attach usb storage to firestick 4k with OTG? - Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi everyone!
I have an OTG cable (with power passthrough) which I attached to my newly acquired fs4k. It worked for a remote w\ propietary dongle I had lying around, so I know it works in general. But the FS did not appear to recognize the 64GB SD card (formatted EXFAT) attached. I couldn't find it in Kodi or a file manager. Is there a trick to it (software/hardware)? Is it blocked somehow? This device is pretty amazing but somewhat gimped by lack of storage. I'd love to have that storage to preload content for when I travel.
Thanks in advance!

well I did my own homework - tried a chintzy 8GB stick with fat32. Didn't notice anything when I attached it - but when I pulled it I got a message saying "unexpected removal - to remove USB drive properly, go to Device > USB drive in settings" The funny thing is: there is no such place called "device" nor anything like that in any menu.
Anyhow - put the 64GB SD (EXFAT) card in and it said something like "must be fat32" - so I let it format it, and BOOM, it was accessible. Not in any clear way, but it did show up in MX player and Kodi. So it does work after all.

Related

[Q] Samsung 64Gb Micro SD help

I have recently purchased an ADATA and a Samsung 64gb micro SD cards for use with my note 2. Both of these do not allow me to store more than 4gbs of data. All I am trying to do is fill up the cards with mp3 files, organized into folders. If I transfer more than 4gbs all the folders show once the card is inserted in the phone but a majority of the folders are empty even though I know 100% the mps files are in the folders before transfer. I assumed this was due to the cheaper brand ADATA's quality but its the same with the Samsung.
Anyone know whats going on here or what Ill need to do to take advantage of the full 64gb?
Thanks,
Is it formated to exfat?
Accidentally sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2
melvinchng said:
Is it formated to exfat?
Accidentally sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The adata was, I have seen that FAT32 is best but it was not an option when formatting in windows.
The samsung I have formatted in the phone, then used an SD adapter in my laptop to transfer the files, im not sure what format it is and cannot check right now unless it is possible for me to view this on the device?
cheeseymofodude said:
The adata was, I have seen that FAT32 is best but it was not an option when formatting in windows.
The samsung I have formatted in the phone, then used an SD adapter in my laptop to transfer the files, im not sure what format it is and cannot check right now unless it is possible for me to view this on the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you rooted?
Accidentally sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2
melvinchng said:
Are you rooted?
Accidentally sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, with stock ROM
You need a format tool on windows or just format on you phone: exFat
Zanr Zij said:
You need a format tool on windows or just format on you phone: exFat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ADATA was in exFAT and only allowed up to 4gb out of the 64gb it should have been
The samsung I am using now was formatted in the phone but i used an adapter in my laptop to transfer. Will it be worth trying to transfer via the usb cable and the device?
Iv spent at least 6 hours transferring and formatting now, just want an answer!
cheeseymofodude said:
The ADATA was in exFAT and only allowed up to 4gb out of the 64gb it should have been
The samsung I am using now was formatted in the phone but i used an adapter in my laptop to transfer. Will it be worth trying to transfer via the usb cable and the device?
Iv spent at least 6 hours transferring and formatting now, just want an answer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this.. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2002081 mount it as card in stead of media storage
Accidentally sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2
cheeseymofodude said:
The ADATA was in exFAT and only allowed up to 4gb out of the 64gb it should have been
The samsung I am using now was formatted in the phone but i used an adapter in my laptop to transfer. Will it be worth trying to transfer via the usb cable and the device?
Iv spent at least 6 hours transferring and formatting now, just want an answer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably have an adapter for your pc that can't handle xD cards - older adapters can only handle cards up to 32gb in size. Go down to Radio Shack and buy an adapter that specifically handles xD (I.e. >32 gb) cards. Using older non-xD adapters with xD cards will almost surely lead to what you're seeing. Don't worry - your new adapter will also handle "lesser" cards.
