Develop Bugs

[Q] Galaxy 10.1 USB connection kit problem, USB sticks

I've got an GT-P7500, and it will not read any USB Sticks.
Using the Samsung connection kit.
tried with 15 different USB sticks, all FAT32 formatted, all sizes 1-16gb.
A friend uses a 4gb stick in a GT-P7510, i tested that one, didn't work
Other things like usb mouse works, but not usb stick.
Anyone got any suggestions ?
Wonder if there is something wrong with it.

How do you know it isn't working? What directory are you looking at? What does the notification bar show? Which connector are you using? Is USB debugging on?
Also this is more a Q/A...

I'm hoping this thread is still alive because I am having the same problem. @ajnindlo I'm using the standard Samsung USB Connector with a 8gb usb stick. I've tried with USB Debugging on & off and I get the same message. "Damaged USB" and asked me to reformat.
I am using a Mac BUT I did format the stick as a ms-dos fat format.
Please help...
Thank you
PS. I know this is more of a q&a place, didn't know where else to post and didn't find any other with this problem but here. Please redirect to correct location if you know of a solution. Thank you

Just i hace received my USB kit and it works perfectly, my USB has 16 g and i haven't do anything to work, conected and work.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium

I had a 32 GB sd card and it also wouldn't be detected by my Galaxy Tab. But, I plugged it into my phone, plugged my phone into the computer, formatted the sd card and when I put in my Gtab, it worked.

I got my connection kit today but its not working at all.
Got 2 adaptors 1 for sd card and 1 for usb connection they both dont work.
Got no status bar message or anything.
Do I miss something here?
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda premium

one catch that I have realized is that for proper identification of the USB Stick, the tablet must be in english language.
My friend had a hard time figuring out why his tablet won't show up any notification when a USB Stick was connected, whereas mine shows the "My Files" app showing the storage folder and all the contents of the stick, joking around I told him that was because my tablet was in english and his tablet was not.
Anyway, Astro file explorer doesn't work with USB Sticks, Use ES File Explorer instead and look in /mnt/ folder for usbdrive , there should be your content.

Nope still not working. No files found.
Feels like my device doesnt support usb host.
Is that possible?
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda premium

brieuwers said:
Nope still not working. No files found.
Feels like my device doesnt support usb host.
Is that possible?
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Connect the usb stick, open ES File explorer and go to /mnt/usbdrive folder, if you can't find the folder (which is not on the sdcard) you need to configure ES File explorer to get out of the sdcard directory, the usbdrive folder is always present even if you don't have any usb drive connected

I had similiar problems with my 16GB P7510. It would only recognize any of my Sandisk sticks and a brand new PNY only at 30% of the time. The only stick it was reliable with was an ancient 256MB stick I had. I worked fine with my camera.
I ended up returning it for a 32GB P7510 and have not had any problems with any of the sticks. At the time I didn't think the tablet was defective but it appears it was.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

Solution ???
drummerweed said:
I'm hoping this thread is still alive because I am having the same problem. @ajnindlo I'm using the standard Samsung USB Connector with a 8gb usb stick. I've tried with USB Debugging on & off and I get the same message. "Damaged USB" and asked me to reformat.
I am using a Mac BUT I did format the stick as a ms-dos fat format.
Please help...
Thank you
PS. I know this is more of a q&a place, didn't know where else to post and didn't find any other with this problem but here. Please redirect to correct location if you know of a solution. Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have exact the same issue, but it's strange, some SD has this issue, some don't.
"Damaged USB"
I found a trick, but it solved my problem only once: format SD card by a digital camera (Canon powershot) , SD was now recognized by Tab10.1
Putting some extra files on it by PC ... insert SD to Tab10.1 ... same issue again :crying:
Have tried several SD formats & sizes ... notting helps
Did someone knows a solution to solve this problem
GT-P7510
Android 3.2
Rooted, TASK 14 Rom

Try to reboot, it worked for me.

bar_rodoy said:
Try to reboot, it worked for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct ... but after a second or third time connecting same SD , issue returns
Have tried this, waiting for a while does helps time to time ... so I guess it's maybe "memory" or "kernel" (system) related.
It seems we have the same TASK14 ROM + Pershoot's kernel.
Strange things.

