How to retrieve serialNumber corresponding to an USB device which is just connected

Question

As an android developer, I want to retrieve serialNumber of USB Device which can be flash drive, mouse, keyboard which is just connected to an Android TV.

I read one can use getSerialNumber() method of UsbDevice class to retrieve this non-resettable identifier. But how to get the UsbDevice object corresponding to the device which is just connected.

I tried fetching the same using USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED android intent but found out the intent broadcasted is not being received by the system app. Same problem is listed here as well.

Also, is there an way to retrieve the same without depending on the intent ?

• For example, to get the recently connected storage volume, one can use the getStorageVolumes() method which return an list. And then one can iterate over the list & get the first volume which is removable & this would be the flash drive which is recently connected.

public static String getPendriveDeviceId(Context context) {
    StorageManager storageManager = (StorageManager) context.getSystemService(Context.STORAGE_SERVICE);
    if (storageManager != null) {
        StorageVolume[] storageVolumes = storageManager.getStorageVolumes();
        for (StorageVolume storageVolume : storageVolumes) {
            // Check if the storage volume is a removable USB drive
            if (storageVolume.isRemovable()) {
                // Get the unique ID associated with the storage volume
                String deviceId = storageVolume.getUuid();
                return deviceId;
            }
        }
    }
    // Return null if no pendrive is found
    return null;
}

• But same logic doesn't work to fetch the UsbDevice object as UsbManager.getDeviceList() returns an HashMap instead of an list

Answer 1

I finally find out what I was missing in the code due to which USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED intent was not being received. So, I added a meta-data field inside the receiver with the device_filter.xml file. And now with this change everything is working as expected.

<receiver
    android:name=".receiver.MediaMountedBroadcastReceiver"
    android:exported="true">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED" />
    </intent-filter>

    <meta-data android:name="android.hardware.usb.action.USB_DEVICE_ATTACHED"
        android:resource="@xml/device_filter" />
</receiver>

And the device_filter.xml file is :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <usb-device/>
</resources>

Since, I wanted the logic to work for all usb device irrespective of the vendor & product id, I wrote device_filter.xml file in this way