N900 will not allow USB OTG! - Page 24 - maemo.org

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	GeneralAntilles	2009-09-22 , 06:35
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Originally Posted by bocaJ

I'm not a nokia engineer, but my guess is that at least part of the reason for not including support is power mangement. Yes, they could have included the needed controllers to meet the USB compliance specs, but the engineers might have come back and said "if you do this, given existing battery tech, weight and dimension requirements, we will not be able to give you a full day of use."

Yeah, battery life is definitely not the culprit here.

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	qole	2009-09-22 , 06:37
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Originally Posted by debernardis

My manly bag is going to become a manly trolley However, if this is the only solution by now...

No, it will stay the same size. The N900 will replace your phone.

It will get a lot smaller as your colleagues all start using e-mail or cloud services to share files, instead of USB drives.

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	deadmalc	2009-09-22 , 06:42
	Posts: 415 \| Thanked: 182 times \| Joined on Nov 2007 @ Leeds UK	#233

Originally Posted by qole

I love Ethernet too, but seriously, take a look at something like the Cisco/Linksys WRT54GL. It has a Linux OS that can be flashed to a custom enhanced version; it's a great Ethernet router; plus it does rock-solid, secure wireless.

I'd definitely agree with that I flashed mine with x-wrt and it's much, much better!

http://x-wrt.org

Take a look!

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	joppu	2009-09-22 , 07:18
	Posts: 780 \| Thanked: 855 times \| Joined on Sep 2009 @ Helsinki, Finland	#234

Originally Posted by attila77

capacity. HD material will run you 5-20GB per hour, so 32GB is not an unfillable resource (actually, if 32GB was enough, I would not bother with the tablet at all, I'd just buy a 32GB SD )

Too bad N900 won't probably play back 720p smoothly.

nashith	2009-09-22 , 07:27
Posts: 226 \| Thanked: 63 times \| Joined on Sep 2009 @ Maldives	#235

Originally Posted by allnameswereout

http://www.usb.org/developers/ontheg...ices_FINAL.pdf

So, seems according to the spec it is not allowed to have 1 USB OTG and 1 USB EH connector (for charging the device).

I'll read the rest some other time because I gotta go on the go.

I read from somewhere that Iriver H340 (international version) have two separate USB connectors. 1 for Host mode and 1 for USB peripheral mode.

	pycage	2009-09-22 , 08:10
	Posts: 3,404 \| Thanked: 4,474 times \| Joined on Oct 2005 @ Germany	#236

Even though Nokia managed to put everything imaginable minus the compass (Bluetooth, 3G, FM transmitter & receiver, IR transceiver, keyboard, stylus, GPS, WiFi, touchscreen, USB charging, MicroSD slot, 5M camera with LED-flash, TV-out) into one device, people still find some missing feature.
It's always like that and will always be like that. More stuff would have resulted in a larger and more expensive device. A production unit is always a compomise between what's possible and what's reasonable for marketing.
But the N900 isn't the end. More Maemo devices will certainly follow, lacking some of the above, but having USB-OTG e.g. There will be choice. Just not yet.

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	allnameswereout	2009-09-22 , 08:43
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Originally Posted by pycage

Even though Nokia managed to put everything imaginable minus the compass (Bluetooth, 3G, FM transmitter & receiver, IR transceiver, keyboard, stylus, GPS, WiFi, touchscreen, USB charging, MicroSD slot, 5M camera with LED-flash, TV-out) into one device, people still find some missing feature.
It's always like that and will always be like that. More stuff would have resulted in a larger and more expensive device. A production unit is always a compomise between what's possible and what's reasonable for marketing.
But the N900 isn't the end. More Maemo devices will certainly follow, lacking some of the above, but having USB-OTG e.g. There will be choice. Just not yet.

There is already choice. This isn't the first Maemo device.

Originally Posted by nashith

I read from somewhere that Iriver H340 (international version) have two separate USB connectors. 1 for Host mode and 1 for USB peripheral mode.

True. Both H320 and H340 international version. The North American version requires hardware and software mod.

There are two hardware types for each model. These hardware types are commonly referred to by the locations they are sold. The USA models, predominantly sold in North America, have a built in DRM key, which lets them play music with Microsoft DRM. The International models, sold everywhere but North America, do not handle DRM-restricted content and have the HOST port linked to the battery, which allows them to do USB On-The-Go. The International models also support limited xvid (10 fps) video playback.

North American models can be modified to support USB OTG by means of a small internal soldering job, an external modified cable, or a USB transfer box. International firmware is also required.

However remember this device is from 2004 while the revision of the specification I quoted from is from may 2009. I think the H3x0 also has 2 miniUSB instead of microSD; one miniUSB_A and one miniUSB_B. I don't have the Iriver H340 anymore since I gave it away a few months ago, so I can't test USB OTG on it. Never imagined I would either. Btw, some digital cameras also support USB OTG.

PS: @ andree, the USB spec update, and the fact the device charges over USB. Please read the whole thread.

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Last edited by allnameswereout; 2009-09-22 at 08:55.

andree	2009-09-22 , 08:53
Posts: 119 \| Thanked: 110 times \| Joined on Sep 2009 @ Prague	#238

I'm thinking about the whole usb stuff right now - and a question came into my mind... What's so different about n900's, that it can't use regular OTG?

From what I read, it's completely normal to have a OTG device, that once acts as client (thus consuming power from usb cable = e.g. charging own batteries), and as a usb host another time (=e.g. powering usb flash stick)... That's the whole point of OTG, or am I wrong?

I can't quite imagine, what nokia guys did with the hardware, when the TI 3430 supports OTG out-of-box (according to specs)... :-/

Originally Posted by BruceL

Now... Any ideas on what a test TESTMODE script would look like? Would it call the OS? Use DBUS? Need a special lib file? I don;t know, but I bet someone has at least an idea.

If the whole solution is about telling chip to set some config bit, it'd be a matter of a few lines in kernel driver/module for that device - if there is a way to tell the chip to do so, of course... But you can't actually write anything until you have the hardware in hands...

Matan	2009-09-22 , 08:59
Posts: 1,224 \| Thanked: 1,763 times \| Joined on Jul 2007	#239

Originally Posted by allnameswereout

That is the same as:

N900 -> [bluetooth] -> (selfpowered) Bluetooth Hub with female USB port -> USB flash drive (or any other USB slave device)

No. It is not the same. You don't understand how USB works, please stop talking about this.

A USB hub does not allow to devices (BT dongle and flash drive) to talk between them only device <-> host. There is no host in your scenario.

or this HDD enclosure with USB OTG (has even on-board battery?!)

http://www.acesuppliers.com/Supplier...oom_12470.html

And thats found with 5 min searching, and they're a bit overkill, so I'm sure you can do much better.

No. This is not even close to an overkill. When you connect a hard disk to the N810 with USB host mode, you can do whatever you want with it. The N810 controls the connection.

When you connect this (or any similar) device to the N900, the HD controls the connection. Programs on the N900 can't access the HD (and not even the internal 32GB). All you can do is press a button and have some files from the 32GB copied to the HD. You can't even control which files will be copied. Then you need to count beeps to know if it worked or not, since there is no way you can check.

There is nothing in this device (or in any of the other devices you suggested) that might be considered a replacement for USB host functionality.