Buy otg micro usb cable with power. USB OTG from A to Z. What is OTG

Included with numerous smartphones or tablets based on Android you can find an accessory called an OTG cable, but many users cannot figure out what it is and how to use an OTG cable, as well as what additional capabilities it gives your device. In fact, it can be extremely useful, especially if you want to use your device in combination with additional equipment. It is necessary to understand why this adapter is useful and how it can be used.

Purpose of the OTG adapter

So, what is an OTG USB cable? It is a special cable (adapter), on one end of which there is a full-type USB port, and on the other - a mini or micro USB. A full-fledged USB port is used to connect to peripheral devices, for example, a computer mouse, keyboard, flash drive and other devices. The second end is connected to a smartphone or tablet running Android OS. After connecting to all devices, a message appears on the display of the Android device stating that the peripheral equipment is ready for use (provided that you have connected everything correctly, and the tablet or smartphone supports working with the adapter at the software and hardware level). All devices connected to a mobile gadget receive power from it, except when they are connected directly to the electrical network.

If you have special devices, tools and skills, you can make an OTG cable with your own hands. The essence of this process is to close the last two contacts, which are contained inside the connector.

What can you connect via OTG USB cable?

How to use OTG on a tablet or smartphone - there are quite a lot of possibilities for its operation, it is necessary to note the most common among them:

Connecting a hard drive or external storage (flash).
Connecting peripheral devices such as a mouse or keyboard.
Connecting to a mobile printer device.
Fast file transfer.
Demonstration of media files from a smartphone or tablet on a large screen.

When you connect an external drive for storing data to the gadget, the message “Preparing a USB drive” appears on the device display. After the device is ready for use, you can view all the files stored on the drive or disk using a regular file manager. Remember to use the safe eject feature before disconnecting the drive. It provides an opportunity to avoid damage to files stored on the drive and other troubles (the same function is available on a desktop PC or laptop).

Using the mouse on an Android tablet is very simple: one click selects objects, two clicks launch programs and applications. A computer mouse greatly simplifies the control of a mobile gadget. If we talk about the keyboard, it provides the ability to quickly type text, thereby turning the tablet device into a kind of netbook. With an OTG cable, you don't have to look for alternative ways to connect all those peripherals. The same goes for webcams and other devices. Before connecting a printer to your device, be prepared for the fact that OTG USB cable technology is only available for the newest and most common equipment. In addition to the cable, you will need to download and install a special application from Google Play that will help you connect the printer and also simplify its operation. If all steps are completed correctly, you will be able to print photos or text documents directly from your phone.

To appreciate the fast file transfer using an adapter, imagine that you need to transfer data from a tablet to a flash drive (an ordinary USB flash drive). The traditional method involves transferring files from the gadget to the computer, and then from the computer to a flash drive. Thanks to OTG, you can quickly transfer from Android directly to a flash drive, it only takes a few minutes.

Watching videos, films, photos is much more convenient and enjoyable on a big screen, for example, a TV. If you have a modern TV model at your disposal, then you can organize a demonstration of media files from a tablet or smartphone on the TV screen, and connecting an OTG cable will help you with this. To do this, just connect these two devices using a cable. The TV in this case will play the role of a projector.

Which devices support OTG cable?

It is believed that any equipment that is equipped with a USB port can work with an OTG cable, but in reality the situation is a little more complicated. The easiest way is to connect an ordinary flash drive with a capacity of up to 32 GB to your Android device. It is more difficult to use a hard drive that will receive power from the device, since it lacks power. If the drive is powered from the mains, no problems will arise.

Also, difficulties do not arise when connecting the following devices:

mice;
keyboards;
game joystick;
steering wheel;
cameras;
computer speakers
card reader.

Moreover, you can connect several peripheral devices to a smartphone or tablet at the same time, but to do this you will have to acquire a USB hub (splitter) equipped with several ports. The more equipment connected, the faster the battery drains.

Smartphones and tablets that support OTG, as a rule, belong to the mid-price segment or flagship devices. Many developers do not provide this feature to users to save on installing the appropriate software or to reduce battery consumption.

Conclusion

Now you know how to use a USB OTG cable, what it is intended for, and what difficulties may arise when trying to connect a particular device to your Android smartphone/tablet. This adapter can be a truly useful assistant in work, learning and entertainment. Even if OTG is not included in the package, but the gadget supports it, you can purchase a cable at any store.

