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[Q] Mount Xoom as USB Storage

I just swapped my Samsung Galaxy Tab with a Xoom and I'm a bit miffed. I understand that the Xoom has 32GB of internal storage and does not come with an external SD card (or at least the person I bought it from kept the card).
With my SGT, when I plugged it into my Win7 64bit PC, the SD card would come up as a USB mass storage device.
Is there any way to do this with the internal storage of the Xoom? It's aggravatingly SLOW transferring files through the Personal Music Player icon that Win7 tosses in My Computer. I (as well as several other apps I use) would rather have a physical drive letter to copy to and from.
Not afraid to use a custom ROM or a modded apk or other system file. Yes, I did search and I also read the suggested topics that came up on the posting page, nothing was specifically related to the Xoom.

Yes. The Tiamat Rom, as well as the official 3.2 update activated the SD card slot in the xoom. No, the Xoom didnt ever come with a sdcard already in the slot like phones do, so you didnt get ripped off. the xoom file system is a little funny, "SDcard" is a seperate partition in the internal memory. If using Tiamat, and you have a sdcard in the sdcard slot, its labeled "external1" in the /mtn partition. When first placing an sd card in the slot, the system does take f o r e v e r, to recognize it (make sure you are also pushing the "mount sdcard" button in the storage settings menu). I generally just reboot the xoom after mounting a new card, that usually speeds up the process. When its all said and done when you plug the xoom into your pc you will get two hard drives that pop up, internal and sdcard. And heads up, you still cant put apps2sd like phones can, and you have to use root manager to move files from internal sdcard to external.

Yeah, that's the problem. At the moment, I don't have an SD card to put in it, but I was still expecting the internal storage to be mapped to a hard drive. I don't mind the Xoom showing up as a PMP but a lot of the apps I use as a developer (and some I use recreationally) need an actual drive letter I was hoping that even without an SD card mounted, that the internal storage would show up as a local disk. I've got 3.2.2 if that helps any.

Bought several SD cards, seems one of the contacts on the inside is dead, so I'm out as far as SD cards are concerned

LycaonX said:
Bought several SD cards, seems one of the contacts on the inside is dead, so I'm out as far as SD cards are concerned
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's the case, you got a bad deal. Generally, the Xoom is excellent and though you can work around it, having the sdcard feels pretty essential to me. Hopefully you can get it fixed or get your other tab back.

The contact wasn't dead, it had a piece of clear plastic tape over it (not intentionally, it was a corner of what looks like shipping or packing tape). Got a whopping 4GB SD card plugged in, shows up fine under /mnt/external1 but neither of them are showing up as drives in Explorer
I've got 3.2.2, 4G build (HLK75D), tried this with and without root, no luck with any config.
Edit: Okay, lots of searching later, and it seems Google thought it was a wonderful idea to not include such functionality with Honeycomb. I am extremely well versed in c++ but I have never written a driver before, but I will be downloading and studying the Windows Driver Development Kit and seeing if I can write a replacement driver specifically for the Xoom to create an MTP to Logical Disk bridge driver.
In effect, you'll replace the standard Windows MTP Driver for the Xoom with this custom driver, which will bridge MTP to a lettered drive in Windows Explorer. Yeah, I know it's a complicated step but I want my damn Xoom to have drive letters in Explorer and as a programmer, I usually end up solving my own problems when the software giants pull retarded stuff like this.

LycaonX said:
The contact wasn't dead, it had a piece of clear plastic tape over it (not intentionally, it was a corner of what looks like shipping or packing tape). Got a whopping 4GB SD card plugged in, shows up fine under /mnt/external1 but neither of them are showing up as drives in Explorer
I've got 3.2.2, 4G build (HLK75D), tried this with and without root, no luck with any config.
Edit: Okay, lots of searching later, and it seems Google thought it was a wonderful idea to not include such functionality with Honeycomb. I am extremely well versed in c++ but I have never written a driver before, but I will be downloading and studying the Windows Driver Development Kit and seeing if I can write a replacement driver specifically for the Xoom to create an MTP to Logical Disk bridge driver.
In effect, you'll replace the standard Windows MTP Driver for the Xoom with this custom driver, which will bridge MTP to a lettered drive in Windows Explorer. Yeah, I know it's a complicated step but I want my damn Xoom to have drive letters in Explorer and as a programmer, I usually end up solving my own problems when the software giants pull retarded stuff like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. Let us know when you've got it. I'm sure there will be interest for such a driver.

