[Discussion] Working OTG Devices

nFiniti · Jan 26, 2013

***EDIT***
USB Host DOES work with Flash Drives. For information see post 3: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=37201971#post37201971

This is now my main focus. So I figure why not everyone post up what devices they got to work with the Kindle Fire 2 and/or what methods it took for you to do so.

3x Different Flash Drives: Not Working However one of their LED's Illuminate
USB Keyboard: Not Working
Logitech M570 Wireless Trackball: Working

I also tried a non powered hub, it didn't work. The Green LED Illuminated but nothing more. When connected to my Galaxy S 3 I can have multiple devices attached at a time. I tore the Hub down and found that it has a blank slot for power. I wired soldered in a 0.75a Samsung Wired Charger to it. It Illuminated the LED, As well as it illuminated the Power LED in Orange on the Kindle but no devices worked on the Hub. I tested the power output of the USB Ports and it was a little more than 5v per port.

Device: Kindle Fire 2
Rooted and TWRP'ed with the Nightly of CM10.1 1-20-2013

Will keep trying. As stated in another thread, that its simply power. After testing these things out, I don't think its power related. Either the kindle just doesn't have the "Drivers" if thats what you'd call it, or it simply can not run anything but a mouse. I hope that is not the case. It will ruin all appeal in my eyes.

plinders · Jan 26, 2013

If you're rooted, have you tried installing StickMount?
Might work for the flash drives.

nFiniti · Jan 26, 2013

I tried, Stickmount tries. You can tell its trying to work something out. So more tests with a cut up usb cable on the OTG cable does in fact show there is a voltage issue. My Galaxy puts out perfect 5v. The Kindle puts out around 2.5v. I tried making another OTG cable but failed. I guess its just not getting connection to the extra pin. So I have a USB Extension I'm gonna split open and power it. So I don't have to hack up my only working OTG.

The main issue I'm having with this is, my current power unit is a measly 0.75a. And It charges the device. So I figure there will still be a voltage issue due to the device charging. So I could cut the red wire going to the device for now. But not sure if the device will realize this somehow and just not work. Thoughts? I've seen this done before when someone made themselves a powered OTG Hub system out of a couple USB Cables.

I'll continue till I'm too tired to think hehe.

***Edit***
Ok couple hours later.... lol I had a USB Extension, I cleanly just slit it down the m iddle and soldered in the two power wires from a samsung micro usb charger. The Power is 5v at 0.75a. So its not much. I know it wouldn't charge my nexus nor Galaxy Tab, but it charges the Kindle, or at least the kindle says it is. I doubt it really is. Anyway I soldered it in, cleaned up the surgery started some testing on my phone first. I connected a Micro USB cable to one end and then the other to my phone, and then the Kindle. It charges, or again says it is (*kindle might require more amperage). So Next I connect the OTG Cable to the other end and connect it to my phone, It charges through the OTG Cable. Next the Kindle, it does not charge the kindle. Possible amperage requirements, I don't know yet.

So onto the test without StickMount, Failure. It acts the same.

Test with StickMount, Well I'll let this screen shot explain most of it:

It worked! StickMount notification pops up and I found the flash drive in the current location. Inside the SD Card under a folder called /usbstorage/sda1/. Not exactly my first choice, not sure if this can be changed to go into mnt or somewhere else. The Device itself doesn't notice the flash drive. So if you go into System/Storage, it does not show the flash drive. But it is fully functional. I accessed some files without any issues.

So my final consensus: The Kindle Fire 2 currently has OTG/USB Host Capabilities. From the USB Host Diagnostics I ran, its fully functional. However the main issue is Power. The second issue is the device on the most current (1/20/2013 CM10.1 Nightly) rom doesn't have the proper... I don't know the right wording for it, but lets say drivers since I'm a pc guy. I'm sure with more development, it can control any device with the only issue being power related. This takes away from the meaning of "On The Go". Having some sort of 5v power source connected to your device while your trying to use a hard drive or something else is going to be a pain in the ass for most people. For me it really does not matter since the device is going to be setup in my car for media sourcing as well as game play. So a 32gb flash drive and a Xbox 360 controller is all I will be using.

