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Help I Give Up (Connecting via USB)

B

bvbull200

Banned
I seem to recall at one point connecting my phone to my work computer via USB and having the option to change the USB mode via an option in the notification bar (media, camera, etc.). Now, when I connect it, nothing shows up in the notification bar, nothing appears on my computer, and I feel like I've looked everywhere and can't find any setting to change the "mode" when connected via USB.

I'm sure I'm overlooking something and I'm sure I'll feel like a nincompoop when I hear the answer, but I can't figure it out.
 
Are you talking about "USB Debugging Mode"?
Presumably you have installed Samsung Kies on your PC and paired your phone with it?
 
I'm not talking about the debugging mode and I do not have any software installed on my computer. For what I'm looking for, though, I don't believe I need to. I have seen before where I have the option to connect as a media device or a camera when connected. That option has escaped me, now, and I can't find it anywhere.
 
By chance, did you install the Samsung Kies Driver (also here under Manuals/Downloads -> Software tab).

It is the driver needed to connect Samsung S3 to a computer via a USB Cable. If already installed it, you might want to uninstall it and allow it to re-detect the devices.

There is also a Tips and Tricks thread which references the GS2, but is probably still relevant.

Also the following:
Samsung Galaxy S3: Connect to PC

Unfortunately, I can't test this yet myself since my phone hasn't shipped yet :(
 
OP: when connected to computer, pull down the notification bar from the top. thats where youll see the option to connect as a camera
 
shortstop08 said:
OP: when connected to computer, pull down the notification bar from the top. thats where youll see the option to connect as a camera
Click to expand...

That is the notification that I am looking for but no longer have. When connected via USB, the phone starts charging, but there is nothing in the notification bar. This is the only computer I have ever hooked the phone up to and I had the notification a few days ago, just no longer.

As for the other tips, I haven't installed anything on this computer. I'll give some of those other links a read, though.
 
When Google moved to ICS, they removed the mass storage device option from the usb modes (so windows will no longer see it as a hard drive, therefore no option). Android now only supports MTP or media device and PTP or photo transfer. if using either under windows XP or vista, you will need drivers to explore the phones folders or sd cards. May i ask which version of Windows you are using at work?
 
I'm on Windows 7. It is more concerning that nothing is happening on my phone. The Media or Camera option no longer appears in the notification bar.
 
Pothers said:
Probably a stupid question, but have you tried another cable?
Click to expand...

first to go on my eris usb cable was having the pc detect its connection, then it stopped charging. it was a bad connector on the side that plugs into the phone. now I use the USB cable from my PS3, its heavier duty.
 
dracozny said:
first to go on my eris usb cable was having the pc detect its connection, then it stopped charging. it was a bad connector on the side that plugs into the phone. now I use the USB cable from my PS3, its heavier duty.
Click to expand...

also, have you tried resetting your phone while connected to the pc? not by using the reset option, but actualy shutting down the phone and turning back on?
 
Pothers said:
Probably a stupid question, but have you tried another cable?
Click to expand...

I have not. This is the same cable, however, that provided me the options in the notification bar in the first place and the same cable I used for some time with my Evo 3D and never had an issue.

I'm not saying it couldn't have gone bad, and I'll try another if/when I can get one up here, I'm just saying that it is one constant between when it did work and now.

Ramzes13 said:
also, have you tried resetting your phone while connected to the pc? not by using the reset option, but actualy shutting down the phone and turning back on?
Click to expand...

I actually have. Not to fix this issue, but I turned it off to get a little extra charging (forgot to last night and I was in meetings anyways). I turned it back on with it still plugged in.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.
 
I just plugged mine in via USB, it was recognized as SCH-I535 portable media player. Opened it up in Windows Explorer and had folders for music, ringtones, etc. Just dragged and dropped.
 
Hey guys even I have the same problem, I was just eager to know if anyone found a solution for the same. I have restored the phone also removed and all the apps and check the USB debugging checkbox, my phone is not at all detected by computer neither in the mac or PC..

I would really appreciate any kind of help or suggestions.

Thanks a lot.
 
I don't believe there is a "solution" for this because it's not really a "bug" -- at least, not to Google. As was mentioned, with ICS, you no longer have the USB Mass Storage option for mounting the filesystems; instead, you now only have Media Device and Camera. When I connect my S3 via ANY USB cable to my PC, like with the other posts here, nothing happens on the phone screen.
 
It is strange how some people cannot connect but others can. I have not had any issues connecting my phone. I plug my phone in and after a few seconds I get the Windows dialog box asking how I want to perform this action. I then select files/folders to view the phone's contents.
 
I have had this same problem for awhile now. Finally got it fixed by installing the Samsung Kies Driver that the person on this thread posted.
 
I'm having the same problem and have been trying to solve it for over a week.

I'm connecting my Galaxy SIII to my computer's USB port via the USB cable that was included with the Galaxy in the factory package. I've tried this with both my work laptop running Windows 7 and my home laptop running Ubuntu (Natty stable).

When connected, Galaxy begins charging but there is no prompt nor anything in my pull-down notification bar to select MTP or PTP, and there doesn't appear to be a way to manually find the USB connection settings through the Settings menu (as I was able to do with my old Droid 2 if I accidentally dismissed the notification).

My computer does not detect that any device has been connected.

I have installed the correct Samsung drivers from the Samsung website on the Windows machine.

I downloaded and installed Kies software, which also does not recognize my phone. It continues to tell me to "please connect a device" and "when you connect a device, more features will become available."

I have tried shutting down phone, pulling battery, starting up again, and reconnecting.

I have tried opening Kies first and then connecting, I have tried connecting first and then opening Kies.

Nothing works. I just want to put some new music on my phone because I'm sick of listening to the music that was on my SD card when I switched it out of my old phone in August. I'm about to have to find my old Droid 2 and use it as a glorified SD card reader and just reinsert the card in that phone, transfer files to the old phone via computer, and then move the card back to the Galaxy. I'm a reasonably tech savvy user and this shouldn't be so difficult! I thought this phone was supposed to be the iPhone-killer.

ETA: I've also tried pulling the SD card and uninstalling a few apps like Advanced Task Killer and Titanium Backup in case any of them were causing a software conflict.

It seems like loads of people on the Internet have been having this problem since the phone first came out, but not everyone experiences it. I'm finding threads as far back as July and there's still no solution?
 
Try another cable. Every Samsung device we've owned has been fickle about usb cables. Even cables that worked fine will stop doing so unexpectedly. Samsung does something different with its usb port. Every cable that failed to work on my wife's phones work fine with my last 2 HTC devices as well as the N7 and NT.
 
Same issue for me awhile back and Verizon suggested removing and reinstalling the SIM card. I did that and it has worked since then with no issues. It's only been a few weeks though so i don't know if it's a permanent fix.
 
Odd I have never had a problem connecting to my windows 7 laptop
 
I had the same issue on my work computer a couple of years ago with my Vibrant (T-Mobile S1). I discovered it was because my network had all sorts of auxiliary "drives" and there were no "drives" available. I don't know if this is what's happening for you, but for me it was a matter of disconnecting from the network so those drives disappeared from My Computer. Once I did that, everything hooked up fine.

I've hooked up on the same computer with my S3, and it went fine - without disconnecting network drives.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Did you try connecting it to a different computer? If it won't work on any computer it's obviously a problem with the phone. Try the sim card trick or take it into a store.

If it will work on a different computer then it could be a hardware issue with the original computer or something else. Either way, try to narrow it down.
 
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