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[Q] [Verizon] Disc Drive and External USB

Hi. I've searched but found no answer so here is my thread . So I am somewhat unhappy with how my Verizon GSIII is behaving. Since day 2 I learned I cannot connect this phone as a disc drive on WIndows or Linux. The only options I get when connected via USB to a computer are Media device (MTP) and Camera (PTP). My friend show me his ATT GSII last night. It connects as a disc drive (regular flash drive behavior).
When connecting an external HDD via USB Android should recognize that drive as a mass storage device. His ATT SIII did this, my Verizon SIII did not. I got the message in the notification area "USB Connect" followed by "USB Disconnected." Thankfully, I have no files I want to transfer onto my device as I'm coming from an HTC Incredible, but in the future I will want to browse my file system on my laptop.
Am I the only one here with these issues? I am not rooted.
-Justin
Edit: I found an article which looks like I can browse the external SD Card but not hte internal memory. This is only for root users however. Enable USB Mass Storage for root.
If your Galaxy S3 connects as mass storage, post the carrier.

My S3 shows up as separate internal and external devices when I plug it into my USB port and is listed as SCH-I535 when ejecting. However my Nexus show up as an MTP device when ejecting. Both devices are rooted.

So there may be hope. I'm going to root today, well try to. Can you link me to the ROM you flashed so I have a higher possibility of achieving what I want?
Will every build ROM found in the developer section here get rid of the OEM functionality?

I have the same 2 options as you when connecting to a PC, but, when connected windows will pop the "browse for files" instantly and the 2 drives will be displayed under Computer, one for the internal SD and for the external.
This was like this from the first time i plugged the phone in, before root, same after.
It actually seems like we get to skip the step of "Enable USB sharing" which I find great, plug in and the drives pop.

JMooney5115 said:
So there may be hope. I'm going to root today, well try to. Can you link me to the ROM you flashed so I have a higher possibility of achieving what I want?
Will every build ROM found in the developer section here get rid of the OEM functionality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used root66 to do mine.
However I had access to both drives prior to doing the root update.

Both of you seem to have more luck than I'm having. When I plug it into Windows I had no way of browsing files. In (K)ubuntu when I plug it in a popup has an option to browse which takes me to 1 folder names 'USB PTP Class Camera' which I can get to the internal storage, but not the SD Card. I'll be making a trip to Verizon today for sure. It makes me wonder if a rooted stock image from Samsung would fix the issue.

Quick question.
Which drivers did you install?

Why do I need drivers, I'm not doing anything but reading the flash memory? It should just work in both Linux and Windows.

Note that the guide to enable UMS on the S3 is for the International version, not the US version. The US version doesn't yet have a UMS option.

You shouldn't (and don't) need drivers for the SD storage to show up on your computer.
Just to test it I connected my S3 to my gf's laptop running W7, both drives popped right away there too.

I just want to make a note: Can't remember exactly what I did but after a few drivers on my AT&T SGS III I am able to just plug into my computer and move files around.

Can anyone helo me transfer video files...pic files i can transfer but all the video files wint...i get an error message on the computer ( pc ) and my s3 says syncing and does nothing. Its a verizon gs3.

skillzo1: How are you trying to transfer these video files?
Madcat81 said:
Just to test it I connected my S3 to my gf's laptop running W7, both drives popped right away there too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the test. Just to be sure, you have a Verizon S3?

JMooney5115 said:
Thanks for the test. Just to be sure, you have a Verizon S3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure do.

ICS devices use MTP to transfer files, not UMS. I have a verizon S3 and the drives appear when I plug it in. I had USB debug mode enabled and when I plugged it in it automatically downloaded and installed drivers and worked after that. You shouldn't need root to do all of this.

kthung, thanks for that tid-bit of information. Now how do I do this in Linux? I can browse internal memory, but not my micro SD card via USB.

