USB Mass storage option ... gone? - T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S 4

I cant seem to find an option to use the Galaxy S4 as USB mass storage, only media device (MTP) or Camera (PTP) is available. Cannot find any USB options in the settings either.
How am I able to copy files from and to my SD card and/or phone HD?
I appreciate any helpful posts. Thank you!

crco said:
I cant seem to find an option to use the Galaxy S4 as USB mass storage, only media device (MTP) or Camera (PTP) is available. Cannot find any USB options in the settings either.
How am I able to copy files from and to my SD card and/or phone HD?
I appreciate any helpful posts. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You us MTP fyi usb mass storage has been gone for a while i know for a fact the gs3 & note2 used MTP

deeznutz1977 said:
You us MTP fyi usb mass storage has been gone for a while i know for a fact the gs3 & note2 used MTP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with MTP my device doesnt show up in Mac, as well as my Sony TV or LG receiver. what to do?

Is there anyway to disable MTP and go back to mass storage? Also, is the SDCARD MTP as well?

Mass Storage is gone for good... and while it sounds bad, there's a good reason..
Using Mass Storage forces the storage partition (or external sdcard) to be unmounted by Android, so any data/apps/widgets on there are no longer available until you disconnect your device from your PC. Using MTP allows the data partition to remain mounted and available concurrently on both your device, and on your PC via USB.

1) No, you cannot get UMS back.
2) This belongs in Q&A.
3) For Macs, you will need this.

Questions go in Q&A
Thread moved
FNM

The auto-unmount is ok...
pakraider said:
Mass Storage is gone for good... and while it sounds bad, there's a good reason..
Using Mass Storage forces the storage partition (or external sdcard) to be unmounted by Android, so any data/apps/widgets on there are no longer available until you disconnect your device from your PC. Using MTP allows the data partition to remain mounted and available concurrently on both your device, and on your PC via USB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"there's a good reason" is somewhat subjective. To me the great benefit to the more general usb mass storage option is so you can connect the phone to any device as if it were a usb flash drive. No driver issues, no worries about camera or MTP mode, no Mac issues, no linux issues, no Windows issues ... it's just a usd flash drive and can be treated as such. I am ok with the side affect of auto-unmounting the sdcard from Android when I connect the phone to another device to use as noted USB drive.
Is there in fact any way this will ever come back?

I can't get my phone to show up on my computer for nothing.have the correct drivers installed and everything.running Windows
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

umlguy said:
"there's a good reason" is somewhat subjective. To me the great benefit to the more general usb mass storage option is so you can connect the phone to any device as if it were a usb flash drive. No driver issues, no worries about camera or MTP mode, no Mac issues, no linux issues, no Windows issues ... it's just a usd flash drive and can be treated as such. I am ok with the side affect of auto-unmounting the sdcard from Android when I connect the phone to another device to use as noted USB drive.
Is there in fact any way this will ever come back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was an app someone made for the GS3 that did some filesystem trickery to expose the storage as UMS (needed root). I'm sure something like that will come around that works on the GS4 too.

I had the same issue until I installed Kies, no issues after that
TheAtheistOtaku said:
I can't get my phone to show up on my computer for nothing.have the correct drivers installed and everything.running Windows
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

umlguy said:
"there's a good reason" is somewhat subjective. To me the great benefit to the more general usb mass storage option is so you can connect the phone to any device as if it were a usb flash drive. No driver issues, no worries about camera or MTP mode, no Mac issues, no linux issues, no Windows issues ... it's just a usd flash drive and can be treated as such. I am ok with the side affect of auto-unmounting the sdcard from Android when I connect the phone to another device to use as noted USB drive.
Is there in fact any way this will ever come back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How could anyone possibly know if it will come back, especially "in fact?" My guess is you would have to ask Samsung that question to get anything other than a guess or an opinion (which would be NO) but it's not "in fact" just "in an opinion."