Just an update, the MTP side of the bridge appears rather simple to do. I may see why Google decided on MTP instead of the old unmount/mount dance. MTP allows the device to basically 'share' the storage without isolating it to a single device. Although if a hobbyist programmer like me can feasibly believe that they can program an MTP bridge, I don't see why the college educated, career programmers at Google couldn't do the same.
Basically what I am looking at is a driver that will bridge the MTP side of the Xoom over to a virtual hard disk device in Windows. It looks like I'll need to implement a way to present the virtual drive as a FAT32 (or maybe NTFS) formatted device, since software-wise all a virtual disk handles are pointers to what amounts to the 'raw' areas of a disk. Still working on it, as mentioned before I'm a hobbyist and have never dug into driver development.

LycaonX said:
Just an update, the MTP side of the bridge appears rather simple to do. I may see why Google decided on MTP instead of the old unmount/mount dance. MTP allows the device to basically 'share' the storage without isolating it to a single device. Although if a hobbyist programmer like me can feasibly believe that they can program an MTP bridge, I don't see why the college educated, career programmers at Google couldn't do the same.
Basically what I am looking at is a driver that will bridge the MTP side of the Xoom over to a virtual hard disk device in Windows. It looks like I'll need to implement a way to present the virtual drive as a FAT32 (or maybe NTFS) formatted device, since software-wise all a virtual disk handles are pointers to what amounts to the 'raw' areas of a disk. Still working on it, as mentioned before I'm a hobbyist and have never dug into driver development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I forgot that Team Tiamat had implemented usb mass storage in an earlier verion of their Xoom kernel, but decided to remove it as it caused many complications. Look in the back pages of the Development section, for tiamat kernels and also dinomite's mass storage watcher thread. You may be able to find something you can use.

[GUIDE] MTP and PTP (Media Transfer Protocol) vs UMC (Mass Storage Class)

