Etrex30 with USB OTG - does it work? any setup required?

[321up]

Hi,

I've just got a USB OTG (USB On The Go) cable to connect the Etrex30 to my Samsung Galaxy S3.  This should allow me to access the files on the Etrex30 from the smartphone.  The S3 detects the USB OTG connector and when I plug the Etrex30 into the USB OTG cable the Etrex30 starts up - but the Etrex30 does not go into USB mode but instead just powers up to the map screen and takes power from the USB.  The Etrex30 normally goes into USB mode when I plug it into a computer.  Is any setup required to use the USB OTG with an Etrex30?

When C. gets home from work I'll try it on her Xperia Z.

Cheers,
A.

[321up]

Update:  It works with Sony Xperia Z with no setup  .  Can access Etrex30 files from the smartphone file manager.  I've not yet determined why it does not work with my Galaxy S3  .

[StuAff]

Good stuff. Didn't know this was possible before. As an Edge 705 owner with a Moto G (which does support OTG itself) I was curious, so I looked this up....is OTG enabled on the S3? On my Moto G it needed the update to KitKat to work (though I'm back on 4.3 at the moment anyway on account of bugs).

[frankly frankie]

In Setup, System



If you set it as above this acts as 'prompted' whenever you connect.  You should be able to choose between 'Garmin' or 'USB' mode.
If instead you set it as USB then you don't get a prompt and are forever locked out of 'Garmin' mode. (But this is probably what you want with OTG.)

I find OTG problems are down to the Android, mostly.

[321up]

If you set it as above this acts as 'prompted' whenever you connect.  You should be able to choose between 'Garmin' or 'USB' mode.

If instead you set it as USB then you don't get a prompt and are forever locked out of 'Garmin' mode. (But this is probably what you want with OTG.)

USB mode is what I want, I've no need to be prompted.  In this context I suspect that 'forever' means until you change the setting back again.

I find OTG problems are down to the Android, mostly.

Obviously you need a phone/tablet that supports it.  Probably a lot of people have devices that support USB OTG and don't know.  My S3 is still on Android 4.1.2, a system update might fix it...

Our OTG cable only cost £1.78 from Amazon (by PowerPlus) - cheap enough that I could buy the cable without knowing if it would work just to try it and find out.  I'm planning to start a USB OTG compatible device list topic once I've tested ours properly but there is a lot that I don't know about USB OTG.  Do different devices require different cables?

USB OTG would be a good topic for one of your excellent guides.  Its a very useful feature to be able to transfer routes/tracks to/from a GPS using a smartphone - especially on occasions when gpx routes get updated after you have left home to travel to a ride.

Cheers.

[frankly frankie]

Do different devices require different cables?

I could be quite wrong, but AFAIK 'OTG' is just blether.  It's a female USB socket onna lead.   But since the leads marketed as OTG don't cost any more than similar leads that are not, I don't see the point.  As long as the Android is OTG-capable, I imagine any lead that makes a valid USB connection will do.

My recent NexusII tablet annoyingly doesn't support OTG (without rooting, which I'm fairly unwilling to do), whereas a much older cheapo no-name Chinese tablet (literally, it boots up in Chinese) connects just fine, and with an ordinary USB cable not sold as 'OTG'.

[Kim]

Do different devices require different cables?

I could be quite wrong, but AFAIK 'OTG' is just blether.  It's a female USB socket onna lead.

I've been trying to work this out.  Is it just marketingspeak for a device with a normally-device port that can also be put into host mode, or is there more to it than that?

*googles*

It appears to be a set of standards by which a complaint device can act as either a host or peripheral depending on what it's connected to (obviously).  The clever bit is that when two OTG devices are connected together with the appropriate (micro-A to micro-B) cable, the ends of the cable define which role each device assumes.

There's nothing particularly magic about the cables themselves, it's all about the port chipset.

[321up]

Do different devices require different cables?

I could be quite wrong, but AFAIK 'OTG' is just blether.  It's a female USB socket onna lead.

I've been trying to work this out.  Is it just marketingspeak for a device with a normally-device port that can also be put into host mode, or is there more to it than that?

*googles*

It appears to be a set of standards by which a complaint device can act as either a host or peripheral depending on what it's connected to (obviously).  The clever bit is that when two OTG devices are connected together with the appropriate (micro-A to micro-B) cable, the ends of the cable define which role each device assumes.

