Clean and Safe USB Switcher?

[Guest RockVacirca]

Hi guys,

having looked at all the ROMs currently available, and having read forum threads concerning instability, crashes and battery drain, I had a good long hard look at the benefits these ROMs bring, and decided I did not need a lot of their features.

The only features I really need are Market access and USB mode switching.

I got market access with this clean and stable rom from xda-developers, which gives a few other functions as well, but the main thing for me is stability and no excess battery drain.

The next thing I needed was the USB-Switcher, but as many others found, this caused the Vega to lock-up on booting, and required recovery to get it back working, as described in this thread.

I have also read that the R8 ROM, with includes the USB Switcher also locks up the Vega, requiring recovery, so I don't want to go there (It was Zebrahead that reported that it is ok in R7 but broke in R8).

Can anyone recommend a USB Host/Slave switcher, which is clean and reliable?

Thanks

Rock

Edited May 3, 2011 by RockVacirca

[Guest warriorscot]

Don't know where you are reading about lockups but they are pretty rare currently the only rom that isn't as stable as the stock or more so is the cyanogen nightlies. Most people get errors because they aren't following the instructions or are the victim of random errors that have popped up in a file transfer at some point reinstalling almost always is a complete fix.

The earliest versions of the Switchers were not always reliable but those were early once it was stable it got built in to the roms. The r8 uses the switcher app the newer roms switch on boot by holding the back button. If you want stable try either one of the corvus roms they are currently the most stable and well used at the moment and have had enough versions to fix the bugs from the Modding and those inherant in the stock which is far from perfect or totally stable.

[Guest beegee1962]

Hi guys,

having looked at all the ROMs currently available, and having read forum threads concerning instability, crashes and battery drain, I had a good long hard look at the benefits these ROMs bring, and decided I did not need a lot of their features.

The only features I really need are Market access and USB mode switching.

I got market access with this clean and stable rom from xda-developers, which gives a few other functions as well, but the main thing for me is stability and no excess battery drain.

The next thing I needed was the USB-Switcher, but as many others found, this caused the Vega to lock-up on booting, and required recovery to get it back working, as described in this thread.

I have also read that the R8 ROM, with includes the USB Switcher also locks up the Vega, requiring recovery, so I don't want to go there (It was Zebrahead that reported that it is ok in R7 but broke in R8).

Can anyone recommend a USB Host/Slave switcher, which is clean and reliable?

Thanks

Rock

The way the USB mode is switched from slave to host is depending on the kernel that is used by the ROM you have flashed.

On stock ROMs (as far as I know) it is not possible to switch the USB mode.

On MoDaCo ROM the USB switcher that you tried is working. (If you did not flash a different kernel)

On Corvus and CM7 ROM the USB mode is switched during boot of the device by holding the back button.

The "ROM" from XDA you refer to, is not a full ROM, it just adds Google apps and market to the stock ROM. So no USB mode switch possible.

MoDaCo r8 doesn't need CWM recovery. It is flashed in USB debug mode. So if you do not want to install CWM recovery, you can give this a try.

Edited May 3, 2011 by beegee1962

[Guest RockVacirca]

Don't know where you are reading about lockups but they are pretty rare currently the only rom that isn't as stable as the stock or more so is the cyanogen nightlies. Most people get errors because they aren't following the instructions or are the victim of random errors that have popped up in a file transfer at some point reinstalling almost always is a complete fix.

The earliest versions of the Switchers were not always reliable but those were early once it was stable it got built in to the roms. The r8 uses the switcher app the newer roms switch on boot by holding the back button. If you want stable try either one of the corvus roms they are currently the most stable and well used at the moment and have had enough versions to fix the bugs from the Modding and those inherant in the stock which is far from perfect or totally stable.

You should know where I am reading about lockups as I provided the links to the threads.

Also read this post from Zebrahead, where he describes the problem as a 'known bug', and he even provided a fix to the R8 to overcome it.

I suffered from this lock-up, and had to do a recovery to get my Vega back working again.

Rather than a multi-function rom, such as the Corvus, (and I did mention that I had checked out all the ROMs already), is there a standalone, stable, USB-switcher?

Rock

Edited May 3, 2011 by RockVacirca

[Guest beegee1962]

You should know where I am reading about lockups as I provided the links to the threads.

Also read this post from Zebrahead, where he describes the problem as a 'known bug', and he even provided a fix to the R8 to overcome it.

I suffered from this lock-up, and had to do a recovery to get my Vega back working again.

Rather than a multi-function rom, such as the Corvus, (and I did mention that I had checked out all the ROMs already), is there a standalone, stable, USB-switcher?

Rock

Did you check Gambaro V0.2? It has the CorvusKernel with USB mode switch during boot.

Notes:

1) To boot in host mode, press on, once you have black iluminated, release on button and press back until boot finished.

[EDIT]

Hope nobody see an offense when I promote my own ROM, but I am very happy with it, it is based on Stock V1.10 ROM and runs very stable on my Viewpad 10s :mellow:

No fancy stuff like overclocking and Android 2.3 but it does what it should.

[/EDIT]

Edited May 3, 2011 by beegee1962

[Guest RockVacirca]

Did you check Gambaro V0.2? It has the CorvusKernel with USB mode switch during boot.

