSD card slot. Does anyone know if the device will read microSD card readers via the miniUSB port? I would like to be able to carry around a card reader on the keychain with all my music, movies (side questions: what movie codecs can this device play??), pictures for when I need them.

 

[CallerHoller]

Is Verizon gunna carry the thumb drive adapter? A big thumb drive would work the same.

 

[anon(525422)]

I still haven't seen any reports of anyone actually confirming this, but by all assumptions... yes, the GN will support USB hosting, so you'll be able to read off an external thumb drive or card reader via the appropriate adapter.

I have an adapter en route and a mini card reader and spare cards at the ready, so this is my plan too.

 

[sandyj125]

what is the appropriate adapter?

 

[CynicX]

Pure Android does not support USB mass storage. You won't be able to plug in a USB drive and be able to read it from the phone.

There will be a root solution in no time just like in Honeycomb.

 

[Mr. Poppalopolis]

MicroSD cards are larger than MicroUSB ports, but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to use one. It would just stick out of the side of the phone. And you might need root to access the card even though ICS supports USB hosting.

 

[anon(525422)]

Pure Android does not support USB mass storage. You won't be able to plug in a USB drive and be able to read it from the phone.

Just to make sure I'm not getting my terms mixed up... I thought the lack of USB mass storage on the GN was a separate issue from USB hosting/OTG? (Related to the way the onboard storage was partitioned and accessed by other host devices, i.e. Macs, Windows, Linux machines.)


But yeah, not sure whether USB OTG is going to be available natively with the GN or require root + workaround. But I already have a couple of these tiny, fingernail-sized card readers at home:

Amazon.com: SanDisk SDDR-121-A11M MobileMate Micro Memory Card Reader (Red/Black): Electronics

and have one of these:

Micro USB Host Mode OTG Cable Flash Drive SD T-Flash Card Adapter

on the way, to accommodate either the reader or a thumb drive.

Like I said, no idea how simple it will be to get it running, but for $10 all-in I'm willing to take the risk and splurge.

 

[CynicX]

Yep, you can plug anything into and it will work for the most part (keyboards, mouse, game controllers etc) you can even plug in a flash drive and if it has a light on it will illuminate but you won't be able to go into a file manager app and look at, move, copy files on it. Rooting can get you passed that.

A problem with some USB hosting is the fact USB device are powered from the host so it will kill the battery faster. Worst case would be like a ps3 controller that charges via USB, essentially the phones battery power will be moved into the controller...lol

 

[CallerHoller]

how do you access files on a thumb drive then?

 

[Mr. Poppalopolis]

how do you access files on a thumb drive then?

It would probably be done through a file manager, but it might require root access to do so.

 

[anon(512898)]

how do you access files on a thumb drive then?

Some file managers on the market are capable of reading external storage

 

[CallerHoller]

It would probably be done through a file manager, but it might require root access to do so.

Does the Galaxy SII need root to browse a thumb drive?

 

[anon(512898)]

Does the Galaxy SII need root to browse a thumb drive?

Gingerbread does not have usb host capabilities, that was added in 3.1

 

[Mr. Poppalopolis]

Does the Galaxy SII need root to browse a thumb drive?

Pretty sure it does not. I would guess ICS does support it without root, but I don't want to say it works to find out later you need root or something.

Gingerbread does not have usb host capabilities, that was added in 3.1

The GSII supports reading USB drives though, as a feature of TouchWiz.