kierandill
Newbie
ES File Explorer on the Android side can mount samba/windows shares and you can cut/copy and paste folders/files between the two.
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USB Mass Storage
- Thread starter Stigy
- Start date
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- Tags
- galaxy nexus
D
Deleted User
Guest
This is not true. Wish people would stop repeating it - it was dispelled even by Google themselves, in the link in the OP and right in the quoted section. The Nexus S had no separate SD card and still supported mass storage.
The reason they do not support Mass Storage mode is so that there doesn't have to be one fixed partition size for storage, and one fixed partition size for apps. They are able to be used as one block of storage so you won't have a bunch of empty space on one partition while the other one fills up.
This is smart design, IMO, but it's a choice, not a requirement of no SD card. I'd prefer a removable SD card, but since there is no SD card, I'd rather give up mass storage mode and not have a big dedicated partition for apps that has lots of empty space.
Stigy
Some say...
Exactly -- you can have USB mass storage mode with a separate storage partition OR separate SD card.
i get this on my two computers, both have previously had kies installed and a SGS2. i think this maybe the driver issue.
Okay, I stand corrected on the reason.
Somewhat disagree. It may be a smart design for the masses, for the same reason many Linux installers default to dumping everything into one root partition. But, given the fact the Galaxy Nexus is a reference device, it would have been much more preferable to either (a) provide the separate SD card, (b) allocate the separate partitions like your Nexus S did, or (c) providing a utility to allow the user to partition the internal storage in a manner they desire.
I think the lack of USB mass storage is a MAJOR hindrance to the utility of the device for non-Windows users.
speede541
Android Enthusiast
My take is Google felt higher importance was to "clean up" certain rough aspects of Android -- we see the that in numerous changes -- and file system partitions was one of them. As a reference device, they're holding it up as a vision of how their OS should be utilized, and that they sided with ease of use at the expense of flexibility. I suppose they could have implemented your option "C" -- but who knows, maybe they did and it just needs to be flushed out?
In theory maybe not but to date the implementation is rough under mac and linux.
dmiller2007
Android Expert
This. They wanted to clean it up and that's a reason for not having the SD card. They wanted all the apps in the same place as data so they could read it faster and more efficiently. They want to "clean up" the process and not make users have to choose whether they want to store stuff internally and externally.
Lock-N-Load
Android Expert
Currently I am able to plug my Droid to my desktop or laptop and viola, transfer files instantly as the phone shows up as an SD card. Now you will need an app to do so on a mac - Android File Transfer app.
Sure you can say no big deal, but the fact remains, it is another step & app required that was not before and you now must access via the app rather than just the file browser like it was an SD card.
dmiller2007
Android Expert
I'll take faster read/write times while using the device over worrying about having to use an app to transfer files once every couple of months. Chances are that I'll transfer my photos and music from my commuter to my sd card and never transfer files again. I wish my Linux desktop supported MTP better but that's hardly a knock against Android.
I pull down podcasts with a bash script on my Linux box and rsync them over to my Nexus One's SD card that is mounted on the filesystem. I won't be able to do that with the GN. I am sure there are podcatchers available in the Market but I don't want to have to change my system that works perfectly well for me. I also frequently use my phone to transfer large files that won't fit in my Dropbox to and from work. There are many other use cases for when having an easily mountable filesystem is advantageous.
I get that they are trying to simplify the filesystem (or dumb it down, depending on your perspective). I get that this was a design choice. It's just a disappointing decision for power users IMHO. Not saying I won't get the GN but it's a bummer.
I get that they are trying to simplify the filesystem (or dumb it down, depending on your perspective). I get that this was a design choice. It's just a disappointing decision for power users IMHO. Not saying I won't get the GN but it's a bummer.
D
Deleted User
Guest
Linux has MTP libraries available to make it act just like a mounted filesystem. I haven't used a desktop version of linux in a few years but a couple of the developers at work have MTP devices and libraries that let them mount it like a drive. Google seems to agree with that.
Stigy
Some say...