I made the test by unroot my device and went back to factory stock ... it look like the issue is solved for 90% ... it appears when you disconnect and reconnect to fast after the 1st disconnection .

usb not recognised
Nothing happens when i plug (several) usb sticks. /mnt/usbdrive is empty.
Any idea?

charging Problem
You must Check that Your usb Debugging is On or Not as it creates problems and this will be stopping You device from Accepting Usb Sticks..

I found that FAT 'sdCard's would mount , but that NONE of my NTFS sticks would mount
All my sticks are NTFS , so that was unacceptable.
rooted 7500 and 6800
Installed 'Paragon NTFS&FHS', from the AndroidMarket and all files now popup in 'MyFiles' when I insert the usb with the adaptor

I have the Samsung Connection Kit containing as USB and a SD adapter. The USB adapter works fine, but the SD adapter doesn't work at all. All it does is starting the TuneIn Radio app when it is connected. I uninstalled the app and now connecting the adapter has no effect at all. Any suggestions?

usb hard drive mounting problem

Hey Guys,
last time i bought an usb otg cable. I want to use it with my Gnex but i mounted it and in the file manager nothing appears. I tried several tools(stickmount, paragon ntfs). All time the directory is empty. Must i format it with exfat or another file system. My hard drive is 500gb large, ntfs formated and needs a second usb cable for power input(but i dont think thats the problem)
Thanks

I never had any luck trying to connect my external 500GB HDD to the Gnex. I asked the same question but never got any confirmation of anyone successfully making this connection, hopefully you have better luck than me. Subscribed.

I doubt the GNex puts much power out of its usb. Probably not enough for a HDD.

The power is not the problem, the device is already "mounted" but in the directory there is showing nothing... I googled for an hour or so but found no solution, hopefully my new ordered usb stick can do this
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

One of the reason it's not showing up could be the formatting in your drive,
most drives are NTFS which isn't recognized by GNex (don't know about other android devices).
Try formatting in FAT and let us know what happens, it should hopefully work than.

SD Card access from USB

I have searched a bit and havent found anything that seems like a fix.
I generally plug my phone in in my vehicle via a USB cable to my headunit. My old HTC Evo LTE would allow the SD card(external I guess is the correct term) to be accessed and I could then use my phone like a hard drive and play my music off of the SD card.
I cant seem to get this going on the G3. I have tried every option on the menu that comes up, but nothing works.
Anybody got any idea's or an app that would force this functionality?

Does your car support BT access? That is what I use on mine.
Otherwise, if your phone is rooted, perhaps after you connect your phone you need to tell the phone to change its USB connection type to MTP.

yea its got bluetooth but the implementation is crappy(2014 Jeep, but the radio is the same as the 07's so much older technology). Sometimes you can use the steering wheel controls and it will change the track, other times it wont it will just act like its doing something, but nothing happens. Being able to use the phone as a portable hard drive works flawlessly(as I used to do the with HTC).

rjacobs said:
I have searched a bit and havent found anything that seems like a fix.
I generally plug my phone in in my vehicle via a USB cable to my headunit. My old HTC Evo LTE would allow the SD card(external I guess is the correct term) to be accessed and I could then use my phone like a hard drive and play my music off of the SD card.
I cant seem to get this going on the G3. I have tried every option on the menu that comes up, but nothing works.
Anybody got any idea's or an app that would force this functionality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's probably related to the lack of mass storage since ... I guess it's been ics, but mtp and ptp instead of it, if your stereo doesn't support it, there isn't much what can be done unfortunately (there was a mass storage app, for the galaxy s3 [i9300] with which you could reanable it, but I highly doubt it'll work at the g3).
Sent from my LG-D855

yea thats I guess what I am seeing now that I am searching using the proper terms.
Some people are having success using the various apps but they all require root, which i am no opposed to, but I have a mac, not a PC so root for me will be a bit until somebody develops an easier to use root method for the mac or a downloadable straight to the phone. Towelroot isnt working for the G3 yet either.
Oh well, guess ill just load up my 4gig usb stick and roll with that.

rjacobs said:
yea thats I guess what I am seeing now that I am searching using the proper terms.
Some people are having success using the various apps but they all require root, which i am no opposed to, but I have a mac, not a PC so root for me will be a bit until somebody develops an easier to use root method for the mac or a downloadable straight to the phone. Towelroot isnt working for the G3 yet either.
Oh well, guess ill just load up my 4gig usb stick and roll with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PurpleDrake works on all platforms, look at the development section.