Mudge
iCurmudgeon said:
You probably have an adapter for your pc that can't handle xD cards - older adapters can only handle cards up to 32gb in size. Go down to Radio Shack and buy an adapter that specifically handles xD (I.e. >32 gb) cards. Using older non-xD adapters with xD cards will almost surely lead to what you're seeing. Don't worry - your new adapter will also handle "lesser" cards.
Mudge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried formatting in the device, and transferred over 14gbs of music over. After a scan the music player only finde 4.1gb of data meaning around 10gbs has been lost for some reason. I didnt use an adaptor this time, I transferred via USB but still the same thing has happened.
Is there a way round this that does not require me to partition my SD card? I only ask as I have done no research on this and would like a simple resolution.
Thanks,
Your card might be fake. People on ebay and other sites offer cards and usb sticks that look like large capacity cards whereas they actually modified low capacity cheap cards. I don't know the name of the tool anymore, but there are test tools around that can tell you whether your card is a fake or not. I was screwed with a USB stick once...
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
This is starting to put me of the device altogether now! Searched high and low, not just on XDA but all over the place, lots of people having the same issue. no one able to offer a clear resolution, either they have a 64Gb card that works, or one that don't. I'm trying to use a Samsung branded card as I assumed this would be the safest bet.
I've read stuff about partitions, turning the card into mass storage rather than media storage, and plenty of other suggestions, nothing works or is simply irrelevant. Has anyone that has experienced the same issue managed to get it working?
I'm not even looking to have use of the full 64Gb but I want allot more than the 4Gb maximum the card is currently providing!!!
Look the 4gb you are talking is when the FILE is 4GB NOT the FOLDER. Check your mp3 folder maybe you find a movie in it has 4GB and you didnt notice.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
---------- Post added at 07:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:10 PM ----------
When you format too leave the partition it to default
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
mezo91 said:
Look the 4gb you are talking is when the FILE is 4GB NOT the FOLDER. Check your mp3 folder maybe you find a movie in it has 4GB and you didnt notice.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
---------- Post added at 07:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:10 PM ----------
When you format too leave the partition it to default
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no individual file on the card that is anywhere near 4gb in size, but I do try to transfer well over 4gb at once but each FILe s no more than 6 to 8mb.
I do not understand much about partitioning, any chance of linking me to a basic explanation or guide? Everything Iv found so far has been a little complex.
Most of the folders I try to put on the memory card still show but under weird names, please see attachment for examples. Also now there seem to be some protection on the micro sd card I am unable to remove, I attempt to delete folders with the file browser app and I am told the folder has been deleted but it is not removed at all and when I try via my computer connecting the phone to my laptop via USB I am told there is write protection which I cannot remove. What's all that about??
cheeseymofodude said:
There is no individual file on the card that is anywhere near 4gb in size, but I do try to transfer well over 4gb at once but each FILe s no more than 6 to 8mb.
I do not understand much about partitioning, any chance of linking me to a basic explanation or guide? Everything Iv found so far has been a little complex.
Most of the folders I try to put on the memory card still show but under weird names, please see attachment for examples. Also now there seem to be some protection on the micro sd card I am unable to remove, I attempt to delete folders with the file browser app and I am told the folder has been deleted but it is not removed at all and when I try via my computer connecting the phone to my laptop via USB I am told there is write protection which I cannot remove. What's all that about??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my experience.
1. Partitioning is like when you partition your hard disk drive on desktop or laptop, say you got 500gb hdd u partition it to 100gb drive c and 400gb drive d for example. Now you dont want that on your sd card.
2. About the lock thing if you insert your microsd card to pc through microsd card adapter you will find a work Lock and a button that goes up and down. There is an arrow next to lock word that points down for lock so u need the lock button to be up so u can edit your files easily.
3. Try to double check again that folder thoroughly there must be a 4gb file u didnt notice becuz when my external hdd was format to fat32 had the same problem then I knew fat32 doesnt support 4gb files not folders.
4. Look some 64gb cards say there are bugs when not formatting to exfat so give exfat a try.
5. I think you might have virus that makes wierd folder names.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I still think it is a fake card. Had exactly the same behaviour with a fake usb stick once. If you can, get your money back from the seller. Up to the actual size all goes fine, but when putting more data on it, it starts to overwrite existing data on the card, leading to corruption. I have an official Sandisk 64Gb in my NoteII without any problems, both on fat32 as well as exfat.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
It may be the memory card, I purchased it quite cheap for a 64gb from ebay. Could it potentially have anything to do with the firmware I use? Iv contacted Samsung technical about this and they advised looking for a firmware update...
It's not quiet clear to me if you get any error messages while transferring, or if it successfully transferred all files but they are not longer there..
1) Can you see the files on the card from computer? (when phone connected via USB or using adapter)
2) Can you see the files on the card from the phone? (via any file manager, not music players or galleries)
3) How much used/free space on the card showed in phone and computer? (on the phone Settings -> Storage, on computer, right click on the card in my computer -> properties)
Odds that both cards are fake are quiet slim, I'd assume.
There is no such thing as incompatible adapter with xD cards, simply because MicroSD to SD adapters contain no electronics inside, they are all mechanical and the same. However, card reader is another story, it could be incompatible with xD cards, in which case the result would be unpredictable, to the point that it could corrupt other files already on the card.
But that would not affect transferring files directly to the phone via USB.
[email protected] said:
It's not quiet clear to me if you get any error messages while transferring, or if it successfully transferred all files but they are not longer there..
1) Can you see the files on the card from computer? (when phone connected via USB or using adapter)
2) Can you see the files on the card from the phone? (via any file manager, not music players or galleries)
3) How much used/free space on the card showed in phone and computer? (on the phone Settings -> Storage, on computer, right click on the card in my computer -> properties)
Odds that both cards are fake are quiet slim, I'd assume.
There is no such thing as incompatible adapter with xD cards, simply because MicroSD to SD adapters contain no electronics inside, they are all mechanical and the same. However, card reader is another story, it could be incompatible with xD cards, in which case the result would be unpredictable, to the point that it could corrupt other files already on the card.
But that would not affect transferring files directly to the phone via USB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't receive any error messages at all, the files seem to transfer fine but once I try to play some of the MP3s with power amp I am shown 'Failed to play file! "name of track".mp3'. It seems to be only the first 4gb of tracks I transfer are playable once on the device.
Going to start again...
-I have connected my note 2 via usb, using windows 7. Right clicked 'card' under 'GT-N7105' and selected format.
-I have copied 16.4gb (minus the odd playlist, jpeg or text file in some of the folders) of MP3 organised into folders by album and pasted onto 'card'...
-9.99Gb show on the card via the laptop before I disconnect
-Settings on phone show 62.50Gb total space, 45.94Gb available, so 16.56Gb should be used.
-Using the stock file browser most of the folders the MP3s are organised in are empty
- I select several random tracks to play in PowerAmp but get the 'cannot play file' message
- restart device
-try playing random tracks with poweramp but having the same issue, that most cannot be played
-storage settings now show 62.50gb total, 58.51gb available. so only 3.99gb of the mp3s are on the card now.
-connect via USB again and properties shows only 3.92gb on the card are used
Again no more than 4Gb can be used!!
no matter what ive tried nothing seems to have worked. Even the guys at Samsung support couldnt help! They suggested a sandisc card so Iv purchased a 32gb sandisc card which works perfect. Oh well....