Why not browse the phone via an FTP client over WiFi then? That was a solution posted over at XDA -- makes a ton of sense.
droidfan1
Android Enthusiast
My guess is that Google is going to eventually make an app - such as iTunes - but for android instead of an iPod. Say, "Android Control Center" where you can transfer files and such easier than Android File Manager. Something where you can buy music/videos/books/movies, but also transfer any file easily.
rushmore
Extreme Android User
That sounds like iTunes and a key reason a lot of people prefer Android in the first place. Drag and drop with NO interface gate.
droidfan1
Android Enthusiast
True. But then why get rid of USB Mass Storage?
USB Mass Storage still exists in ICS, just not in the Galaxy Nexus.
The Android Engineer's posts quoted in the Engaget article spell it out, but basically it's physically impossible to have USB Mass Storage unless you have a separate partition for it. And with multipile partitions, you neccessitate file management, which Google wants to get away from.
The idea is apps should manage files, not users. Music apps should know where music is, and there's no need for the user to move that music around. Likewise, if a user does move that data, now every app needs code so the user can tell the app where the data is (OS partition or the USB-enabled partition). It adds complexity for users, developers, and has other negatives like tying the OS to use the miserable FAT32 filesystem.
The Android Engineer's posts quoted in the Engaget article spell it out, but basically it's physically impossible to have USB Mass Storage unless you have a separate partition for it. And with multipile partitions, you neccessitate file management, which Google wants to get away from.
The idea is apps should manage files, not users. Music apps should know where music is, and there's no need for the user to move that music around. Likewise, if a user does move that data, now every app needs code so the user can tell the app where the data is (OS partition or the USB-enabled partition). It adds complexity for users, developers, and has other negatives like tying the OS to use the miserable FAT32 filesystem.
rushmore
Extreme Android User
I am a fan of mass storage and so are most folks here, but seems Google is not a fan and doing what they can to force people to clouds, on capped data plans.
Google needs to be careful, since key differentiators for them are being taken away by others- and by Google.
If they start acting like Apple, that only helps Apple..... Have Apple people infiltrated Google?
......... 
BlueSnake01
Member
What I don't understand is if Google want's to get rid of all this, why do it from the beginning? I mean, Mass Storage was a huge win from Android to iOS. Now its becoming more and more of everything that we didn't want (well I don't). MTP will NEVER be as useful as storage, mass storage is universal, pretty much anything can read/write from it with lil to no problems and its etxremely easy to use. I agree with making your own partition or having at least 16GB of having its own partition and having an option of being able to use an SD for multimedia uses or transferring random files. Apps could stay in a 16GB internal format with an SD option.
Exactly. It's easy to say they're going apple, and as a linux user myself I love the standard interface, but this changes had a purpose. On my incredible there is 8gb of "wasted" space called emmc memory, plus an sd card. I say wasted because no apps except for the stock camera use it. Meanwhile I only have 1gb for apps and like 128mb of space for /data/data and my sd card is full. Running apps and saving pictures to the sd card slows things down. Internal memory is better, but nothing is setup to use it. So they make it all internal and spoof the sd card. Seems like a good compromise to me. Sd card is nice, but not necessary.
rcollinlee
Lurker
My GMC Terrain has a USB port in the console that links to the vehicle's stock (Pioneer) touchscreen sound system. The system reads the USB like any other input (AM, FM, CD, XM). In fact, it reads my iPod like a dream... all functionality is present in the vehicles control system for the iPod as well as album art, song title, etc. However, when i try to mount my Droid 2, the souns sytem cant read it (am hoping its some sort of older OS issue). I was hoping the GNex would solve this problem and i could finally divorce Apple altogether. Given the no mass torage of the GNex... can anyone think of a work around, or am i better off looking more closely at the RZR?
If you use ubuntu (hardy or newer):
sudo apt-get install mtpfs
Where's the disappointment? As a "long time" linux user you should be used to use the terminal once in a while.. i remember when I had to compile a graphical ui, because linux didn't have one ootb..