I have the same issue with my aftermarket Kenwood stereo. I just found out that the newer phones are no longer using the Mass Storage option as older models used to. They use a new one call MTP; it's kind of plug & play.

Pixel and USB OTG - FAT32 vs exFAT

Has anyone else tried using the included USB-C to A adapter to mount a flash drive? The phone recognizes it fine, but seems to only be able to read FAT32 formatting. I have other Android devices that can read exFAT just fine via an OTG cable. One of the reasons I was ok with getting the Pixel XL which doesn't have a MicroSD slot is that I assumed I would be able to hook up a flash drive if I wanted to watch some larger video files. I often have video files that exceed the file size limit of FAT32, so that format is not really an option.

I didn't realize the USB-C to USB-A connector was USB OTG. Thanks.
I tried a thumb drive first formatted to FAT32. It worked fine and I could access the files on it. Then I reformatted the thumb drive to exFAT, copied some files over to it, and then tried it. Nope. I remembered that I bought a file explorer for my N5 (it wouldn't mount the thumb drive) to allow USB OTG without root. So searched through my apps and found it....... USB Media Explorer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.homeysoft.nexususb.importer&hl=en It is a paid app. It advertises FAT/FAT32, NTFS or Ext2/3/4, but it did work with exFAT. The interface wasn't the most intuitive. I went to folders and saw the music there. It was easy to play the music on the thumb drive. It took a little bit to figure out how to copy a song to the Pixel memory (have to select the song and then a copy looking icon pops up). I haven't figured out how to copy a complete folder yet although it must be possible. There were a few other apps on the Play Store that looked similar. I only tried this one since I had previously purchased it.

mtucker said:
I didn't realize the USB-C to USB-A connector was USB OTG. Thanks.
I tried a thumb drive first formatted to FAT32. It worked fine and I could access the files on it. Then I reformatted the thumb drive to exFAT, copied some files over to it, and then tried it. Nope. I remembered that I bought a file explorer for my N5 (it wouldn't mount the thumb drive) to allow USB OTG without root. So searched through my apps and found it....... USB Media Explorer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.homeysoft.nexususb.importer&hl=en It is a paid app. It advertises FAT/FAT32, NTFS or Ext2/3/4, but it did work with exFAT. The interface wasn't the most intuitive. I went to folders and saw the music there. It was easy to play the music on the thumb drive. It took a little bit to figure out how to copy a song to the Pixel memory (have to select the song and then a copy looking icon pops up). I haven't figured out how to copy a complete folder yet although it must be possible. There were a few other apps on the Play Store that looked similar. I only tried this one since I had previously purchased it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that app did work to be able to view the files on exfat formatted USB drive. For some reason playback of a video file is really slow (buffers a LOT) if playing directly from the drive. A bit odd, since copying a file to the phones internal storage didn't take too long, about a minute for a 500 Mb file. Not anywhere near USB 3 "normal" speeds, but not terrible. I found one other app on the play store that was also able to read the USB drive, but had the same performance. I will test formatted as FAT32 later and see if there is a difference.

This non-supporting of exFAT clearly shows Google is tying to push us to store everything about us on the Google Drive so that they can monitor everything about us... Is your thumb drive usb3 compatible? If so and you're not getting the 'normal' speeds, that's another sign. We better watch out. They will eventually force us to use their proprietary app like iTunes to transfer files between Pixels and PCs.
Seriously, though, I need a way to quickly sync my photos and videos from my DLSR.

mrhds said:
Thanks, that app did work to be able to view the files on exfat formatted USB drive. For some reason playback of a video file is really slow (buffers a LOT) if playing directly from the drive. A bit odd, since copying a file to the phones internal storage didn't take too long, about a minute for a 500 Mb file. Not anywhere near USB 3 "normal" speeds, but not terrible. I found one other app on the play store that was also able to read the USB drive, but had the same performance. I will test formatted as FAT32 later and see if there is a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually a minute for a 500MB file IS a lot.
Which USB pen drive is it?