Here I will post the advantages and disadvantages of the two.
Advantages of UMC
UMC works at block level. It means that you access the partition from the operating system like if were local, and you have complete control of it.
For the previous reason, UMC keeps timestamps for files and folders. This is specially important for pictures, photos or videos that don't have EXIF, where you rely on file creation or modification time to arrange them and to know when were taken. MTP sets for all transferred files current system time, thus overwritting the real creation or modification time and ruining your gallery.
UMC allows the use of recovery software (Recuva) or partition software (Easeus Partition Master) and even format with a different filesystem. Without UMC you have to use android side software that usually is less powerful, needs a rooted phone, etc.
As you have total access to the partition, you can access all files there, even hidden, system, etc. With MTP you only have access to the files that the controlling operating system (android) wants. For example, with MTP, files starting with dot (.file) are not accessible. Some file formats are not allowed.
UMC is compatible with any operating system that allows connecting a FAT32 / exFAT pendrive, while MTP requires specific support. Linux and OS X may have built-in support or not.
With UMC you directly access the files, so modification is instant, and viewing. On the other side, with MTP you download it, modify it and re-upload the edited version, but you never do it directly. Even to play files you need to completely download it first. Imagine downloading a 5 GB MKV.
UMC is always the same, while for MTP there are several implementations: MTP, MTPZ (Microsoft Zune), Sony SonicStage, Apple DMAP.
UMC is faster than MTP because requires less time to initialize transfer, but isn't that big difference for an average user. The higher the number of files to be transferred and the lower the size of each file, the higher the ratio MTP/UMC.
Advantages of MTP or PTP
In MTP mode, the android device controls the input/output to the filesystem, so there is no risk of data loss because of cold disconnecting the device from USB. You work on a layer over the filesystem. With UMC you must be careful.
MTP allows you to use the sdcard from both the android phone and the computer at the same time, even to any desired number of them. On the other side, with UMC you only can do it from a device at a time, meaning that you have to unmount the sdcard from the android to view it on the computer, stopping apps, etc. Of course there are software that can force viewing UMC from both sides, but is a highway to corruption.
MTP does not show the native filesystem to the computer (it uses a hierarchery simulated by the MTP driver), so it will always be compatible. For example, on devices with the same partition for data and sdcard (like Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S3) you are writing from the computer to an ext4 partition and you don't need windows to support it. The same if the device partition were in any imaginable filesystem, the MTP will show you it in a standard hierarchy. On the other side, with UMC your local operating system (windows, linux, mac) must support natively the filesystem of the partition or download some software that allows you to do it.
With MTP you use all capabilities and disadvantages of the device filesystem. If the filesystem is in ext4 you can copy files over 4GB to the device, that you couldn't in UMC mode because usually it will come formatted in FAT32, that is the most compatible fs for all operating systems.
MTP enables Windows Media DRM, UMC doesn't.
MTP allows the use of password for accessing the files (on compatible devices). On the other side, with UMC, of course you could use powerful tools like TrueCrypt, but you need the corresponding software on android that reads it.
How to preserve timestamps
- Use File Timestamp app. Root is required, and works recursively too.
- Use Mass Storage Mode when possible.
- zip or tar the files when sending them to the phone or receiving from.
- If the device has external sd, you can use it as a man in the middle.
- samba (smb protocol) allows preservation of timestamps, however applications for android don't support it.
- FTP allows preservation of timestamps, however applications for android don't support it.
- NFS allows preservation of timestamps, however couldn't get any application for android working properly (Servers Ultimate Pro).
- Rsync allows preservation of timestamps, however couldn't get any application for android working properly (Servers Ultimate Pro).
- adb push and pull does not preserve timestamps. Furthermore doesn't work recursively with folders.
- MTP does not preserve timestamps.
- Cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. usually never preserve timestamps.
Questions and answers
Is possible to implement MTP on "put here your device"?​Possibly yes, if has USB. MTP works on software side, so updating your rom or installing a new one will do the job
Is possible to implement UMC on "put here your device"?​That depends on hardware mainly. If the internal sdcard and the data folders belong to the same partition, you can't. The reason is that you can't enable access to a part of a partition at block level, the whole or nothing. This is the case for Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy S3, in order to take advantage of all space, and discard the case where you have filled a partition and the other plenty of space.
Dan Morill said:
It isn't physically possible to support UMS on devices that don't have a dedicated partition for storage (like a removable SD card, or a separate partition like Nexus S.) This is because UMS is a block-level protocol that gives the host PC direct access to the physical blocks on the storage, so that Android cannot have it mounted at the same time.
With the unified storage model we introduced in Honeycomb, we share your full 32GB (or 16GB or whatever) between app data and media data. That is, no more staring sadly at your 5GB free on Nexus S when your internal app data partition has filled up -- it's all one big happy volume.
However the cost is that Android can no longer ever yield up the storage for the host PC to molest directly over USB. Instead we use MTP. On Windows (which the majority of users use), it has built-in MTP support in Explorer that makes it look exactly like a disk. On Linux and Mac it's sadly not as easy, but I have confidence that we'll see some work to make this better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sources:
Easy UMS, USB Mass Storage and Media Transfer Protocol – XDA Developer TV
DifferenceBetween: Difference Between MTP and MSC
Directions on Microsoft: What is MTP?
CrackBerry: On startup - Media Transfer Protocol
Ice Cream Sandwich supports USB mass storage after all, Galaxy Nexus does not
Issues and questions:
[Q] Hidden folders through Android MTP
Nexus 4 not showing files via MTP
[Q][MTP] Certain files/directories hidden to windows file manager?
Connecting to PC files are different!
MTP and hidden files
[Q] Hidden files and MTP/Windows
[Q] Do the S3 still using 2gb partition for data and 12 as virtual sd?
Just got meself a Nexus 7... But!
Upload to dropbox: file timestamps should be preserved
Android File Transfer - For Mac users only

Thanks for this guide !