JMooney5115 said:
kthung, thanks for that tid-bit of information. Now how do I do this in Linux? I can browse internal memory, but not my micro SD card via USB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm unfortunately I don't really know anything about linux. Maybe check this thread out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1785243

Xoom USB mode

Is it possible to connect my Xoom to PC using USB Mass Storage, not this buggy MTP protocol?

mooop12 said:
Is it possible to connect my Xoom to PC using USB Mass Storage, not this buggy MTP protocol?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm wondering the same thing ... I didn't notice this until now but on the new 4.0.4 Mass Storage as an option is gone.

I'm running JB ota and MTP is running fine. Actually it's running exceptionally!
Sent from my Razr machine

Well, I don't like it. It doesn't show me real progress of what I'm copying, and it doesn't even refresh all the files, so last time I tried to check something on my xoom I saw only 3 folders of 20, and no amount of refreshing and reconnecting my xoom could fix that.

any updates?
Are there any updates in this?
I have lost all my pictures (8gb) while working with this silly MTP mode.
Went through unlocking and rooting my device (which was quite the challenge), tried to use some recovery apps without any success... The USB Mass Storage Watcher app from Skidmrk doesnt get me mass storage mode... (I'm not allowed to post a link to it.)
I just want to get it connected via mass storage, so that I can scan it with recuva!!!

You might need to download USB driver for Motorola Xoom from Motorola site. Just Google for it.
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/88481
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

You just need to keep the screen Always ON an password unlocked and don't touch the tablet (since its ROM) while on USB on PC it should work fine.

mooop12 said:
Is it possible to connect my Xoom to PC using USB Mass Storage, not this buggy MTP protocol?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not try this.

DavilaDarkness said:
You just need to keep the screen Always ON an password unlocked and don't touch the tablet (since its ROM) while on USB on PC it should work fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know for further reference... Only: How exactly do you keep the screen on without touching the phone? The max screen timeout setting I can see is 30 minutes...

thx
The for this topic really informative

can't connect the Tf700 as mass storage

Hi,
I just received my TF700 and trying to connect to my XP PC to copy music and movies on to it.
My computer does not succeed in installing the necessary drivers to make it look like DOK.
What am I doing wrong? This should be a simple task (how will I be able to fill my 64GB ?)
Thanks,
edit: after installing PC suit from TF101 support page it works.
But why can't we charge the TF700 via USB....?

kubeb said:
Hi,
I just received my TF700 and trying to connect to my XP PC to copy music and movies on to it.
My computer does not succeed in installing the necessary drivers to make it look like DOK.
What am I doing wrong? This should be a simple task (how will I be able to fill my 64GB ?)
Thanks,
edit: after installing PC suit from TF101 support page it works.
But why can't we charge the TF700 via USB....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could be wrong but iirc i've read somewhere that in order to charge it from USB you have to power off your device first.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

kubeb said:
Hi,
I just received my TF700 and trying to connect to my XP PC to copy music and movies on to it.
My computer does not succeed in installing the necessary drivers to make it look like DOK.
What am I doing wrong? This should be a simple task (how will I be able to fill my 64GB ?)
Thanks,
edit: after installing PC suit from TF101 support page it works.
But why can't we charge the TF700 via USB....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's simply not enough power coming from the USB port.
The reason why connecting failed is because XP doesn't support the MTP connection, which the Infinity uses, from the beginning.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

kubeb said:
Hi,
I just received my TF700 and trying to connect to my XP PC to copy music and movies on to it.
My computer does not succeed in installing the necessary drivers to make it look like DOK.
What am I doing wrong? This should be a simple task (how will I be able to fill my 64GB ?)
Thanks,
edit: after installing PC suit from TF101 support page it works.
But why can't we charge the TF700 via USB....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just for reference for new users reading through this thread: you cannot access an Android 4.x+ device as a USB Mass Storage device AT ALL -- this was sacrificed for the more stable and safe MTP connection. The latter should work if you install the drivers, as the OP already has found out.