matteventu said:
Actually a minute for a 500MB file IS a lot.
Which USB pen drive is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
My tests showed a similar result with Kingston 64GB Data Traveler Micro Duo as well as Sandisk Ultra 64GB using FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS. For comparison, my Nexus 6P transferred the same file approximately twice as fast.
I was a little disappointed by the lack of native support for formats other than FAT32 and this issue makes the file-size workaround less than desirable. Otherwise, my pixel xl seems to perform as expected.
pp

Struggling with this as well, I foolishly bought the 32GB Pixel XL and constantly run out of space so for large file storage I bought a 64GB Sandisk usb drive (3.0, one of those tiny thumbnail sized dongles) and it works but the transfer speed is maxing out at 2mb/s! It takes around 30 minutes to transfer a 2GB file; I manage but it's pretty unacceptable for a 3.0 device (using the Google provided C to A) and it drains the battery like mad!
Any more thoughts on this? I'm struggling to find an answer (read: fix).
Thanks friends,

voice.lex said:
Struggling with this as well, I foolishly bought the 32GB Pixel XL and constantly run out of space so for large file storage I bought a 64GB Sandisk usb drive (3.0, one of those tiny thumbnail sized dongles) and it works but the transfer speed is maxing out at 2mb/s! It takes around 30 minutes to transfer a 2GB file; I manage but it's pretty unacceptable for a 3.0 device (using the Google provided C to A) and it drains the battery like mad!
Any more thoughts on this? I'm struggling to find an answer (read: fix).
Thanks friends,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did some more testing now that Google has had a year of software updates. Unfortunately, even on 8.1 December update, it seems FAT32 is still the only supported format, and the speeds are just as slow. I could only get about 15 Mb/sec. Thats using a high end aftermarket USB-C -> A adapter, and a 128 GB Sandisk USB 3 memory stick. This same adapter and memory stick can transfer well above 150 Mb/sec on a PC.

exFAT is a proprietary file system created and owned by Microsoft. Google did not pay Microsoft for the use of it on Pixel phones.

So exFAT can technically work if you Install Solid Explorer (free trial then $2 lifetime fee InApp Purchase, in my opinion well worth it as it's Solid) and their Solid Explorer USB OTG Plugin. Full Read/Write access for Fat32 and exFAT, NTFS Read only support. I actually loaded up my 64 GB Sandisk Extreme Flash Drive (exFAT formatted from Windows 10 pc), and took it on a trip with me to Disney World, so I could load movies and unload pictures of the family. I do have a 128GB Pixel XL, however I have a huge music collection I prefer offline, and ironically a lot of DayDream VR Experiences (it is space-consuming for offline copies such as Discovery VR etc, so those add up a Lot, but it does make for best experience as it is very heavy bandwidth dependent over wifi).
The USB 3.0 in my opinion doesn't exist for OTG, or at least with this adapter, I do have another adapter I think I'll try in a moment. However what I want to say is this flash Reads up to 245 MB/s and Writes at up to 190 MB/s, I usually average 100 - 200 on my pc. On this flash drive, just copying a file to phone from flash drive over exFAT apparently is limited to 0.5 MB/s. In other words it's going to take nearly 2 hours to copy over a 2.5 Gb file. It can still copy over with screen off, but I was thought it was ridiculous how much battery would be consumed and kept thinking if issue was UFS storage or drivers. I am on Android 8.0 November, will update to 8.1 clean install this week when February 2018 comes out. This actually did cause an issue for me using the original usb c to a cable on my pc, where it doesn't work and I have to use a specific usb c to a (2.0 version), which is still much faster than this. That issue though is because I 'dirty flashed' 8.0 over 7.1.2 without wiping. Only bug so far from that.

Not sure if the app was updated to support it or if Android 8.1 now supports it natively, but I'm able to access a flash drive via my phone using the adapter and File Manager by "Flashlight + Clock".
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alphainventor.filemanager
Cheers!

