[Q] Micro SD in tablet directly accessible when hooked up to computer? - Eee Pad Transformer Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

If the Transformer has a micro-SD card installed, can you access it directly when the device is hooked up to a computer using the USB cable, and read from it and write to it? I don't have a Transformer yet---like so many, I'm anxiously awaiting the U.S. release---but this is something I was wondering.
I used to have a ViewSonic gTablet, which I sold on Craig's List as soon as I found out about the Transformer, and there you couldn't. The internal memory was /sdcard while the micro SD card was /sdcard2, and you could only see /sdcard with the device hooked up to your computer. If I'm not mistaken, the external micro-SD card in the Transformer shows up as a directory in /sdcard, so that suggests that you read from, and write to, it directly through a USB connection. I wonder what happens when you also have an SD card and USB drivehooked up in the keyboard dock. Will they all show up as directories in /sdcard?
Thanks!
Ron

No, it doesnt show up the same way as in other versions of android. It appears to be a workaround Asus have implemented until the official update is released. It shows up as 'Removable' media, not under 'sdcard' so it doesnt show up when plugged into a pc. Only the main device memory shows up as a mass storage device.

Thanks for your response. It's not a big deal, but I was just wondering about this.
If only Asus would release the Transformer in the U.S...
Ron

stuntdouble said:
No, it doesnt show up the same way as in other versions of android. It appears to be a workaround Asus have implemented until the official update is released. It shows up as 'Removable' media, not under 'sdcard' so it doesnt show up when plugged into a pc. Only the main device memory shows up as a mass storage device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid I have to contradict you, on my Win7 PC and Mac the SD Card does show up when plugged into the PC but it appears as MicroSD subdirectory under the root Transformer directory, not as a seperate drive.
This does have the side effect that you can't see how much space is available on the card, the free space measurement only shows what's available in the main memory but it does at least mean you can access the card.

Yeah thats what I meant to say. Sorry I wasnt very clear. My brain and my typing skills dont always sync up. It doesnt show up as a separate drive, it's added to the removable storage as you said. So it's still accessible. I was assuming you meant does it show up as it's own drive, as thats what i took 'directly accessible' to mean. Anyway sorry for the mix up.

To clear it up.
When plugged into PC.
13.18GB from eMMC = /
microSD = /MicroSD/
Android Filesystem (When not plugged into PC)
13.18GB from eMMC = /sdcard/
microSD = /Removable/microSD/

So, now I'm confused. On the Asus itself, can you see how much storage is available on the SD card separately and/or in total with the internal memory?
I.e., if I have a 32GB SD card inserted in a 16GB Transformer, do I see:
32GB SD Card - used space
Internal 16GB - used space
Total 48GB - used space
Or what?

wynand32 said:
So, now I'm confused. On the Asus itself, can you see how much storage is available on the SD card separately and/or in total with the internal memory?
I.e., if I have a 32GB SD card inserted in a 16GB Transformer, do I see:
32GB SD Card - used space
Internal 16GB - used space
Total 48GB - used space
Or what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A picture is worth a thousand words.

stuntdouble said:
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it sure is.

Related

Internal Storage 2GB? Why Is that?

So I managed to get a ROM going on my tab that came today, and all is pretty good so far. One question tho; I went to my settings --> SD card usage or whatever its called and my internal memory is showing 1.79GB total space.
My SD card is 16GB and that's showing up fine as 14 or whatever FREE, since I partitioned at 2048/0.
I don't get why the internal storage is 1.79. Shoudn't it be 16GB or whatever since that's how much this tablet has? I'm confused.
Thanks!
I may be wrong on this (Developers, please correct me if I am wrong) but I think the 2GB is reserved for the Android system and the remaining space is what you can use for apps, etc.
stuaross said:
I may be wrong on this (Developers, please correct me if I am wrong) but I think the 2GB is reserved for the Android system and the remaining space is what you can use for apps, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if thats the case, why won't it show the remaining 14G or whatever hmmm
The 16gig is divided as 2gig for apps and 14gig for storage (/sdcard). After format and overhead you get what you see.
Sent from my Viewsonic 10" GTab...CM7 style...
So how do i mount my internal? Im only able to mount my microsd card..
Actually I take that back. I can only mount my internal storage to my computer but not my microsd card. I have no idea how to do that...
That's normal behavior for the gtablet. There is no built in method for mounting the external SD to your computer.

[Q] MicroSD doesn't show up when connected to PC?