The story is about how difficult it turned out to be to connect a 4g modem, flash drives and a mouse to the tablet, and even prevent it from running out of power. Disassembly, voltage tests, Orico cable, the item is good, I recommend it, not item 18. Everything is under cut)

Hello! Today we are reviewing a mcroUSB-OTG hub with additional power. There was already a review of it on Muska, but it was very brief, I’ll try to add more. It all started when I gave my parents a Prestigio Visconte Quad tablet (8"", Intel Atom Z3735G, 1GB RAM, 16GB ROM, Windows 8.1\10). What was needed was a Windows tablet so that the owners could use it as comfortably as on their laptop in general. I bought the tablet from a friend, so the equipment was far from original: some kind of frivolous 1A charger and the first microUSB cable that came to hand. As a result, during active use (wi-fi, online video, bluetooth mouse), the tablet was discharged while charging. Moreover, the 4g modem connected via an otg cable did not start; it either appeared in the system, then fell off again at the stage of installing the firewood. Thanks to the community on 4pda, I found out that the modem simply does not have enough current. And a whole book is devoted to the problem of surviving with one microUSB. And I started making cables with additional power according to 4pda diagrams.

Scheme using scotch locks

Option with hub

Everything worked, the modem started up, but using such cables was inconvenient, and the design itself did not last long. It was decided to kill all birds with one stone and purchase a factory version and the choice fell on Acasis H-027. I immediately liked its strict design and the modest but original Acasis marking, which looks as if it had Asus written on it, I would not have doubted it at all. I chose the cheapest lot at that time and received it 37 days later. There were no instructions included (although some people do). All packaging is bubble wrap and a bag.

The device can operate in three modes:
1. Charging only
2. otg+charging
3. OTG only
There is a switch to switch between them.

On my tablet these modes worked like this:
1. otg+charging
2. otg+charging
3. OTG only
The body of the device consists of two halves, fastened using the tongue-and-groove method. When disassembled, the spikes suffer and heroically fall off. Everything inside is clean and tidy.

The hub is controlled by a fe 1.1s microcircuit, very cheap, it can be found in many USB 2.0 hubs from Ali, from very good models to copies that literally fall apart in your hands. Often found in inexpensive Chinese tablets.

The indicator light indicates that power is connected. It's not very well implemented - just a hole in the body.

The Otg mode works flawlessly, I didn’t measure copying speeds from drives, everything is normal there. “OTG+charging” mode with Orico colorful 0.5m cable
with three flash drives

with screw and flash drives

With the 4g modem, everything is also correct. Basically, to power the tablet and hub, I use a Robiton charger and an Orico microUSB cable 2 m long.

In the maximum possible option: charger + 2 meters of cable + hub with screw, modem and mouse, the tablet charges slowly, but it charges, otg works, i.e. The hub is fulfilling its purpose. Nevertheless, we will take measurements.

without hub with 1A load

with hub and 1A load

Everyone knows that any electronic device can be connected to a computer using a standard USB cable. Thus, using a laptop or personal computer, you can connect various devices with each other, such as printers, cameras, smartphones and data storage devices (flash drives and external hard drives).

What is OTG?

Is there a way to do without a computer? Quite simply, a lot of adapters under the general name OTG cable have appeared on the market for a long time. Their cost varies from a few dollars to a dozen or even two. However, their difference from simple data cables is so insignificant that you can easily make an OTG cable with your own hands. For example, from the remains of old ones and adapters.

So, first we need to decide why we need an OTG cable. Powering another device using a battery may be necessary when there is no power supply nearby, for example, when traveling or hiking, but this option is not the most effective. We need to immediately decide whether we will permanently connect two specific devices to each other or whether it is better to make a universal OTG cable with our own hands to use any USB devices, like a store-bought one. It is also better to immediately check whether your device is capable of supporting such connections.

Tools and Safety

To work with cables you will need:

knife for stripping insulation;

wire cutters or side cutters (remember the saying: “measure twice - cut once”), excess soldering on the cable will worsen the quality of communication between devices and increase the resistance in general, which will affect data loss or the inability to charge due to conductor resistance;

soldering iron, solder and flux; at the end of the article we will look at how you can do without this device.