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

Using OTG Drive...

My Pixel XL sees my OTG drive just fine from within the native file explorer - the one that comes up when you first plug the drive in. But curiously, Astro File Manager can't find the drive, either can PowerAmp. They only see internal storage.
I am careful to select "File Transfer" when the drive is first plugged in, so it doesn't think the drive is a power source.
Any ideas why the drive can't be seen via other means other than the native file explorer?
After some investigation, it appears that having an app access, or play, a file on an OTG drive since Android 6.0 has been a non-starter. Security and permissions in the OS seem to be at the root of it (no pun). Getting 6.0+ devices to see and execute files on an OTG drive - beyond the capability provided by the native file browser - seems to need root and/or other interventions that don't seem worth the effort for me.
If anyone else knows different, please let me know.
For me, having an OTG drive handy has value as I can easily copy files to internal memory in a snap when on-the-go, and simply play them from there with the app of my choice. Alternatively, if I were to push my Pixel to capacity by taking tons of pix and 4K video (not likely) I could easily off-load them to OTG.
You must have some kind of problems because I just tried and I can actually execute files (music, video, apk the ones I tired) from the external USB drive without having to copy them in the internal storage.
Both using the integrated Android default file manager and Solid Explorer (with no OTG-plugin).
Good to hear Matt!
Which OTG drive are you using? Maybe it's a pin-out problem on my particular drive.
No problems for me either. I'm using a Kingston 64GB DataTraveler microDuo 3C (with both USB C and USB A). I can confirm I can access its file directory with Solid Explorer and can play music stored on it with PowerAmp.
As far as I remember when I first connected it, I first tried to access it with Solid Explorer. I was initially directed to the Pixel's stock file explorer and had to make a selection there. After that the drive was fully accessible with Solid. Since then Solid and PowerAmp can access the OTG drive as soon as it's connected and I haven't been prompted to do anything in the stock file manager since.
However I'd like to add that I've since found an OTG drive isn't the same as having an SD card slot. I originally hoped that I could relocate all my music files to the external drive to keep lots of space free on the Pixel (32GB version). Although that is possible, PowerAmp takes about 7 minutes to scan and build its music library (6,000+ HE-AACv2 tunes) whenever I connect the OTG drive, so it's not exactly a fast and seamless alternative to keeping music in internal storage. The drive also gets quite hot when it's being accessed, and I'm not sure if it consumes a lot of power to run.
billykxda said:
After some investigation, it appears that having an app access, or play, a file on an OTG drive since Android 6.0 has been a non-starter. Security and permissions in the OS seem to be at the root of it (no pun). Getting 6.0+ devices to see and execute files on an OTG drive - beyond the capability provided by the native file browser - seems to need root and/or other interventions that don't seem worth the effort for me.
If anyone else knows different, please let me know.
For me, having an OTG drive handy has value as I can easily copy files to internal memory in a snap when on-the-go, and simply play them from there with the app of my choice. Alternatively, if I were to push my Pixel to capacity by taking tons of pix and 4K video (not likely) I could easily off-load them to OTG.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
billykxda said:
My Pixel XL sees my OTG drive just fine from within the native file explorer - the one that comes up when you first plug the drive in. But curiously, Astro File Manager can't find the drive, either can PowerAmp. They only see internal storage.
I am careful to select "File Transfer" when the drive is first plugged in, so it doesn't think the drive is a power source.
Any ideas why the drive can't be seen via other means other than the native file explorer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exact same problem for me. I only have 32 XL and would love to use OTG drive, but only system file browser sees it.
You sure its not because you are trying to read exFAT? Pixel cant see exFAT.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

