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Quick dock test on TnT Lite

Just a heads up - I just got a dock care of one of the XDA members here (their donation to me - and thank you, btw). This is the zPad dock. My tests were all done on TnT Lite 3.1.2.
HDMI "just works" - plug it in and the output will show up on your HDMI output (in my case, it was a TV). Sound is also passed through, but seems to have a slight lag.
Ethernet "just works" - plug it in and the device is on the network. I'm not sure if there's a way to disable it, other than pulling the Ethernet port out.
Finally, the USB port also seems to work - I tested it with my USB keyboard. So, it seems like the TnT devs already built the kernel / UI with the dock in mind. I haven't tested the VEGAn build, yet.
EDIT: Just tested VEGAn 1.0.0 beta 4. USB / Ethernet / HDMI all seem to work. In the case of VEGAn, I actually tested HDMI off my PC monitor (which happens to have some cheapo speakers on them) and there's no audio lag. Perhaps it's something device specific, or cable specific.
EDIT2: Ethernet is now failing on VEGAn. I guess I spoke too soon.

Thanks for the tests. As for Ethernet, I wonder if u need to disable the wifi on the gtab when using the Ethernet on the dock?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

More Ethernet testing - it seems that it's a DNS issue of some sort. IP ICMP tests definitely work.

Does HDMI out work without the dock being powered?

roebeet said:
More Ethernet testing - it seems that it's a DNS issue of some sort. IP ICMP tests definitely work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, LAN is working. It appears you must boot Tablet with LAN connected and tablet in doc for it to recognize it.... I say recognize it, but when you launch browser you get a notice box that says page can not be displayed due to no connection.. but you just check ok, the box goes away and you are online.

bigwh00p said:
Does HDMI out work without the dock being powered?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HDMI and LAN require the doc to be powered.

Can we get a link to the dock you bought?

Thanks for the confirmation! Looks like I'm going to return this and get the elocity just for that HDMI port...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

insight3fl said:
Yes, LAN is working. It appears you must boot Tablet with LAN connected and tablet in doc for it to recognize it.... I say recognize it, but when you launch browser you get a notice box that says page can not be displayed due to no connection.. but you just check ok, the box goes away and you are online.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting that I can use the internet, I can retrieve my comcast email, but I could not run my exchange email. When I would refresh it, it just sat idle. when I resumed my wifi connection, it immediately downloaded my messages.
The LAN does need some work here by the Devs for sure. It also stopped for some reason and I had to reboot to reconnect it.

[Q] Can the XOOM act as a USB Host?

Hi, can anyone who owns a XOOM pls let me know if you can plug in:
1) a USB flash drive to the XOOM, and view and open files on the drive?
2) an external hard drive and view and access files from your XOOM
Many thanks

masrinz said:
Hi, can anyone who owns a XOOM pls let me know if you can plug in:
1) a USB flash drive to the XOOM, and view and open files on the drive?
2) an external hard drive and view and access files from your XOOM
Many thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the Xoom have a USB port? Pretty sure it only has MicroUSB. I guess they do have microusb flash drives not that I look.

Hi. Yup its only got micro USB, but I guess you could use the included adapter cable to plug in a flash drive.... we don't have the XOOM here yet, but the functionality of being able to connect a flash drive, move files e.g. PDF or .doc and then view them is important to me.

masrinz said:
Hi. Yup its only got micro USB, but I guess you could use the included adapter cable to plug in a flash drive.... we don't have the XOOM here yet, but the functionality of being able to connect a flash drive, move files e.g. PDF or .doc and then view them is important to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As of today what you want is not avab. The cable it comes with doesn't take input. They do have a cable online that will do this one day, but doesn't do it yet.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

The cable that Motorola "will" be selling is a micro-usb to standard usb (female) adapter. I'll look around for the sources, but I know that I saw this detailed in a few videos from Motorola techs and at least one reviewer site.
The cable is not just a straight conversion of form factor, but has the necessary pinout to instruct the Xoom to jump into usb host mode. From the reports that I saw, it would absolutely provide the ability to plug usb drives, cameras and other accessories into the xoom for direct access. In fact, the reviewer that I saw, made a comment that they had verified the functionality by plugging in a couple usb keyboards... supposedly worked like a champ.
Lame that we need a "special" adapter, but I can imagine that if it is just a pinout issue, it may be possible for the good folks here at XDA to craft a software solution that would allow us to bypass the motorola-branded cable... It would have been WAY cooler if it was a standard usb port, like some of the other tablets on the horizon.

