[Q] USB OTG - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I saw a lot of videos on the internet talking about the SGS III's ability for OTG USB connections and I decided to try them out. While I was able to run a PSX Controller, a wireless keyboard and a mousewith the cable, I was able to get it to detect only a 4 GB pendrive and only in FAT32 format. It outright refused to detect my HDD of 160GB and 500GB {both NTFS} or my 8GB microSD card which I put in through a card reader. Now, most sites I've seen using the OTG feature use the 2nd cable I've posted as an attachment. I know this is an absurd longshot, but is there anyway that my using the cable in the 1st attachment instead of the second a reason for why it isn't working for me? If not, what am I doing wrong?

No, the cable is just fine if it works for some devices. Most generic ones just work fine.
The actual reasons are multiple:
NTFS is not supported by the stock kernel. Flash e.g. the aftermarket Siyahkernel to use the devices
Card readers need drivers, they are not "real" mass storage devices. I'm not sure if and which drivers are included in the kernel.
USB 2.5" HDD's without external power supplies need a HUGE amount of power, often even above the specified 500mAh. I don't think the S3 can provide that much power and you may damage it trying or even if it works (Altough I think it has a limiter, but better safe than sorry)

d4fseeker said:
No, the cable is just fine if it works for some devices. Most generic ones just work fine.
The actual reasons are multiple:
NTFS is not supported by the stock kernel. Flash e.g. the aftermarket Siyahkernel to use the devices
Card readers need drivers, they are not "real" mass storage devices. I'm not sure if and which drivers are included in the kernel.
USB 2.5" HDD's without external power supplies need a HUGE amount of power, often even above the specified 500mAh. I don't think the S3 can provide that much power and you may damage it trying or even if it works (Altough I think it has a limiter, but better safe than sorry)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank God. I thought I screwed up the device somehow. I understand. I merely wanted to see whether or not I have support. I highly doubt I'll do anything beyond actually playing using the PSX Controller, but I wanted to know how far it can go. Just one more question. Flashing an aftermarket kernel means data loss right?

Depends. You usually have (or at least are strongly recommended to) factory-reset the device due to the low-level changes between the ROM's which can and will cause issues.
However that is not really an issue;
Just copy your whole internal sdcard (/mnt/sdcard) to an USB stick and do the same with your Apps through Titanium Backup.
Then restore both again after having flashed the custom ROM and you're up and running without data loss.
You'll need root for Titanium Backup tough, just flash Siyahkernel or CF-Root through Odin to gain the privilege.

Related

[Q] HDDs that work with Galaxy Tab 10.1?

My current portable hard drive apparently uses too much power for the galaxy tab.
Are there any 500gig + hard drives that use the same power as a thumb drive or is this just wishful thinking?
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
You will have to use an USB Hub with power supply. All spinning HDD's require much more power than the tablet is supplying.
I know it is not cheap, but you can today buy 128GB USB flash drives - they will work well and store also a lot of HD movies!
i am curious how you are connection your HD to the tab? if you are usign the usb host usb adapter, the little paper that came with it supports up to 32gb fat32 drives. i dont know if thats true or not, but if it is, you wont even be able to use a 128 usb flash drive as previously suggested.
i can confirm that a 32gb fat32 usb flash drive works, used with my sandisk cruiser 32
For portability the Seagate wireless drive would work.
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Satellite-Wireless-Storage-STBF500101-Black/dp/B004Z0S7K6
Using a powered hub will work just fine with portable hard drives. I have a 500GB Seagate that works very well
The USB 2.0 spec can only handle supplying 100mA x 5. So 500mA draw us the max it can supply to any drive. I don't know of any drives that are that low, might as well use a flash drive or SD card.
cleblanc92 said:
The USB 2.0 spec can only handle supplying 100mA x 5. So 500mA draw us the max it can supply to any drive. I don't know of any drives that are that low, might as well use a flash drive or SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hosts are actually not required to supply 500 mA even. They are required to supply 100, and may negotiate up to 500 during device enumeration.
PCs that don't support 500 are extremely rare, but mobile devices with OTG are a different story - many are limited to 100. This seems to include our device.
2.5" spinning hard drives that use less than 500 can be found. Less than 100 is not possible.
As to the 32GB limit - I have no idea why that's in the flyer, other than maybe the fact that it's VERY rare to see drives above this size formatted as FAT since Windows refuses to format drives of this size as FAT.
I have a 120GB WD external drive that works fine on my netbook (single USB port cable) I'll have to pick up a USB adapter and try it.
IIRC as the size (GB) of the drive goes up so does it's power draw.
Has anybody tried a 1.8" drive from an MP3 player?
Power consumption
Start 1.8W (max.)
Seek 0.9W (typ.)
Read/Write 0.8W (typ.)
Low power Idle 0.3W (typ.)
Stand-by 0.1W (typ.)
Though I suppose this Thread is kinda dead...I'd still like to know if there is a way to connect harddrives bigger than 32GB (and to format a Fat32 driver bigger than 32GB). Wish to stream media from my tablet to the PS3 and other players via Skifta...but I don't want to buy harddrives randomly, hoping they will work.
Tried with different USB Drives I have at home, but none works (well, NTFS of course).
Has anyone tried a bigger driver via powered USB Hub yet?
Or 64GB Sticks etc?
Cheers,
J.
i use a samsung hd 750 GB via powered hub, works great.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Sounds awesome! So, I suppose any powered hub works. Did you format the HD in any specific way or by the help of some fancy software (just wondering as I think Fat32 cannot be formatted under Win7 if the harddisk exceeded size x) ?
Thanks
hoodie said:
Though I suppose this Thread is kinda dead...I'd still like to know if there is a way to connect harddrives bigger than 32GB (and to format a Fat32 driver bigger than 32GB). Wish to stream media from my tablet to the PS3 and other players via Skifta...but I don't want to buy harddrives randomly, hoping they will work.
Tried with different USB Drives I have at home, but none works (well, NTFS of course).
Has anyone tried a bigger driver via powered USB Hub yet?
Or 64GB Sticks etc?
Cheers,
J.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your tab is rooted you can get "usb mass storage otg" from the market which support your ntfs formatted drives no need for fat 32 crap anymore!
achaayan said:
If your tab is rooted you can get "usb mass storage otg" from the market which support your ntfs formatted drives no need for fat 32 crap anymore!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
would you mind to sharing the apk with us ? as i tried to install from market an said that my device not compatible. thank you very much in advance.
almith said:
Hi,
would you mind to sharing the apk with us ? as i tried to install from market an said that my device not compatible. thank you very much in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am kindae new to androids. Since i installed the app from the maket where on my phone can i find the apk file?
Sent from my GT-P7500 using Tapatalk
achaayan said:
I am kindae new to androids. Since i installed the app from the maket where on my phone can i find the apk file?
Edit:think i figured how to go around. Find attaches the. Apk file. I found a few seconds delay while first opening. Also sometimes i had to reopen the app to allow root acces.because it didnt ask for root access on first run. Apart from the first run, its a breeze afterwords
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
achaayan said:
achaayan said:
I am kindae new to androids. Since i installed the app from the maket where on my phone can i find the apk file?
Edit:think i figured how to go around. Find attaches the. Apk file. I found a few seconds delay while first opening. Also sometimes i had to reopen the app to allow root acces.because it didnt ask for root access on first run. Apart from the first run, its a breeze afterwords
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very kind of you, thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's true, you actually have to format your 500GB drive as FAT32 to get it working?
I guess this means no HD movies (files bigger than 4 GB) right?
i plug in the lod fashioned 3.5hdd externally powered and ntfs formatted,
not able to connect 2.5hdds yet. if anyone was successful,what is powered usb hub used, i was not able to connect using a local brand of powered usb hub.
---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 AM ----------
mlhdk said:
i use a samsung hd 750 GB via powered hub, works great.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you use a 2.5" hdd. what is the usb hub that you used ?

[Q] USB OTG Portable Hard Drive Size Limit?

Hi All,
Was about to buy a portable hard drive with the intention of dedicating it to my phone for films, music, N64 & PS1 roms etc. Then I wondered... is there a size limit to how big a drive the S3 can index?
As I had noticed a couple of threads (below) where people had issues with 1TB drives.
It works fine with my portable 500gb drive (coincidently it's made by Samsung, irrelevant I know!) which is a few gb away from being filled. Would it work as smoothly with a full 1tb drive or full 2tb drive?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1761489
&
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1720039
Thanks
Lowyo
Android's kernel is based on (and since Linux 3.4 vastly identic to) Linux.
That kernel runs on supercomputers with Petabytes of disk capacity and fileservers with dozens of disk (e.g. like this one)
So no, Android doesn't have size limitations [*]. Filesystems however do, and some implementations (including the extFat filesystem support on Samsung firmware) are flaky.
1TB drives need a lot of power to spin up and keep running, maybe the power is not sufficient. Maybe the owner did something wrong, ...
It works well with 2TB 3.5" hard disks with external power supply, so no worry.
[*] Well... there are limits. But none you need to worry about
Ok... I think I understand!
The indexing won't be an issue, but sufficient power for the drive may be?
I would prefer to have a portable drive just for ease of use, having no need for a socket. So is there a way of knowing how much power a drive would need and whether the S3 would be able to emit that amount?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Unfortunately it's trial and error. USB-OTG is not specified like normal USB for e.g. 500mAH, but only for a list of supported devices.
Most normal-sized disks should work altough I'm still not sure if such huge battery drains (especially during disk spin-up) may not cause long-term issues with the phone. The spinup power may well exceed the phone's total power consumption when under active usage.
Thanks for your help.
I guess an external drive could never go to waste! So I'll trial it like you suggested
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

Does the MediaPad support USB OTG?

Hi,
I've googled this question and it seems that it does. However, I'm plugging a USB flash drive (Sandisk Cruzer 1GB) into the device and nothing seems to be happening.
Yes it does.
Did you buy a USB OTG cable? And did you check within a file explorer of your choice (I'm using EStrongs) whether you get the USB storage as a new directory? I unfortunately neither do carry the USB OTG cable nor a USB stick with me so I can't tell you the exact directory name.
goister said:
Hi,
I've googled this question and it seems that it does. However, I'm plugging a USB flash drive (Sandisk Cruzer 1GB) into the device and nothing seems to be happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works with my firmware mod C232B005 and the new kernel-3.0.42.
I just tested that with some video from a 8Gb USB pen drive.
You need a mini USB-B to USB-A adapter/connector.
I'm using build number S7-301uV100R002C232B005, Android version 4.0.3, kernel version 3.0.8
I bought a USB OTG cable, don't have a file explorer but alogcat didn't show any activity when I plugged the drive in.
Works fine on mine. It was even working in HC3.2 rom. Keyboard, mouse, pendrives and usb card readers ( used to read my cybershot's card) works fine. But have to tap 'mount usb storage' several times to access my other phone's (HTC wildfire) SD card over usb.
Sent from my HUAWEI MediaPad using XDA Premium HD app
is your usb flash formatted on FAT32?
OTG works fine even on stock rom. Tested with various USB flash drives and card readers/SD cards of various sizes. Also have played numerous media using the OTG too. I think format should be FAT/FAT32.
One thing that didn't work was an external hard drive (500gb). Maybe it needs its own power for it to mount on the mediapad though I haven't tried formatting it to FAT/FAT32 yet as its my backup drive.
Sent from my HUAWEI MediaPad using Tapatalk 2
ferdz33 said:
OTG works fine even on stock rom. Tested with various USB flash drives and card readers/SD cards of various sizes. Also have played numerous media using the OTG too. I think format should be FAT/FAT32.
One thing that didn't work was an external hard drive (500gb). Maybe it needs its own power for it to mount on the mediapad though I haven't tried formatting it to FAT/FAT32 yet as its my backup drive.
Sent from my HUAWEI MediaPad using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been an issue with Android USB OTG since the beginning. Flash drives, mice, and keyboards will work fine by themselves, but anything that requires a little more juice like spinning platter drives needs to be run through a powered USB hub. As for drive format, only FAT/FAT32 is supported. However, some custom kernels have allowed for NTFS file support.
As a side note, I can also confirm that USB 3.0 drives work with the OTG cable. (Patriot Supersonic Express 32GB tested)
isolated_epidemic said:
This has been an issue with Android USB OTG since the beginning. Flash drives, mice, and keyboards will work fine by themselves, but anything that requires a little more juice like spinning platter drives needs to be run through a powered USB hub. As for drive format, only FAT/FAT32 is supported. However, some custom kernels have allowed for NTFS file support.
As a side note, I can also confirm that USB 3.0 drives work with the OTG cable. (Patriot Supersonic Express 32GB tested)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already had an inclination that this should be the case but was not able to confirm as I don't have any external HDD with its own power nor do I have a powered USB hub. Thanks again for providing this explanation.
other usb devices?
Does anybody know if the OTG support on the springboard goes beyond OS/file system support, and allows for third party android apps to connect to usb devices?
an example would be the DSLR Controller android app or Remote Release android app being able to see/control a Canon DSLR...
thanks
tsenecal said:
Does anybody know if the OTG support on the springboard goes beyond OS/file system support, and allows for third party android apps to connect to usb devices?
an example would be the DSLR Controller android app or Remote Release android app being able to see/control a Canon DSLR...
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried both apps with my Rebel XSi/450D and had no luck with the OTG cable. Neither app recognizes that the camera is plugged into the tablet. I'm running HWMODs ROM with the MediaPad EX kernel. The last time I tried the app was with my Asus Transformer TF101, and it worked great (no OTG needed though).
Camera also doesn't mount as usb device for file transfers when plugged in.
---------- Post added at 10:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 AM ----------
441Excelsior said:
is your usb flash formatted on FAT32?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FAT32 works perfectly with OTG cable. However, I can confirm that NTFS works just fine also. Not sure if it's built into the stock ROM but it works for me running HWMODs ROM and the MediaPad EX kernel.
Remote control works perfectly fine with my 550D over OTG cable. USB FAT32 sticks works fine as well. Don't remember about NTFS. DO NOT connect exFAT drives, as Huawei ROMs kills exFAT partitions! And I wasn't able to recover them. It won't recognize my card reader though...
hwmod said:
Works with my firmware mod C232B005 and the new kernel-3.0.42.
I just tested that with some video from a 8Gb USB pen drive.
You need a mini USB-B to USB-A adapter/connector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi i have just bought a huawei mediapad t1-8.0 and i change it to russian firmware-rooted with towellroot-installed with estrong but i cant see any usb device when i plug in my usb with usb otg cable. anything missing in my component to make it work? tnx for add in your rlpy.
I am not that skilled IT wise I wrongly assumed that my OTG device was a plug and go! Now I am stumped I had hoped to turn my Huawei T5 pad as A TV in my camper. 12v TV's are to expensive as I am retired on a limited income. Is there an easy fix in IT speak that may work for me???