When working with a soldering iron, remember safety precautions. This device is dangerous due to its high temperature not only during operation, but also for several minutes after switching off. Protect the work surface of the table from molten tin or rosin. Protect exposed skin from touching hot parts of the soldering iron.

What is what?

First, it’s worth figuring out which contacts in plugs and sockets are needed for what, since the mini- and micro-variants have 1 more pin than the universal serial bus connectors. So, the first pin is usually marked with red insulation inside the wire and is intended for supplying voltage. The second and third pins, marked with white and green insulation, are intended for data transmission. The fourth black pin is zero or ground, working in tandem with the first supply wire. In mini- and micro-USB, such functions are assigned to the fifth and last pin, and the fourth is a marking or identifier. It is designed to provide connection information to the device and is not connected anywhere in the data cables at all.

The simplest option

First of all, let's consider the option of connecting two specific devices, for example, a tablet computer and a camera. Since they both have 5-pin sockets, either micro or mini USB, you just need to carefully solder the corresponding wires together. 2 scrap data cables with matching plugs will do. You need to cut them and strip the wires of insulation, and then connect them according to color differentiation, that is, black to black, yellow to yellow, and so on. Each connection must be isolated from the others using hot glue or at least electrical tape. When you connect such a cable to devices, a dialog menu will appear on the screens where you will need to select which device will be the main one in this mini-network. You can forcefully designate the main and secondary devices in the cable itself. To do this, you need to connect the 4th and 5th contacts in the main device plug, and simply do not connect the 4th contact to any other plug. Thus, the device will automatically identify itself as the main one in the connection, since the marker contact will indicate the presence of a connection, whereas on the second device it will be “empty”.

For a variety of devices

Let's consider the option of how to make a universal OTG cable with your own hands. In addition to a micro- or mini-USB plug, depending on the device, we will need a USB connector. You can take it from old motherboards, cut it off from a USB extension cable, or disassemble a USB splitter (the so-called USB hub). The latter option is preferable, as it will allow you to connect several peripheral devices to the main device at once, just like to a computer. The connection sequence is the same as above; on the device plug, the main device is similarly forcibly indicated by connecting the 4th and 5th pins. The pictures clearly show the connection diagram of pins in connectors and plugs.

With power connection

Some devices are characterized by increased energy consumption, which leads to rapid discharge of the battery of the main gadget, be it a smartphone or tablet. In this case, you can improve the OTG cable yourself by adding a power cable with a USB plug for the network adapter. To do this, you can use the remains of a data cable from which a micro- or mini-USB plug was previously cut off. The connection is made via two current-carrying contacts, black and red, ignoring the data wires. It must be remembered that over long distances, the resistance of the wire, increased by solder joints, will reduce the voltage and current, so the use of long sections of cable will most likely not achieve a stable connection between the devices. Use approximately 20-30 cm of cable for each plug and connector to avoid breaks and interruptions in the connection.

Finally, I would like to mention how to assemble an OTG cable with your own hands without a soldering iron. The assembly principle is the same as described above, but the wire connections are made in slightly different ways. Let us point out two of them here:

Solder paste contains powdered solder and flux and does not require the use of a soldering iron. This paste is applied to the parts to be joined and heated with a regular lighter.

There are connections without the use of high temperatures at all. The so-called adhesive locks are connectors for low-current systems with a special contact that cuts into the wires using a clamping device, for example, pliers.

Whatever you decide to do yourself, remember that cutting cables is not a warranty case and such cables cannot be replaced.

I talked about choosing a tablet, and in particular about the function I needed, such as the ability to connect various USB devices to it, such as flash drives, a card reader (and, accordingly, memory cards of different formats), etc.

So, having bought a MoveO tablet! TPC-7HG I suddenly encountered a problem that was completely unexpected for me. The thing is that this tablet only has a mini-USB connector. In itself, this was not a surprise or a problem for me - on the contrary, it is easier to find a standard mini-USB cable in order to replace, for example, a faulty charging cable if necessary. An unpleasant surprise for me was that in my town nowhere - NOWHERE! - the mini-USB OTG cable was not sold! It didn't come with the kit either. Having gone to all possible and impossible stores, I came to the conclusion that, perhaps, it would be easier and faster to make such a cable with my own hands.