I jumped from an S2 to the S4 and was also annoyed that USB mass storage wouldn't work either. Since I use Linux as my desktop, MTP is not an option "out-of-the-box". I therefor turned to an awesome app (that I heard about on this site!), Airdroid. Now I was able to quickly get an album/picture/book datastore onto a shiny new 32GB microSD! And yes, I know I could have put the microSD into a slot on my laptop, etc., but I shouldn't have to, just because I choose to use Linux!
I mean, its rather ironic not to be able to use Linux to connect to Linux (android), don't you think? If I'm completely wrong about this, please someone point me to the right path.
Thanks

There is a "hack" to allow the external to be read as UMS. Also, the internal sdcard is no longer yaffs2 its ext4 and only linux knows ext4. So if you were to use UMS, only a linux computer would "see" the sd card and nothing else.

elesbb said:
There is a "hack" to allow the external to be read as UMS. Also, the internal sdcard is no longer yaffs2 its ext4 and only linux knows ext4. So if you were to use UMS, only a linux computer would "see" the sd card and nothing else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
elesbb,
That's awesome news! Thanks for the tip. I use opensuse (currently 12.3) with kde, will definitely make the necessary tweaks to get this going in dolphin.
Thanks again!

Ignore. Posted in wrong thread.

If you are rooted and busybox installed yes there are lot of apps on play store that can convert your externel SD Card to Mass storage.

Related

[Q] phone does not connect to PC via USB

[SOLVED] : using dropbox now for file transfer...
After I installed the latest build of stock XDAndriod on my Rhodium, it does not connect to my PC (win-XP) using USB port. I have tried multiple times to reset my phone and re-flash my winmo with no help.
My computer does not detect a USB device at all when I connect my phone when in Android. When I plug in my phone, nothing happens. But my phone does begin charging from the USB port and does detect that is plugged in to a power source.
How do I get my PC to recognize my phone?
Phone details:
H/w : standard AT&T tilt2
Winmo : JackOS build Aug/19
XDAndroid version - [MJG]Rhod.2.2Froyo.083010.rar
Thanks,
Dhanvi
PS: I did check the thread here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=641444&highlight=USB+problems and that hasn't solved my problem.
If you read the port status, USB data connections are not currently supported. Only charging is supported via USB.
Thanks for that pience of info, but I do not see anything saying USB on the project development page. Is there some other page that I should be looking at too?
If that is indeed the case, then how do I transfer stuff over from my PC to my SD card when in andriod ? Is there any other method?
Thanks.
kapiladhanvi said:
Thanks for that pience of info, but I do not see anything saying USB on the project development page. Is there some other page that I should be looking at too?
If that is indeed the case, then how do I transfer stuff over from my PC to my SD card when in andriod ? Is there any other method?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use dropbox. www.dropbox.com for you pc and download dropbox in the market.
Thanks for the tip!
Dhanvi
Great Idea but waiting for more help
Hey Fist post here about the xAndroid. I have to say this rocks!! First time I got it up I said to myself this is how a phone is supposed to run.
To the questions do any of you know if this USB connection is going to be fixed anytime soon sine I would really like to see if you can connect Google App Inventor to the phone while on this great mod.
Thanks
Lennyz1988 said:
Use dropbox. www.dropbox.com for you pc and download dropbox in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By far the simplest way to get it done.