If I understand this correctly, then devices like the Asus Transformer Eee Pad (TF300T) which has a 16GB or 32GB internal storage, PLUS a microSD card (and standard SD card slot when docked) could use UMC, if the manufacturer made it so (which they haven't), right?

invertedskull said:
If I understand this correctly, then devices like the Asus Transformer Eee Pad (TF300T) which has a 16GB or 32GB internal storage, PLUS a microSD card (and standard SD card slot when docked) could use UMC, if the manufacturer made it so (which they haven't), right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The UMC should appear then for the microsd, which you can physically remove from the phone, plus the dock if existent.
For the 16/32 GB internal storage it depends if there is a dedicated partition for internal sdcard. Check it for the Eee Pad.

Well, then I assume(?) Asus were lazy or just didn't think to give us the choice, cos I only have MTP or PTP mode. I miss UMC.

invertedskull said:
Well, then I assume(?) Asus were lazy or just didn't think to give us the choice, cos I only have MTP or PTP mode. I miss UMC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, assuming that you have your device rooted and with busybox, can you post the output of these three commands
Code:
ls -lR /dev/block
Code:
mount
Code:
su
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
print

scandiun said:
Well, assuming that you have your device rooted and with busybox, can you post the output of these three commands...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I don't have it rooted. I have been asking around if rooting / unlocking the TF300T would give me the option for UMC, but pretty much everyone told me chances are zip.

invertedskull said:
Sorry, I don't have it rooted. I have been asking around if rooting / unlocking the TF300T would give me the option for UMC, but pretty much everyone told me chances are zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting can't change that because it's hardware implemented. You can't do anything about it. Probably the Eee pad transformer doesn't have a dedicated partition for sdcard.
A quick way to check it is see if the free space for the sdcard and the userdata is exactly the same, and is always like that no matter on which of the two partitions you write.
About the issue anyway, modern phones like Galaxy S3, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note and probably newer like Nexus 2 and Note 2 won't have it anymore, it's just the way to go because takes all the advantage of the free space on the device. It will be the standard from now on.
EDITED:
If you want UMS on devices that don't have it, you can use DriveDroid from market (there's both free and paid). With it, create a blank file that will be used as "partition". Then you can connect your phone to your computer and put there the songs you want. Then do the same in the car. For example, in my Nexus 7 I've created a 2 GB file which serve for that purpose (takes a while when is big).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=39203658&postcount=21

I have 20.71GB free internal, and 1.89GB free on the mSD card. :/

invertedskull said:
I have 20.71GB free internal, and 1.89GB free on the mSD card. :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because the mSD is another sdcard, different than the internal, in case it has it.
Would be great if you could get the partition scheme as I requested before, or ask for it, to definitely rule it out.

scandiun said:
Because the mSD is another sdcard, different than the internal, in case it has it.
Would be great if you could get the partition scheme as I requested before, or ask for it, to definitely rule it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this what you need?

when i connect my device with computer(MTP conection), i saw 1drive appear, then i go inside, i saw 2drive(iternal&external with how many free space left), go inside again always empty... how to use it?

I get that also. Just go into either one (internal or external) that you want to copy your files to and do your stuff.

invertedskull said:
Is this what you need?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More or less. The internal sdcard and the external (microsd) are different, one has 27.15 GB and the other 29.80 GB.
Click in the More... and see if you have UMC for the external microsd

scandiun said:
More or less. The internal sdcard and the external (microsd) are different, one has 27.15 GB and the other 29.80 GB.
Click in the More... and see if you have UMC for the external microsd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I only have MTP or PTP. This makes me sad.

Of UMC, MPT, and PTP, which is the most benigh?
I don't know if this is the best place to ask my question, but at least you all seem to understand this all pretty well.
I plug my phone into my PC to just use ADB. Under Gingerbread, I would select "Charge only" as my USB connection type.
With ICS, there is no longer the "Charge Only" option for an USB connection to a PC. I have to pick UMC, MTP, or PTP.
Given I really don't want to use any of those, just ADB, which of the three is the most benign one?