I will be doing more testing with multiple devices but it is 4am right now. One more thing, Bluetooth abilities are possible with a cheap dongle. However for some reason the Kindle recognizes it as a physical keyboard. I have tested this on other devices in the past so I believe it is possible with some more development. But that's far in the future and still of course require additional power.

Goodnight guys.

tjmack3rd · Jan 26, 2013

I have 3 different thumb drives.
Sony 4GB = does not work
SanDisk cruzer slide 16GB = does not work
SanDisk cruzer 8GB = Works
The regular cruzer is probably 5+ years old. I have access to others and will update my post when I get them.
I'm on PowerPoint45 cm 10.1 using chainfires stickmount.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

nFiniti · Jan 26, 2013

Nice. The regular flash prob requires less power. I noticed one of mine which was larger almost worked. But would shut off prob to not enough power. But a newer one wouldn't light up at all.

Plans for today: To re build that USB Hub I was messing with last night. I desoldered the USB cable off of it to solder in a Micro USB, But I don't remember if it worked. I then tried to turn it into an OTG direct 4port hub but nothing happened. So I'm sure I screwed something up. But the initial results should be a powered, 4port Micro USB OTG Hub. I just hope I have enough juice to make it work for not only charging the Kindle but powering the devices on the hub. I have a Galaxy Tab Official 2.0a car charger I can try out. I want to be able to have at the least, a 32gb Flash Drive and a 360 Gaming Controller.

nFiniti · Jan 27, 2013

Well I got some done today. I found an old phone charger that was 1a. I finally just used my OTG Cable and soldered it in place of the std usb connector on a cheap USB Hub. I'm sure everyone has the same hub I'm using, I have two, one says Microsoft on it, the other says AMD but they are super cheap and are given out everywhere you go:

Its a non powered USB hub, however when opened up there is a bare spot for a power connector. Middle pin is 5v + and the two around it are common Ground -.

Don't be strayed by my crap solder work. I'm using a cheap harbor freight soldering iron and the new charger has very thick wire so it didn't really fit in the small holes. The ground is just directly connected to everything else thats ground related so I grounded it there. That way the two wires aren't soo close together.

I have now successfully tested 3 flash drives, NTFS, Fat32 and some strange Fat32 drive plus my Trackball. As well as this I have successfully charged my Galaxy SIII off of the hub. I wouldn't exactly recommend this unless your running like a legit 2a charger. I only did it to test out power requirements. I think either my cable is damaged too or I'm at the limit of power the small 1a can handle because every once in a while the hub shuts off. I think its just cable related.

Here is everything connected as you can see.

However the tablet it self is not charging. At least the icon on the notification bar doesn't say so. I have tested the voltage here and its 5v. But IDK? Maybe the Kindle wont allow it? BUT, with all my testing, the battery has stayed at 88%. I'm gonna try to kill it some more. Maybe with some transferring files between drives.

lol As I'm typing this, I sit down for a second with the tablet on the carpet floor and just stare at it. I've noticed that some reason the led turns off and on at random times. But I've never seen it say its charging. Well the screen just dimmed but didn't shut off so I get up to check real fast and when I turn it on, it says 88% - Charging! But then instantly goes back to 88% - Not Charging when the screen lights up. And there it goes again (Please bare with me as I'm doing this all this very second.) Looks like it just needs some more amperage. 1a is not enough to power everything and charge the device.

I was worried that the kindle wasn't going to support Charging OTG. Well I happen to have a spare 2a Galaxy Tablet charger and no Galaxy Tab....

I'll try it out and get back to you guys!

iytrix · Jan 28, 2013

nFiniti said:
Well I got some done today. I found an old phone charger that was 1a. I finally just used my OTG Cable and soldered it in place of the std usb connector on a cheap USB Hub. I'm sure everyone has the same hub I'm using, I have two, one says Microsoft on it, the other says AMD but they are super cheap and are given out everywhere you go:

Its a non powered USB hub, however when opened up there is a bare spot for a power connector. Middle pin is 5v + and the two around it are common Ground -.

