USB Device Info

Android 3.1 introduced USB host mode which allows the user to plug USB devices to your Android tablet in the same way as a Desktop PC and extend its functionality (if the tablet has the correct drivers of course).

This application will provide information about almost all currently plugged-in USB device (see below for more info about the 'almost').

Information includes:

• The Device class
• The USB device path
• The Vendor ID (VID) and the Product ID (PID).
• A List of all interfaces and their endpoints.

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Apart from using the build in API it now also parses "/sys/bus/usb/devices/" to display devices which are hidden by the Android OS, although in less detail. This part is also available as a Java library (see Library below)

Important

As of version 2.0.0 SysBusUsbDevice is no longer Parcelable; it is now Serializable. This is so that the library can be used in pure java projects.

Library

The Linux part of the project is available as an artifact for use with Gradle/Maven. To use that, add the following blocks:

gradle

	repositories {
		maven {
			url "https://dl.bintray.com/alt236/maven"
		}
	}

	dependencies {
		compile 'uk.co.alt236:usbdeviceenumerator:2.0.0'
	}

maven

    <dependency>
      <groupId>uk.co.alt236</groupId>
      <artifactId>usbdeviceenumerator</artifactId>
      <version>2.0.0</version>
      <type>pom</type>
    </dependency>

Notes

• If you download the accompanying databases, the application will also be able to provide you with additional info such as the Vendor of the device (which is not necessarily the brand!), the vendor's logo and the product name.
• As this application is using the default Android API some devices might not appear. USB Hubs (and devices connected to them) are invisible event though they seem to function properly, and mice seem to be filtered out of the provided list. I'm looking into ways to fix this.
• Device Subclass resolution will be added in the next version.
• The database is parsed from: http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids
• SELinux can interfere with accessing sysfs which will block the Linux part of the app from working.

Changelog

• v0.0.1 First public release\n
• v0.0.2 Added Interface and Endpoint resolution\n
• v0.0.3 Databases can now be downloaded.\n
• v0.0.4 Now also parses /sys/bus/usb/devices/ for those pesky devices android hides. Added export.
• v0.0.5 Added support for small screen devices. Bugfixes and stability improvements.
• v1.0.0 Materialise design, better tablet support, code overhaul
• v2.0.0 Added debug screens, SysBusUsbDevice is now Serializable instead of Parcelable
• v2.0.1 Switched to HTTPS, now using internal storage instead of external.

Permission Explanation

• ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE: Used to check if the device is on-line and using which interface.
• INTERNET: Used to go on-line and download the updated database.
• WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Used to write the database to the SD card.

Links

• Market link: https://market.android.com/details?id=aws.apps.usbDeviceEnumerator
• Webpage: http://aschillings.co.uk/html/usb_device_info.html
• Github: https://github.com/alt236/USB-Device-Info---Android

Credits

Author: Alexandros Schillings.

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The code in this project is licensed under the Apache Software License 2.0.

Copyright (c) 2020 Alexandros Schillings.