Thanks guys, I hope someone knows how to fix this.
When I connect my Asus EEE Pad Transformer to my PC(Windows 7) via the USB cable, I can see on the PC a new device named "Computer\Transformer TF101\Device Storage" which is my built-in 16 GB, but there is no device for the Micro SD card - it is actually visible in the EEE Pad (at /Removable/MicroSD) and works pretty normally within the Pad.
How do I transfer my files to the MicroSD from the PC then?
I don't want to take out the card and use a card reader, btw.
smallercat said:
Thanks guys, I hope someone knows how to fix this.
When I connect my Asus EEE Pad Transformer to my PC(Windows 7) via the USB cable, I can see on the PC a new device named "Computer\Transformer TF101\Device Storage" which is my built-in 16 GB, but there is no device for the Micro SD card - it is actually visible in the EEE Pad (at /Removable/MicroSD) and works pretty normally within the Pad.
How do I transfer my files to the MicroSD from the PC then?
I don't want to take out the card and use a card reader, btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like a response to this as well.
Just for curiosity... you don't see any folder named similar to "sdcard" inside the visible 16gb directory?
Go to:
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/
Download tab and then pick your OS and then download PC sync software?
dark_aura said:
I would like a response to this as well.
Just for curiosity... you don't see any folder named similar to "sdcard" inside the visible 16gb directory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It happened once or twice that I found a folder named 'MicroSD' in the 16gb directory - it is indeed the MicroSD card, but now it is gone and I have no idea why.
smallercat said:
It happened once or twice that I found a folder named 'MicroSD' in the 16gb directory - it is indeed the MicroSD card, but now it is gone and I have no idea why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's weird... I am waiting for my Transformer to arrive, btw.
Did you tried a full restart on the tablet and try again?
dotpro said:
Go to:
****
Download tab and then pick your OS and then download PC sync software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Already tried, no luck.
Thanks anyway.
dark_aura said:
That's weird... I am waiting for my Transformer to arrive, btw.
Did you tried a full restart on the tablet and try again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I did. but I havn't tried factory reset yet.
More than connecting transformer to PC by the usb cable, I usually use some app like "Websharing" or "WiFi File Explorer PRO". Sadly there's no way to upload data to the microSD card using one of these apps either
Until now, I've been removing microSD card and putting it in my USB all in one media card reader!
well what you can do is simply copy it to internal and then use the HC filemanager to copy it to your microSD, that's what I do.
seshmaru said:
well what you can do is simply copy it to internal and then use the HC filemanager to copy it to your microSD, that's what I do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A good workaround, but quite frankly, these are the sorts of little inexcusable things that companies need to check for before they push out products. Hopefully Asus fixes this very soon in an OTA soon. There's absolutely no reason why the MicroSD shouldn't show up as a separate drive when you connect the device to your computer. (Even my Nook classic does that!)
elmasguapo said:
A good workaround, but quite frankly, these are the sorts of little inexcusable things that companies need to check for before they push out products. Hopefully Asus fixes this very soon in an OTA soon. There's absolutely no reason why the MicroSD shouldn't show up as a separate drive when you connect the device to your computer. (Even my Nook classic does that!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you can always get a Xoom (which doesn't have microSD support at all).
Pretty sure they figured rather a functioning microSD card slot that can't be accessed by USB than no microSD card slot at all.
I'm sure it'll be fixed in an update.
seshmaru said:
Well you can always get a Xoom (which doesn't have microSD support at all).
Pretty sure they figured rather a functioning microSD card slot that can't be accessed by USB than no microSD card slot at all.
I'm sure it'll be fixed in an update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Asus seems to have put together a fantastic device, so I have no desire to choose a Xoom over it. My issue is with the increasingly prevalent over-reliance on OTAs to fix simple things that should have included from the start. (And that comment by no means applies exclusively to Asus.)
True, but when you buy a honeycomb device at this stage you pretty much are always buying on potential, since honeycomb is really new and even google admitted it was rushed to market. With that come the inevitable gripes and snags.
I haven't had any issues accessing the micro sd from my computer. If you have the MTP drivers loaded from asus's website should just show up at the bottom as a "music player" that you click on and shows device.
In the device is all the folders on the internal sd card. One of the folders is MicroSD which is your micro sd card.
I've dumped about 30 gb of stuff on my micro sd without any problems.
lordgodgeneral said:
I haven't had any issues accessing the micro sd from my computer. If you have the MTP drivers loaded from asus's website should just show up at the bottom as a "music player" that you click on and shows device.
In the device is all the folders on the internal sd card. One of the folders is MicroSD which is your micro sd card.
I've dumped about 30 gb of stuff on my micro sd without any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick question, when the "sdcard" folder is inside the visible built-in storage directory, what is the total capacity that your OS shows? It's the built-in storage + SD Card? like 16gb + 32gb = 48gb? or how?
Sd Card
Mine shows up in file manager no problem -
/removable/microsd/
It shows up on my computer -
/device storage/micro sd
dark_aura said:
Quick question, when the "sdcard" folder is inside the visible built-in storage directory, what is the total capacity that your OS shows? It's the built-in storage + SD Card? like 16gb + 32gb = 48gb? or how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you hover over the device in my computer, it only shows availablity of the internal storage, and right clicking and hitting properties on the microsd folder does show how much space is taken up on the card, but haven't seen a way to show totaly capacity and how much is left in windows.
Easiest way is just check storage under the settings on the tablet.
just so you guys know, I noticed your PC wont see the microSD card folder if you dont pop it in/out after every time you reboot the tablet.
Pretty sure this is a restriction with Honeycomb. The design was intended for internal storage (hence the dynamic internal flash storage). External is just for media.
Seems the fix needs to come from Android devs and applied to the framework. Would not hold my breath for that, since if you keep up with the Android dev forums, they were not fans of adding external storage in the first place. The OEMs (except Motorola) did their own workarounds just to get stuff working as is. Seems a minor miracle that Asus were able to get the keyboard and its storage functions working.
Guys thank you all for the replies and discussions.
I replaced my MicroSD card today and was surprised to see the new card appeared as 'Computer\Transformer TF101\Device Staroage\MicroSD' in my PC!
Now seems it has something to do with the card itself - no idea what it is though. Both cards worked pretty fine within the Pad btw.

