There is another option that I believe works on all Android platforms. At least the drivers exist. Unfortunately I have not found a standard mechanism to enable it operation.
All Android platforms that I have encountered include g_ether.ko. This is a gadget ethernet kernel module which may be used for network communications over USB. The problem is that this conflicts with g_android.ko, since they both want to own the USB interface. If you have the ability to modify init.rc then you can: 1. Start adb to listen to a TCP port. This attaches adb to the wifi interface, freeing up USB 2. Then you can load g_ether.ko and use standard Java networking methods If anyone knows how to do this without modifying the Android platform, please let share.... > > I would like to create an Android application that communicates with a > > PC Windows app using the USB interface. May I know if this is > > possible? Do I need to modify the Android OS, add in drivers or can > > this be done at the application level? > > This is possible, but poorly supported enough that it may not be suitable > for end users. > > Unless you are in a position to install a custom android build adding a new > device side USB driver, you don't really get to use the USB as USB. > Instead you have two choices: > > 1) Install an "ADB" driver on the PC and enable "USB debugging" on the > android device. Set up an ADB port forward. Run a TCP server on the > device, and have a TCP client on the PC connect to the local port which is > forwarded to the android device via ADB. This should work on all ordinary > android devices, but several of the steps (identifying and installing the > appropriate ADB driver for the phone, activating USB debugging on the > phone) may not be a good fit for non-technical end users. > > 2) Activate some device/build-specific USB (reverse)tethering or internet > pass through, and hope that as a side effect this makes TCP connections > between the PC and device possible. This will only work on some devices. -- unsubscribe: [email protected] website: http://groups.google.com/group/android-porting