MartyHulskemper said:
Just for reference for new users reading through this thread: you cannot access an Android 4.x+ device as a USB Mass Storage device AT ALL -- this was sacrificed for the more stable and safe MTP connection. The latter should work if you install the drivers, as the OP already has found out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have to respectfully disagree. My SGS2 running ICS has the USB mode ability. Settings / More (under data usage) / USB Utilities / USB mass storage.click the button, connect the USB cable, and there ya go!
Unfortunately, this option is either disabled or nonexistant in the transformers.

pileot said:
I would have to respectfully disagree. My SGS2 running ICS has the USB mode ability. Settings / More (under data usage) / USB Utilities / USB mass storage.click the button, connect the USB cable, and there ya go!
Unfortunately, this option is either disabled or nonexistant in the transformers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I reckon that's because the SGSII is not a original 4.0 device. It came with 2.3 on the market.
However I don't know if the manufacturers are still allowed to use it in their new devices.

pileot said:
I would have to respectfully disagree. My SGS2 running ICS has the USB mode ability. Settings / More (under data usage) / USB Utilities / USB mass storage.click the button, connect the USB cable, and there ya go!
Unfortunately, this option is either disabled or nonexistant in the transformers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is because the SGS2 was not released with ICS. It was upgraded to ICS. The real reason why UMS is not available on native ICS devices (aside from mounting external SD cards with UMS) is because Google decided to use one large volume for the internal storage instead of several. Devices that were upgraded to ICS after being release still have several volumes instead of one. Trying to rewrite the partition table during an update would be destructive, causing the loss of all data, and no manufacturer would want to do that to their customer's devices.

darkkterror said:
This is because the SGS2 was not released with ICS. It was upgraded to ICS. The real reason why UMS is not available on native ICS devices (aside from mounting external SD cards with UMS) is because Google decided to use one large volume for the internal storage instead of several. Devices that were upgraded to ICS after being release still have several volumes instead of one. Trying to rewrite the partition table during an update would be destructive, causing the loss of all data, and no manufacturer would want to do that to their customer's devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When updating with kies it would copy personal data to the computer and restore that data after the update was complete. I wonder if the S3 has this functionality (usb mode). I know with the S2 there was a big deal about upgrading to ICS because it had to repartition everything, lots of warnings about losing data on the phone, never stopped us we just made backups and away we go. I dont see how the prime is much different, the USB mode COULD be put into it the same way it was put into the samsung roms, doesnt even need to be default, just there for those people like me that prefer it.

kubeb said:
Hi,
I just received my TF700 and trying to connect to my XP PC to copy music and movies on to it.
My computer does not succeed in installing the necessary drivers to make it look like DOK.
What am I doing wrong? This should be a simple task (how will I be able to fill my 64GB ?)
Thanks,
edit: after installing PC suit from TF101 support page it works.
But why can't we charge the TF700 via USB....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works fine under Win 7, tablet connected as media device, and i can confrim that the charging icon is active when connected and in config menu under battery says: charging.
kind regards,

profiler270 said:
Works fine under Win 7, tablet connected as media device, and i can confrim that the charging icon is active when connected and in config menu under battery says: charging.
kind regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said XP doesn't support MTP devices. Win 7 does it though.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

pileot said:
I would have to respectfully disagree. My SGS2 running ICS has the USB mode ability. Settings / More (under data usage) / USB Utilities / USB mass storage.click the button, connect the USB cable, and there ya go!
Unfortunately, this option is either disabled or nonexistant in the transformers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As said above, MTP mode is standard in ICS and UMS is no longer supported (and indeed the reason was the single-volume approach, and the fact that MTP makes the filesystem available to the host computer without the need for unmounting, and thus eliminates the risk for introducing filesystem errors on the host -- the Android system keeps everything under control and access to the filesystem is transparent to the host.)
Obviously, anything can be hacked together, and there are apps that seem to able to provide UMS mode.
Not a matter of disagreeing, but unfortunate reality.
---------- Post added at 10:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 PM ----------
pileot said:
When updating with kies it would copy personal data to the computer and restore that data after the update was complete. I wonder if the S3 has this functionality (usb mode). I know with the S2 there was a big deal about upgrading to ICS because it had to repartition everything, lots of warnings about losing data on the phone, never stopped us we just made backups and away we go. I dont see how the prime is much different, the USB mode COULD be put into it the same way it was put into the samsung roms, doesnt even need to be default, just there for those people like me that prefer it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way, I strongly prefer UMS mode as well, since the computers at work (hospital) are pretty much closed-off to anything included installing any software or drivers, and they disallow MTP. Previously, I could at least access my SGS2 as a thumb drive, but with my current ROM (RootBox ICS) that's no longer an option.