I went for installing ADB and droid explorer on my pc. It works, but I have much less hair now.
with the current way xdandroid is built, I can't see it being probable that usb mode will ever work (could be wrong, so feel free to correct me).
i.e. currently we have a FAT partition on the SD card and we loopback mount files on it to act as the android system and data file systems, and the fat can then act as a normal SD card.
because of this, it can't expose the FAT partition to anyone outside of the OS instance (i.e. 2 OS's will be writing to the FAT table (redundant I know) independently and can clobber each other.
On the other hand, I think the way the cyanogenmod port works, by partitioning the SD card into multiple partitions to hold the different sets of data (though not sure it takes it all the way), is an approach that could be made to work for usb access, if separate partitions would be made for the system and data file systems on the SD card and a third partition just used for the FAT FS. This way, android can unmount the FAT partition only (nothing else depending on it) and let it be accessed by whatever machine the device is attached to over usb.
there's a reason its not done this way currently as its much harder to manage and continuously update.
just my 2 cents.
Hm, does this also mean, you can not use tools like MyPhoneExplorer (Outlloksync via UBS with Android phones) due to absence of data over USB? Seems like a decent app, but it does not see my TYTN over USB, says no conenction. I also note, Windows XP is trying to install an 'Android Phone' driver when I connect the TYTN to the Laptop. Is this all somehow related?
Oddly, my phone decides to turn on USB after it's been sitting plugged in for a time, which exceeds an hour. It's like it checks for USB connectivity at some long interval.
thetoady said:
with the current way xdandroid is built, I can't see it being probable that usb mode will ever work (could be wrong, so feel free to correct me).
i.e. currently we have a FAT partition on the SD card and we loopback mount files on it to act as the android system and data file systems, and the fat can then act as a normal SD card.
because of this, it can't expose the FAT partition to anyone outside of the OS instance (i.e. 2 OS's will be writing to the FAT table (redundant I know) independently and can clobber each other..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With Android on my wife's HD2 (booting from Windows via Haret.exe) USB mass storage mode works fine, so it's definitely doable.
toadlife said:
With Android on my wife's HD2 (booting from Windows via Haret.exe) USB mass storage mode works fine, so it's definitely doable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No clue how - when you're in WinMo, what happens when you plug in your phone and select to use it as a disk drive? It unmounts the SD in WinMo and mounts it on your PC. Same thing would happen in Android, but when the card can't be unmounted - as Android is running off of it.
arrrghhh said:
No clue how - when you're in WinMo, what happens when you plug in your phone and select to use it as a disk drive? It unmounts the SD in WinMo and mounts it on your PC. Same thing would happen in Android, but when the card can't be unmounted - as Android is running off of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I have no idea how it works. I just know that it works.
toadlife said:
Well I have no idea how it works. I just know that it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been told it's flaky on the HD2 and not recommended for use anyways. Still not sure how it works tho.
We won't have true SD card access (USB mass storage) until Android is flashed onto our devices. Until then, true USB mass storage will NOT work.
In the meantime, there's ADB. Perhaps the HD2 guys hacked something up based on ADB, who knows.

[Q] Is USB Mass Storage mode supported?

Hi,
does any of you know if the device can work in USB Mass Storage mode, i.e. can it be seen as an external drive from Windows/OSX/Linux without additional software? I own a MacBook Pro and HTC support told me that they are going to release soon a piece of software that works under OSX, but it would be wonderful to have access to the device storage without additional software..
Question already asked and answered here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1543735
They dont use USB Mass Storage they use Media Transfer Protocol to deal with USB connection. This change was introduced in Honeycomb and has continued into Ice Cream Sandwich.
You can still transfer files to and from the devices its just a diffrent way of doing it.
Forum user Gogol posed these questions:
- Why Google is using MTP instead of USB file transfer on Honeycomb?”
He received the following response from a Google developer:
“MTP is a big improvement over USB mass storage — for devices with lots of internal memory, a manufacturer no longer needs to come up with some hard partition between the USB mass storage and internal storage. Instead, they are all in one partition, with MTP providing access to the directory of media files that would normally be available through USB mass storage. This means there is no longer a need for apps on SD card for such devices, because what used to be the ‘internal SD card’ is in the same partition as where applications are stored. The storage on your device can be used for either applications or media, depending on what you want to put on it. You aren’t stuck with how much space the manufacturer decided to leave for the two areas.
Oh also this means that the media storage doesn’t need to be unmounted from Android when it is being access through the PC.“
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: http://glasskeys.com/2011/02/28/why-google-uses-mtp-instead-of-usb-file-transfer-on-android-3/
A main reason for using MTP rather than for example the USB mass-storage device class (MSC) is that the latter operates at the granularity of a mass storage device block (usually in practice, a FAT block), rather than at the logical file level. In other words, the USB mass storage class is designed to give a host computer undifferentiated access to bulk mass storage, such as compact flash, rather than to a file system, which might be safely shared with the target device (except for specific files which the host might be modifying/accessing). In practice, therefore, when a USB host computer has mounted an MSC partition, it assumes absolute control of the storage, which then may not be safely modified by the device without risk of data corruption until the host computer has severed the connection. Furthermore, because the host computer has full control over the connected storage device, there is a risk that the host computer may corrupt the file system, reformat it to a file system not supported by the USB device, or otherwise modify it in such a way that the USB device cannot completely understand it.
MTP and PTP specifically overcome this issue by making the unit of managed storage a local file rather than an entire (possibly very large) unit of mass storage at the block level. In this way, MTP works like a transactional file system - either the entire file is written/read or nothing. The storage media is not affected by failed transfers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol
No idea how this works with OSX though I'm a Windows guy
HTC-Gunge said:
No idea how this works with OSX though I'm a Windows guy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very nice reply, thank you very much!
I've found Android File Transfer Google utility for OSX: http://www.android.com/filetransfer/
Actually, the One X still uses mass storage mode. Plug it in and you get the same old prompt for charge only, disk drive etc. and it still shows up as a removable disk.
Yes, vanilla android handsets like the GN use MTP mode, but HTCs don't. They have a separate partition still.
Hmm that's interesting if its true, it means HTC have implemented it independently of the OS. Could even be a selling point as I know quite a few people didn't really like the change from USB Mass Storage to MTP.
Thanks for the info!
I'm one of those who hates MTP because it is not as reliable as USB Mass Storage. MTP just doesn't want to play nice with my Win7 machine on my Nexus so I'm really looking forward to the One X and getting proper USB Mass Storage on it.
As much as i prefer MSC over MTP (mainly because you can open music and video files directly from your mass storage device, but if you use MTP, they will have to copy the entire file over to your computer before it will play), my office blocks MSC devices, but strange enough, MTP devices are not blocked.
Therefore i am actually trying to find out of i can use MTP mode in my One X, since MTP is embedded into ICS, there might be a chance. This will enable me to access my One X in office..
anyone has any idea?
I have a slightly similar problem here:
How do i tell the HTC ONE phone, that i want use the mass-storage-mode in USB, and not the f******g HTC/Nero bloatware crap?
Before the update to Android 4.1.1 it was working fine as mass-storage.
CBrown0815 said:
I have a slightly similar problem here:
How do i tell the HTC ONE phone, that i want use the mass-storage-mode in USB, and not the f******g HTC/Nero bloatware crap?
Before the update to Android 4.1.1 it was working fine as mass-storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC has changed mass-storage-mode to MTP in their latest update. I didn't find any way to use as mass storage so I installed CM10.1 (A8 supports mass storage mode).
parkentosh said:
HTC has changed mass-storage-mode to MTP in their latest update. I didn't find any way to use as mass storage so I installed CM10.1 (A8 supports mass storage mode).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this info. Unfortunally is this no option for me. I dont want to hack my phone, i want to use it.
CBrown0815 said:
Thanks for this info. Unfortunally is this no option for me. I dont want to hack my phone, i want to use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed - I have the same problem with my OneX on 4.1.1. 4.0.4 was great, 4.1.1 is a backward step in several ways. My Galaxy Nexus (bought to play with Ubuntu Touch!) did the same [email protected] until it updated itself to 4.2.2, and now works correctly - to my mind - as a mass storage device. I think Google realised the error and quietly fixed it. I can't find a document that details all the changes in 4.2.2 so not sure.

