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Help USB Mounting issue on both Windows and Linux

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Penphoe

Lurker
I'm having issues having any PC recognize the storage media areas of my brand-new Samsung Captivate S. When I first got my phone last week, it had no issues in my Linux system in mounting both the internal and external drives on my phone. I don't know what I did, but now it no longer works.

On the Windows side of my machine, I did install Kies. It has installed the device drivers for my phone and the phone did get recognized in Kies desktop.

Now whenever I plug in the USB cable and mount the drives via the pull-down menu, nothing happens! On the very very RARE occasion it does find the device, the drives stay mounted for about 15 seconds or so before it completely disappears!

I've tried both in and out of debug mode.

I don't know what else to do. In my research, it seems like others are also having problems mounting the drive(s) via USB cable.

I've reset my device to factory defaults, and have formatted my internal card. Still no change in behaviour. :( I know my MicroSD card works fine. I've pulled it out and plugged it into my SD adapter and my computer reads it with no problems.

I'm running Ubuntu Linux 10.10 and XP SP2 32-bit edition.

Did I get a lemon?
 
Welcome to the forums!

Another poster with similar symptoms found that it was a faulty USB cable. Surprisingly, we often find that's the culprit regardless of the handset manufacturer - maybe they're all getting cheap cables in batches?

No guarantees it's that simple, but if possible let's start there.
 
Faulty cable eh? I'll give that a try. I've luckily got two micro B USB cables - one from my old Berry, the other from my wife's new Blackberry Torch. I guess I could try my USB cable on my wife's Torch to see if it works with her phone.

I'll post my findings...
 
Good news & bad news - yep it's a bad USB Cable!

I tried both my "Blackberry" micro b USB cables and my phone is able to enter successfully into mass storage mode! :D However, my less-than-one-week-old Samsung micro B USB cable does NOT work. :( I tried it with my wife's Torch. Something is definitely wrong with it as her phone could not even be charged with it!

Thanks again for your help.
 
Yeah I just got a cheap eBay cable that does not work well. Another does, so 50% isnt so bad when they are just $1 shipped I guess. :D
 
Just a note that the Monoprice cable, like most generic cables, will need a bit of work with a razor blade to trim down the plastic a bit for a snug fit into the Captivate due to the recessed connector. It only takes a few moments of work though, the plastic is soft. I bought several.

It's stiffer and thicker than the stock cable... ok if you're just laying it down to charge but not great if you're trying to use it while connected. I wouldn't mind finding a thin, flexible cable.
 
hmm maybe thats why my cable wasnt working well. It will charge via USB but wont mount. I'll try trimming it near the plug.
 
steaky said:
hmm maybe thats why my cable wasnt working well. It will charge via USB but wont mount. I'll try trimming it near the plug.
Click to expand...

All I did was shave it down at an angle both the top and bottom, so the plastic molding sort of "tapers" towards the plug, instead of being squared off.

Sort of like going from this:

==|

to this:

==<

Don't go down too far though. If you see the plastic start to change, stop.

Hope that makes sense.
 
steaky said:
hmm maybe thats why my cable wasnt working well. It will charge via USB but wont mount. I'll try trimming it near the plug.
Click to expand...

Trimming the plug is a good thing. Also, look at the metal part. There are two tiny fingers on one surface. Some connectors have these flat or flush with the connector barrel. Others stick out a bit and are able to help grab the phone side of the connector ... once you get the bulky plastic out of the way. An awl or similar small sharp pointy can sometimes pry the fingers proud of the housing.

~~~ 0;-Dan

 
That is frustrating...I had two AT&T data cables, one came with the phone. The other I bought from AT&T. Both worked for a while and then suddenly nothing.
 
robhs said:
That is frustrating...I had two AT&T data cables, one came with the phone. The other I bought from AT&T. Both worked for a while and then suddenly nothing.
Click to expand...

tiny little wires + coil_n_fold = broken

tiny little wires are much cheaper(sic) than cables designed to take rough use.

Sigh,
~~~ 0;-Dan
 
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