Thanks. They mention in many reviews and I think Google mentioned it too that you can attach a mouse or keyboard by cable (I know about Bluetooth) which suggests that it should support input, so is it just a hardware interface thing or an actual firmware OS/software issue?
Edit: thanks for the great response gigglebox.... we posted simultaneously

Is this it?
http://www.clove.co.uk/motorola-xoom-camera-connection-kit

masrinz said:
Is this it?
http://www.clove.co.uk/motorola-xoom-camera-connection-kit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Visually, yeah. Looks like they took it off their site for some reason. In fact the only times that I saw this on Moto's site, was in the day or 2 leading up to the launch... when typing in xoom into the search bar on their landing page, it would spit out a drop-down menu listing the Camera Connection Kit (by name and pic).
I dont like the fact that they call it a "camera connection", but they werent pulling any punches about it serving as a host. They did note that the external storage (thumbdrives, etc) were not yet supported, but that they would be. The cameras and (according to them) keyboards were working now.

I believe it is possible but right now it is a software limitation.
More info here: https://supportforums.motorola.com/message/329075

Droid4All said:
I believe it is possible but right now it is a software limitation.
More info here: https://supportforums.motorola.com/message/329075
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, the engineer from moto definitely says the hardware should accept any usb 2.0 or higher device, but it's a software issue. Toshiba have a straight usb and a micro usb port on their device so hopefully they're working on this.
We don't have the XOOM here yet, but hopefully by the time it becomes available (approx April) we might have the option of the Toshiba as well.

I use this USB host cable and it works great. Have tested it with my 750gb Oyen and 320gb WD Passport external HDD's, several usb flash drives (8-16gb), San disk USB memory card reader, and a USB keyboard.
For those having issues getting their Xoom to recognize USB storage devices here's what I've got and did to get it to work: I flashed my XOOM (3.1) to the 2.6.36.4 Tiamat_Xoom-v1.4.4-Full_Throttle Kernel and was unable to get the USBMount to recognize drives or storage at first. I installed USB Mass Storage Watcher from the market (it's free) and it works awesome! Can mount any storage I want (NTFS, FAT16/32, HFS, HFS+, EXT2, ETX3, EXT4) with any capacity. I think this app will work with any rooted Xoom (or other devices). Under my Kernel my USB host is located under/usbOTG.
Hope this helps.

FYI ... I've checked it and stock ROM Xoom without root is able to operate standard PC keyboard/mouse using basic one-to-one usb->microusb adapter (without any electronics onboard).
Probably with proper dual socket usb adapter (also without electronics onboard) it would be possible to connect both keyboard and mouse at once.

irekd said:
FYI ... I've checked it and stock ROM Xoom without root is able to operate standard PC keyboard/mouse using basic one-to-one usb->microusb adapter (without any electronics onboard).
Probably with proper dual socket usb adapter (also without electronics onboard) it would be possible to connect both keyboard and mouse at once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you have a Logitech keyboard and mouse that connect by the unifying receiver,or mostly any keyboard+mouse combo that connects by one receiver, then only a standard OTG cable should work.

Can we use the USB port to a serial device?

I have a piece of old equipment at work that i use a DOS program and a USB to serial adapter with a null modem cable to back up files off of the equipment. I installed DOS box and it runs my equipments program perfectly. Is it possible to communicate through the XOOM's USB port to my equipment using a USB to Serial adapter and null modem cable to do this with? Any help or advice would be great.
Thank You,
-Nathan

I guess I should take that as a NO!!!. I will pay to make this happen though!!

Bump
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

those usb to serial adapters use a Prolific chipset. Linux requires a kernel module to work with them. I suspect you'll need to build the kernel module and add a script to insmod it.

My boss will gladly pay someone to get this to work. If there are any Devs that want this project contact me and we can get this going. I know i can approve 1K to make this happen.

It can be done.
I have currently got my xoom setup so that I have a usb serial adapter connected to it for debugging purposes.
Do you know what chipset your usb to serial adaptor uses? I can then check if it is supported by the linux kernel.

evonate said:
My boss will gladly pay someone to get this to work. If there are any Devs that want this project contact me and we can get this going. I know i can approve 1K to make this happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in. We'll start research. Sounds like fun.