WaltA said:
I don't know if this is the best place to ask my question, but at least you all seem to understand this all pretty well.
I plug my phone into my PC to just use ADB. Under Gingerbread, I would select "Charge only" as my USB connection type.
With ICS, there is no longer the "Charge Only" option for an USB connection to a PC. I have to pick UMC, MTP, or PTP.
Given I really don't want to use any of those, just ADB, which of the three is the most benign one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either the MTP or PTP are the safer ones. There is no possibility to select "none" like was possible in previous version as you say. The UMC has the disadvantage that if you activate the Mass Storage usually the /sdcard won't be available from ADB commands.
Anyway, the ADB is separate from those options. The ADB option is usually found under Developer options. You can use adb with any of the options you say.

Thanks a lot very very helpfull!

oops, delete post. wrong window lol

scandiun said:
Rooting can't change that because it's hardware implemented. You can't do anything about it.
...
About the issue anyway, modern phones like Galaxy S3, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note and probably newer like Nexus 2 and Note 2 won't have it anymore, it's just the way to go because takes all the advantage of the free space on the device. It will be the standard from now on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought I would let you (and anyone else reading this thread) know that your post here is wrong. It's not "hardware implemented" in the sense that these two protocols are software implementations of data transfer. In fact, in many cases, even where there is NOT a microSD card that is mounted as a separate partition from system/data, the UMS/MSC (USB Mass Storage Transfer/Mass Storage Class) can still be implemented by this procedure:
1. Root (and optionally flash a custom ROM, that can be easily modded)
2. boot into alt OS, such as Recovery or OS from alt. source (USB OTG?)
3. Partition such that you have the required "separate partition"
4. add kernel modules/libraries you want and will need for UMS/MSC
5. Boot up and enjoy UMS/MSC as well as MTP (if you don't mind crappy speed)
Done.
Also, regarding MTP/PTP (Media Transfer Protocol, which is actually different from Picture Transfer Protocol), being a future replacement for all "modern phones", I am not so sure. It is designed for that indeed, but the Android community is different from most others. I will personally be going out of my way in the future, to ensure all phones I buy have removable uSDcard slots, as long as I can still find them, because it makes recovery in a bind, much easier (like, if there's a problem establishing communications with a computer, and numerous other possibilities). There's nothing like popping in a 32 or 64 Gig card of movies, training videos, eBooks, etc., within 10 to 20 seconds, vice the hours it will typically take to transfer even 5 Gigs of videos over the MTP protocol. Again, I don't like programs handling all my media for me. I prefer to see the files where they live (a higher fidelity simulation, is afterall, a hallmark property of how sharper minds represent reality, and abstractions from it are always mere shortcuts we use in a hurry). You got an easier method to rapidly check file hashes on your phone, from your laptop? Think of it this way, saying that MTP will "replace" UMS, is like saying Apple will replace Linux.
Regards,
Paul
:good:

External HDD

I just picked up a WD Passport 1TB drive, and I thought I would try connecting it to my S4 (I337M) VIA USB OTG. The GS4 recognizes that it is connected, and seems to power it just fine. But the phone is saying "blank or unsupported flie system". with no option to format. Is there a chance I can get this going? I've done some searching and have not seen much. I would like to be able to not take my PC with me for 2 months of training in Arizona in the new year. Survive on my S4 and Nexus Tablet, backing them up nightly on a portable would be perfect as its commercial flight training! Weight is an issue Hauling my laptop around seems SO 2010!

S4 or android for that matter do not support ntfs file format natively. If you are not rooted, there is an app called NEXUS MEDIA IMPORTER and it's a paid app, but it will enable you to read and copy files off from the hard drive. The only thing is that you wont be able to write to the drive.
Now if you are rooted, all you need is to search "ntfs" from the Play store and you'll find lots of apps that will enable you read and write to ntfs file format hard drives.

The other option would be to format the drive to FAT32. There are tools out there for Windows that can do this. Big drawback is that the drive does not support files larger than 4GB's. If your device is rooted installing NTFS support would be the better option.

pilatus34 said:
The other option would be to format the drive to FAT32. There are tools out there for Windows that can do this. Big drawback is that the drive does not support files larger than 4GB's. If your device is rooted installing NTFS support would be the better option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OR you could format it to EXT3 or 4, and use applications in windows to mount it. I used to do this all the time to share files across my windows and linux installations.

