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N7 2: No OTG support, out of box

rushmore

Extreme Android User
Nov 13, 2008
8,256
1,355
Kentucky
This seems absolute nuts, unless you are a cloud lover. (No offense to cloud lovers, since clouds also provide rain and shade).

This from one review (Ubergizmo)

"Does it work with a USB OTG adapter?
Unfortunately, if you connect an OTG USB adapter, out of the box, I was not able to read files or even list a directory. The USB drive seems to be powered, but no other communications happens with the tablet. I
 
I was going to zip to BB and get a 32GB until I noticed this. I will hold off now, since even with OTG, I can not stand .6" of diagonal space being taken up by a navigation bar on a smaller display like this. I will test this puppy out when root is ready! Assuming it is easy to root.

Hopefully root is quick & easy :) Else :(
 
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It sounds unchanged from the existing Nexus 7. Rooting is only needed if you require full r/w access to media, otherwise apps like Nexus Media Importer will do the job of reading/copying/streaming/whatever from an OTG device without rooting.

Nexus Media Importer does support writing to devices formatted as FAT32. I just used it extensively on travel to copy photos from my camera to the N7 and then off to a flash drive.
 
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I want the ability to read and write to external storage, so will need root. Also want NTFS due to some media file sizes and format of current storage devices I have.

As far as the nav bar, I thought the bar can only be hid with root. I use Nova too. The issue is the space taken up by the bar.

Added: With Nova, you can hide the thin status bar, but not the space hogging nav bar and the ease of hitting it by accident when playing a game or even when typing.
 
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Nexus Media Importer does support writing to devices formatted as FAT32. I just used it extensively on travel to copy photos from my camera to the N7 and then off to a flash drive.

I didn't say it didn't, but it does need root access to allow it - or certainly did when the write capability was first added. I've used it as long as it has existed but I'm rooted anyway, so I have no way of checking whether it still requires root to write to OTD media.

Edit: after reading the current documentation it is clear that it can indeed do full r/w of FAT devices without rooting - indeed it doesn't use root access for anything. Perhaps it never did require it; my memory sometimes plays tricks.
 
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I didn't say it didn't, but it does need root access to allow it - or certainly did when the write capability was first added. I've used it as long as it has existed but I'm rooted anyway, so I have no way of checking whether it still requires root to write to OTD media.

My bad - I should have noted that it does now support the FAT32 writing without root.
 
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On my current Nexus 7 using stickmount, I can only read, not write NTFS. I believe you need a custom kernel (or at least kernel modules) to enable NTFS write support.
Stickmount supports NTFS, but you have to download the file(s) for NTFS and/or exfat listed in the Play store description for Stickmount. Download the appropriate file, extract it and place it in the \sdcard folder. I have full read/write/stream access to sdcards, thumbdrives and my 750Gb Passport hard disk, which is formatted NTFS (it needs external power using a special cable with 2 usb connectors and one micro-usb).
 
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This seems absolute nuts, unless you are a cloud lover. (No offense to cloud lovers, since clouds also provide rain and shade).

This from one review (Ubergizmo)

"Does it work with a USB OTG adapter?
Unfortunately, if you connect an OTG USB adapter, out of the box, I was not able to read files or even list a directory. The USB drive seems to be powered, but no other communications happens with the tablet. I
 
Upvote 0

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