Thanks!

Scott Jordan

gork: Pierre was saying that you don’t need a cable with the special OTG pin stuff, that you can just tell the kernel to switch into host mode even if the cable doesn’t have the proper wiring to notify the tablet that you’re hooking a device up to it (rather than hooking it up to a computer host). So a slightly more common and cheap USB A Female to A Female gender changer, combined with the cable you use to hook it up to your computer is enough to connect a keyboard or flash drive or whatever, if you’re willing to issue a sysctl change (xterm command) manually.

As the article you quoted states, even if you buy a cable advertising itself as OTG, it still may not have the proper shorted pin and you may still end up having to do the manual switching into host mode. So you might as well just get a gender changer.

kahm: USB OTG now says the host should use a Micro-AB plug, like on the N810, but cables wired for OTG with a Micro-A connector aren’t too easy to find yet since it’s a recent change. Worse, Nokia wasn’t thinking about OTG compatibility when they made the N800 (support in software only came with the updated OS made for the N810), so even though they used a chip which supported it, they used a Mini-B plug instead of a Mini-AB plug. Obviously it’s rather hard to find OTG cables that are Mini-B to B or Mini-B to Female A. I imagine they saved a few cents on the connectors though.

Pierre,

The article you linked to STILL states that you need a cable:

In order for the n800 to enter into host mode you need to flash the N800 to OS 2008 and obtain the correct adapter. What is required is a USB A (Female) to USB Mini-B (Male) OTG cable (sometimes called a OTG convertor cable). Can be found here UK [1] and here using Google Product seach [2]. *some report these cables and others advertized as OTG have the proper end connectors but don’t automatically start host mode. The only report I have seen of true OTG behavior is a Big Lots adapter kit. For current info on the search for OTG connectors see the discussion.

Ok, and congratulations for your blog, and for your videocast, i know too many persons here in Gijón (Spain) that follow you.
Thanks for yout time Kevin and James.

Dan, I’m sure you can physically connect the USB HSDPA modem, but it wouldn’t work without driver support on the Internet Tablet.

Excuse me for my poor level of english, i´m from Asturias a little state (autonomy) of Spain in Europe, i read all days your blog, and my question about that post is if it is possible to connect a usb hsdpa modem to the nokia tablet with that USB-On supplement?

I’m not sure why this is a such a huge deal. USB-OTG uses 2 types of mini usb connectors – B is the regular slave type and A is the “host” cable. The Zaurus guys have been using them for years – I’ve got a pair of 4″ mini-A cables that give me a full sized, regular USB port that I bought from iRiver. (They were replacement parts for one of their PMPs…)
I’ve purchased multi-end USB kits from Radio Shack that included the mini-A bits. They’re not *that* hard to find.
The real problem is USB power. The OTG host ports don’t necessarily supply the full half amp of power for obvious reasons. A lot of devices have a problem with it…

One more reason for me getting this device. Plus the price of the n800 is impossible to beat.

mobiletechfan.com

PS : the above comment also works for N810 !

check http://www.internettablettalk.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_USB_Host_mode_on_the_N800_using_OS_2008 :
you can manually set the N800 with OS2008 to host mode via software. For use with typical or non-OTG connections. For example the USB cable that ships with the N800 combined with a Female A to A gender Bender.

So you don’t need a special cable ! :-)