All of these rely on the same method for connection to a tablet: a female-female USB adaptor combined with the free "USB Control" application. Essentially you connect the device to your tablet's USB cable using the adaptor, then run the USB Control app and click on the "host" button, then plug in the accessory. This method works on both the N800 and the N810, and you can find out how to use it at these links:
- How to connect an ordinary computer keyboard to your tablet by using the USB cable
- Nokia N800 & N810: How to connect a USB flash drive to your tablet using the USB cable
- How to attach an HDD (aka hard disk or hard drive) to your tablet using the USB cable
These methods work, and if you're happy with them then stick with them.
However, if you own a Nokia N800 there's an alternative method which uses a different kind of adaptor called the "N800 USB OTG". The way it works is you plug the OTG adaptor straight into the tablet's USB port, then plug the USB accessory into the adaptor and it works straight away.
The advantage of this alternative method is that you don't need to install "USB Control", the adaptor itself lets the tablet use USB accessories. It also reduces the amount of cables you have to use, because you don't need to use the tablet's own USB cable in this method.
There's an online shop in Canada called Electronic Product Online which, as far as we know, is the only one in the world that sells this adaptor:
- Nokia N800 USB OTG Adapter
Just to repeat, this adaptor only works on the N800, it does NOT work on the N810 because the N810 has a different kind of USB plug.
In theory you could buy a second adaptor to plug into this first one that would make it work with the N810, but it's far easier just to use the methods described in the original tutorials linked to at the beginning of this article.
Another thing worth repeating: this N800 OTG adaptor is specially modified to work with the tablets. You should NOT buy another company's adaptor which looks the same, because it won't have the wiring modification that lets the tablet use USB accessories without "USB Control".
6 comments:
I feel sort of dumb, I ordered and received the device, but it has a peculiar flared end which does not go into my USB port! What am I missing here?
Hi Pauline,
Do you have a Nokia N800 internet tablet or an N810? This adaptor is only meant for an N800, it won't work on the N810 because it has a different shaped USB port.
If you do have an N800, the adaptor plugs into the tablet's USB port, and the USB accessories plug into the adaptor.
If you can't get your USB accessories to plug into the adaptor, try contacting the Electronic Product Online site. They're really nice people who work there, I'm sure they'll be able to help with any problems.
You can contact them by clicking here.
Now I get it, it doesn't (as I thought), enable my tablet to plug into my USB port on my main computer, but rather adds a USB port to my tablet so I can add flash drives, etc. Sorry, it took me a while to realize this, but it still promises to be quite handy. Thanks for your patience.
(I do have an 800 and it does plug nicely into that mini plug.) Thanks again for your patience.
Hi Pauline,
There's already a cable that comes as standard with all tablets which lets you attach the tablet to a computer.
Have you looked in the box that the tablet came in? It's a black cable with a small plug on one end and a larger plug on the other.
If you've lost yours it's very very easy to replace, just buy a "miniUSB-USB" cable (for the N800) or "microUSB-USB" cable (for the N810). These are standard cables which can be bought cheaply at any electronics shop, or at online places like Amazon.
I've done a tutorial on how to use it:
How to connect to a computer using the USB cable
Yes I do have it and have used it to upload the new operating system. Why I thought this new device worked the same way is beyond me, but I am happy I bought it, it enables me, as you have so eloquently described to plug in several other things to my tablet. I did try to plug in one of my big external 200 Gig HD's, but it did not recognize it at all, not sure why, but it did allow me to review contents of a smaller flashdrive.
Pauline, regarding the external HDD, did you attach it to a separate power supply too or did you only attach it to the tablet?
The tablet can only work with USB accessories that draw small amounts of power. It's because the tablet is just a pocket-sized device and it doesn't have enough battery life to give out lots of power to accessories.
USB keyboards and flash drives usually aren't a problem, but HDDs will almost certainly demand too much power from the tablets so the tablets will refuse to connect to them.
The way to solve this problem is to use an HDD with its own power supply, so that it doesn't demand any power from the tablet. This is what I did in the tutorial video on how to attach an HDD to the tablets.
If your external HDD has an optional power supply, for example a mains wall adaptor or a USB cable with a power socket on one end, plug the HDD into this power supply first. Then attach the HDD to your tablet as described in the tutorials.
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