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Nexus 7 News => Nexus 7 News - - Front Page Comments and Discussion => Topic started by: Babyfacemagee on July 25, 2012, 01:06:23 PM

Title: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: Babyfacemagee on July 25, 2012, 01:06:23 PM: (http://i.imgur.com/3vmfn.png)

One of the cool features of the Nexus 7 that isn't fully explored in the included documentation is USB OTG or 'On-The-Go' and the ability to use a USB OTG adapter. Now an OTG adapter is basically a female micro-USB connector that plugs into the micro-USB connector of your Nexus 7 and provides a full-sized USB 2.0 or 3.0 connector on the other end. You can then plug this into a 'hub' which can provide multiple USB connectors so you can hook up multiple different USB devices to use with your tablet. Even better these connections are actually powered by your Nexus 7 so you don't need separate power for each device connected making it perfect for mobile use.

Now the variety of devices that will work with your Nexus 7 and a USB OTG cable and/or hub is actually pretty impressive and includes keyboards, mice, game controllers, USB-to-ethernet adapters and certain proprietary devices like a DSLR Remote control Android app. What doesn't work with the Nexus 7 without a little work however are mass storage devices such as USB sticks, card readers or external hard drives of any sort. This can be rectified however by installing the app 'StickMount' which we've linked below although keep in mind this does require root access to your device.

(http://i.imgur.com/tx2Pv.jpg)

Once your device is rooted and 'StickMount' is installed you can use USB drives and card readers to easily move large files to and from your Nexus 7. You'll want to use a file management and explorer app like ES File Explorer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&hl=en) to find and select your files. You can stream movies and music directly from the USB mounted drive to your Nexus 7 so in essence it becomes a mobile hard drive that you can take with you and your Nexus 7 anywhere. For those interested in exploring this functionality you can pick up one of a variety of Nexus 7 Compatible USB OTG Adapters On Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=usb+otg+nexus+7&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ausb+otg+nexus+7) and we've also linked two 'how to' sources below, CNET's 'How To' section and a video made by tech guru 'Reverand Kyle'.

Nexus 7 Tablet & OTG Cable for USB Host Connection By Rev. Kyle (http://nexus7forum.com/index.php?topic=333.0)
CNET 'How To' use USB OTG On Android Devices (http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57475307-285/clever-adapter-connects-usb-accessories-to-your-android-device/?tag=mncol)
StickMount On Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.stickmount&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImV1LmNoYWluZmlyZS5zdGlja21vdW50Il0.)
Title: Re: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: comiskeybum on July 25, 2012, 01:48:33 PM: If you root, does it take you off the official update path or no? If not, i'll consider rooting this afternoon.
Title: Re: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: S.Prime on July 25, 2012, 02:01:54 PM: We will have the step by step rooting guide up by tomorrow morning.
Title: Re: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: comiskeybum on July 25, 2012, 02:09:08 PM: Quote from: S.Prime on July 25, 2012, 02:01:54 PM
We will have the step by step rooting guide up by tomorrow morning.

Please tell me that you are going to feature a one-click root tool. Some, including me, do not trust ourselves to type out the correct line by line code.

And please find out if Root takes you off the official update path. On most cell phones, it does not, so im guessing that is the case here.
Title: Re: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: S.Prime on July 25, 2012, 02:31:55 PM: Yes the tool is a GUI tool that runs under Windows, one click to unlock the bootloader and one additional click to root.

GUI = Graphical User Interface
Title: Re: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: Granvillen on July 25, 2012, 02:52:22 PM: The statement that the Nexus 7 will not work with external drives is false. The Kingston WI drive works fine w/o rooting.
Title: Re: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: Babyfacemagee on July 25, 2012, 02:57:09 PM: I was referring to drives attached through the micro-usb...not a specialty device with Wi-Fi like the Wi-drive. Yes, those will work. Thanks for pointing it out.
Title: Re: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: comiskeybum on July 25, 2012, 03:03:13 PM: Again, im a noob at "computer programming" but it looks like there is something called OTA update keeper and OTA root keeper.

These sound helpful in keeping the official OTA update path and also keeping your device rooted AFTER updates. However, this is a NEXUS device afterall, so i Highly doubt Google would ever try to "patch" a root with an OTA update.
Title: Re: Feature Spotlight: The Nexus 7 Tablet And USB OTG (On-The-Go)
Post by: S.Prime on July 25, 2012, 04:22:46 PM: Thanks for pointing out OTA RootKeeper. It is referenced in the guide and will be explained in more detail in a dedicated topic.