USB storage does NOT work: "Natively" (File transfer is possible when rooted)

[Xyro]

If I understood his post correctly, he is actually playing/opening the fies from the external drive in the second test. The only variable is whether the files went from PC -> sdcard or Tablet -> sdcard.

I'd like him to clarify if he's copying or moving the file from the tablet to the sdcard. If he is moving it, which is what I interpreted his explanation as, you wouldn't expect it to perform any differently to files loaded onto the sdcard via a PC.

 

[rushmore]

It looks like that regardless of method, he can not get files to work unless from the internal storage. Seems this may be by design since if supported in the OS, but not easier to enable.

 

[Xyro]

It looks like that regardless of method, he can not get files to work unless from the internal storage.

Am I missing something?

2nd testing:

I copied the files from the PC to the tablet & will then transfer the files from the tablet to FAT32, EXT3 & EXT4 sdcards

results from 2nd testing:

FAT32: Unable to play music, video files & read PDF
EXT3: able to play the music, video files & read PDF
EXT4: able to play the music, video files & read PDF

3rd testing:

I used AirDroid to copy files from Linux to the tablet & will then transfer the files from the tablet to FAT32, EXT3 & EXT4 sdcards.

results from 3rd testing:

FAT32: Did not test
EXT3: able to play the music, video files & read PDF
EXT4: able to play the music, video files & read PDF

 

[rushmore]

I can not follow the pathology here of his tests or if played back without a powered hub. The part "& will then transfer from the tablet to ..... sdcards".

That does not seem to say he has, but he will do it. To his credit, he admits his notes are not the best, since doing on the fly.

All is needed: storage type, size, format, powered or not, media, success or failure

The BIG positive is he is making a great effort.

 

[Xyro]

Yeah, he's edited a fair few times over the last day or two, which hasn't added to the clarity.

I think I'll be more satisfied when the community at large can test it out and report back, but it looks hopeful at least.

 

[paulglee]

Hi guys - I understand that the Nexus 7 is designed so you cant mount an SD card reader or USB storage to it to copy files over, but would it be possible to mount the Nexus 7 to a Galaxy S3 and then copy files from S3 to N7 < in this setup the S3 is the host and the N7 is the exernal device. I could then fill the S3's SD storage and copy to the N7 as required. Is this likely to be possible without rooting anything??

 

[Markg]

Hi guys - I understand that the Nexus 7 is designed so you cant mount an SD card reader or USB storage to it to copy files over, but would it be possible to mount the Nexus 7 to a Galaxy S3 and then copy files from S3 to N7 < in this setup the S3 is the host and the N7 is the exernal device. I could then fill the S3's SD storage and copy to the N7 as required. Is this likely to be possible without rooting anything??

Now that is a very interesting thought!

 

[Xyro]

Hi guys - I understand that the Nexus 7 is designed so you cant mount an SD card reader or USB storage to it to copy files over, but would it be possible to mount the Nexus 7 to a Galaxy S3 and then copy files from S3 to N7 < in this setup the S3 is the host and the N7 is the exernal device. I could then fill the S3's SD storage and copy to the N7 as required. Is this likely to be possible without rooting anything??

No, unfortuantely not. The N7 doesn't have an sdcard, so it cannot be mounted. When you plug it into the PC you use something called MTP to transfer files, so 'mounting' to the PC still works, but I doubt that the S3 can communicate via MTP to the N7 like that.

 

[c4v3man]

Hi guys - I understand that the Nexus 7 is designed so you cant mount an SD card reader or USB storage to it to copy files over, but would it be possible to mount the Nexus 7 to a Galaxy S3 and then copy files from S3 to N7 < in this setup the S3 is the host and the N7 is the exernal device. I could then fill the S3's SD storage and copy to the N7 as required. Is this likely to be possible without rooting anything??

No, but considering that both support NFC and WiFi Direct, it wouldn't surprise me if you'll be able to transfer from one to the other wirelessly either natively or with an app...

 

[paulglee]

No, unfortuantely not. The N7 doesn't have an sdcard, so it cannot be mounted. When you plug it into the PC you use something called MTP to transfer files, so 'mounting' to the PC still works, but I doubt that the S3 can communicate via MTP to the N7 like that.

hmmm, that's a pity as I thought that like my current HTC Android phone I could connect the Nexus 7 and then select "Mount As Disk Drive"

 

[paulglee]

No, but considering that both support NFC and WiFi Direct, it wouldn't surprise me if you'll be able to transfer from one to the other wirelessly either natively or with an app...

