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cazza56

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Hi all. I am a 55 year old semi-tech literate woman or thought I was until I bought a Motorola Zoom. Have successfully downloaded and used many Android apps, but the most basic things are causing me problems.

I can see my photos (or thumbnails) in a Folder/app called Gallery, and have connected my Zoom to my PC... but the Camera/DCIM folder is empty. How can I transfer the pics from the Gallery, some 500 to my pc? What am I not doing... or are they gone? I have never removed the SDcard so they must be somewhere. Should I use USB connection or WIFI between device and pc?

Next I tried to use a free App called WiFi File Transfer by Smarterdroid... a free version and the URL provided on the zoom does not open in my pc browser with usual page error message.

So next I downloaded a free photo back up app, after avoiding one with really bad reviews. I selected Android Photo Backup v 1.06.3 but am terrified to configure it as it says that it can ONLY backup the pics in the DCIM folder and as we know I have NONE there.

Help... generous tech savvy and patient Androis users.

Thanks:o
 
Welcome to the forums!

I don't have one of those, so I can't help with any answers - but I have moved your post here to the Xoom support forum. The cats here know the Xoom inside out, so I think one of these folks can get you squared away pronto. :)

If you're not getting the help you need here, please click on my name and send me a private message, let me know.
 
Thanks Mike... the Zoom successfully sent the URL to my gmail. I the copied it to the pc browser... page not connecting.

then went to Mozilla app on Zoom and again the URL error page not available so I suspect it is a Mozilla issue?

Is there a way I can access the gallery shots, (they are there, complete with all the image info: exposure etc...) through my PC. It recognises the device, and tries to sync but it only discovers the CAMERA folder and then I can navigate to empty DCIM. How can I bring up the gallery? is there a string I can use to get to these 'saved' images on the card other than DCIM?

I will try your suggestions again in case I have a typo and I might try a different browser on both... perhaps even my dreaded explorer!

Sorry to be a pain.
 
I'll do my best to help.

The correct path for the photos is /mnt/sdcard/DCIM/Camera which is not the path you referred to so are you sure you are looking in the correct place?

It is also worth pointing out that Android (rather stupidly and for historical reasons) mis-names some of its directories. /mnt/sdcard does not refer to the removable micro SDHC card but to part of the internal memory of the Xoom (pronounced Zoom but spelt Xoom).

I suggest you install File Expert, which is a free file manager (effectively an Android version of Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder) available in the Marketplace. Run File Expert and it will open a tab titled "My Phone" with a list of places. Go into My Files (at the top of the list) and then SD Card. Tap on the menu icon (the rightmost one in the group of 4 at the bottom left of the screen that looks like a grid) and type jpg into the search field and tap the Go button on the keyboard. This will produce a list of your jpg files (this is an image format and the files will be called blah.jpg). Tap on one of your photos and select Open File Location from the menu that appears. At the top of the screen you will see the path which on mine was /mnt/sdcard/DCIM/Camera. If you get /mnt/sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails that probably means that the file you picked was a thumbnail, ie a small version of the picture and the actual photo is in /mnt/sdcard/DCIM/Camera.

I suspect your problem is merely that you have looked in the wrong place (not your fault, it's far from obvious).
 
I went back to the pdf manual (or rather encyclopedia) looking for any SD card as I hadn't found an option for that and was as you point out confused by the terminology. And I did find all the folders and couldn't understand why there were multiple possible places for images, like camera (with the DCIM) which is normal when getting pics from cameras and other devices, and another called scanpics and then again another for pictures. Really badly designed.

In the interim I selected some 50 images and emailed them to myself to upload for friends... but was not looking forward to emailing all 500. I knew there would be an app that would help but finding one that is also not confusing or does not work properly with Xoom [ just me being a d..h...d this one].

Will get this app and have a good look around again. First time I have ever endorsed a MS software app but wish there was an equivalent Android Windows Explorer or MS Config options! Did I just say that... I must be getting crazy in old age.

Just to add to the details of things tried and failed... neither IExplorer or Chrome would open the IP address, constantly coming up as page authetication error or site busy. I can imagine if I have the device switched on and using the browser of course the IP address MIGHT be busy... to quote the not-so-great Homer, Doh!

Thanks for your time and assistance. Am perservering as I do not accept defeat easily, as you can see
 
Do I take it that you have now found your photographs but are stuck with trying to get them off the Xoom? If that is the case you have a few options.

You could connect your Xoom to your PC (I take it you are a Windows user) by a USB cable and copy the photos that way. Another way that does not require a physical connection is to install Remote Web Desktop (there's a free version in the Market) and then connect to your Xoom from a web browser on your PC. Use the File Explorer you can see to locate the files, right click and download.

Android gives you a lot more power and freedom than IOS to do what you want with your tablet but it's frequently clunky and lacks the elegance and simplicity of the way Apple tends to do things. I have an iPad as well as a Xoom and on my iPad, doing all this is a simple matter of ticking one box in iTunes and hey presto, your photos are on your Mac. The same is true of syncing music, which I have found out to my cost can be painful and fiddly to do. I know a lot of people (mostly Windows users) hate iTunes but it works beautifully on my Mac and syncing my iPad is much MUCH easier than syncing my Xoom. I wish there were iTunes for Android.
 
I call myself a novice IT person but I have used primarily Mac since portable computing was available and am an Apple devotee however my budget and Unis sort of forced me over to PC and Windows years ago. I have survived Win98 through the abysmal Vista and now into Win 7 (pro).

I have transferred phone camera pics for years and am well aware of the interface to find the DCIM folder... but I fear even if I use the remolte desktop app I will have the same problems unless I can open the Gallery where they are visible and email-able.

Will try it as I still do not want to email all bloody 500. Thanks every day I am prepared to conquer the Xoom issues as I really like it's functionality (otherwise) and prefer the range of apps comingg through for Android, including the Kindle app which means I do not need to carry two devices, and the Xoom works wonderfully in the airline lounges and wifi hotspots in hotels... now if only there was a good "open office" equivalent app... I wouldn't have top fly with a lap top at all.

Thanks "Lotus 49" :)
 
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