Develop Bugs

USB Host / OTG Cable DIY question

Simple question.
I've pulled off the sheath on my micro usb-b male side, and when I was doing so, I noticed that something is grounded to the side of the gold metal connector (although it didn't appear to be connected on the other side). When removing the sheath, this little black covered wire was removed.
so the question is, do I need to actually have something grounded to the usb connector itself? or was this unnecessary to begin with (since it seemed to not be connected on both sides anyway).
it'll be simple to just short pins 4 and 5 together to create the host mode cable now that I've got the sheath off, but I wanted to confirm that I haven't screwed up the cable already before I actually bother with shorting it and pluging it in.
Thoughts?
thanks!

You can get one for less than 3 dollars.
G NEXUS

fcisco13 said:
You can get one for less than 3 dollars.
G NEXUS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That isn't the point ... some people like to make things, you know ....

lordloki77 said:
Simple question.
I've pulled off the sheath on my micro usb-b male side, and when I was doing so, I noticed that something is grounded to the side of the gold metal connector (although it didn't appear to be connected on the other side). When removing the sheath, this little black covered wire was removed.
so the question is, do I need to actually have something grounded to the usb connector itself? or was this unnecessary to begin with (since it seemed to not be connected on both sides anyway).
it'll be simple to just short pins 4 and 5 together to create the host mode cable now that I've got the sheath off, but I wanted to confirm that I haven't screwed up the cable already before I actually bother with shorting it and pluging it in.
Thoughts?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not familiar with USB wiring, but I do know that manufacturers of any industry cut costs wherever possible. It seems unlikely to me that they would add additional but unnecessary steps to their process. If you were me, you would biopsy another USB cable just to satisfy curiosity.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Jubomime said:
Not familiar with USB wiring, but I do know that manufacturers of any industry cut costs wherever possible. It seems unlikely to me that they would add additional but unnecessary steps to their process. If you were me, you would biopsy another USB cable just to satisfy curiosity.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my thinking, too. The only other thought is that it might have been connected to the shielding wires (the cable is shielded), and may not be strictly necessary (especially since I'm not going to care about the shielding on a 3 inch adapter)
does that theory seem reasonable to anyone?

Wrong section.
Sent from my Jelly Toro

MikeyCriggz said:
Wrong section.
Sent from my Jelly Toro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you move it then? This is the device I have (and will need to use it on, so I figured I'd start it here?)

lordloki77 said:
Can you move it then? This is the device I have (and will need to use it on, so I figured I'd start it here?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not a mod, but I was just giving you a heads up. Repost this in the VZW Galaxy Nexus General or Q & A section.
Sent from my Jelly Toro

Any cases with built in USB OTG

After seeing the ego case with a built in usb drive i was wondering if there was a case that was the same but the usb drive actually would plug in the phone instead of the case just holding in the flash drive. I mean how awesome would it be to have a slot in the back of the case that you can slide a usb drive into and expand your storage and then take it out and plug it in to your pc? I thought of making my own with a otterbox and otg cable but I have to figure out a design first

We think alike! When I first saw these cases I thought about it extending down a tad and having a little u shape adapter that plugged into both for live storage access, that would be sweet!
Sent from my SPH-L710

the issue would be that any time you have the case on, your phone is feeding power to the OTG.
that means your battery will not last as long, and you have to remove the case (which would be plugged into your USB of your phone, and leaving it in OTG mode all the time) to charge.

Necessity is the mother of invention!!

Blakroc said:
Necessity is the mother of invention!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude..
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

How to read usb thumb drives with your phone ( OTG )

I have successfully made a usb otg cable with info i found on the internet and im going to share this with you guys/gals. Its easy to make all that is needed is an old usb charger and an extra usb data cable similar to the one that came with the phone. i used my old htc cable and old iphone charger, broke them open and got the parts i needed. Unsoldering this is a pain and soldering them back together is too so take your time its a fun project. Sure you can buy one but hey we are the Android Community we are hackers at heart. Below is a small diagram of how things need to be wired and a picture of mine. Good luck and thanks for reading.

I hate to nitpick on such a great post but you failed to mention you need the A style female USB jack. Having said that i'm starting now :victory:, thanks for the fun project. To add to the goodness we could always add an A style jig, which could be made the same way as the micro jig with the other end of the micro cable sacrificed to make this a sweet multi-tool.
EDIT - After re-reading i'm guessing you yanked the female jack from the mutilated charger, my bad.

What's the difference between this and using a real OTG cable?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

The gratification of knowing that you built it yourself, thats about it. Less pretty possibly, depending on your definition and/or how much time and effort you spend on aesthetics.

Ambition and the ability to do things like this is great. Getting one from amazon for $0.84 including shipping is good too
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

boothcr79 said:
Ambition and the ability to do things like this is great. Getting one from amazon for $0.84 including shipping is good too
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, personally i have all the tools and parts laying around, and due to a broken foot pleanty of free time to spare on a project like this. I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone go out and buy a soldiering gun, soldier, usb cable and/or female USB adapter to mangle just to try this when you could simply buy a pre-fab for next to nothing. Unless, of course, you want to

lordzu said:
I have successfully made a usb otg cable with info i found on the internet and im going to share this with you guys/gals. Its easy to make all that is needed is an old usb charger and an extra usb data cable similar to the one that came with the phone. i used my old htc cable and old iphone charger, broke them open and got the parts i needed. Unsoldering this is a pain and soldering them back together is too so take your time its a fun project. Sure you can buy one but hey we are the Android Community we are hackers at heart. Below is a small diagram of how things need to be wired and a picture of mine. Good luck and thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just order these instead $2.19(for 2), no tax and free shipping.
You get them in less than 10 days usually.
http://dx.com/p/micro-usb-on-the-go-host-otg-adapter-pair-50774?item=4

Agreed... I am retired with nothing but time on my hands to fool around with stuff like that, and doing it successfully is a lot of fun. But yep, we can always buy one.
boothcr79 said:
Ambition and the ability to do things like this is great. Getting one from amazon for $0.84 including shipping is good too
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q]microUSB Port

So I rooted and flashed SlimBean on my T-Mobile G2 a while back and that was all fine and dandy until a few days ago, the microUSB port broke. I am not sure what happened, I didn't change anything except maybe the processor in recent memory. This has happened to many devices that I have seen, but never in this way. Most devices when the port breaks, you have to wiggle the plug until it starts charging. With the G2, I plugged it into my laptop and I got a notification on my laptop that the port I plugged it into was overloaded... Any extra information would be great about this... Recently I changed it to JellyBaby, but the issue still remains. I have tried different cords, computers, and outlets and nothing has given me any response.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda app-developers app

oddly enough i had this issue too as soon as i used SlimBean 6.2
now my mac nor either of my pc's read my Desire Z as a USB drive and doesn't prompt me to mount as a disk. I have to use AirDroid to transfer roms now, which is a little inconvenient given the range of my router and distance to my computer.
But it STILL charges fine. I tried with 4 cables too. diferent ports. etc. different roms. different kernels.
I opened a dud Desire Z that i have that broke long time ago to see what is involved in replaceing the USB port but it's not worth me risking to break the phone I currently use and then not being able to charge it at all.
I think I remember one a small plastic object from the microUSB port flaking off. So maybe one of the data pins on the microUSB port came off and it charges but it doesn't detect data connections?
I dunno. I dont feel like it's worth it to check. When a new qwerty phone comes out i'll be happy. Hopefully it lasts long enough for that to happen (if it happens).
if you figure out the issue, let me know! I will test your findings on my phone.

Mine won't charge...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda app-developers app

so yours connects but wont charge.
mine charts but won't connect.
i do think its down to my microUSB port missing a contact somehow.

No, mine does nothing.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda app-developers app

Chances are the port is bad, usually if you peer inside you can see the physical damage but not always
A new port runs about 5$ sometimes less sometimes more but if you search a bit I tend to buy them at about 2$
Replacing one on this phone isn't too bad if your handy with a soldering iron, if you haven't soldered anything before or nothing this small then you may want to have someone do it for you as you can make things worse
External battery chargers are a pain but cheap, but before you invest in anything try a new cable and a new ROM and new firmware (like return to stock or change bootloader etc) if it still won't work near 100% a bad port
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

demkantor said:
Chances are the port is bad, usually if you peer inside you can see the physical damage but not always
A new port runs about 5$ sometimes less sometimes more but if you search a bit I tend to buy them at about 2$
Replacing one on this phone isn't too bad if your handy with a soldering iron, if you haven't soldered anything before or nothing this small then you may want to have someone do it for you as you can make things worse
External battery chargers are a pain but cheap, but before you invest in anything try a new cable and a new ROM and new firmware (like return to stock or change bootloader etc) if it still won't work near 100% a bad port
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I am 15 so... No soldering for me.
I have an external battery charger along with two other batteries. That is working so far.
I have tried new:
Cables
Computers
Outlets
ROMs
I cannot try anything below 4.2.2 because I can connect to a computer to do so an do not have any Nandroid backups.
I am also experiencing major cell reception issues, and can't find a post with alternative modems. Do they exist for this phone?
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda app-developers app