[Q] How do I mount my sdcard as a drive via USB?

I have a TF101 running Prime 1.1, and a sdcard inserted in it.
I wanted to mount it as a drive via USB to my laptop through a usb cable (like I do on my phone), but I can't find an option for it on Honeycomb to do so. Anyone know how to do this?
Having the same issue. Running Ubuntu 10.04. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. TIA.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
...anyone?
poorace said:
I have a TF101 running Prime 1.1, and a sdcard inserted in it.
I wanted to mount it as a drive via USB to my laptop through a usb cable (like I do on my phone), but I can't find an option for it on Honeycomb to do so. Anyone know how to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's already mounted, on device storage there's a folder called microSD, if that doesn't work just pop the microSD card out and pop it back in while plugged in.
poorace said:
I have a TF101 running Prime 1.1, and a sdcard inserted in it.
I wanted to mount it as a drive via USB to my laptop through a usb cable (like I do on my phone), but I can't find an option for it on Honeycomb to do so. Anyone know how to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest i do not think there is any way to do that yet
Honeycomb does not offer an easy way to include removable storage (which is why the xoom doesnt support sd cards yet officially)
Asus bypassed the Honeycomb issue and mounted the SD card to a directory (Removable Storage)
Since the built in storage is seen as the sdcard by honeycomb that is what is seen by computers
When the next version of honeycomb comes out, they should address this issue
...hopefully
For now i carry one of these bad boys on me while i'm at school (along with my gazillion flash drives )
http://www.amazon.com/elago-Mobile-...FKR8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1304203233&sr=8-3
SlimDan22 said:
To be honest i do not think there is any way to do that yet
Honeycomb does not offer an easy way to include removable storage (which is why the xoom doesnt support sd cards yet officially)
Asus bypassed the Honeycomb issue and mounted the SD card to a directory (Removable Storage)
Since the built in storage is seen as the sdcard by honeycomb that is what is seen by computers
When the next version of honeycomb comes out, they should address this issue
...hopefully
For now i carry one of these bad boys on me while i'm at school (along with my gazillion flash drives )
http://www.amazon.com/elago-Mobile-...FKR8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1304203233&sr=8-3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That explains it!
SlimDan22 said:
To be honest i do not think there is any way to do that yet
Honeycomb does not offer an easy way to include removable storage (which is why the xoom doesnt support sd cards yet officially)
Asus bypassed the Honeycomb issue and mounted the SD card to a directory (Removable Storage)
Since the built in storage is seen as the sdcard by honeycomb that is what is seen by computers
When the next version of honeycomb comes out, they should address this issue
...hopefully
For now i carry one of these bad boys on me while i'm at school (along with my gazillion flash drives )
http://www.amazon.com/elago-Mobile-...FKR8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1304203233&sr=8-3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very cool item there. might pick one up myself.
Wait so are you telling me that presently there is no way to access your microSD card from your computer? (without using any extra accessories)
Oops just realized it was mounted in the storage folder**
Had to replug in my Sd card
Deusdies said:
Wait so are you telling me that presently there is no way to access your microSD card from your computer? (without using any extra accessories)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seshmaru already posted the solution to this earlier in the thread.
When your Transformer is attached to a Windows PC, the SD card is mounted as a subdirectory under device storage.
Regards,
Dave
Android switched from the USB storage class to MTP from Honeycomb. In order to access MTP storage from non-Windows machines you'll need an MTP driver.
For Mac use Android Filetransfer. For Linux use MTPFS.
Details for both can be found here:
http://droidweb.com/2011/05/moving-files-onto-android-3-0-devices/
MTP sucks, you have to use Windows' default copy and paste and it doesn't give you full acess to all the files (only ones Honeycomb wants you to see), horrible system.
frosty5689 said:
...it doesn't give you full acess to all the files ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I also dislike the inconsistency between actual files and those displayed via MTP. Fortunately most readers of this forum know how to use ADB push/pull or the file explorer to move internal files to a removable USB storage device.
Watch out
I've got 3 USB 2.5" HDs. All are NTFS formatted and SATA internally with external eSATA connectors so to me similar cases. All work fine on my PCs. On the TF 2 work and these 2 have a similar case but the 3rd is not picked.
Just something to be aware of that your case can be an issue