Don't be strayed by my crap solder work. I'm using a cheap harbor freight soldering iron and the new charger has very thick wire so it didn't really fit in the small holes. The ground is just directly connected to everything else thats ground related so I grounded it there. That way the two wires aren't soo close together.

I have now successfully tested 3 flash drives, NTFS, Fat32 and some strange Fat32 drive plus my Trackball. As well as this I have successfully charged my Galaxy SIII off of the hub. I wouldn't exactly recommend this unless your running like a legit 2a charger. I only did it to test out power requirements. I think either my cable is damaged too or I'm at the limit of power the small 1a can handle because every once in a while the hub shuts off. I think its just cable related.

Here is everything connected as you can see.
*PIC REMOVED BY ME BECAUSE CMON, IT'S A QUOTE, YOU'VE SEEN THE PIC ALREADY!*

However the tablet it self is not charging. At least the icon on the notification bar doesn't say so. I have tested the voltage here and its 5v. But IDK? Maybe the Kindle wont allow it? BUT, with all my testing, the battery has stayed at 88%. I'm gonna try to kill it some more. Maybe with some transferring files between drives.

lol As I'm typing this, I sit down for a second with the tablet on the carpet floor and just stare at it. I've noticed that some reason the led turns off and on at random times. But I've never seen it say its charging. Well the screen just dimmed but didn't shut off so I get up to check real fast and when I turn it on, it says 88% - Charging! But then instantly goes back to 88% - Not Charging when the screen lights up. And there it goes again (Please bare with me as I'm doing this all this very second.) Looks like it just needs some more amperage. 1a is not enough to power everything and charge the device.

I was worried that the kindle wasn't going to support Charging OTG. Well I happen to have a spare 2a Galaxy Tablet charger and no Galaxy Tab.... I'll try it out and get back to you guys!

This looks good! If you want, once you are done with the testing, I can try and write up a guide with your words on how to do it then let you post that. I did the same for some of the stickied threads. It looks like you're almost done and I think this would be a really good info thread once compiled nicely. Stuff like how to do OTG, what works, what needs a powered HUB, stuff like that. I personally will probably never use OTG, but I see the value and I like what it can be used for.

Best of luck!

nFiniti · Jan 28, 2013

That's nice. lol I understand I talk a lot, but when it comes to things I must have, like more than 5gb of memory on a device that should have a few TB

. It would be nice for others to try out things to see what works and what doesn't. Because to have a powered USB Device is kinda not the point of OTG "On The Go". But like someone figured out that one of his older Flash drives worked, so hopefully others chime in too.

If you wanna do that, you have my approval. Just make sure it suits what I did, "Dedicated OTG". or "Guaranteed OTG". Since that's what I was mainly working towards. This discussion thread is mainly to locate what works and what doesn't and the main OTG Capabilities of the Kindle Fire2. I don't plan on changing much else to what I have already done except adding a larger psu to the hub so it charges the device while powering the hub and its devices for my own personal gain. I want to keep this open so people can throw up what they have learned as well so the information is out there for others. I personally hate going into a device and not knowing.

iytrix · Jan 29, 2013

nFiniti said:
That's nice. lol I understand I talk a lot, but when it comes to things I must have, like more than 5gb of memory on a device that should have a few TB . It would be nice for others to try out things to see what works and what doesn't. Because to have a powered USB Device is kinda not the point of OTG "On The Go". But like someone figured out that one of his older Flash drives worked, so hopefully others chime in too.

If you wanna do that, you have my approval. Just make sure it suits what I did, "Dedicated OTG". or "Guaranteed OTG". Since that's what I was mainly working towards. This discussion thread is mainly to locate what works and what doesn't and the main OTG Capabilities of the Kindle Fire2. I don't plan on changing much else to what I have already done except adding a larger psu to the hub so it charges the device while powering the hub and its devices for my own personal gain. I want to keep this open so people can throw up what they have learned as well so the information is out there for others. I personally hate going into a device and not knowing.

I should get an OTG cable. I have a small flashdrive, not sure about the name or brand since the size made it temporarily misplaced. It's the same size as the wireless receivers though for most modern mice and keyboard so it's SUPER small, which I actually wouldn't mind tucking the cable into my case, plus it's 32GB. The issue on PC, is the transfer rate is a little low, but that may be because it uses so little power, which I'm hoping.

Any good places to get an OTG cable?

nFiniti · Jan 29, 2013

Ebay, Amazon (great place for cables)

https://www.google.com/search?q=OTG...29,d.aWc&fp=4a19662fa4882be9&biw=1920&bih=965

Just a quick search. You can also make one, if space is an issue. You just need a MicroUSB and a female USB. Pin 5 gets soldered to pin 4 on the MicroUSB and bam! Making one would help with space issues since you can tuck the wires easier. If you are good at soldering.

iytrix · Jan 29, 2013

nFiniti said:
Ebay, Amazon (great place for cables)

https://www.google.com/search?q=OTG...29,d.aWc&fp=4a19662fa4882be9&biw=1920&bih=965

Just a quick search. You can also make one, if space is an issue. You just need a MicroUSB and a female USB. Pin 5 gets soldered to pin 4 on the MicroUSB and bam! Making one would help with space issues since you can tuck the wires easier. If you are good at soldering.

Is an OTG cable special or just F-USB and M-MicoUSB?

If it's just those, then I can go poke around Frys and Radioshack for one.

I don't know anything about soldering, how much is a good kit to get started? I think a friend of mine has one and knows how to use it, so I can ask him, but I realize it's something I should learn especially with the hardware mods I would love to do. If I can't find a cable in stores, or if it's special (I ask that because most employees at frys and whatnot aren't very helpful or knowledgable, so I don't want them giving me something that won't work, but if it's just those ends I'm looking for, I can do that) then I may just look into soldering my own and learning that. I see they're around $50 online but I don't want to screw myself over there.

nFiniti · Jan 29, 2013

You can chose a decent soldering iron anywhere from 15 to like 80 bucks. I recently saw some nice ones with adjustable power levels for good price. And tons of different tips. My brother Skorpn has the more expensive one that heats up fast and has adjustable power settings to fit any projects needs. Hr has a nice soldering station I wish I could use more. I however just have a cheap harbor freight iron with a fine tip from radio shack and I use the thinnest silver solder avail there as well. Flux is also a must.

Anyway. Otg mode is accomplished on the micro USB side. They have 5 pins instead of 4. The 5th is used for doing all sorts of things with the right add one tho. If you solder in a small wire to it and jump it to pin 4 which is ground, it turns on otg. Not really hard to do. You can make one decently. Just need a good micro USB cable and a female normal USB cable. Solder them together and then do the otg modifications.

Other than doing it yourself, they are very cheap. But if you have the spare cables, it doesn't hurt to play around.

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire2 using xda app-developers app

chris_m128 · Jan 31, 2013

I've got my USB mouse to work using otg cable, is there any chance using it could damage my kindle, this Mount app I use says it can damage the kindle because of the power output

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire2

nFiniti · Feb 4, 2013

I don't know what ap your talking about. But no. The Kindle Fire 2 only puts out half the voltage when in OTG Mode. So only certain things will work without additional power. Your mouse will work just fine, especially if its a wireless mouse, since the wireless device doesn't require hardly any power. Some other devices will work too. You don't need a mount app for using devices, only for Flash Drives. And so far out of every one I've used the best one is Chainfire's StickMount. Chainfire is the creator of Superuser.