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43195539
Here you will find links to all things about the vision, don't look for modem the term used is radio.
You can use an external SD adapter to download ROMs from PC or download overnight directly to phone (full batt) or use apps to transfer data between PC and phone, I personally back up my data to dropbox and there tons of others that work great too.
Yeah skip the soldering, but maybe consider either paying someone to do it for you or buying a broken vision on eBay and swapping logic boards, that's easy even for the most novice
Best of luck!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

You people act like there is an issue with downloading it straight to your phone am I it supposed to do that?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Na, I mentioned you could, just many like to download to PC and keep files there. Do what's easier, in your case download to phone, nandroid, wipe clean, flash ROM
Happy flashing!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Thanks for the radio tip xD in all of the samsung threads they are called modems. It took about five minutes to kick in but I am good now
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda app-developers app

PowerBank support

Hey guys, i bought a Powerbank just now. Apparently, it doesn't work. It didn't charge. I bought a USB Cable cos i tried on one of my friend's powerbank and it didn't work too. I don't know whyy but it doesn't work at all.

Voltage perhaps. Did it say it should be compatible? You should always check the compatibility on these things.
Also, shouldn't these things be already charged in order to charge anything else themselves? Is this the case for you?
Sent from my GT-I8150 using Tapatalk 4

TiTAN-O-One said:
Hey guys, i bought a Powerbank just now. Apparently, it doesn't work. It didn't charge. I bought a USB Cable cos i tried on one of my friend's powerbank and it didn't work too. I don't know whyy but it doesn't work at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one that charges. I used one of friends one, it didn't charge. Voltage issue or Current, both might affect. Use the 1A one instead of 2.5A

i bought vivan powerbank(sell in indonesia) and it charging, but i think it is better to use your original charger/usb charger because when you use powerbank your Wonder will getting hot, hotter than charging with original charger/usb.

Actually, i found out why it can't charge. I didn't use the original cable one tht came with the powerbank. I bought a brand new Flat-wired MicroUSB cable and hook up on the powerbank and its not charging. Tried with hTC and Original Samsung cables and its not doing anything. I'll send an attachment someday to show you how my powerbank looks like.
Sent from my GT-I8150 using xda app-developers app

You need a short USB cable with thick wires. The longer the cable and the thinner the wires inside it, the higher the resistance and the higher the voltage drop. I had a simmilar problem with my external USB 2,5 HD drive. Made a really short USB cable with double traces to make it finally work.
So best you can do to fix it is either find a short cable with thick traces or to build one If you have the skills.
But honestly if I were you I would sell this PowerBank and use this money to buy one of those 2900 mA batteries for your Wounder.

honeyx said:
You need a short USB cable with thick wires. The longer the cable and the thinner the wires inside it, the higher the resistance and the higher the voltage drop. I had a simmilar problem with my external USB 2,5 HD drive. Made a really short USB cable with double traces to make it finally work.
So best you can do to fix it is either find a short cable with thick traces or to build one If you have the skills.
But honestly if I were you I would sell this PowerBank and use this money to buy one of those 2900 mA batteries for your Wounder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it looks hideous carrying a gigantic phone around public areas... i mean if i were to take it on the train, people will be like "what on earth is that?"
Sent from my GT-I8150 using xda app-developers app

TiTAN-O-One said:
But it looks hideous carrying a gigantic phone around public areas... i mean if i were to take it on the train, people will be like "what on earth is that?"
Sent from my GT-I8150 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that gigantic like you think, though it would be thicker of course, but not that big like a 5" smartphone.
I was thinking the same way like you but already heve seen smartphones which are double as thick like the SGW is and it still looked ok to me. But when I see those 5" smartphones I ask myself if we need a back bag for the next generation of smartphones

honeyx said:
Not that gigantic like you think, though it would be thicker of course, but not that big like a 5" smartphone.
I was thinking the same way like you but already heve seen smartphones which are double as thick like the SGW is and it still looked ok to me. But when I see those 5" smartphones I ask myself if we need a back bag for the next generation of smartphones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, laptops are getting smaller and phones are getting more bigger than that someday >< Anyways, on a positive note, i can always share this powerbank with many people :thumbup:
Sent from my GT-I8150 using xda app-developers app

honeyx said:
You need a short USB cable with thick wires. The longer the cable and the thinner the wires inside it, the higher the resistance and the higher the voltage drop. I had a simmilar problem with my external USB 2,5 HD drive. Made a really short USB cable with double traces to make it finally work.
So best you can do to fix it is either find a short cable with thick traces or to build one If you have the skills.
But honestly if I were you I would sell this PowerBank and use this money to buy one of those 2900 mA batteries for your Wounder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol was learning that during Physics lessons. Anyway, you're right. I have a Valore power bank and its wire is short and thick, and it charges well.
Sent from my GT-I8150 using xda app-developers app