Mount Xoom as USB Drive

I am running the Team EOS ICS ROM. Is there anyway to mount my Xoom's internal memory or SD card as a logical drive to my Windows 7 PC?
sure,
download the motorola usb drivers from motorola and plug your xoom into your pc via USB. Both the internal and SD card will show in Windows Explorer.
Its showing in Windows Explorer, but unlike other Android devices it is not being assigned a logical drive letter when Windows knows about it.
I think your problem is because of the way they have the rom setup. If you look in the settings for storage than select the "action" menu" (top right). There are only two options which is media device and camera device. On other roms, an option is presented to connect as "mass storage" which is what you are looking for.
So, the short answer is that in the current iteration of the rom, what you are looking for does not exist.
Mounting as mass storage is a depricated technology never to return. In fact, Android devices with external storage are being depricated. It has to do with the problems associated with having unmounted storage while android attempts to use that storage.
bigrushdog said:
Mounting as mass storage is a depricated technology never to return. In fact, Android devices with external storage are being depricated. It has to do with the problems associated with having unmounted storage while android attempts to use that storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to run a file syncing app to copy the files from both the internal storage and SD card thats automated when I leave the xoom in its dock overnight. Is there a way of getting windows to see it as a drive with a letter?
integramodder said:
I'd like to run a file syncing app to copy the files from both the internal storage and SD card thats automated when I leave the xoom in its dock overnight. Is there a way of getting windows to see it as a drive with a letter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
depends on what ROM you are using and if they have added the mass storage feature, which as noted right above your post has been deprecated by Android/Google...so unless you are running maybe an ICS rom or there is some app in the Play Store that will give you that functionality, then i would say no

Problem with moving apps to external SD card

So apparently Samsung makes the skyrocket think that the usb storage is the sd card. Because of this when i tap to move an app to the sd card it moves it from system storage too usb storage. I am pretty much out of storage internally. Has anyone else had this problem or does anyone know how i can solve the problem.
ian1 said:
So apparently Samsung makes the skyrocket think that the usb storage is the sd card. Because of this when i tap to move an app to the sd card it moves it from system storage too usb storage. I am pretty much out of storage internally. Has anyone else had this problem or does anyone know how i can solve the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not think that Samsung is unique. An external SD card appears as a directory in the external storage. It is rather easy to use this directory to store music, photos and videos. I have many programs and I am nowhere near tapped out in terms of storage. However, I believe that there are a number of solutions that would allow one to move applications to the external-external SD card.
Ya i was wondering if anyone had heard of a way to do this. I havent found anything yet.
If you are rooted you can probably edit the fstab file to switch the mount points of the internal and external memory. This has been done on other devices and a search should point you to directions to accomplish this.
There are negatives and positives to this approach, so read and understand what yoou are doing and the effects it will have before doing it.
I have over 80 apps installed, including two nav programs with offline maps for the US and have 1.5 GB in the user space for ap installs, 9.4 GB in the internal storage, and 11 GB free on a 32 GB external SD card (music files take up most of the used space).
Thank you!

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