Thanks! I'll give all that a shot. Thanks for the replies! Very appreciated!
Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Expanding storage

Right now I'm playing with expanding the storage for stuff not necessarily related to apps. While I can get the majority of my media through streaming (via a media server), there are some things that I need more space for.
I have a USB hub connected via a USB OTG cable as I also plan to use my Logitech F710 (maybe multiple if it works). I have confirmed my USB flash drives work fine. Note that I'm referring to USB flash drives, not USB card readers (they work a bit differently).
exFAT: so far, no go (some Android devices support this, apparently not the NPlayer)
FAT32: works great, but the larger the drive, the less storage efficiency (I'm working with a 64gb drive), and it has a hard limit on storage size (128gb) and file size (2gb)
NTFS: read only
EXT2: does not work
So it looks like if you are using a large storage device, and if it works, ext2 will be the best option. For you Windows users, this can bring complications due to lack of native support. There's ext2fsd but you can't format a drive with it, only read/write.
If EXT2 works as I've seen with my past usage with Android, this gives you the option to get some pretty large storage expansion with decent efficiency. FAT32 has some pretty harsh limitations. With 512gb USB flash drives in existence, if you want to go large, FAT32 may not be an option.
Edit: updated state of ext2
I suspect these may be problems with the app being used. To extend beyond this, it appears I may need root. The end result is if you want a volume larger than 128gb, you're going to be read-only. If you want read/write on a large volume (larger than, say, 32gb) you're going to have poor storage efficiency.
So now we wait for the hacking to get better storage support!

nimdae said:
Right now I'm playing with expanding the storage for stuff not necessarily related to apps. While I can get the majority of my media through streaming (via a media server), there are some things that I need more space for.
I have a USB hub connected via a USB OTG cable as I also plan to use my Logitech F710 (maybe multiple if it works). I have confirmed my USB flash drives work fine. Note that I'm referring to USB flash drives, not USB card readers (they work a bit differently).
exFAT: so far, no go (some Android devices support this, apparently not the NPlayer)
FAT32: works great, but the larger the drive, the less storage efficiency (I'm working with a 64gb drive), and it has a hard limit on storage size (128gb) and file size (2gb)
NTFS: read only
EXT2: still formatting the drive, will update with results
So it looks like if you are using a large storage device, and if it works, ext2 will be the best option. For you Windows users, this can bring complications due to lack of native support. There's ext2fsd but you can't format a drive with it, only read/write.
If EXT2 works as I've seen with my past usage with Android, this gives you the option to get some pretty large storage expansion with decent efficiency. FAT32 has some pretty harsh limitations. With 512gb USB flash drives in existence, if you want to go large, FAT32 may not be an option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for testing the formats. Once we have root, we'll be able to have the NP recognize the external storage everywhere with StickMount and, with something like the Xposed module "OBB on SD" (or any number of other methods of mounting android space to external) you'll be able to install a ton of games/etc to the external drive where you have unlimited space. The 8gb limit in the NP still sucks, but once we have root that'll be largely mitigated if not moot for most users.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/mod-obb-sd-v0-1-t2884004

Thanks for the info, mate.
If it reads NTFS does it means I can load my HDD via windows and just plug and play on nexus player?

Has anyone tried Towelroot
Elrondolio said:
Thanks for testing the formats. Once we have root, we'll be able to have the NP recognize the external storage everywhere with StickMount and, with something like the Xposed module "OBB on SD" (or any number of other methods of mounting android space to external) you'll be able to install a ton of games/etc to the external drive where you have unlimited space. The 8gb limit in the NP still sucks, but once we have root that'll be largely mitigated if not moot for most users.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/mod-obb-sd-v0-1-t2884004
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ordered last week should in my hands on the first week of December. I have a 2T drive that would great if that works. I will hold on to my FireTv which it has been rooted using the 2T drive.