Are you sure? I just tried it and it told me it doesn't support exFAT

Hi could anyone give a clear answer about use of OTG with Google Pixel XL: I read all about Google not supporting the exFAT format (someone said because they wouldn't pay Microsoft to license the tech), and that Pixel users are stuck with super slow transfer speeds, and file limitation sizes of FAT32. Someone else mentioned somewhere about Host Mode, and I'm finding it way harder than seems logical to get some definitive answer: If I can't get fast OTG transfer speeds with the Pixel, then I have to pass on its high quality camera and go with an inferior phone that has microUSB.
Can someone help me out with this please? Thank you much.

mrhds said:
Has anyone else tried using the included USB-C to A adapter to mount a flash drive? The phone recognizes it fine, but seems to only be able to read FAT32 formatting. I have other Android devices that can read exFAT just fine via an OTG cable. One of the reasons I was ok with getting the Pixel XL which doesn't have a MicroSD slot is that I assumed I would be able to hook up a flash drive if I wanted to watch some larger video files. I often have video files that exceed the file size limit of FAT32, so that format is not really an option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try JS USB OTG app. I use this to play big video files with MxPlayer in SW mode, without rooting and the app doesn't seem to stream video like other apps, you can go back or forward without any problems.

it always seems when there is any issue and someone ""tried"" an app and blah blah .. its always an app that needs to be PAID TO USE !!!! crack me up just makes me want to find the paid ""free"" version through a google search

File transfer mode NOT media device mode?

Sorry for a kinda double post, as ive posted this in the noob thread, but I think its being overlooked.
When connecting to a PC, how can I get a normal file transfer mode?? the media mode is just too limiting, one file at a time, transfer with no ETA, cannot browse picture folders with image viewers.. "this file cannot be played are you sure you want to copy it" blah blah blah...
I'm sure on my old HTC sensation as well as media mode you had file mode.. but I cannot find it and I don't have usb 3.1 on my laptop only 3.0 so hopefully that's not the answer..
please help.. mostly after getting at my SD card without removing it from the phone as I can never find the "proddy thing".. not fussed if I need to install a third party app or other... but currently on stock EU rom non-rooted.

stupink said:
Sorry for a kinda double post, as ive posted this in the noob thread, but I think its being overlooked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... im not sure if i can help you really. What is the operating system you are using there? MTP works for me in Linux aswell as with Win 10.
stupink said:
When connecting to a PC, how can I get a normal file transfer mode??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When connecting to a PC it should pop up a question about how you want to use the connection. So select Filetransfer and trust it with "Yes". And that s it basically. You can also find this in the notification bar... eh about what to use USB for.
Also be sure to have suiting drivers. IIRC they should be installed with HTC Sync Manager. Maybe installing HTC Sync Manager would fix your issues already?
stupink said:
I'm sure on my old HTC sensation as well as media mode you had file mode.. but I cannot find it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How old? I think this special mode you refer to was removed some Android releases ago already. Nowadays theres MTP. By all this speed of that USB ports nowadays intention seems to be initially that you do not have to unmount it in order to get all that stuffs you knew from past. I remember when my ONE-S got a update suddenly in past where exactly this step to MTP happened. Since the USB2 hardware in this old phone was a bit older and worse it became slower than before. Many ppl had been looking for a fix for this, since you could not enable it like it was before. IIRC one solution was to use a custom ROM. I can not recommend using a custom ROM personally.
stupink said:
and I don't have usb 3.1 on my laptop only 3.0 so hopefully that's not the answer..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it is not. I m also having a 3.0. Still at least with marshmellow you would have to enable the fast file transfer with 3.1 explicitly in the case you really have such port on your Computer. And still theres some influences and things to consider to get optimum bandwidth.
But a 3.0 connection is usually not as crappy as you describe it now. So i would sugguest you:
- I assume a driver bad.
- Or Faulty cable.
- Maybe some setting in your file browser on the computer?
- Is the preview disabled maybe?
- Latest drivers for the phone? (HTC Sync Manager)
At very first i would try to get latest HTC Sync Manager for HTC10 from HTC website. Or if you are in linux, check your packages, udev rules and that MTP gets rolling.
Hope this helps a bit.
PS.: Try connect your Phone to another computer with maybe Windows 10 and latest HTC Sync Manager. Just to exclude that your computer or its software might cause this issue.

