Develop Bugs

[Q] Supported USB - OTG External Hard Drive Between 500GB - 4TB

I want to buy a external hard drive to use with my SXS with the USB OTG cable that I purchased, I know there is a power drain error if you just connect it directly to your phone, I need one that is USB powered as I have TONS of 720P & 1080P movies and music on my desktop computer that I want to watch/listen to on my phone that are between 4GB - 12GB/5MB - 12MB.
So I wanted to know what External Hard Drives between 500GB - 4TB that you are us [ing] or [ed] or can recommend that do not require AC/DC Chargers that you connect to the wall, I have a USB Y Splitter Cable and a portable USB charger so I can power it when I'm on the go.
Thanks in Advance, look forward to you recommendations
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium

No one? :'(
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium

JOSE89178 said:
No one? :'(
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested in this as well, unfortunately I can only advise what doesn't work.
I have a 1TB WD MyPassport which I use with a powered USB hub, the XS sees it but won't mount - If I erase the drive the XS will see it and tries to format but then locks up before completing.
Frustratingly it works fine in my Asus TF300T.
I also have a 120GB SSD which I haven't quite worked out what to do with so I bought a cheap USB caddy, the XS works fine with this but the TF300T can't mount it argh!!

kapcaveman said:
I'm interested in this as well, unfortunately I can only advise what doesn't work.
I have a 1TB WD MyPassport which I use with a powered USB hub, the XS sees it but won't mount - If I erase the drive the XS will see it and tries to format but then locks up before completing.
Frustratingly it works fine in my Asus TF300T.
I also have a 120GB SSD which I haven't quite worked out what to do with so I bought a cheap USB caddy, the XS works fine with this but the TF300T can't mount it argh!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem for me with same 1TB WD mypassport
May be kernel with NTFS support should mount these HDDs
I haven't checked need to try
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium

I'm sorry if this sounds like a completely nooby and stupid question, but would connecting an external hard drive actually work? Even if you sorted out the power issues, would the phone actually recognise it, and be able to use anything on it? It's not like a mini-SD card, and I've never heard of this being done before.....
~Longeye~

Augustus Longeye said:
I'm sorry if this sounds like a completely nooby and stupid question, but would connecting an external hard drive actually work? Even if you sorted out the power issues, would the phone actually recognise it, and be able to use anything on it? It's not like a mini-SD card, and I've never heard of this being done before.....
~Longeye~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could not work out how to get it to "just work" but after installing [root] NTFS Mounter I managed to get a flash drive working, my 750GB WD Passport USB3 however not, I can see the powering it but my guess is not enough, the lights flashing but unlike the flash drive its not mounting.
As for Kernels. I am using the Note 4.0.3 with stock samsung kernel so my guess is it can work on any phone however power may be a problem.

remejuan said:
Could not work out how to get it to "just work" but after installing NTFS Mounter I managed to get a flash drive working, my 750GB WD Passport USB3 however not, I can see the powering it but my guess is not enough, the lights flashing but unlike the flash drive its not mounting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for that! I've never heard of this particular app before, and I have a feeling it could be very useful!
~Longeye~

Augustus Longeye said:
Thank you for that! I've never heard of this particular app before, and I have a feeling it could be very useful!
~Longeye~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only got my cable yesterday, before ordering it I did some reading and also heard that a special kernel will be needed for the NTFS support, but after getting the cable I figured worth a search on the play store before going that route as the last few times I tried custom kernels it was dismal experience and with the emmc bug I would rather not be going for a factory reset as ICS is not yet official in my country.
Getting my older 320GB USB2 drive back in about an hour so will test and see if that yields any better results.

