USB Serial communication between Android and computer

Question

I need to create an App that receives and transmit text data from a computer to a Android App. I found this : https://github.com/mik3y/usb-serial-for-android. I used the example to see if I starting like this I could see a comunication between then, when I used in my mobile it appears 1 device found Vendor 1519 Product 0020 No Driver. It's like not happened the communication and not found the computer.

Here is the code:

SerialConsoleActivity.java--

package com.hoho.android.usbserial.examples;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.ScrollView;
import android.widget.TextView;

import com.hoho.android.usbserial.driver.UsbSerialDriver;
import com.hoho.android.usbserial.util.HexDump;
import com.hoho.android.usbserial.util.SerialInputOutputManager;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;

/**
 * Monitors a single {@link UsbSerialDriver} instance, showing all data
 * received.
 *
 * @author mike wakerly ([email protected])
 */
public class SerialConsoleActivity extends Activity {

    private final String TAG = SerialConsoleActivity.class.getSimpleName();

    /**
     * Driver instance, passed in statically via
     * {@link #show(Context, UsbSerialDriver)}.
     *
     * <p/>
     * This is a devious hack; it'd be cleaner to re-create the driver using
     * arguments passed in with the {@link #startActivity(Intent)} intent. We
     * can get away with it because both activities will run in the same
     * process, and this is a simple demo.
     */
    private static UsbSerialDriver sDriver = null;

    private TextView mTitleTextView;
    private TextView mDumpTextView;
    private ScrollView mScrollView;

    private final ExecutorService mExecutor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();

    private SerialInputOutputManager mSerialIoManager;

    private final SerialInputOutputManager.Listener mListener =
            new SerialInputOutputManager.Listener() {

        @Override
        public void onRunError(Exception e) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Runner stopped.");
        }

        @Override
        public void onNewData(final byte[] data) {
            SerialConsoleActivity.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    SerialConsoleActivity.this.updateReceivedData(data);
                }
            });
        }
    };

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.serial_console);
        mTitleTextView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.demoTitle);
        mDumpTextView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.consoleText);
        mScrollView = (ScrollView) findViewById(R.id.demoScroller);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPause() {
        super.onPause();
        stopIoManager();
        if (sDriver != null) {
            try {
                sDriver.close();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                // Ignore.
            }
            sDriver = null;
        }
        finish();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        Log.d(TAG, "Resumed, sDriver=" + sDriver);
        if (sDriver == null) {
            mTitleTextView.setText("No serial device.");
        } else {
            try {
                sDriver.open();
                sDriver.setParameters(115200, 8, UsbSerialDriver.STOPBITS_1, UsbSerialDriver.PARITY_NONE);
            } catch (IOException e) {
                Log.e(TAG, "Error setting up device: " + e.getMessage(), e);
                mTitleTextView.setText("Error opening device: " + e.getMessage());
                try {
                    sDriver.close();
                } catch (IOException e2) {
                    // Ignore.
                }
                sDriver = null;
                return;
            }
            mTitleTextView.setText("Serial device: " + sDriver.getClass().getSimpleName());
        }
        onDeviceStateChange();
    }

    private void stopIoManager() {
        if (mSerialIoManager != null) {
            Log.i(TAG, "Stopping io manager ..");
            mSerialIoManager.stop();
            mSerialIoManager = null;
        }
    }

    private void startIoManager() {
        if (sDriver != null) {
            Log.i(TAG, "Starting io manager ..");
            mSerialIoManager = new SerialInputOutputManager(sDriver, mListener);
            mExecutor.submit(mSerialIoManager);
        }
    }

    private void onDeviceStateChange() {
        stopIoManager();
        startIoManager();
    }

    private void updateReceivedData(byte[] data) {
        final String message = "Read " + data.length + " bytes: \n"
                + HexDump.dumpHexString(data) + "\n\n";
        mDumpTextView.append(message);
        mScrollView.smoothScrollTo(0, mDumpTextView.getBottom());
    }

    /**
     * Starts the activity, using the supplied driver instance.
     *
     * @param context
     * @param driver
     */
    static void show(Context context, UsbSerialDriver driver) {
        sDriver = driver;
        final Intent intent = new Intent(context, SerialConsoleActivity.class);
        intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NO_HISTORY);
        context.startActivity(intent);
    }

}

DeviceListActivity--

  import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.hardware.usb.UsbDevice;
import android.hardware.usb.UsbManager;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.Message;
import android.os.SystemClock;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.ListView;
import android.widget.ProgressBar;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.TwoLineListItem;

import com.hoho.android.usbserial.driver.UsbSerialDriver;
import com.hoho.android.usbserial.driver.UsbSerialProber;
import com.hoho.android.usbserial.util.HexDump;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