Nebucatnetzer said:
As I said XP doesn't support MTP devices. Win 7 does it though.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows XP does support MTP, but one would need to have Windows Media Player 10 or later installed (WMP10 added MTP).

hello kubeb
If you still searching, refer to my story on this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1861444
wish you succes

anyone figure out usb mount???

anyone figure out how to get usb mount for the s3 for Verizon. Im looking to purchase one within a day or 2 and just wanted to make sure if i hook my phone up to the comp. will it let me copy files over like things used to be?? Don't want to have to set up some type of server and do it that way just want to plug and go.... thanks for any feedback it will make my purchase that much easier......

it comes built in... its not called USB mount, its either MTP or PTP. I haven't really figured out the difference between the two yet, both seem to work just fine for browsing the files on the phone and ext card.

so plug and add files from my comp is a go then... good to hear,,,,

mlee19841 said:
so plug and add files from my comp is a go then... good to hear,,,,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have windows plug and go as windows supports mtp natively. If you have a Mac computer there is a file from Google you download and install that gives the macs mtp access.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

I find the PTP setting (i.e., appears and works like a USB thumbdrive) more convenient than MTP, which has a specific interface that not all Windows applications are able to handle in my experience. I use MTP for "synch" programs, such as MediaMonkey, which act like a more open and usable form of iTunes for our Android phones.
- ooofest

Someone else posted something similar to this in another thread and I got a bunch of flak for answering that Mtp works the same as mass storage mode. Apparently people running Linux cannot use this option, and it is different than mass storage or usb mode and I don't know why. Still have yet to get an answer in the other thread "how to enable mass storage mode". Maybe I can get one here?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Linux has been shown to have different results depending on using MTP or PTP. Windows doesn't seem to care except sometimes it gets picky and doesn't recognize the "hardware ID" of one version but does of the other.

If connected to a PC via USB and your phone is set to MTP, it's seriously as easy as drag and drop.

How do I use my tablet as a mass storage device?

I want to move a 10GB file to my computer from another one, but I don't have a pen drive or external HD around... I used to install the USB drivers on my computer, and plugged my tablet into my computer's USB port, it worked like a charm but since I upgraded to JB the drivers are useless now, what do I do?
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

You need to buy a USB pen drive or an external HD, or a network cable. The tablet cannot be mounted as USB mass storage device because that mode would need to give full control over the internal storage to the computer, i.e. Android could not run at the same time.

It still works fine I copy large files all the time. Just make sure you have the latest SDK from Google installed and you should get the latest USB drivers then you can use it like a pen drive again.

sbdags said:
It still works fine I copy large files all the time. Just make sure you have the latest SDK from Google installed and you should get the latest USB drivers then you can use it like a pen drive again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As USB mass storage? I don't think so - which filesystem should be unmounted here?. Otherwise please explain in detail how. And if you mean only as MTP device, how do you transfer files > 2 GB?

Ah right yes not as a mass storage device. I never tried anything over about a gig so never thought about that.

Since JB, only MTP(Media Device) and PTP (Camera) protocols are supported. The MTP protocol is achingly slow, not just on the TF700. My SGS3 (supposedly 'faster than the tf700') is equally slow in terms of USB transfer.
I agree that it used to work as a regular Mass Storage Device before JellyBean. Mine always showed up as F:\Asus TF700T. Updated to JB and to my great annoyance, only MTP. (PTP is pointless.)
ICS with Regular took 30 seconds to copy 600MB. JB's MTP requires 5 minutes! On both of my devices.
As for it not showing up, it's not in the list of drives. It should show up below everything else, without a drive letter(!). For me it's below Control Panel and above Shared Documents. (WinXP)
Did you, by any chance, kill the wufdhost.exe process in taskmanager's processes tab? You see, I did. And not a single MTP device would be recognised afterwards. It should A, running in Taskmanager, B, be in C:\WINDOWS\system32 and C, as 'Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework' in services.exe.