Forgot to come back, tested with my 320GB, even used the pc and a powered usb hub for extra power on the y cable with no luck, even combined the power is insufficient.
Don't see any way of getting an 2.5" drive working on the OTG cable.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

have any of u tried a powered HDD?

sheron said:
have any of u tried a powered HDD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont have one to try with, but I could hear on the spin of the 2.5" that power was at least a problem, may not be the only one, but my ability to test has ended. However I see no reason y it would read an ntfs flash drive and not a hard drive, well with the exception of the 3TB maybe, being so new and all.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

I do have a powered HDD (only a 180gb) but I'm wary of rooting my phone this early into the contract for little reason.... If I pluck up the courage to do so I'll test it out, but I'm assuming the link previously posted is the only way of connecting the two? If there's one that doesn't require root I'll test if for you within the hour, but otherwise I'm not going to rush it
~Longeye~

Augustus Longeye said:
I do have a powered HDD (only a 180gb) but I'm wary of rooting my phone this early into the contract for little reason.... If I pluck up the courage to do so I'll test it out, but I'm assuming the link previously posted is the only way of connecting the two? If there's one that doesn't require root I'll test if for you within the hour, but otherwise I'm not going to rush it
~Longeye~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude which phone du u have??
OTG is an inbuilt function on phones which are supported.
root is only required to increase power output which is not needed in external powered HDD
P.s. I have a 1TB seagate but my phone is sola(no otg support) but it may be ported in the near future so am here to check

remejuan said:
Forgot to come back, tested with my 320GB, even used the pc and a powered usb hub for extra power on the y cable with no luck, even combined the power is insufficient.
Don't see any way of getting an 2.5" drive working on the OTG cable.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I even tried with a 1.8" 20GB drive but no luck!
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium

sheron said:
dude which phone du u have??
OTG is an inbuilt function on phones which are supported.
root is only required to increase power output which is not needed in external powered HDD
P.s. I have a 1TB seagate but my phone is sola(no otg support) but it may be ported in the near future so am here to check
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The app that does the auto mount and enables ntfs support (if needed) requires root.
Personally have no idea how to manually mount.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 08:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:20 AM ----------
Recently got a powered usb hub for my Raspberry Pi, thought I would give that a test.
Connected the 2.5" HDD to the powered hub and then connected the hub directly into the phone. Hard drive works perfectly, even copied some files over to it with no problems.
Power is ultimately the downfall here with the OTG, cannot get enough via the cable, wonder what the battery tax would be if you could get enough power over it.

remejuan said:
The app that does the auto mount and enables ntfs support (if needed) requires root.
Personally have no idea how to manually mount.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 08:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:20 AM ----------
Recently got a powered usb hub for my Raspberry Pi, thought I would give that a test.
Connected the 2.5" HDD to the powered hub and then connected the hub directly into the phone. Hard drive works perfectly, even copied some files over to it with no problems.
Power is ultimately the downfall here with the OTG, cannot get enough via the cable, wonder what the battery tax would be if you could get enough power over it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so theoretically OTG can be used with an external power source for the reading media??

sheron said:
so theoretically OTG can be used with an external power source for the reading media??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite probably wont work, the power end of an OTG cable combined with the phone was still not enough, the power end is meant as booster, it provides at most half of what is needed, the phone at least mine, was not capable of supplying the other half.
You would in most cases need the usb hub to completely power the drive in order to use it on the phone.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

OK with 1TB, but ...
I have got a 1TB transcend 2.5" external HDD. the cable has two usb connector, one for data and one for power. whenever I connect the HDD to my galaxy note, it doesn't show anything, just the LED on the drive turns on. but when I connect the power connector to my laptop, it works and device shows my HDD without any problem. so I think the problem here is the power.

msi.1362 said:
I have got a 1TB transcend 2.5" external HDD. the cable has two usb connector, one for data and one for power. whenever I connect the HDD to my galaxy note, it doesn't show anything, just the LED on the drive turns on. but when I connect the power connector to my laptop, it works and device shows my HDD without any problem. so I think the problem here is the power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya thats been said a few times already. Connect it to a powered usb hub and the hub to the phone and ull b fyn
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