[Q] USB mass storage

Anybody have USB mass storage working? How about MTP? For the life of me can't find the answers. Tried the app on the play store 'SG USB MAS STORAGE ENABLER' but it only shows the sdcard as a CD drive and can't write to it.
Please help
mex2309 said:
Anybody have USB mass storage working? How about MTP? For the life of me can't find the answers. Tried the app on the play store 'SG USB MAS STORAGE ENABLER' but it only shows the sdcard as a CD drive and can't write to it.
Please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming that you are trying to connect to a computer,
USB Mass Storage does not work.
MTP Works, if you are not seeing your device after connecting to computer , then might need to install required drivers, or install samsung kies and that should install the drivers for you...
I have a SanDisk 64G XC micro SD card. Writes and reads no problem
Also USB (female) to micro OTB cable that allows me to use my 128 GB thumb drive, but not all of them.
mex2309 said:
Anybody have USB mass storage working? How about MTP? For the life of me can't find the answers. Tried the app on the play store 'SG USB MAS STORAGE ENABLER' but it only shows the sdcard as a CD drive and can't write to it.
Please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes with my custom rom and kernel. I can connect any usb mass storage without a problem.
I think that OP asks about the option of connecting the device to PC in mass storage mode, i.e. just like normal pendrive, instead of the MTP/PTP protocols.
As far as i have found, it is possible only for the external storage, with help of dedicated app - there is a thread somewhere on xda, don't remember details, but hope it should be easy to find.
P.S. on Note 1 with Samsung stock ICS it was just a matter of running a startup script, don't know if it would work for Note 8
p107r0 said:
I think that OP asks about the option of connecting the device to PC in mass storage mode, i.e. just like normal pendrive, instead of the MTP/PTP protocols.
As far as i have found, it is possible only for the external storage, with help of dedicated app - there is a thread somewhere on xda, don't remember details, but hope it should be easy to find.
P.S. on Note 1 with Samsung stock ICS it was just a matter of running a startup script, don't know if it would work for Note 8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My device is rooted, I'm not as concerned with USB mass storage. I just want MTP to work. I tried uninstalling all drivers and installing KIES.
I tried uninstalling all USB devices and restarting windows 7 to install them back. I tried downloading the using the Note 8 tool kit to install them and NO success installing the MTP drivers. I tried a different computer and it works!
Any suggestions to getting it work on my computer???
mex2309 said:
My device is rooted, I'm not as concerned with USB mass storage. I just want MTP to work. I tried uninstalling all drivers and installing KIES.
I tried uninstalling all USB devices and restarting windows 7 to install them back. I tried downloading the using the Note 8 tool kit to install them and NO success installing the MTP drivers. I tried a different computer and it works!
Any suggestions to getting it work on my computer???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems i missed a well. I'm afraid I can't help much with MTP problem, the only two suggestions that come to mind are: try on another PC to make sure it's not a device, secondly - on my Note MTP started to behave only after I installed the latest Samsung USB drivers (probably found somewhere on xda).

[Q] File transfer using usb cable

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I didn't found any answers regarding my issue.
So how can I transfer files from my pc using the pad's USB cable?
On my Sony phone with ics, it was enough to enable usb debugging mode and the pc sees it as a flash drive, using usb mass storage.
But here it seems there's no mass storage mode, only mtp and ptp which I don't like.
So what options do I have to actually see my 64 gb card when I connect the pad to the pc? Is it possible?
Cause even with debugging mode enabled it doesn't change anything, still have to use windows explorer and it's working very hard. Any help would be much appreciated.
Not sure I fully understand what's wrong with mtp option but I can fully see my 64GB card when connected to my pc via usb cable. I have successfully copied files to and from the SD this way with no issue. Explain what issue you may be seeing.
Usb Mode
gioni mnemonic said:
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I didn't found any answers regarding my issue.
So how can I transfer files from my pc using the pad's USB cable?
On my Sony phone with ics, it was enough to enable usb debugging mode and the pc sees it as a flash drive, using usb mass storage.
But here it seems there's no mass storage mode, only mtp and ptp which I don't like.
So what options do I have to actually see my 64 gb card when I connect the pad to the pc? Is it possible?
Cause even with debugging mode enabled it doesn't change anything, still have to use windows explorer and it's working very hard. Any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can not see why you have any problems when my G Pad is connected I can see it as a device in My Computer " Not Devices " and when I open it up I see two drives. Internal and external SD card
Make sure you have loaded the LG USB Drivers
Plus it should come up with a list of what you want to do when connected click Open and view files
Thank you for the replies, guys.
Not sure if i made myself clear. Yes, my pc can also see my g pad device in My Computer, but it is not listed as a removable flash drive or an external hdd, thus i cannot see sd card properties, format options and so on. I usually use total commander for transferring files, because windows explorer is way too slow in doing this.
For example, if i want to download a movie or some songs directly to my tablet, how can i do that? With my sony phone is easy, my pc sees it as a removable flash drive, thus is easy to save files directly to it.
But with the g pad that option is gone, or at least i cannot find it. I must first download the files to my pc and only after that transfer them to my pad using windows explorer, which is really working hard. Basically, i have to wait one hour for downloading something, than another hour to transfer the files to my tablet, instead of downloading directly to the tablet.
And all this i believe is the effect of usb mass storage mode missing.
So in the end, is there an option to satisfy my needs?
gioni mnemonic said:
So in the end, is there an option to satisfy my needs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In settings, go to "system", choose "PC connection", choose "media sync(MTP)".
MTP option does exactly what i was saying earlier, it only gives me the option to use windows explorer to transfer files.
It does not satisfy my needs, as i cannot save files directly to the tablet's SD card when downloading something, for example.
Can you people see the tablet's SD card as another DISK drive in your pc? With formatting options, sd card properties and stuff that you can do with a flash drive or an external hdd? This is my question, but i believe this is not possible.
Usb
gioni mnemonic said:
MTP option does exactly what i was saying earlier, it only gives me the option to use windows explorer to transfer files.
It does not satisfy my needs, as i cannot save files directly to the tablet's SD card when downloading something, for example.
Can you people see the tablet's SD card as another DISK drive in your pc? With formatting options, sd card properties and stuff that you can do with a flash drive or an external hdd? This is my question, but i believe this is not possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no problems it must be your USB drivers as mine sees it as a Device
I open mine up from my computer then open the SD card and transfer all my Movies and Pictures direct to the SD card I can open up files on Device or Card
Hi again, i've attached some print screens with the issue i'm trying to explain. The main thing that bothers me is the clearly slower speed for transferring files using windows explorer. With total commander it goes almost double the speed rate. Plus, why should i download a file to my pc instead of downloading it directly to g pad's sd card? Waste of time in my opinion.
But recently i did read somewhere that jelly bean does NOT support usb mass storage, so i guess that answers my question.

[Q] Is it possible to force normal USB Mass storage?

Hello there!
When I had my LG L9, the phone always connected to computers (through USB) using MTP. At some point, a user made a script that forced Mass Storage mode at boot instead of using MTP. How hard would that be for the zen phone? I have 64GB on board storage and 64GB external.
Copying data to or from the phone seems a tad more difficult over MTP than mass storage. For example, every time I copy a video file to the phone, a windows dialogue box comes up asking "Are you sure you want to copy this file?" Sure, I could hit "yes for all", but I would rather the old simple method. IT also seems MTP takes awhile to load a directory, where mass storage happens instantaneously.
Good question and yes, It seems MTP is slower than mass storage I believe. Would be great to see mass storage on the zenfone 2
Kamatari+ said:
Hello there!
When I had my LG L9, the phone always connected to computers (through USB) using MTP. At some point, a user made a script that forced Mass Storage mode at boot instead of using MTP. How hard would that be for the zen phone? I have 64GB on board storage and 64GB external.
Copying data to or from the phone seems a tad more difficult over MTP than mass storage. For example, every time I copy a video file to the phone, a windows dialogue box comes up asking "Are you sure you want to copy this file?" Sure, I could hit "yes for all", but I would rather the old simple method. IT also seems MTP takes awhile to load a directory, where mass storage happens instantaneously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
legolgel said:
Good question and yes, It seems MTP is slower than mass storage I believe. Would be great to see mass storage on the zenfone 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please see this thread... The app works fine..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone2/general/enable-usb-mass-storage-zp2-ze550ml-t3124349

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