FireTV External Storage Options

Hello,
I am thinking of using my FireTV more. I would like to know what people suggest for external storage. I had a 500GB or 1TB old external USB drive and I cannot get the FireTV to recognize it. About to pull the trigger on a new external drive. Suggestions? Once connected should I change the way I have my apps etc installed? Help appreciated.
Thank you,
thesticks00 said:
Hello,
I am thinking of using my FireTV more. I would like to know what people suggest for external storage. I had a 500GB or 1TB old external USB drive and I cannot get the FireTV to recognize it. About to pull the trigger on a new external drive. Suggestions? Once connected should I change the way I have my apps etc installed? Help appreciated.
Thank you,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! Did you format that USB drive as FAT-32? Shockingly, that's the only format that standard Fire TVs allow. I've read of a few hacks that allegedly allow other formats (I don't know if they work), but otherwise you're forced to use FAT-32. That's obviously particularly sub-optimal, since that file system only allows files up to 2 GB in size; no movie file is that small...
Hope that helped!
Embee11 said:
Hi! Did you format that USB drive as FAT-32? Shockingly, that's the only format that standard Fire TVs allow. I've read of a few hacks that allegedly allow other formats (I don't know if they work), but otherwise you're forced to use FAT-32. That's obviously particularly sub-optimal, since that file system only allows files up to 2 GB in size; no movie file is that small...
Hope that helped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that the only requirement? I would have thought even if it needed to be formatted, the FIRETV would recognize it and tell me to format. It's a pretty massive drive (1TB i think). I can try formatting to that type and seeing what happens. I just assumed since it didnt even notice it was connected (and i know you can format drives using FIRETV) that either it is not reading the drive at all or the drive is busted. I will give that a go.
If you happen to have an external hdd connected, please let me know what you are using.
Thanks
And regarding app storage, since my first-gen Fire TV (unlike my second-gen model) has little internal storage, I try to move as many apps as possible to the USB drive. But you should keep crucial apps internally, so that if the drive fails you can still have a workable Fire TV. For example, leave any apps that would be necessary to help you restore a backup and the like in internal storage. And perhaps a few apps that particularly need fast startup on demand (I don't know any examples myself).
And you'll find that most built-in apps can't be moved to USB storage.
---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:36 PM ----------
thesticks00 said:
Is that the only requirement? I would have thought even if it needed to be formatted, the FIRETV would recognize it and tell me to format. It's a pretty massive drive (1TB i think). I can try formatting to that type and seeing what happens. I just assumed since it didnt even notice it was connected (and i know you can format drives using FIRETV) that either it is not reading the drive at all or the drive is busted. I will give that a go.
If you happen to have an external hdd connected, please let me know what you are using.
Thanks
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Unfortunately, the Amazon developers did not include any code to present such messages. If the drive isn't formatted as FAT-32, it will act as if you never even plugged in any drive. I found that out the hard way!
I'm currently using a 1 TB Seagate Backup Plus Portable USB drive, model SRD00F1, and once I formatted as FAT-32, it's working perfectly.
Embee11 said:
And regarding app storage, since my first-gen Fire TV (unlike my second-gen model) has little internal storage, I try to move as many apps as possible to the USB drive. But you should keep crucial apps internally, so that if the drive fails you can still have a workable Fire TV. For example, leave any apps that would be necessary to help you restore a backup and the like in internal storage. And perhaps a few apps that particularly need fast startup on demand (I don't know any examples myself).
And you'll find that most built-in apps can't be moved to USB storage.
---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:36 PM ----------
Unfortunately, the Amazon developers did not include any code to present such messages. If the drive isn't formatted as FAT-32, it will act as if you never even plugged in any drive. I found that out the hard way!
I'm currently using a 1 TB Seagate Backup Plus Portable USB drive, model SRD00F1, and once I formatted as FAT-32, it's working perfectly.
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Click to collapse
Thank you. I will definitely do that when I get home. Hate to barrage you with questions, but what have you put on your HDD. I am an avid gamer and I was thinking of emulating some of my old games and throwing the roms of games I own on the hdd as I am already running out of space on the internal storage of the FIRETV. I am also looking itnto ways I can launch apps/games (apks) from the storage (games like GTA VICE are killing my storage space and would like to relocate them).
thesticks00 said:
Thank you. I will definitely do that when I get home. Hate to barrage you with questions, but what have you put on your HDD. I am an avid gamer and I was thinking of emulating some of my old games and throwing the roms of games I own on the hdd as I am already running out of space on the internal storage of the FIRETV. I am also looking itnto ways I can launch apps/games (apks) from the storage (games like GTA VICE are killing my storage space and would like to relocate them).
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Hey, I'm happy to try to help, so don't worry about more questions! Regrettably, I'm not a gamer so I can't speak knowledgeably to those issues. However, any third-party app that you can install on your Fire TV -- such as a game -- can easily be moved to your USB drive. And launching an app from USB storage is indistinguishable from one stored internally, so there's nothing to worry about there.
Just keep in mind that any app you want to run must be installed via standard procedures, by downloading it from the Amazon store or by using so-called "side-loading" tools such as ADBlink.
One thing I'm slightly puzzled by are your references to an "hdd". Are you talking about an external USB drive, or an actual Hard Disk Drive? The reason I ask is that I've seen a few claims -- which might well be false -- that the Fire TV has difficulty with Hard Disk Drives. But that very well have been based on misunderstood issues regarding power -- the Fire TV provides USB power, but that's not how one would power an external hard disk drive! The hdd would obviously have to be powered independently, such as by plugging it into the wall.
If you have more questions, ask away! I'll only be online for another hour, but I can try to answer them later...

Toshiba Fire TV Edition - USB Slot Stops Reading

So I bought a 43 inch Toshiba Fire TV on sale at Best Buy a few months ago. Needless to say, it doesn't have much storage on it. Less than 8gb which can fill up rather quickly. So being that it has a USB port, I thought what the heck let me try getting a USB 3.0 stick and format it for extra disk space to save apps to.
So I purchased a SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 64gb stick. Formatted it to Fat32, I plugged it in and got the pop up asking if I'd like to "Format as Internal Storage" which I did and it worked beautifully for about a 3 days. I was saving newly downloaded apps to it and they were functioning properly. Then today I go to use one of the apps and it disappeared. I open ES File Explorer to take a look at the stick and it's contents are empty. I check "Manage Installed Apps" all the apps that installed on the stick are gone! I do notice that when plugged in, soon as I power on the TV ES File Explorer is open automatically as if it's reading the USB but then it doesn't appear.
I tried switching Developer options on and off, no dice. I've had no new OS updates, I didn't change anything on the stick aside from downloading new apps (which is why I wanted the USB in the first place). It was working fine, why did this happen?

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