/**
 * Shows a {@link ListView} of available USB devices.
 *
 * @author mike wakerly ([email protected])
 */
public class DeviceListActivity extends Activity {

    private final String TAG = DeviceListActivity.class.getSimpleName();

private UsbManager mUsbManager;
private ListView mListView;
private TextView mProgressBarTitle;
private ProgressBar mProgressBar;

private static final int MESSAGE_REFRESH = 101;
private static final long REFRESH_TIMEOUT_MILLIS = 5000;

private final Handler mHandler = new Handler() {
    @Override
    public void handleMessage(Message msg) {
        switch (msg.what) {
            case MESSAGE_REFRESH:
                refreshDeviceList();
                mHandler.sendEmptyMessageDelayed(MESSAGE_REFRESH, REFRESH_TIMEOUT_MILLIS);
                break;
            default:
                super.handleMessage(msg);
                break;
        }
    }

};

/** Simple container for a UsbDevice and its driver. */
private static class DeviceEntry {
    public UsbDevice device;
    public UsbSerialDriver driver;

    DeviceEntry(UsbDevice device, UsbSerialDriver driver) {
        this.device = device;
        this.driver = driver;
    }
}

private List<DeviceEntry> mEntries = new ArrayList<DeviceEntry>();
private ArrayAdapter<DeviceEntry> mAdapter;

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);

    mUsbManager = (UsbManager) getSystemService(Context.USB_SERVICE);
    mListView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.deviceList);
    mProgressBar = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progressBar);
    mProgressBarTitle = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.progressBarTitle);

    mAdapter = new ArrayAdapter<DeviceEntry>(this, android.R.layout.simple_expandable_list_item_2, mEntries) {
        @Override
        public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
            final TwoLineListItem row;
            if (convertView == null){
                final LayoutInflater inflater =
                        (LayoutInflater) getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
                row = (TwoLineListItem) inflater.inflate(android.R.layout.simple_list_item_2, null);
            } else {
                row = (TwoLineListItem) convertView;
            }

            final DeviceEntry entry = mEntries.get(position);
            final String title = String.format("Vendor %s Product %s",
                    HexDump.toHexString((short) entry.device.getVendorId()),
                    HexDump.toHexString((short) entry.device.getProductId()));
            row.getText1().setText(title);

            final String subtitle = entry.driver != null ?
                    entry.driver.getClass().getSimpleName() : "No Driver";
            row.getText2().setText(subtitle);

            return row;
        }

    };
    mListView.setAdapter(mAdapter);

    mListView.setOnItemClickListener(new ListView.OnItemClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Pressed item " + position);
            if (position >= mEntries.size()) {
                Log.w(TAG, "Illegal position.");
                return;
            }

            final DeviceEntry entry = mEntries.get(position);
            final UsbSerialDriver driver = entry.driver;
            if (driver == null) {
                Log.d(TAG, "No driver.");
                return;
            }

            showConsoleActivity(driver);
        }
    });
}

@Override
protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    mHandler.sendEmptyMessage(MESSAGE_REFRESH);
}

@Override
protected void onPause() {
    super.onPause();
    mHandler.removeMessages(MESSAGE_REFRESH);
}

private void refreshDeviceList() {
    showProgressBar();

    new AsyncTask<Void, Void, List<DeviceEntry>>() {
        @Override
        protected List<DeviceEntry> doInBackground(Void... params) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Refreshing device list ...");
            SystemClock.sleep(1000);
            final List<DeviceEntry> result = new ArrayList<DeviceEntry>();
            for (final UsbDevice device : mUsbManager.getDeviceList().values()) {
                final List<UsbSerialDriver> drivers =
                        UsbSerialProber.probeSingleDevice(mUsbManager, device);
                Log.d(TAG, "Found usb device: " + device);
                if (drivers.isEmpty()) {
                    Log.d(TAG, "  - No UsbSerialDriver available.");
                    result.add(new DeviceEntry(device, null));
                } else {
                    for (UsbSerialDriver driver : drivers) {
                        Log.d(TAG, "  + " + driver);
                        result.add(new DeviceEntry(device, driver));
                    }
                }
            }
            return result;
        }

        @Override
        protected void onPostExecute(List<DeviceEntry> result) {
            mEntries.clear();
            mEntries.addAll(result);
            mAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
            mProgressBarTitle.setText(
                    String.format("%s device(s) found",Integer.valueOf(mEntries.size())));
            hideProgressBar();
            Log.d(TAG, "Done refreshing, " + mEntries.size() + " entries found.");
        }

    }.execute((Void) null);
}

private void showProgressBar() {
    mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
    mProgressBarTitle.setText(R.string.refreshing);
}

private void hideProgressBar() {
    mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
}

private void showConsoleActivity(UsbSerialDriver driver) {
    SerialConsoleActivity.show(this, driver);
}

}

Answer 1

Have you installed the driver your phone migh require to work? For example any Samsung smartphone will require the Key-software to be installed in order for the drivers to function properly. I am asuming you want to try USB-debugging, correct?

Answer 2

It seems that you don't have the right driver installed for your device.Try firstly to use google official tools for android development like adb and friends. If they don't work than you don't have the driver. Visit the site of the vendor of your mobile phone and download it.

Answer 3

It seems that you lack of USB driver.The driver should be download at http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

according to you system version. The same problem confused me, and that driver solves this problem. Hope it works for you.