Keep in mind that if you have a bus powered hard drive, it will likely require a powered USB hub to work. I doubt the OTG port will provide enough power, but I could be wrong. I have a USB 3 drive I could test later.
Yes, if you have a NTFS formatted drive, you can put stuff on it with your computer and read it with the NP. As long as reading that something doesn't try to modify something there, it should work fine.
Note to self: Use a linux machine to format ext2. Seems these windows programs are really really slow at it.

So I'm thinking I need to re-assess the above results as I suspect ES File Explorer is to blame for things expected to work, but not working. It will not work with EXT2 and requests to use either FAT32 or NTFS.
I'll have to do more digging.
Edit: Tested several file managers and was unable to get any further. To get EXT2 I suspect it needs to be mountable somewhere in /, which is what I believe stickmount takes care of for us (I could be wrong). But this requires root.

I'm assuming that scenario would work just fine, however I can't test it to be certain.

Drewg over in the kodi forums posted a manual way of correctly mounting usb storage into the / filesystem. Here's a bit of that and a link:
Code:
mknod /dev/sda1 b 8 1
mkdir /mnt/obb/mnt
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/obb/mnt
You could, of course, choose what dir you mount the storage in, its the mknod that is key. This also assumes your usb storage is being recognized as sda1 already.
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=206515&pid=1832231#pid1832231

Anyone test this. .

Elrondolio said:
Drewg over in the kodi forums posted a manual way of correctly mounting usb storage into the / filesystem. Here's a bit of that and a link:
Code:
mknod /dev/sda1 b 8 1
mkdir /mnt/obb/mnt
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/obb/mnt
You could, of course, choose what dir you mount the storage in, its the mknod that is key. This also assumes your usb storage is being recognized as sda1 already.
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=206515&pid=1832231#pid1832231
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll have to see if I can do this with ext2. vfat has the same limitations as fat32 as that is the spec it implements.

Rooted & Installed Stickmount.. still unable to access USB files
Before I was rooted, I tried exFAT, NTFS, and FAT32.. but the USB would show in ES File explorer but won't open. Now I've rooted and installed Stickmount. When I connect the USB, it mounts it ("/sdcard/UsbStorage/sda"). But I'm still not able to access it. Any suggestions or solutions if you guys have rooted your device?
EDIT: I tried again using a 32GB USB Drive (exFAT) and StickMount mounted and I was able to access its contents using ES File Explorer and it also showed up in MX Player. I was able to play HD movies through it with no problem. Working perfectly. (I had to sideload stickmount, as it can't be installed through web play store).

I'm planning to experiment with this today. I just need to get the stickmount apk transferred over as the play store lists it as incompatible. Ext2 might work best for this method as I'm not sure the stock kernel has exfat nor ntfs support and I'm biased against using fat32.

It appears root, stickmount + foldermount 2.7 works fine and lets you move games to OTG-USB. I moved MC4 easily enough and it worked although it couldnt create the mc4 directory on the stick so it stuck it directly in an obb dir I created, so you might want to create your directories first.
But MC4 definitely appears to be working. Im going to try bards tale next.
Edit Bards Tale doesnt seem to work and I attempted to move MC4 into a cleaner directory and I cant get it to work again, so I am going to download its data and try again...
Edit2: now MC4will not work. Pin turns green showing everything to be linked properly but its not working now

volwrath said:
It appears root, stickmount + foldermount 2.7 works fine and lets you move games to OTG-USB. I moved MC4 easily enough and it worked although it couldnt create the mc4 directory on the stick so it stuck it directly in an obb dir I created, so you might want to create your directories first.
But MC4 definitely appears to be working. Im going to try bards tale next.
Edit Bards Tale doesnt seem to work and I attempted to move MC4 into a cleaner directory and I cant get it to work again, so I am going to download its data and try again...
Edit2: now MC4will not work. Pin turns green showing everything to be linked properly but its not working now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your updates. I am away on business but am very interested in this aspect of the NP. Hopefully you can get it working and others can help troubleshoot. There are a few different apps that enable this functionality once rooted, but I'm sure all of them have some teething issues under the new Lollipop. Good luck.

volwrath said:
It appears root, stickmount + foldermount 2.7 works fine and lets you move games to OTG-USB. I moved MC4 easily enough and it worked although it couldnt create the mc4 directory on the stick so it stuck it directly in an obb dir I created, so you might want to create your directories first.
But MC4 definitely appears to be working. Im going to try bards tale next.
Edit Bards Tale doesnt seem to work and I attempted to move MC4 into a cleaner directory and I cant get it to work again, so I am going to download its data and try again...
Edit2: now MC4will not work. Pin turns green showing everything to be linked properly but its not working now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What filesystem did you use?

nimdae said:
What filesystem did you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kept it simple and used a 32gig flash drive fat32

I can confirm stickmount works with fat32. I'm working out how to get ext2 or ext4 working. ext2 would be preferred for a flash drive but I've not had luck yet. I plan to try ext4, but given the fact ext2 didn't work, I don't have high hopes. I think It's an issue with permissions and I might have to futz with that to make it work.

Good to know stickmount is working well. Have either of you attempted foldermount, obb on sd, etc and had success yet? Thanks for the updates.

Elrondolio said:
Thanks for your updates. I am away on business but am very interested in this aspect of the NP. Hopefully you can get it working and others can help troubleshoot. There are a few different apps that enable this functionality once rooted, but I'm sure all of them have some teething issues under the new Lollipop. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might switch to another app tomorrow, but I sent the foldermount author an email describing the problem. I feel pretty confident it is simply teething issues as it did work for a small amount of time.

Elrondolio said:
Good to know stickmount is working well. Have either of you attempted foldermount, obb on sd, etc and had success yet? Thanks for the updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had some issues with stickmount. It works, but I wouldn't say "well". At one point it kept freezing and getting into a bad state but since reinstalling it I haven't had any further trouble. Caveat emptor.

VZW GS5 Adoptable storage, how to access.

I have adoptable storage working per the S7 command line method with ADB. Now, as for how I can access it.. Since its encrypted the PC can't read it directly. Is it possible to use linux commands to create a linked folder on the phone's actual internal storage to the root of the adopted sd card? Wouldn't this cause the phone to handle the encryption work and let us have access to it? The other question is would this created link survive a reboot? I remember when I did a linked folder I had to have a script autorun on boot of the Android 3.0 tablet to recreate the link.

Nova5 said:
I have adoptable storage working per the S7 command line method with ADB. Now, as for how I can access it.. Since its encrypted the PC can't read it directly. Is it possible to use linux commands to create a linked folder on the phone's actual internal storage to the root of the adopted sd card? Wouldn't this cause the phone to handle the encryption work and let us have access to it? The other question is would this created link survive a reboot? I remember when I did a linked folder I had to have a script autorun on boot of the Android 3.0 tablet to recreate the link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since adopted storage becomes internal, it's best to think of it as you would a hard drive in your PC. You don't physically connect PCs or remove hard drives to transfer files; you networking or apps. There are a myriad ways to do this: FTP, SMB, BitTorrent Sync (my preferred way), SendAnywhere, SuperBeam, etc.

WiFi is far slower than USB3. USB3 would be my preferred method to load up music on it vs wireless methods.

Nova5 said:
WiFi is far slower than USB3. USB3 would be my preferred method to load up music on it vs wireless methods.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The interface is only theoretically faster. The S5 uses MTP to connect to your PC over USB, which means writes are made at the file level, not the block level. Translation: if a file has changed on the S5, your PC rewrites the entire file instead of just the changes. This makes routine USB file transfer extremely inefficient.
OTOH, using BitTorrent Sync with an 802.11ac router gives me block level write speeds of up to 16 MB/s, which is pretty good for the S5's notoriously slow SD card R/W performance. And if you have a slower router you can just let the network transfer run overnight anyway.

All fine and dandy, but not important to the answer sought. What im looking at doing is creating a symlinked "folder" that I can drop large amounts of data on, and have it sent directly to the card. Permissions are currently the issue on looking into the "private" directory on the phone for its storage. I just have to look up the command structure for the permissions changes when I get time to dig into it. Might not work depending on what protections google put in place to prevent those changes as they could compromise security.