USB OTG
Hey guy's
I was just looking for a solution but could not find one.
Now i tried the "Pargon NTFS&HSF" and it works without any problem.
Find "Pargon NTFS&HSF" in Playstore.
Just install and open app then connect the HDD ( i have a LaCie 500GB 2,5) and voila.
Note: if you disconnect the hdd please unmount first or will damage your're hdd resulting in reformatting.
Tested on :
Phone : Sony Xperia, Samsung S2 & S3, Nexus's and gooapples V5's.
Tablet: Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, Nexus(+google), Asus, Poloroid and Ramos W30.
(Sorry if this is a repost or in a invalid forum. This is my first post)

Samsung galaxy S3 OTG for USB 3. hard drives

Hi there,
I have a samsung galaxy S3 (rooted) and have recently purchased OTG cable. The problem is that when I connect s3 with Hitachi Touro (mobile USB 3.0) through OTG cable hard drive does appear in files. I have installed paragon NTFS and stickmount apps but it doesn't seem to connect even though a message keeps appearing "usb connector is connected". Hard drive gives a clicking sound when it is connected with S3 but works perfectly with the computer.
Does anyone know solution to this?
Thanks and regards

I've heard of some people having problems when connected to a usb 3.0 port on their computer and have to connect to a 2.0 port instead. Maybe related?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

DocHoliday77 said:
I've heard of some people having problems when connected to a usb 3.0 port on their computer and have to connect to a 2.0 port instead. Maybe related?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USB 3.0 I don't think is supported. What I've seen people do is use a 2.0 cable extension with their 3.0 device. As this downgrades it to 2.0 because they should be compatible with 2.0 just won't have the insane speeds as 3.0. Or you can get a USB hub and plug it in that way.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Sounds like the Hard Drive is not getting enough power (The clicking), do you have it plugged into an external power supply?
*.*

splatdotsplat said:
Sounds like the Hard Drive is not getting enough power (The clicking), do you have it plugged into an external power supply?
*.*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the replies. Hard drive is not connected to power supply as it is portable.

Maazyazdani said:
Thanks for all the replies. Hard drive is not connected to power supply as it is portable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Splatdotsplat is correct. That clicking sound are the heads resetting to the park position. This usually happens when drives are not getting enough power. When the drive spins up it peaks its power consumption and cuts out because there is not enough so the heads reset. Portable or not that is the issue. I have seen this happen with some portable drives on computers (especially larger capacity). A lot of times the solution can be as simple as using a shorter cable. Sometimes it doesn't work.

as stated above, the only way to run external hdd's of any kind is to be sure they're powered, even some thumbdrives will draw more power than the phone can provide and you'll notice your batt life take a steep dive (as did my Galaxy Nexus w/otg on an HP 16gb thumbdrive)
power the drive through a powered hub and you're good to go!

splatdotsplat said:
Sounds like the Hard Drive is not getting enough power (The clicking), do you have it plugged into an external power supply?
*.*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is why i recommended using a USB powered HUB as the HUB will give enough power to the external hard drive.

elesbb said:
This is why i recommended using a USB powered HUB as the HUB will give enough power to the external hard drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having the same issue myself, otg cable with Samsung portable 500GB external HDD and stickmount pro works fine with my Nexus 7,but won't work with my Galaxy even though it recognises the HDD, so do you think a USB hub would be the solution, and can anyone recommend one
Thanks

Anyone?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

i wish there are people who are willing to investigate/try this thing out, it would be awesome to make a portable hard drive works on our S3..

kemaro30 said:
i wish there are people who are willing to investigate/try this thing out, it would be awesome to make a portable hard drive works on our S3..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to throw in some info. I do agree about the hdd not getting enough power as the cause for the clicking. I have a 500gb hitachi drive that does that if a long usb cable is used. The drive didn't come with a power adapter but instead came with a short usb cable that had two heads. allowing it to draw power from two ports. It also had a port for an adaptor though.
When testing with my Samsung Galaxy sIII It doesn't work unless I have the hd running via external power or have the second usb connector on the cable connected to a charging usb cable. Both options charge the phone while the hd is connected to the phone.
The usb cable with the double ports actually works well for me. I have the first port connected to the otg cable that I made and the second connection connected to a usb extender that is connected to my 2A tablet charger. That way I can charge at the same time.