[EDIT]

Hope nobody see an offense when I promote my own ROM, but I am very happy with it, it is based on Stock V1.10 ROM and runs very stable on my Viewpad 10s :mellow:

No fancy stuff like overclocking and Android 2.3 but it does what it should.

[/EDIT]

Hi beegee1962,

I did read your details on the Gambaro, but I have not tried it yet.

Is the hardware interaction (pressing buttons during the boot sequence) unavoidable?

The best scenario is powering on the Vega in the normal way, and the USB mode is set during boot to the normal Slave default mode, and the modes can be switched at will via an app or widget that shows the current state too. Is this simply not possible for some reason?

Rock

[Guest Dave Marchant]

Hi beegee1962,

I did read your details on the Gambaro, but I have not tried it yet.

Is the hardware interaction (pressing buttons during the boot sequence) unavoidable?

The best scenario is powering on the Vega in the normal way, and the USB mode is set during boot to the normal Slave default mode, and the modes can be switched at will via an app or widget that shows the current state too. Is this simply not possible for some reason?

Rock

What you are asking for needs changes in the programming of the kernel code. This is not done often, or by many people. Generally, the different ROM's use a common kernel (in a lot of instances the 'Buzz' kernel which uses the back button at boot up to set USB Mode). To do this via a widget or app would need it to be written and adapted for each ROM / version (which is whythe only app available only works with a kernel based on stock 1.08.

[Guest warriorscot]

One thread after such a long time isn't a problem. Like I said most problems are user error.

From what I have seen when problems occur with the USB switcher its most often in occasions where a user has installed and not wiped it first not that it always happens like that. It's the risk that we play when the kernel switching that the USB switcher does I don't think its really a big IMO as I don't think the switcher could be fixed to prevent it. Its known to happen its happened in every iteration of the switcher to some degree. Whether its a bug is hard to say its doing something inherently risky the way it works. The other method is more reliable in my experience. Its also not too hard to fix without flashing stock its just a case of reversing what the tool does yourself.

But again given the number of users and how long its been in use it isn't a huge issue it happens but not particularly often. And its a pretty easy to fix if it doesn't do it the first couple of times you use the switcher it usually doesn't happen at all.

Given all that the switcher method used in corvus and all the other kernels other than MCK I would say that is your best bet.

[Guest ViPaSoft]

The most reliable way to get USB host is to buy a docking station. At £29.99, it is quite expensive for what it does, but I have one and use it all the time, granted mainly for charging, but also watching youtube vides through HDMi and scanning USB sticks and using a keyboard/mouse.

IMO I think its worth it but, obviously, it's your choice. Also it's quite light and can be carried in a small bag. [Just note; you do not get a separate charger with the dock.]

[Guest MaxiP]

I experienced the USB switching 'bug' twice using MCR r7 & r8 and this results in a complete rebuild. I've moved onto Corvus v5 ROM and it works very well. It's easy enough to boot into HOST mode and it stays that way until the next boot.

Question - how often do you 'really' need to switch modes ? If it's to copy stuff to / from the Vega, use Samba filesharing instead (works over WiFi). If it to get ADB access. use adbWireless instead.

I found that (once I started using the apps above) I never needed to switch modes and left the device permanently in HOST - I'm hoping that the next Corvus ROM has HOST by default as that would mean that apart from exceptional circumstances, I would never switch modes.

[Guest Dave Marchant]

I experienced the USB switching 'bug' twice using MCR r7 & r8 and this results in a complete rebuild. I've moved onto Corvus v5 ROM and it works very well. It's easy enough to boot into HOST mode and it stays that way until the next boot.

Question - how often do you 'really' need to switch modes ? If it's to copy stuff to / from the Vega, use Samba filesharing instead (works over WiFi). If it to get ADB access. use adbWireless instead.

I found that (once I started using the apps above) I never needed to switch modes and left the device permanently in HOST - I'm hoping that the next Corvus ROM has HOST by default as that would mean that apart from exceptional circumstances, I would never switch modes.

I use the Android Manager Wifi on both PC and Vega and it allows easy copying to and fro and I don't need to use USB Slave at all.

[Guest beegee1962]

Hi beegee1962,

I did read your details on the Gambaro, but I have not tried it yet.

Is the hardware interaction (pressing buttons during the boot sequence) unavoidable?

The best scenario is powering on the Vega in the normal way, and the USB mode is set during boot to the normal Slave default mode, and the modes can be switched at will via an app or widget that shows the current state too. Is this simply not possible for some reason?

Rock

As far as I know switching without reboot is not possible (see other replies). It seems the mode of the USB is hardcoded in the kernel and can be only switched with a reboot (either with complete change of kernel as MoDaCo r8 does or by sensing the back button as other ROM/Kernels do).

[Guest Zebrahead]

As far as I know switching without reboot is not possible (see other replies). It seems the mode of the USB is hardcoded in the kernel and can be only switched with a reboot (either with complete change of kernel as MoDaCo r8 does or by sensing the back button as other ROM/Kernels do).

+1

USB mode is hardcoded in the kernel. The kernel resides in boot partition. Therefore, in order to apply any changes to boot partition (such as changing USB modes), you have to go through boot again.

Zeb