Thanks for the reply, my "old" htc was probably 6+years ago.. I think it was my first android phone, Recently I have been using LG G3 running cyanogenmod, so have always had a proper "file mode".. it was just like plugging in an external hard drive. I did not realise this was not a feature anymore in standard android.
The main problem I dislike is not being able to view pictures... If I open one picture from my phone or SDcard, then my picture browswer says viewing picture 1/1 even if the folder has 200 pictures in it, I cannot space/tab through the pictures, I have to close that one, then open the next.... I do find it frustrating only being able to copy one file at a time, and constantly having to tell it that I do want to copy the file despite not being able to play it, but those things I can live with.
I already have tried installing extra software and on windows 7, (I am running W10) but no luck
It just sounds like they want you to remove the SD card.. shame they make it so impossible to do.. I'll continue to hunt for a solution without custom rom.. and post any findings.

stupink said:
cyanogenmod, so have always had a proper "file mode".. it was just like plugging in an external hard drive. I did not realise this was not a feature anymore in standard android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! I think this i why they kept (keep) it alive.
stupink said:
The main problem I dislike is not being able to view pictures... If I open one picture from my phone or SDcard, then my picture browswer says viewing picture 1/1 even if the folder has 200 pictures in it, I cannot space/tab through the pictures, I have to close that one, then open the next.... I do find it frustrating only being able to copy one file at a time, and constantly having to tell it that I do want to copy the file despite not being able to play it, but those things I can live with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is it. How do you think about an alternative way to transfer data like e.g. from playstore Air Droid using WLAN.
Did you try another data cable, by all ports and operating systems?
And just in case. Do both of your computers feature the same USB drivers and hub? Maybe a driver issue.
I noticed one thing recently. When i connect with MTP and copy lets say: "400 MB pictures" taken with my old phone, spread on 97 files to the SD card it does not take long. But what takes long like 20 seconds after copying is done is that it shows previews. I have to really wait until it is done transferring.
So could it be maybe the case your phone does not finish somehow?
And yes the Windows Photo thingie does not see it as folder to slide through.
Meaning: i can not deny your issues fully.
Honestly what i totally love is an Plasma Desktop for linux is an software which called KDE Connect. You get WLAN connection to your phone and can even control the mouse. Do simple file transfers. And what i totally love about it is, is that it almost seemingless integrates into the Desktop. On the other End i think WIN10 does not feature such service (stock). Air Droid is one of those tools in this way which you can expand the computer expirience with. The preview and copying over WLAN is blazing fast. Plus you do not have to connect the cable.
But it requires a client/server and permissions on both ends. And thats what i dislike about the Windows side. It is not so seemless. And it is in the way of one of those extra services, running.
Also the speed of the SD card does in fact matter. Is it maybe one of the older generations you inserted?
The new SD's from this year are much faster and bigger.
E.g. read about SD card speed classes SDXC class U1, U2 and U3
Even if you can push 1 GiB /s through a cable.... if the SD only takes 96 mib/s...... lol
Maybe interesting to have a look at what about capacity / price is happening in 6 years.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10315/market-views-hdd-shipments-down-q1-2016/3
So lets say you was using a 6 years old SD.
Your phone is worth (lets say 600 $) but the SD is not worth any cent. In case the SD was so old.

This is how Android now is.
What you're looking for is USB Mass Storage mode. They removed that because it was a wide security hole where someone could just plug your phone into a computer and copy all your storage and mess things up at will. Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) is all Android has now. Your phone memory doesn't just have your photos and music on it; it also has your apps, logins, systems files, etc.
The "file cannot be played" prompt that bothers you can be disabled in Windows. Just do a Google search on that. As for transfer speed, I'll bet you that it's a bad cable and nothing more. MTP isn't slower than UMS.
Good luck.

Thanks also.
I didn't mean to imply it's slow transfer. By limiting I mean it's holding me back. I like to transferr a 20GB video, and while it's doing it, go to my pics and view+sort them etc. But now I cannot. One at a time. Zzzzz..
It sounds like I will either need to investigate lineage again. (I'm unsure at this stage what I loose if I do, camera apps, mirror cast etc). Or perhaps buy a hand full of "proddy things" so I can more easily remove the SD card. I can never find it when I need it.
Thanks for helping me get my head around this alien tech/systems. I feel I understand now what's happening and why.