esqueue said:
Just to throw in some info. I do agree about the hdd not getting enough power as the cause for the clicking. I have a 500gb hitachi drive that does that if a long usb cable is used. The drive didn't come with a power adapter but instead came with a short usb cable that had two heads. allowing it to draw power from two ports. It also had a port for an adaptor though.
When testing with my Samsung Galaxy sIII It doesn't work unless I have the hd running via external power or have the second usb connector on the cable connected to a charging usb cable. Both options charge the phone while the hd is connected to the phone.
The usb cable with the double ports actually works well for me. I have the first port connected to the otg cable that I made and the second connection connected to a usb extender that is connected to my 2A tablet charger. That way I can charge at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi the problem i basically power as in the amount of current your device requires, i know that the standard specifications of the original 2.0 interface is about max 500mA and 5Vdc per port, in some cases the maximum output current is even smaller due to hardware restrictions, this can lead to difficulties when trying to power something like an external hard drive. Therefore a long cable will also give a problem due to the resistance of the material, because the required voltage level is not high enough.
I do not know if there is a spec sheet containing information about the output capabilities of the usb port, if there is one i recommend using that to match an external hard drives, if you do not want to use an external power supply.
Edit: you could also use an external power bank/battery pack but i seems a bit bulky

kemaro30 said:
i wish there are people who are willing to investigate/try this thing out, it would be awesome to make a portable hard drive works on our S3..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure go out and buy me one and i'll test all day..
USB OTG works out of the box for low power devices. I havent seen/read anything stating USB 3.0 works on the S3. I have a 1TB hard drive my brother gave me, its not the newer ones that are ssd so it has a power adapter with it and it works perfectly with my S3. Going to be using it in a few minutes to back up my internal SD.

So guys I have the GT-I9300 ( Galaxy S3 ) and I have 1 TB WD My Passport
I'm plannig to buy the OTG piece ! so as of now is possible to connect the hardrive to the phone or not yet !?

Is there even a driver and an app to do such a thing? As I see it the USB port is configured as an external storage device to connect to a computer not the other way around. What you are doing is connecting two storage devices together. There's no way I would ever connect anything to my phones USB port that requires power. If I were to, it would be through a powered hub.

Hi Eles
elesbb said:
USB 3.0 I don't think is supported. What I've seen people do is use a 2.0 cable extension with their 3.0 device. As this downgrades it to 2.0 because they should be compatible with 2.0 just won't have the insane speeds as 3.0. Or you can get a USB hub and plug it in that way.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read that you connected your S3 with external powered HDD. I bought yesterday the genuine samsung OTG cable and it is working only with memory stick and joystick controller. Don't know why it is not working with my external powered HDD - 500 GB WD. Any ideea ? My S3 is not rooted.
Thanks,
M.

No, nobody is going to have a recommendation for a powered USB hub.
It's a trivial, generic, piece of kit you buy nearly anywhere for under US$10 (unless you're a complete sucker.) Just make sure whatever you get *includes* a power supply.
Get one in the shape of a person, or a kitty cat, or a Tardis, whatever thrills you.

KurrentUser said:
Is there even a driver and an app to do such a thing? As I see it the USB port is configured as an external storage device to connect to a computer not the other way around. What you are doing is connecting two storage devices together. There's no way I would ever connect anything to my phones USB port that requires power. If I were to, it would be through a powered hub.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's not quite accurate. when you plug your phone into your PC, the drivers that you installed will see your phone as a usb device (or media device) and allow you to use your phone as such
an OTG (on-the-go) cable allows you to connect a storage device to your phone, such as a thumb drive or external hard drive (powered or not) and then your phone acts like your PC and uses that device as storage

