• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help Computer not recognizing USB connection to S4

I had this problem and I plugged the USB cable in to the USB 2 ports at the back of my PC. I think the front ones might be different which is where I was getting the problem. So if you have ports at the back of your pc then try them.
 
Interestingly, I have several USB cables for connecting cellphones to charger/comp and only 3 out of 6 work with my Samsung Galaxy S4 Gt i9505's. 1 genuine Samsung, 1 genuine Nokia and 3 genuine Huawei all work OK, 3 universal cables (made in China) only work with Huawei phones. I would be more concerned with the durability of the Samsung USB charging port assy. I've had to replace/renew 3 of them so far @ $9.00 a pop. I'm reliant most of the time on Wireless battery charging of the Samsung S4's and I'm very careful plugging in the USB cables when connecting to the comp.
I've had no problem with phone recognition in my comps regardless of the OS. I've used Windows XP, Vista, W7, W8/8.1 and currently W10. Windows XP was with my first Huawei Ideos. For the point of warranty - it does pay to use the cable supplied with the phone, providing it is new in the box and not 2nd hand. USB 3.0 should not make any difference as it will run at the speed of the lowest denominator. ie. USB 2.0 or 1.0 as they are retro-compatible. I quite commonly connect USB 2.0 Thumb drives into USB connectors/cables and into my comps or laptop and also USB 3.0 drives into USB ports.
FWIW I have 2 S4's running Lollipop 5.0.1 and the other is on Kit Kat 4.4.2. These are Standard non-rooted phones and I thought that might clarify any points for normal cellphone usage. If a phone is rooted and your Telco is a dedicated system - there are many different things that will/can happen in the ball park as the OS is specific to that Telco.
In Device Manager in W10 - the S4 shows as Portable Device (it's own heading) and it pays to make sure you have ALL current MS updates installed and all required Drivers.
 
Last edited:
crimsoncoral, Check in Device Manager > USB Controllers > Right click USB Root Hub/s > Properties > Power Management > Uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
May be the reason the USB connector/s don't work or Front Panel connectors may not be connected to Motherboard.
 
mackguy said:
I got a new Verizon S4 a few nights ago at walmart ($0.97!) and so far it's a huge upgrade over my thunderbolt. I wish it were a little smaller but looks like Verizon doesn't offer the mini, and pretty much all the others have no more SD card which was a big deal to me.

Anyway, when I connect it to a computer (Windows 7) the computer is not recognizing the phone. It does recognize my thunderbolt so it's not the cable, and I've tried 2 different computers. The phone beeps that it's been plugged in but the computer does not. The phone does charge.

I've tried using Kies and the drivers but the computer simply does not "see" the phone at all. Is there some setting on the Galaxy to prevent this communication? I haven't been able to find it, and haven't found any info in search.
Click to expand...
 
Really annoyed that this has not been fixed since it's been known since 2013.

The phone will connect via Android Sync and shows up as connected on the "Safely remove Hardware" icon, but does not show up as a connected drive in Windows Explorer. Only way to make it work is to follow Petrah's post--delete the driver and then reboot computer with the phone plugged in.

I am not using a Samsung cable.
 
CM56 - did you try what is in the link I posted? (repeated below)
After I did this, any cable works fine, and the device shows up in Windows Explorer just like it should.

  • Go to dial pad & type *#0808#
  • It displays USB settings
  • Select MTP+ADB option
  • Press OK button
  • Connect to USB cable to PC
  • It shows Connected as a media device."
 
jclake said:
This worked for me. Use the Samsung USB cable that came with the phone. Plug into a slower USB port on your PC (not USB 3.0). On your phone go into developer mode and turn on USB debugging. When your phone connects (make sure your phone is unlocked) swipe down to view the notification pane. Check "Camera". Drivers may install. Unplug the USB cable. Plug it back in a few seconds later (phone is still unlocked) swipe to view the notification pane. Select connect as media device (now the drivers you really need will install). Done.
Click to expand...

The procedure introduced by JCLake worked perfectly for me. I used the cable that came with a Samsung phone to connect a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge to a laptop computer running the Windows 10 operating system. USB Debugging did the trick. Usually I don't tick that check box unless I'm rooting a phone or tablet but I'm ticking it now!
 
Weird. Seems there's lots of causes for what appears to one problem.
I've since found on my work PC that plugging a cable into the front USB ports works, but not the rear ones. Completely the opposite to what you might expect. On my home PC, the phone hooks up fine no matter what sort of cable I use, or what USB port I use.
 
I have this same issue... just started within the last 2 weeks. About the same time that my phone quit using my custom text message alert. My phone is currently running Android 4.4.2. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
I have recently experienced a problem with a Genuine Samsung (white) USB charger cable. My advice would be to ensure your cable is 100% OK when you try Alec W's method. If the Hash code does not display the USB settings - your phone has been 'rooted'. No hash codes operate on my 'rooted' CM13 Samsung Galaxy S4 i9505.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom