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Thread ID: 121572	2011-11-01 06:43:00	Android question: Can it play media directly from the USB port?	BBCmicro (15761)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1241247	2011-11-03 05:59:00	Unfortunately not. There are adapters that you can get for some Tablets that allow you to plug any device into their Mini USB port. Others only allow things to be plugged in to their USB Host ports, and not their Micro USB ports... AFAIK there's no easy way to know.	Chilling_Silence (9)
1241248	2011-11-03 06:48:00	... only allow things to be plugged in to their USB Host ports, and not their Micro USB ports... I have a piece of hardware that has both host and device USB capabilities and the connectors are labelled. The connector labelled 'Host' is the Standard 'socket' that appears on desktop PCs. This is for connecting HDDs and other devices to play the media on them. The connector labelled 'Device' is the Mini USB type. It is the same as appears on older cameras and HDDs (but now mainly replaced by the micro version). This connector is for connecting to a PC and, when used, makes my piece of hardware into a 'device'. I can't plug a device into this connector, of course. This probably makes me correct in my original post. Certainly my Googling supports that interpretation. However in my Googling I discovered that Linux (and therefore Android which is based on Linux) might have adopted the reverse convention. ie, a 'host' connector on Linux hardware is one for connecting a host to eg a PC (Whereas the conventional 'Windows' interpretation is that a host connector is on a host) Unless someone convinces me otherwise I will stay with my interpretation that a 'device' port identifies a device and a 'host' port identifies a host.	BBCmicro (15761)
1241249	2011-11-03 06:55:00	However in my Googling I discovered that Linux (and therefore Android which is based on Linux) might have adopted the reverse convention. ie, a 'host' connector on Linux hardware is one for connecting a host to eg a PC (Whereas the conventional 'Windows' interpretation is that a host connector is on a host)Not quite - Linux uses the same convention in that regard; a host port is a port on the host, that you can plug other devices into. What may have you confused is that the Linux kernel also has the gadgets API, which allows it to act as a USB device. Depending on the hardware, and how the kernel is set up, it's completely possible to set up a Linux system that can be both, on the same port (albeit not at the same time). Note that the host / device terminology has nothing to do with the connector used - you can provide either, on any kind of USB plug - although convention (and standards) dictates that a USB A socket is always a host port, and a USB B socket is always a device port. Mini & micro can be pretty much anything, although they're usually device ports.	Erayd (23)
1241250	2011-11-03 07:07:00	... may have you confused is that the Linux kernel also has the gadgets API, which allows it to act as a USB device. Depending on the hardware, and how the kernel is set up, it's completely possible to set up a Linux system that can be both, on the same port (albeit not at the same time) That could explain why the reference I came across was so vague ... You've also given me an idea: perhaps my testing at Sony today didn't work because I/we didn't access the port correctly/use the right App?? I've no experience with Android or Linux	BBCmicro (15761)
1241251	2011-11-03 11:43:00	You've also given me an idea: perhaps my testing at Sony today didn't work because I/we didn't access the port correctly/use the right App?? I've no experience with Android or LinuxFor almost any android device you care to pick up, the micro-usb port is not a host-mode port, and won't work as such. It can be enabled on many devices, but requires an external power injector cable (because power isn't supplied to the port - many powered usb hubs can also do this job), and in most cases these devices also have host-mode USB disabled in the kernel configuration, so you'll need to recompile the kernel in order to enable it. This means you'll need to root your device. As a rule, devices that are capable of functioning in host-mode out of the box come with USB type A ports for this anyway. If yours doesn't, then it means a fair bit of effort to shoehorn it into doing the job, and it may not be capable of working this way at all. Note that you don't need an app to use host-mode USB; it's a built-in feature of the operating system.	Erayd (23)
1241252	2011-11-03 19:23:00	The Sony Tablet S does support USB Host via the MicroUSB Port, however I believe you need an adapter. No special software, you should just be able to plug in the likes of a thumbdrive and be away laughing! :)	Chilling_Silence (9)
1241253	2011-11-03 20:52:00	The Sony Tablet S does support USB Host via the MicroUSB Port, however I believe you need an adapter. No special software, you should just be able to plug in the likes of a thumbdrive and be away laughing! :)Excellent :). Definitely a bit strange that they didn't provide a standard type A port though; most tablets that support host-mode do.	Erayd (23)
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