elesbb said:
USB 3.0 I don't think is supported. What I've seen people do is use a 2.0 cable extension with their 3.0 device. As this downgrades it to 2.0 because they should be compatible with 2.0 just won't have the insane speeds as 3.0. Or you can get a USB hub and plug it in that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that in my case forcing my ADATA HV610 1 TB disk to USB 2.0 mode worked. The trick is to use a standard micro-USB cable (e.g. the one that comes with your charger) instead of the standard cable that comes with the HDD.
More detail:
The common USB 3 cable which comes with most new HDDs uses USB 3.0 Micro-B plug which, in practice, is a micro-USB with a "half-micro-USB" next to it. The part most people don't know is that you can use a common micro-USB cable (as the one from your charger) to connect your HDD to your PC (or other device) with the cost of loss of USB 3.0 compatibility. Which, in our case, is what we need, as this switch makes the HDD less power-hungry.
Post a comment if it works for other hard drives too (I think WD also use Micro-B connectors for their USB 3.0 Passports)

how to use usb flash drive through otg cable?

Hey guys
i just got a usb otg cable but i can't get the kindle to tead my flash drive.
any help pls?

vess_csm said:
Hey guys
i just got a usb otg cable but i can't get the kindle to tead my flash drive.
any help pls?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many OTG peripherals require the use of a powered USB hub as the Kindle needs power assistance in the USB department. The app "Stick Mount" has rendered success with accessing some flash drives. Unfortunately not ALL flash drives are compatible.

guitarman2010 said:
Many OTG peripherals require the use of a powered USB hub as the Kindle needs power assistance in the USB department. The app "Stick Mount" has rendered success with accessing some flash drives. Unfortunately not ALL flash drives are compatible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i tried that app and nothing happens. it has a diagnostic tool also and it recognizes the flash drive.. but with no success.
if i need external power for a hub, then this entire thing is pointless.

vess_csm said:
i tried that app and nothing happens. it has a diagnostic tool also and it recognizes the flash drive.. but with no success.
if i need external power for a hub, then this entire thing is pointless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that app picks it up than a powered USB hub will probably make it work. For example....I tried using an optical USB mouse that was plugged straight into the OTG cable plugged straight into the Kindle. The mouse actually lite up BUT nothing happened besides that. When I obtained a powered hub it worked great using the same OTG cable with hub. What ROM are you using just out of curiousity?

I am using the 4.2.1_r1 AOSP ROM.
the thing is that I don't want to be dependant on elecricity. there isn't a plug every where. thank you for the time spent on my question
maybe should a nexus 7 and forget about it.
sent using xda app

vess_csm said:
I am using the 4.2.1_r1 AOSP ROM.
the thing is that I don't want to be dependant on elecricity. there isn't a plug every where. thank you for the time spent on my question
maybe should a nexus 7 and forget about it.
sent using xda app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you don't want to be dependent on electricity there is a different method people have used for a USB power supply. Here is a Youtube link that should explain it, or you could just get a Nexus 7 lol http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=BFEMh0ZYT5M&desktop_uri=/watch?v=BFEMh0ZYT5M
Sent from my SCH-R880 using xda app-developers app

thanks for all the help
sent using xda app

The sandisk cruzer sdcz36-004g
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JR531I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&keywords=sdcz36-004g&qid=1357184937&sr=8-2
Only 4gb but I'd prefer to carry around a few on a ring than a powered hub, or that arrangement with the Y cable and the phone charger.
Plug it directly into the otg cable and off you go, I've played 720p video from the flashdrive with several ROMs recently, paranoid android worked great, TWA_priv's 4.2 also works but with some mounting wackiness sometimes.
USB mass storage watcher seems better than stickmount right now IMO.

Would the 8gb cruzer switch work? I am planning on buying an OTG Cable and need to specify.

Vlasp said:
Would the 8gb cruzer switch work? I am planning on buying an OTG Cable and need to specify.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure it will work, but you'll need a wired hub of some sort to mount it, either connected to an outlet or using a Y cable and a battery powered phone charger, which is hassle to carry, finicky to mount and not really OTG. I've never found a drive over 4 gb which was usable just by sticking it into the end of the otg cable, and most drives 4 gb or under don't work either.
The cruzer 4gb is my one and only recommendation I'm afraid.