There's nothing particularly magic about the cables themselves, it's all about the port chipset.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_On-The-Go
"OTG adds a fifth pin to the standard USB connector, called the ID-pin; the micro-A plug has the ID pin grounded, while the ID in the micro-B plug is floating. The device that has a micro-A plugged in becomes an OTG A-device, and the one that has micro-B plugged becomes a B-device. The type of the plug inserted is detected by the state of the pin ID .

Three additional ID pin states are defined[4] at the nominal resistance values of 124 kΩ, 68 kΩ, and 36.5 kΩ, with respect to the ground pin."

[321up]

There's nothing particularly magic about the cables themselves, it's all about the port chipset.

When I plug the USB OTG cable (nothing attached to the other end) into the S3 it detects it and gives a notification "USB connector connected".  So given the info in Wikipedia article I conclude that the USB OTG cable that I have has a resistor to signal it's presence and the phone goes into host mode.  Frankly Frankie's experience suggests that other devices may behave differently (or that he has a OTG cable without knowing it).

I found that my old Nexus One charged at different rates depending on which of my usb cables I used, in that case I found that the cable that came with one of my chargers had a resistor between the data lines (if I remember correctly) which controlled the charge rate - probably this resistor should have been in the charger, not the cable.  The point being that manufacturers may implement the spec differently resulting in different cables.

[henshaw11]

There's nothing particularly magic about the cables themselves, it's all about the port chipset.

When I plug the USB OTG cable (nothing attached to the other end) into the S3 it detects it and gives a notification "USB connector connected".  So given the info in Wikipedia article I conclude that the USB OTG cable that I have has a resistor to signal it's presence and the phone goes into host mode.  Frankly Frankie's experience suggests that other devices may behave differently (or that he has a OTG cable without knowing it).

I found that my old Nexus One charged at different rates depending on which of my usb cables I used, in that case I found that the cable that came with one of my chargers had a resistor between the data lines (if I remember correctly) which controlled the charge rate - probably this resistor should have been in the charger, not the cable.  The point being that manufacturers may implement the spec differently resulting in different cables.

Bugger - lost my edit

You need both chipset support and driver support - driver support depends on what the vendor has pulled into it's android release - and just because it may be kitkat a.b.c it may be no guarantee it has it AFAIA, and possibly not consistent between phones for the same notional android release.

On mini USB there's the addition of an ID pin - grounded on the mini-A plug, left floating on the mini-B plug (and pulled up within the controller chipset/circuitry). The OTG spec actually species how a B device gains control of the bus from the A device, your phone (etc) may support operation as a host or as a device at different times( according to the ID pin/which has the mini-A plugged into their mini-AB receptable/socket), tho' it may not actually support the OTG-swappy part or the spec.

Re charging - until relatively recently when the Battery Charging Spec (and another whose name escapes me) arrived, charging/power supply other than by a host wasn't addressed, so is a bit of a kludge - shorting d+/d- is a common one I gather.

A compliant cable should have all 4 conductors from one end to t'other - Vbus (5v), gnd, d+, d-  - for mini/micro A<>B there are no exceptions AFAIA. I think compliant cables are supposed to have some appropriate ident on the plugs, and possibly packaging - can't remember the details (tho' it's in the spec). But IME, good luck in picking one up that has this !

[frankly frankie]

Fascinating - keep it up, folks! 

[fuaran]

Some Android devices may support USB OTG, but won't actually mount a USB mass storage device. They are separate things, so both need driver support etc.
eg I think most of the Nexus models won't mount a drive as standard. But they would probably work fine with other USB devices, eg a keyboard or mouse. They can mount a drive with extra software, eg StickMount (requires root).

It is possible to connect and Android device to a Garmin in Garmin USB mode (aka Spanner mode), if you have software that supports this. So that might work if you can't mount a drive. eg Sportablet could work. http://www.sportablet.com/answers.html

Also for connecting a Garmin, there may be issues with power. I think an Etrex needs power from USB when plugged in, and a phone may not provide enough. Using a powered USB hub could help.

[321up]

Also for connecting a Garmin, there may be issues with power. I think an Etrex needs power from USB when plugged in, and a phone may not provide enough. Using a powered USB hub could help.

Both our phones (Galaxy S3 & Xperia Z) give sufficient power for the Etrex30 using a USB OTG cable.  Could be quite handy if the GPS batteries are dead (for a short period, provided that the phone has sufficient charge).