[Q] Question regarding XTZ

Hello everyone,
I wanted to get your oppinion on buying a version of the XTZ because I can't decide.
By now I am thinking between the 32GB only version and the 16GB LTE version. I know the price difference so that's precisely why I want to make the best choice.
I still have a question to which I didn't find the answer ...
- does the XTZ read information from external USB 3.0 HDD's or there is a limitation of Android or of the tablet version?
I have two external 1 GB WD that i want to use ...
To surf the internet I don't mind making a hotspot with the smartphone.
Please advise.
pralycd said:
Hello everyone,
I wanted to get your oppinion on buying a version of the XTZ because I can't decide.
By now I am thinking between the 32GB only version and the 16GB LTE version. I know the price difference so that's precisely why I want to make the best choice.
I still have a question to which I didn't find the answer ...
- does the XTZ read information from external USB 3.0 HDD's or there is a limitation of Android or of the tablet version?
I have two external 1 GB WD that i want to use ...
To surf the internet I don't mind making a hotspot with the smartphone.
Please advise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really depends if the XTZ will read external hard drives, USB 3.0 itself shouldn't be a problem.
1) How is the hard drive formatted?
Is it FAT32 or exFAT (Wifi version only) you're good to go. NTFS won't work.
2) Does it have external power support?
If not, it really depends if the XTZ USB port via OTG can provide enough power to run the hard drive. I have tested 2 hard drives so far (without any external power support) and the XTZ couldn't run either of them. But I have heard from several users that they actually made certain external hard drives work via OTG. It is really kind of a gamble if the XTZ can make your hard drives work and I wouldn't rely on it, there is no oother way around it to just test it out but I'd say the odds aren't great.
If it has external power support it should be no problem as long as the format is okay (check 1)).
mattforchi said:
It really depends if the XTZ will read external hard drives, USB 3.0 itself shouldn't be a problem.
1) How is the hard drive formatted?
Is it FAT32 or exFAT (Wifi version only) you're good to go. NTFS won't work.
2) Does it have external power support?
If not, it really depends if the XTZ USB port via OTG can provide enough power to run the hard drive. I have tested 2 hard drives so far (without any external power support) and the XTZ couldn't run either of them. But I have heard from several users that they actually made certain external hard drives work via OTG. It is really kind of a gamble if the XTZ can make your hard drives work and I wouldn't rely on it, there is no oother way around it to just test it out but I'd say the odds aren't great.
If it has external power support it should be no problem as long as the format is okay (check 1)).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much. I checked and my two External HDD's can be formated to exFAT in Win8.
The only problem (and quite a big one actually) is represented by the power provided through la USB port on the XTZ.
I saw on the thread that you started that a few users in Germany managed to power a few External HDD's without external power support.
Can you please ask what kind of HDD's thay used? Make and model pls?
Thank you.
pralycd said:
Thank you very much. I checked and my two External HDD's can be formated to exFAT in Win8.
The only problem (and quite a big one actually) is represented by the power provided through la USB port on the XTZ.
I saw on the thread that you started that a few users in Germany managed to power a few External HDD's without external power support.
Can you please ask what kind of HDD's thay used? Make and model pls?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure I will try to contact them, it was in a forum I don't visit that frequently though so I don't know how fast they will reply. I'll get back to you as soon as I know more.
Gesendet von meinem SGP311 mit Tapatalk 2
pralycd said:
Can you please ask what kind of HDD's thay used? Make and model pls?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've contacted the guy and he told me he was using a 3 year old, 500GB Seagate HDD but hasn't answered my question which exact model it was.

[Q] OTG supported file systems on the Z3TC?