I know this thread is a little old but just wanted to list the mini attache 16gig flash works with no powered hub.
Downside is that it only works till about 70% of battery. After that its not enough voltage

Plug it into the kindle, then plug in the flash drive.

nunook said:
I know this thread is a little old but just wanted to list the mini attache 16gig flash works with no powered hub.
Downside is that it only works till about 70% of battery. After that its not enough voltage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you detail which app you used to mount it? I've tried quite a few of them but stick with USB otg helper and USB mass storage watcher.

[Q] 2.5" HDD

Hello,
I have a USB otg connection adapter and thumb drives and sd cards work fine. Higher power devices (external 2.5" HDD) don't work as they need more power. I have a Y usb cable for my external hard drive (one usb plug for data and one for extra power). Can I connect the data plug to my otg adapter and the other usb connector to a wall charger in order to make my Note work with my hard drive? Or am i going to break something in my Note as there are no diodes in the y-cable blocking current going from the wall charger into my Note?
edit: and if this works: any suggestions for the file structure? FAT is not ideal due to file size limitations and NTFS is not ideal due to licensing. Does the Note supports exFAT up to 1 TB?

Yes, you can. You can use a wall adapter, a powered USB hub or like me, a portable battery with USB output that lets you use that HDD on the go.

Szadzik said:
Yes, you can. You can use a wall adapter, a powered USB hub or like me, a portable battery with USB output that lets you use that HDD on the go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed that the 10.1 won't power some things like a 2.5" portable drive that my Note 2 can power just fine. Not sure if there is a reason for this and it's working as intended or just a bug?

gmkelly001 said:
I've noticed that the 10.1 won't power some things like a 2.5" portable drive that my Note 2 can power just fine. Not sure if there is a reason for this and it's working as intended or just a bug?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is only by a fluke that the Note 1 powers an HDD. These devices are not designed to power anything but USB sticks. Not sure if there is enough juice to power a USB3 stick so do not look for bugs or solutions as this is not a bug but that how the device is designed.

[Q] connect 1000 GB external

Can I connect an external hard (1 T) with this cable to my nexus 7 2013 lte rooted?
http://www.amazon.com/Estoreimport-Micro-Cable-Power-Samsung/dp/B00C4521R4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_cps_3
If yes which kernel can support ?
I use a stock kernel and when I want to connect flash drive with otg cable use stick mount pro

dont know anybody?!

I don't think it will be able to power a so big external hard drive.

GeoVali99 said:
I don't think it will be able to power a so big external hard drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For hard drives, in most cases you will have to supply external power as the N7 doesn't provide much (the 2013 seems to be a bit less than the 2012 version). I have used a Western Digital 1TB My Passport drive using this cable and a separate power pack:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=UTF8&psc=1&tag=androidcentral00-20&m1k=vb_ac
This cable is for a USB 3 drive, a similar USB 2 cable is:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=UTF8&psc=1&tag=androidcentral00-20&m1k=vb_ac
An OTG cable connects the N7 to the Y-cable. The rest of the Y-cable is connected to the external battery power source and to the hard drive. The hard drive is then accessed on the N7 using the Nexus Media Importer app (a rooted device gives more options). And note that the external power supply is not also charging the N7 battery - it is only providing power to the drive. One other thing - sometimes there is sensitivity to what is attached when - i.e., connect all of the external pieces together first and then plug the OTG cable into the N7 - I have see it sometimes occur that if I attach the OTG cable to the N7 first, followed by attaching the rest to the OTG cable that Nexus Media Importer does not connect to the drive.
Needless to say, a flash drive is much easier in that it just plugs in with the OTG cable and does not require additional power.

YES I CAN!!
i can coonect 1 TB external hard with y cable and 5V 1A adaptor and stcikmount Pro to my nexus 7 2013!!:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::good::good: