USB OTG on Sony PRS-T1? scam?

[bercoo]

Hi!

I Found this on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sync-Data-Ch...item231cf865e2

Is it fake or would it be possible to connect a keyboard eller USB Dongle to the Sony PRS-T1?

1)Features and Benefits:

- This USB cable allows you to keep your Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReader stay powered and quickly transfer essential data with your laptop.

- Using a USB connection on your laptop and the USB interface on your Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReader, this cable provides high speed USB 2.0 data synchonization, while simultaneously charging Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReader slowly through your computer's USB port.

- 3 ft (100 cm) Long, lightweight for easy carrying

Technical Specifications:

- Works with Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReader only

- Color: Black

- Length : 3 feet (100 cm)

- Net Weight: ~20grams

Package includes:

- USB cable for Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReader x 1

2)Features and Benefits:

- This USB Host adapter cable allows you to connect a USB memory stick, a USB memory card reader, or a keyboard to your Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReaderk. (some standard USB devices may not function if they consume too much power)
- PC-free back up of videos and photos from Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReaderk to an external memory stick in a convenient way.

- 4-inch (10cm) Short cable for easy carrying.

- This cable is used to connect your micro-B USB Port of your Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReaderk to the USB Type A plug of your compatible USB device.

- Compatible with Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReaderk only

Technical Specifications:

Color: Black

Cable Length: 10cm (4")

Weight: 15g

Package includes:

- Micro USB OTG Adapter cable for Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi eBook eReaderk x 1

[Shopaholic]

I know practically everything is made in China but I don't buy electronics on eBay from Chinese/Hong Kong sellers. I've known too many people who ended up with crap and/or fired electronics. It's your item and your money but I wouldn't do it.

[Shopaholic]

Oh & if you buy from an overseas seller on eBay and encounter a problem the only way to get your money back is to send it back with Delivery Confirmation. From the USPS that's Express Mail. Only. Even the flat rate envelope is $38. Do you really want to spend $38 to recoup $5 for the item + shipping?

These guys know that & they count on it so they keep the money & you keep the crappy item you just bought that hopefully didn't fry your item.

[Belfaborac]

I would absolutely give it a go. First of all, it's just five dollars. Secondly, I've bought cheap stuff/gadgets like this from Hong Kong/China/Taiwan for a decade and haven't had a bad experience yet. Basically, if I think of something that would be kinda useful, but would would only get used once in a blue moon, I check to see if it can be had for a few bucks from China on eBay or from dealextreme.com (same thing, only not eBay). If I find it, I buy it. You don't get top quality, but often I just want something that'll do the job once or twice and anything more is a bonus. Some of the stuff I've bought would have been excellent value at ten times the price though, if bought locally.

[JSWolf]

This is not a special cable. It's just a 3 foot USB cable. The smaller cable is just a normal USB plug to micro-USB plus adapter. It's not going to allow you to do anything special. The eBay advert gives all kinds of gobbledygook. But it's still just a box standard USB cable and a box standard USB end changer.

[bibahbuzemann]

A truly magical cable indeed! Per UC3, the cable's built in software automatically overrides the PRS-T1's firmware to allow a connection with any standard USB Keyboard.

Thus tetherd your eReader will never float away in the bathtub again.

For older(heavier) Sony eReaders, we proudly announce the "positive buoyancy USB cable".

Thus tetherd your eReader will never sink again!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

I would absolutely give it a go. First of all, it's just five dollars. Secondly, I've bought cheap stuff/gadgets like this from Hong Kong/China/Taiwan for a decade and haven't had a bad experience yet. Basically, if I think of something that would be kinda useful, but would would only get used once in a blue moon, I check to see if it can be had for a few bucks from China on eBay or from dealextreme.com (same thing, only not eBay). If I find it, I buy it. You don't get top quality, but often I just want something that'll do the job once or twice and anything more is a bonus. Some of the stuff I've bought would have been excellent value at ten times the price though, if bought locally.

Why would you advocate giving a spammer money? I would not buy this nor would I ever recommend anyone buy this. The adapter cable is not going to allow you to do magical things like backing up videos and photos to a USB memory stick.

[Teknikal]

I doubt it to be honest but it is maybe possible as stock android does allow it to use USB devices. Maybe it comes with a guide for rooting or something.

[milan616]

I just tried my OTG cable (that definitely works with my Galaxy Nexus) and plugged in a flash drive. Didn't even light up the LED. I'm going to call shenanigans on this cable. That said, I didn't test a keyboard :P

[JSWolf]

The OP asks the question and doesn't come back to find the answer. I think he bought this based on the magical cable properties.

[uboot]

First of all, inform youself about the difference between USB host and USB plugs and the role of USB OTG.


Then you will understand that for the T1 to work as a USB host, it is necessary to modify it's kernel / driver setup.

I know the Nook ST has been modded to provide a USB host feature for connecting USB sticks and keyboards.

It should be possible to do that for the T1. But _someone_ would have to develop such a mod... I don't of anyone that did nor anyone that tried.



edit: ooops... i should have noticed that the 1-post thread opener seems to have disappeared before creating this post...

[bercoo]

Thx uboot, that was the answer I was sadly waiting for. I didn't bought the cable on ebay but went to the local store here in sweden and paid twice the price for roughly the same cable.

It worked on my Galaxy Note, but not on the Sony PRS-T1.

It's shame because it would have been really nice writing my essays in the sun. And I know that I´m not alone with this opinion.

[lisper]

; tldr: there is no support for external usb keyboards in the original sony firmware


I obtained a USB OTG adapter, so that I can physically connect a keyboard to the Sony prst1. Unfortunately, this did not just work.

The linux kernel of the original prst1 firmware does not support the OTG feature of its Freescale MX50 ARM SOC.

I rooted the device, installed a chroot gentoo environment, set up the AR6000 wifi as access point and logged in using ssh. Here are some things I observed:

the kernel version of the original firmware:

lisper@localhost /proc $ cat version
Linux version 2.6.35.3 (hudson@devuntu5) (gcc version 4.4.0 (GCC) ) #74 PREEMPT Wed Dec 21 14:50:19 JST 2011

the list of interrupts gave me a clue, which device driver is responsible for usb (it is fsl-usb2-udc)

martin@localhost /proc $ cat interrupts
CPU0
1: 13530 MXC_TZIC mxsdhci
2: 0 MXC_TZIC mxsdhci
3: 11160 MXC_TZIC mxsdhci
4: 38095 MXC_TZIC mxsdhci
6: 3 MXC_TZIC mxc_sdma
14: 0 MXC_TZIC usb_wakeup, ehci_hcd:usb1
18: 91 MXC_TZIC usb_wakeup, fsl-usb2-udc


I downloaded the linux kernel from the sony support section and found this comment in the source:

lisper@intel:~/sony/linux-2.6.35.3/drivers/usb/gadget$ less fsl_udc_core.c
#define DRIVER_DESC "Freescale High-Speed USB SOC Device Controller driver"
#define DRIVER_AUTHOR "Li Yang/Jiang Bo"
#define DRIVER_VERSION "Apr 20, 2007"

#define DMA_ADDR_INVALID (~(dma_addr_t)0)

static const char driver_name[] = "fsl-usb2-udc";


} else if ((setup->bRequestType & (USB_RECIP_MASK
| USB_TYPE_MASK)) == (USB_RECIP_DEVICE
| USB_TYPE_STANDARD)) {
/* Note: The driver has not include OTG support yet.
* This will be set when OTG support is added */
if (!gadget_is_otg(&udc->gadget))
break;

No support for USB on-the-go means that an external keyboard will not work with the original firmware.

I looked into the fsl_udc_core.c file in a more recent 3.4.9 kernel and this seems to implement OTG, you would have to enable CONFIG_USB_OTG in the kernel configuration.

Currently I try to compile the 3.4.9 kernel on my device using the gentoo's gcc (version 4.5) -- Currently, I'm too lazy to install a cross compiler on my laptop. However, even if this succeeds I have no idea how I could boot it.

[bla]

This is NOT supported by the firmware.. when I first got my t1 I tried all sorts of usb devices via a micro/mini adaptor including various flash drives/memory sticks usb-micro sd adaptor etc... none of them worked.. maybe a flash drive specifically configured for android/linux might work but I suspect you are into rooting...