Hi,
does anyone know which file systems are supported by the OTG feature? Am able to read/write just fine on a FAT32 USB stick, but an external HDD that is allegedly formatted with NTFS isn't recognized. I thought I read somehwere that NTFS is supported on most newer devices... I'd assume the Z3TC qualifies as "newer"
i at least can confirm that exfat is working. so large files may be stored on it. ext3 is not. haven't tried anything else yet. i never use ntfs for anything. this fs is too bad.
a user said:
i never use ntfs for anything. this fs is too bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get this conclusion about NTFS?
If you just mean that NTFS is not optimised for USB flash disks, then I agree.
_jis_ said:
How did you get this conclusion about NTFS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
20 years of experience and knowledge.
If you just mean that NTFS is not optimised for USB flash disks, then I agree.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no. it's at the bottom end of modern filesystems if not the worst. ntfs is broken by so many ways... and its performance sucks too.
microsoft pumped also full with features that actually never were really used but caused various problems and security isses so they had to disable them, while actually they only removed the tools to access them (well, maybe meanwhile they removed some of them). one of the most stupid, broken and security-wise dangerous "features" were the filechannels, which actually ended in the space of unneeded bull****.
but ntfs disaster is nothing uncommon, it's like everything MS produced (where most top products actually were bought from others and "enhanced" by microsoft).
but we are getting oftopic. sorry.
It is very strange; the same hard disk worked fine on my Nexus 7 with StickMount. Not sure if the software that comes with the Z3 is the problem - but of course the Z3TC is not rooted (yet), so StickMount is not currently an option.
Sony Xperia Z3 USB OTG
I can confirm that with the Nexus Media Importer app, the Sony Xperia Z3 (the smartphone) can read & write to NTFS file systems. I have a USB OTG "Y" cable (a female micro USB port for extra power). Without the paid app though, the Z3 can only read exFAT and FAT32 file systems, stating the NTFS as an "unsupported file system". As an added bonus, the smartphone is able to charge itself if you charge it by the magnetic port! I have a Deff magnectic adapter. Another device that can power an external USB OTG device while charging itself is my Google Nexus 5 with a special USB OTG "Y" adapter.
thanks for the info charging via magnetic while having OTG connected!
size of your HD
Hi anyone of here.what's the size of your hard drive and the brand? I have a seagate 500gb and would like to upgrade to 2tbm seagate backup plus and i wonder if this would work without external power suppor. My 500gb seagate works fine without any external support. Also my Z3 phone can load the 500gb hard drive without issues. I just want to know before ordering the hard drive. I would be using this to watch movies while traveling so a hard drive should be able to load with no need for external support,
Size doesn't matter...in general
It solely depends on the power consumption of the HDD which is not (necessarily) dependent on it's size. Most important is the current your drive needs to spin up when the device is turned on. You probably won't find the current requirement on the HDD itself - only the current needed when running. Spin up power may be higher and if it's too high, your USB-SATA will probably not "light up" at all or constantly restart.
Short: Try to find Datasheets for your old and new HDD and compare spin up current if available or continue to hope for someone having tried the same HDD.
sandrap said:
Size doesn't matter...in general
It solely depends on the power consumption of the HDD which is not (necessarily) dependent on it's size. Most important is the current your drive needs to spin up when the device is turned on. You probably won't find the current requirement on the HDD itself - only the current needed when running. Spin up power may be higher and if it's too high, your USB-SATA will probably not "light up" at all or constantly restart.
Short: Try to find Datasheets for your old and new HDD and compare spin up current if available or continue to hope for someone having tried the same HDD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick update ; bought 1.5tb because it was on sale and both z3 tab and z3 powering it with no problems
Sent from my SGP621 using XDA Free mobile app
a user said:
20 years of experience and knowledge.
no. it's at the bottom end of modern filesystems if not the worst. ntfs is broken by so many ways... and its performance sucks too.
microsoft pumped also full with features that actually never were really used but caused various problems and security isses so they had to disable them, while actually they only removed the tools to access them (well, maybe meanwhile they removed some of them). one of the most stupid, broken and security-wise dangerous "features" were the filechannels, which actually ended in the space of unneeded bull****.
but ntfs disaster is nothing uncommon, it's like everything MS produced (where most top products actually were bought from others and "enhanced" by microsoft).
but we are getting oftopic. sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if NTFS is that bad, what do you use and why?
Sent from my SGP621 using XDA Free mobile app

Categories

Resources