Thanks - that sounds promising, I will look into these two options

 

[A.Nonymous]

hmmm, that's a pity as I thought that like my current HTC Android phone I could connect the Nexus 7 and then select "Mount As Disk Drive"

Honestly, I kind of like it the other way. I've got both. I've got the phone that you have to select "mount as disk drive" and I've got a tablet that automatically mounts. I find the latter far more convenient. On the very rare occasion when I have to plug directly into my computer, I find it to be something of a pain to select that option on my phone while my tablet just automatically recognizes what I'm wanting to do and mounts the drive.

 

[rushmore]

Does not look like progress has advanced (unless my reading skills are even worse). Looks like we will need more devices out there for "root masters". Still, it seems that unless Google has a change of heart (yeah right), the ability to get the N7 to be full host friendly will be for the more advanced rooters. Assuming full host is possible.

The other issue could be that Google did not bother since the hardware may not support it. Bah, conjecture until more people get the device and figure what will work.

 

[c4v3man]

Update from the XDA thread points to USB drive mounting without root by way of a an app.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/116035013937554489222/posts/KiqFpDpDWto

 

[Xyro]

Update from the XDA thread points to USB drive mounting without root by way of a an app.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/116035013937554489222/posts/KiqFpDpDWto

Although it's only a theory at this point.

 

[paulglee]

Honestly, I kind of like it the other way. I've got both. I've got the phone that you have to select "mount as disk drive" and I've got a tablet that automatically mounts. I find the latter far more convenient. On the very rare occasion when I have to plug directly into my computer, I find it to be something of a pain to select that option on my phone while my tablet just automatically recognizes what I'm wanting to do and mounts the drive.

It can be set as default but half the time I just want to charge and still use apps and half the time I want disk drive mounted

 

[Xyro]

It can be set as default but half the time I just want to charge and still use apps and half the time I want disk drive mounted

But with the new system (MTP) you won't lose access to files/apps on your tablet, even whilst the N7 is connected to the PC.

 

[Unforgiven]

It can be set as default but half the time I just want to charge and still use apps and half the time I want disk drive mounted

But with the new system (MTP) you won't lose access to files/apps on your tablet, even whilst the N7 is connected to the PC.

I fired through the N7 user guide today(I know, ocd and boredom) and it mentioned using a charger other than the on supplied would result in slow charging which leads me to believe that it will be charging at 1.5+ amps so Turing to charge via usb and using apps will probably not work. Usb is limited to .5 amps

 

[Xyro]

I fired through the N7 user guide today(I know, ocd and boredom) and it mentioned using a charger other than the on supplied would result in slow charging which leads me to believe that it will be charging at 1.5+ amps so Turing to charge via usb and using apps will probably not work. Usb is limited to .5 amps

Yeah, I beleive that standard USB chargers will provide 1 amp from a socket but a PC USB socket only produces 0.5 amps, so that makes sense.

But, would that matter? It's going to charge much slower off a PC, but so long as the device has enough charge to turn on, you should be able to use the device whilst it's plugged into the PC.

 

[Unforgiven]

My wife's KF is a 1.8amp charger where the GNex is 1 amp. I mention the Kindle Fire as screen size and battery are similar, so I am guessing the Nexus 7 will be similar. So I would imagine USB (at .5) would be a net loss of battery if you are using it while plugged into USB.

 

[Xyro]

My wife's KF is a 1.8amp charger where the GNex is 1 amp. I mention the Kindle Fire as screen size and battery are similar, so I am guessing the Nexus 7 will be similar. So I would imagine USB (at .5) would be a net loss of battery if you are using it while plugged into USB.

I guess that depends on whether they increased the amps of the charger because they could, for faster recarhing, or because it was necessary due to the device consuming more power. I don't know which is the case.

 

[Unforgiven]

I guess that depends on whether they increased the amps of the charger because they could, for faster recarhing, or because it was necessary due to the device consuming more power. I don't know which is the case.

I just checked the charger specs in the play store. 5v 2A output so it will struggle trying to charge on usb under load which isn't surprising as my gnex does too

 

[Graham's Droid]

This is without a doubt a ploy to get you to store your cloud documents and media with Google's cloud services. With that said: it works. I will absolutely be using Drive for accessing my school documents and transferring photos and the like.

 

[cammykool]

there is a usb mass storage app floating around XDA being used in ICS roms without working mass sotrage needs root thou but who cares? we have that allready?

 

[stridermt2k]

One of the work-arounds I wanted to try was to find an alternative to the app that came with my Droid Bionic for connecting to home-based media called "ZumoCast".
ZumoCast - Stream your media. It's your personal cloud.

It works great on my phone, but isn't for other Android devices, so I can't use it on my current Iconia A500 tablet, nor will I be able to use it with my Nexus 7.

Presumably with a similar app and a good WiFi connection one wouldn't be restricted by this local external storage limitation as long as there was a machine to link to remotely.

-or am I seeing this wrong?