Anyways, I'm not using a 2a charger to power my USB OTG Hub, and it powers all 4 devices and charges the device with ease. Cannot wait to have this thing installed.

facelessloser · Feb 10, 2013

OTG testing

After reading this thread I thought I would have a go and do some testing myself. so I found a USB y cable teamed that with a female to female USB adaptor so it would extend my OTG cable but allow me to pipe in some power (5v off a arduino) off the y cable. I have got my mouse working and USB flash drive but I cant get my Xbox 360 wired controller to work

nFiniti · Feb 13, 2013

facelessloser said:
After reading this thread I thought I would have a go and do some testing myself. so I found a USB y cable teamed that with a female to female USB adaptor so it would extend my OTG cable but allow me to pipe in some power (5v off a arduino) off the y cable. I have got my mouse working and USB flash drive but I cant get my Xbox 360 wired controller to work

You know the amperage of the power source you are using? It might just be not enough power. Because the device itself will take from it also. Its pretty much splitting it. Which is why I went with a legit Galaxy Tab 2a charger since its one of the most powerful chargers I've come across. I hope it works. Since bluetooth doesn't work on the OTG yet, I need the 360 controller to work. I will be trying a wireless controller and one of those Microsoft adapters soon. Hopefully it works! I'd love to play some video games in the car

facelessloser · Feb 13, 2013

nFiniti said:
You know the amperage of the power source you are using? It might just be not enough power. Because the device itself will take from it also. Its pretty much splitting it. Which is why I went with a legit Galaxy Tab 2a charger since its one of the most powerful chargers I've come across. I hope it works. Since bluetooth doesn't work on the OTG yet, I need the 360 controller to work. I will be trying a wireless controller and one of those Microsoft adapters soon. Hopefully it works! I'd love to play some video games in the car

You have a good point there, I haven't tested the amperage that comes out of a arduino but I don't think it would be much. I could try and hock up a iPad charger which I think is 2amp.

---------- Post added at 11:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 AM ----------

facelessloser said:
You have a good point there, I haven't tested the amperage that comes out of a arduino but I don't think it would be much. I could try and hock up a iPad charger which I think is 2amp.

I have just tested the Xbox 360 controller being powered from a iPad charging plug and now joy. It lights up but then goes off

agentfusion · Feb 26, 2013

I'm making my own otg cable tonight if the spare usb cable I found works for data and not just charging. Basically I have a female usb port on a cable that I used to splice in with an original Xbox controller plug to be able to use usb sticks as memory cards for my Xbox to be able to install gentoo Linux on my Xbox (original Xbox controllers are usb 1.0 with a proprietary plug type) so I know the female port works fine for data transfers.

Eventually I'll buy some plugs to solder onto both the usb and Xbox cables so I can yank the female plug from the otg cable and snap it right onto the Xbox plug instead of having to constantly re-splice them or buy a new usb extension cable for the female end/buy a pre made otg cable.

Sent from my Vivid 4G using xda app-developers app

---------- Post added at 12:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 AM ----------

Oh yeah, the point to my post was that I have three usb hubs, two powered one not, and a ton of stuff to test with my kf2 like a billion usb keyboards, mice, storage devices, and the one I REALLY want to get working, my afterglow Xbox 360 controller for minecraft pocket edition

Sent from my Vivid 4G using xda app-developers app

avathor · Mar 2, 2013

Support any KF2 ROM Bluetooth Dongles ? (to use BT headset)

nFiniti · Mar 5, 2013

avathor said:
Support any KF2 ROM Bluetooth Dongles ? (to use BT headset)

IDK how thats going. I don't think anyone is working on it since the KF2 doesn't have bluetooth to begin with. When I connect my cheapo BT Dongle, it doesn't allow me to turn the switch to on. However it does see the BT Dongle and thinks its a keyboard of some sort. Which would be nice because I have a really nice BT Keyboard for Android I wanna use.

Also would be nice to use PS3 Controllers. I'm going to attempt the wireless 360 controller with the adapter one of these days, whenever I can focus some cash in that direction. I really want a wireless 360 controller on my KF2 so I can play some of the higher end games as well as the older Emulated games. Just think its too cool

[Discussion] Working OTG Devices

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