[lisper]

i succeeded in compiling and replacing the original 2.6.35.3 kernel.

i looked at /dev/block/mmcblk2 with hexdump and found the following entries (i formatted the output a bit):

stdin=serial                                                                                                                                           
stdout=serial                                                                                                                                          
stderr=serial                                                                                                                                          
ethact=FEC0                                                                                                                                            
loadaddr=0x70800000                                                                                                                                    
loadaddr_ramdisk=0x70C00000                                                                                                                            
bootdev=2                                                                                                                                              
rawtable=0xF40000                                                                                                                                      
bootcmd=mmc read 2 ${loadaddr} 0x800 0x1400;mmc read 2 ${loadaddr_ramdisk} 0x2800 0x1F4;bootm ${loadaddr} ${loadaddr_ramdisk}                          
bootargs=console=ttymxc2,115200 init=/init bootdev=2 rawtable=0xF40000                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                       
stdin=serial                                                                                                                                           
stdout=serial                                                                                                                                          
stderr=serial                                                                                                                                          
ethact=FEC0                                                                                                                                            
loadaddr=0x70800000                                                                                                                                    
loadaddr_ramdisk=0x70C00000                                                                                                                            
bootdev=2                                                                                                                                              
rawtable=0xF40000                                                                                                                                      
bootcmd=mmc read 2 ${loadaddr} 0x3000 0x1400;bootm ${loadaddr}                                                                                         
bootargs=root=/dev/mmcblk2p1 rootfstype=ext4 rw rootwait init=/linuxrc console=ttymxc4,115200 bootdev=2 rawtable=0xF40000

this tells us that they use uboot for loading two different kernels. i replaced the second image, that starts at block 0x3000 (byte offset 0x600000) with a newly compiled one like this:

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk2 of=kernel2backup bs=512 count=$((0x1400)) skip=$((0x3000))                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                       
make sure the kernel2backup file really starts with the uboot magic                                                                                    
sequence: 27 05 19 56                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                       
now be REALLY, REALLY CAREFUL                                                                                                                          
especially look at the dd manual for the difference between seek and skip                                                                              
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk2 if=uImage bs=512 seek=$((0x3000))

the uImage you can create using the kernel source from sony (with make uImage)
here are some steps

wget http://www.sony.net/Products/Linux/Audio/Download/common/wgUBcpExj80eqi5pkrlZfw/uboot-110901.tgz

compile uboot and install tools/mkimage to /usr/bin

wget http://www.sony.net/Products/Linux/Audio/Download/common/L1KaMCC9mHxsZfoFPJnsBg/linux-2.6.35.3-110901.tgz
wget 

zcat /proc/config.gz > .config
make menuconfig (change what you want)
make uImage
make modules_install

the uImage is in arch/arm/boot/uImage


i managed to get a penguin displayed on the e-ink screen. however there is no text on the console. but i don't care, once i install xorg with an fbdev driver the screen should work okay with a terminal. now i would really like to backport the usb-otg support from a 3.4.9 kernel, so that i can attach a usb keyboard

so far i haven't managed to insmod the ar6k driver for the wifi card.

i have to wrote a small program which continuously updates the screen. the main logic is here:

#include <linux/fb.h>
#include "mxcfb.h"
#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>

  int fd = open("/dev/fb0",O_RDWR);
  if(!fd || fd==-1)
    exit(1);
  {
    struct mxcfb_update_data u;
    u.update_region.top=0;
    u.update_region.left=0;
    u.update_region.width=800;
    u.update_region.height=600;
    // i read in  mxc_epdc_fb.c in the kernel source                            
    // to figure out the following                                              
    u.update_mode =  UPDATE_MODE_FULL;
    u.waveform_mode = 4;  // fast black-and-white waveform, with no flashing
    //WAVEFORM_MODE_AUTO;     // blinking gray value waveform                              
    int marker = 1;
    u.update_marker = marker;
    u.flags=0;
    if(0>ioctl(fd,MXCFB_SEND_UPDATE,&u))
      printf("problem with update\n");
    if(0>ioctl(fd,MXCFB_WAIT_FOR_UPDATE_COMPLETE,&marker))
      printf("problem during wait\n");
  }
  close(fd);