ATTENTION!!! EVERYTHING YOU DO IS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

And now a little theory. You cannot simply take and solder together a mini-USB plug with a piece of wire from one cable and a so-called USB-female plug from another cable. No, that is, of course, you can solder it, but just connecting it to the tablet and making it work with this cable will not work for any device. Here's the thing.

A standard mini-USB cable has a five-pin plug:
001.

The contacts in it are numbered as follows:
002.

But a standard USB cable only has 4 wires. Where did the fifth wire go? Nowhere. It simply does not solder to the connector ends!

The purpose and color marking of the wires in a regular USB cable are as follows:

1 - Red VBUS (+5V) +5 Volts DC voltage relative to GND. Maximum current - 500 mA.

2 - White D- (-Data)

3 - Green D+ (+Data)

4 - Black GND - common wire, ground, minus, 0 Volt

The main difference between a USB OTG cable is the plug. In a mini-USB OTG cable (as well as in a micro-USB OTG cable), pins 4 and 5 are closed to each other. In a regular (non-OTG) data cable, there is no wire soldered to the 4th pin of the plug. This plug is called USB-BM mini (micro). If you solder pins 4 and 5 together, then such a plug will be called USB-AM mini (micro). It is by the presence of a jumper between pins 4 and 5 in the USB-AM micro plug that the tablet determines that a peripheral device is going to be connected to it. If this jumper is not present, then it itself will act as a passive device and will not respond to the connection of any kind of USB devices to it.

So, we have become familiar with the theory - let's start practicing.

We take a regular mini-USB cable and carefully open its connector with a utility knife. As a result, we get the following set of young technicians:
003.

Next we need to connect the 4th and 5th pins of the plug. This can be done, for example, by carefully cleaning the sealing plastic from the back of the connector. But here two unpleasant surprises await. Firstly, it turns out that this is not so easy to do without damaging anything, because the contact group is filled in conscientiously - you just have to pick it out. The second “surprise” is a short contact of the 4th contact (forgive my pun!), which makes it extremely inconvenient to solder something to it:
004.

Having honestly ruined the first cable, I take up the second one, but I deal with it a little differently. Having opened and disassembled the mini-USB connector, from the back side of the contact pad, using the same stationery knife, I carefully scrape off the plastic in the area of the 4th and 5th contacts, right down to the contacts themselves:
005.

Now take a soldering iron and place a neat jumper between these two contacts with tin.
006.

The only thing you need to watch out for here is to keep the contact pad as flat as possible, both on this side - since in this case our connector may simply not fit back into its metal case, and on the opposite side (that is, actually from the side of the contacts) - since unevenness there can lead to bending of the contact group of the tablet socket, and this is already fraught. After making the jumper, you need to take care to avoid short circuiting the freshly soldered contacts with the connector body. To do this, I used such an indispensable tool as Poxipol.
007.

Please note that only TRANSPARENT Poxipol has electrical insulating properties. Metal Poxipol has quite conductive characteristics and, naturally, cannot be used in this case.

After Poxipol has hardened, the excess can be cleaned off with a knife and the USB connector can be assembled:
008.

In principle, it would be a good idea to fill it with Poxipol on top, but I recommend doing this after the cable has been tested for functionality.

And cut off the USB-female connector with a piece of wire from it:
010.

Now we only need to connect the two resulting cables (one with a mini-USB connector, the second with a USB-female connector) to each other.

First, we “dress” one of the wires with heat shrink:
011.

Take the soldering iron again:
012.

And we carefully solder (from the word “solder” and not “solder”!) the wires in the cables.
013.

To isolate the wires from each other, I used the same Poxipol. And when it froze, I covered it all together with heat shrink:
014.

The result is a cable like this.

Almost any manipulator is connected to a computer using a special USB cable, thereby turning into an information input device. This allows you to create an entire ecosystem of various devices, but what if you just need to connect a keyboard to a tablet or smartphone?

For this, there are otg cables, which in fact are just cleverly named adapters between micro-usb and usb. Allowing you to connect mice to the same smartphones and, using additional software and drivers, use them freely, without restrictions. Such a cable for connecting external manipulators costs from a couple of dollars to ten, depending on the manufacturer, quality and number of devices connected at a time. And the main question of our average person: how to make such a device yourself, so as not to waste money? Fortunately, all you need is an old charger and an unnecessary connector, as well as pliers and electrical tape.

In fact, such a device does not have any complex microcircuits or adapters; all configuration of the controller occurs through the internal software of the tablet or phone, so it is just a cable with an input and output that can be made in 10 minutes. And yet, how to make an otg cable with your own hands if you only have an old smartphone charger? Why is it generally necessary to connect external manipulators to mobile devices, and how to deal with differences in the current strength of devices? And what do you need to know about otg before using it?

Methods of application

Before you pick up a soldering iron, you should understand why you need such a cable at all? After all, there are a lot of keyboards for the same tablet, specially created and designed for ease of use, not to mention gamepads and mice. Is this really an ordinary adapter for those who cannot afford such a “zoo” of information input devices? In fact, this is a much more universal device, because micro-usb is used in the same powerbank, and the phone or tablet itself with a sufficiently powerful battery becomes a separate device for recharging. So, you find yourself in a situation where the laptop is almost dead, but the phone is 100 percent, this is where otg support comes in handy.

Yes, a 2-4 thousand mAh battery will not last long. But if we are talking about urgently answering a letter or sending a project to the authorities, the time is already counting in seconds. In addition, the opposite situation is also possible, and with the help of such adapters you can always give part of the charge to a friend with a discharged smartphone. But before you start happily cutting off the nearest old charger, make sure you have a soldering iron and tin. In fact, the same OTG can be called a usb-c - micro-usb cable, which is simply necessary for owners of new equipment from Apple.

How to find out if your device supports OTG cable

And now in front of you there is already a pinout and a heated soldering iron, but it remains to check the last point, is your device even capable of supporting such connections that allow you to transfer battery charge? Or connect third-party manipulators to it? This depends purely on the version of Android and partly on the modules built into the accessory, but to simplify your life, there are many testing programs that allow you to determine in a matter of minutes whether the phone is suitable for these purposes. As already mentioned, if this is not the case, try updating the firmware version and downloading drivers for the required accessory and you will be happy.

What tools will you need?

Those who didn’t miss labor lessons at school already have a rough idea of the necessary tools for creating a cable. We only need to cut off the input and output from different charges and connect them together using soldering and then electrical tape, so take:

Wire cutters or pliers, and you have to be very careful here. Any extra spikes degrade the communication speed between devices, increasing resistance and decreasing current accordingly.
Use a knife or the same pliers to strip the insulation, although you don’t need to remove it completely, as some craftsmen do, a small piece of bare wire is enough, this way you will reduce the chance of breaking the chain.
Soldering iron. It doesn’t matter whether you have a Soviet device in your hands or a modern soldering iron with automatic shutdown when touching living matter. Remember the safety rules, hold it correctly. With some skill, you can also use a wood burning device. But this will take a little longer and will leave traces of the oxidation process on it.

There are several tricks that will allow you to do without a soldering iron, which every Soviet child knows about. It is enough to use any filament or thick enough copper wire and heat it separately, while insulating it from direct contact with the skin. But if you have never even held a soldering iron in your hands, it is better not to risk doing it yourself without the help of a specialist.

Do not forget that the device cools down for several minutes after operation and try to prevent rosin and tin from getting on the table, especially if it is made of flammable materials. Try not to get burned; you can buy special protective gloves for this.

Soldering

To begin with, the homemade cable should be cut according to the prepared pattern. Measure the required length and do not try to make it as long as possible, this may lead to inconvenience in use. Then strip the wire of insulation, do not remove too much, this way you will increase the stability of the connection and reduce the chance of “fractures” in the joint. And you shouldn’t waste a large amount of tin. The neater and more inconspicuous the connection, the greater the strength of the adapter and the speed of charge transfer, and when the current is measured at 1 A, there is no need for extra resistance.

Having soldered and made sure that the metal has frozen, rewind the exposed wire with electrical tape; again, a hundred layers will in no way affect the strength of the structure, so excessive fanaticism should be avoided here.

Examination

After installing all the necessary software and drivers on your phone, try the adapter; if it does not work, check the current using an ammeter. Is there current? Then the problem is directly in the smartphone, try testing your homemade product on another accessory or on a different firmware version!