Sign me up too. I would love to serial into Cisco devices with my xoom.
The following pieces of information i have already:
My usb2serial Adapter uses the prolific pl-2303 chipset
it is driven by the pl2303 kernel module.
the module depends on the usbserial module, which is already in tiamat as well as stock (its needed for the 3g modem i think)
So if i am correct we need the pl-2303 kernel module and a piece of software (minicom, cu) to use the serial (as far as i know there is no software in the market for this)

ok, i took a quick look at the tiamat git repository and it contains the pl2303 driver.
Now i am going to try to compile my own tiamat kernel
First time compiling linux for an android device

I would love to see this happen. I have tons of Cisco swithes and routers that I always have to configure on the fly. I know I can buy a bluetooth adapter but still have to power that :-( Would love to be able to hookup my otg cable, then my usb to serial, then to my console cable to configure everything.
Just not sure how to get the usb serial drivers installed on android :-(
If this ever gets working then my IT dept. will be getting a Xoom as well.
Thanks,
Ken~

Any updated news on getting this to work? Really don't want to spend $60 for a bluetooth serial adapter.
Ken~

I can try and include a few optional modules for the next tiamat release for usb serial devices

This is an old thread but in case ...
I also have to do serial communication with an old printer.
For now, I'm trying to prototype with an arduino mega using a trendnet usb to serial adapter.
I'm using the sample app on the market of this lib :
http://slickdevlabs.com/slick-usb-2-serial-library/
I actually can send and receive bytes on the xoom.
The only problem for now is that characters receive or send are not correct. I Don't understnd but still searching.
Any way, it should work ...
Mike

install bt5 and then install minicom under bt5. The pl2303 module with the pl2303 usb serial adapter does this very well.

bt5 you mean "backtrack 5" ?
I must use default rom ... My customer doesn't wan't to loose it's warranty ...
And usage of Motorola xoom is sure.
It might be another tablet.
Using capabilities that only requre Android 3.1 (without root) and a USB Host allow to change of device easily.

[Q] Atrix Keyboard with Charge

Thinking the Droid Charge supports the HID bluetooth profile, I purchased the Atrix keyboard; however, I cannot seem to pair it. I put the keyboard in pairing mode and then scan for Bluetooth devices. On the Charge I select the "Motorola Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard" from the menu and am given a message "Enter xxxxxx to pair with ...". This message disappears in less than a second and I'm given the error message "Unable to establish communication with ...". I never have the chance to enter the code on the keyboard ...
Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

I believe I read somewhere that this was supposed to support the HID profile out of the box I'm not 100% sure though. You could try one of the HID drivers from the marketplace I think one is called blueinput or something similar. Post back if you get it working cause I would really like to have a wireless mini keyboard for this phone as well.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App

i'm not sure if this is helpful, but I paired a bluetooth mouse with my Charge, using no special drivers. I would like to know if a bluetooth keyboard would work with it though.

ddh819 said:
i'm not sure if this is helpful, but I paired a bluetooth mouse with my Charge, using no special drivers. I would like to know if a bluetooth keyboard would work with it though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can get a mouse to work without having any special drivers/apps to support it then it at least means that the phone does support HID protocols which would mean that generic bluetooth keyboards should work. If the keyboard requires some sort of special driver that is installed after pairing it most likely won't work, though.

Shortbusdriver said:
If you can get a mouse to work without having any special drivers/apps to support it then it at least means that the phone does support HID protocols which would mean that generic bluetooth keyboards should work. If the keyboard requires some sort of special driver that is installed after pairing it most likely won't work, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should clarify and update this - the device I have is a bluetooth presentation remote/mouse. It can switch between mouse mode and presenter mode. It works for a few minutes, but then loses connection. It works fine with a computer, so I don't think there's a problem with the remote.

You can connect the Charge to BT keyboard and don't have to root..
Thanks to another member TylerMF you CAN probably pair the Atrix (also for Xoom) keyboard.
See his thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28133531#post28133531
He connected his BT keyboard to an Evo successfully.
I have a Samsung CHARGE and I had the same struggle, but followed his instructions and am now connected to both the Atrix/Xoom keyboard and a Logitech bluetooth mouse.
Very nice!
:laugh:

[Q] android tablet to use as point of sale

Hi. At the company I work for, we are looking for a tablet pc to use as point of sale on small stores. The idea is to stop using desktop pcs, and use tablets instead.
The exact requirement is a tablet that is:
1. Cheap (US$ 500 max)
2. Has USB Host ports or USB OTG. USB accesories to be connected include keyboard, USB to Serial, USB to Parallel converter, or USB Dot Matrix Ticket printer(Epson TMU), and a USB Wired network adapter.
3. If possible, one that has Wired network conectivity(RJ-45)
4. Has unlockable bootloader. It's best if it's provided by the manufacturer, but as long as it works, it's okay.
5. Tha manufacturer provides kernel source code.
Other conectivity options, such as WiFi or 3G really don't matter, as those will be disabled, because they are not needed.
The tablet would go inside a specially designed case, together with the ticket printer, the power adapters for both, and maybe the keyboard.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance