How To: Iconia A500 and USB Harddrives - Acer Iconia A500

When formatting a hard drive for use with a Android Tab, couple things to note,
1) The hard drive needs to be in fat32
2) If it is formatted in fat32 but is part of an extended file system it will not read on the tablet.
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How to format:
1) Plug in drive and go to disc management on windows (right click on 'My Computer' and choose 'manage' > 'disc management')
2)Right click on the usb drive and choose "Delete volume".
3) Keep on doing this until there is no more option to delete volumes. That's when you know that any extended file systems have been deleted.
4) Use Easeus Partiton Manager (or a partitioning tool of your choice) and format your drive in fat32 and it should now be readable through your file browser of choice within android.
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I high recommend "File Manager HD" It is optomised for Honeycomb and allows bookmarks and LAN connections.
The USB drive will be located under mnt>usb_storage

I had success with the following utility and my 500GB NTFS-formatted external:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13337600&postcount=6
Hope this helps.

further information on the above post:
1. 3 version (drive mount on the market)=has the ability to mount ntfs microsd card and also usb drive
1. 2has no sdcard support but would work with usb drive with virtual drives. ie-virtual cd drives in iomega or wd drive

just looking for some help. I have a 1 tb portable hard drive in ntfs. I can get the drive mounted and access it but when i play a movie i get no sound. I have tried multiple video players. Thanks for any help

thebaum said:
just looking for some help. I have a 1 tb portable hard drive in ntfs. I can get the drive mounted and access it but when i play a movie i get no sound. I have tried multiple video players. Thanks for any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably the format of the video file. What codec is the audio encoded with?
Sent from Vera, my Iconia A500; All dressed up going places!

Related

[Q] Question re: USB Disk drive

OK, I just downloaded and installed the 3.1 update, running stock OS.
CONFIG
I have a 32GB A500 which I assume is main memory / SSD. I also added a 32GB micro SDHC chip in it, and for testing, an 8GB thumb drive in the large USB port. They all show up in system Settings,
When I have had the A500 connected via the mini-USB port, the memory / SSD shows up, but not the sdhc card, and not a thumb drive if i plug that in (when I look at it as an extended drive)
Some applications can see memory / SSD, and the micro SDHC chip. For example, ES File Explorer has a tab which cycles between the memory / SSD file system, and that on the SHDC chip. It doesn't include USB storage.
QUESTION
First, I'd like to confirm that something (anything) can read the USB file system.
Next, I am looking for a utility that would allow me to see all three file systems: main/SSD, SDHC, and USB, and move things back and forth between them, and to/from my PC as well. Recommendations?
As far as I know there is nothing that will allow you to read the 'external' drives from PC. This was supposed to be fixed in 3.1 (just another thing borked..), so go figure when or IF it'll ever be available.
Incidentally, my 2.2 Archos 101 did all that perfectly, but the new android versions won't, funny eh?
Assuming he has the proper drivers installed, what if he went micro usb connected to pc and thumb drive in tablet. He could read/transfer files from thumb to tablet and have the pc read/transfer to/from the tablet. If that makes sense or helps.
Get a file explorer and go to the mnt directory. the internal, external and usb storage are all there.
I guess I'd be happy with an answer to the first question below, happier with an answer to the second:
1. Is there any app, running on the tablet, which will allow me to see the file system on a USB thumbdrive? Which one. It's odd to me that I can see the drive, apparently properly formed, in the tablet "system settings" app, but (so far) haven't seen how to get at it myself, and haven't found an app which access it either.
2. Is there an application, running on the PC, or an app running on the tablet, which let's me see the file systems on tablet, tablet's sdhc chip, thumb drive and PC storage in a unified way, so I can move things around without unplugging stuff? That is harder, but one of those networked file access utilities might do it.
GCurry said:
I guess I'd be happy with an answer to the first question below, happier with an answer to the second:
1. Is there any app, running on the tablet, which will allow me to see the file system on a USB thumbdrive? Which one. It's odd to me that I can see the drive, apparently properly formed, in the tablet "system settings" app, but (so far) haven't seen how to get at it myself, and haven't found an app which access it either.
2. Is there an application, running on the PC, or an app running on the tablet, which let's me see the file systems on tablet, tablet's sdhc chip, thumb drive and PC storage in a unified way, so I can move things around without unplugging stuff? That is harder, but one of those networked file access utilities might do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I use Root Explorer and I can see the USB Storage in the MNT directory in the root of the device.
2) from the PC, adb i assume, but i've never done this. For network, try Samba server - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.funkyfresh.samba&feature=search_result.
GCurry said:
I guess I'd be happy with an answer to the first question below, happier with an answer to the second:
1. Is there any app, running on the tablet, which will allow me to see the file system on a USB thumbdrive? Which one. It's odd to me that I can see the drive, apparently properly formed, in the tablet "system settings" app, but (so far) haven't seen how to get at it myself, and haven't found an app which access it either.
2. Is there an application, running on the PC, or an app running on the tablet, which let's me see the file systems on tablet, tablet's sdhc chip, thumb drive and PC storage in a unified way, so I can move things around without unplugging stuff? That is harder, but one of those networked file access utilities might do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To answer the first one, no, there is no application to read the external data drives.
As for the second, to transfer files between these, you need to get a file explorer like Root Explorer. The multimedia apps have the ability to access the external data drives so if you want to store music and/or movies on them, you do not have to use up your internal memory.
Hope that answered your question.
Does 3.1 add ntfs support??....if not can I make it support without rooting my tab??
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App
Root explorer works great, so does File Manager HD
GCurry said:
OK, I just downloaded and installed the 3.1 update, running stock OS.
QUESTION
First, I'd like to confirm that something (anything) can read the USB file system.
Next, I am looking for a utility that would allow me to see all three file systems: main/SSD, SDHC, and USB, and move things back and forth between them, and to/from my PC as well. Recommendations?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Astro, in Astro I see them all. Home, Up and you'll see all the storage areas.
Astro will allow you to move things back and forth between SD, USB and Internal storage.
Nothing that I know of, will allow you to directly view your USB or MicroSD using your PC, by directly I mean through the microusb connection.
There's an app called Wifi File Explorer Pro which may allow you to see them on the PC however I'm not certain as I never used it extensively and may be more trouble than it's worth as you'll have to open a port in your router for it to work properly.
Hope this helps.
Any file manager can access /mnt/external_sd and /mnt/usb_storage.
Drive mount or USB mount all can mount ntfs drives. Must be rooted.
Can only access internal memory front PC. End of story until google/Acer fixes it.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Euclid's Brother said:
Any file manager can access /mnt/external_sd and /mnt/usb_storage.
Drive mount or USB mount all can mount ntfs drives. Must be rooted.
Can only access internal memory front PC. End of story until google/Acer fixes it.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on 3.1 ota and I wanted to root it for ntfs support.....but don't want to void my warranty.....(weather here is too humid so generally all electronic devices don't work or something or the other happens to them)...so I will unroot later to claim my warranty.....what else can I do with root.....(no custom roms..).......
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App
1. Is there any app, running on the tablet, which will allow me to see the file system on a USB thumbdrive? Which one. It's odd to me that I can see the drive, apparently properly formed, in the tablet "system settings" app, but (so far) haven't seen how to get at it myself, and haven't found an app which access it either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any file system application (ASTRO, Root Explorer) can access all storage devices in your system. The location for the storage devices is /mnt.
Note that the /mnt/sdcard directory is actually a FUSE mount of /data/local
The directories related to storage are:
/mnt/sdcard - a FUSE image of /data/local. This is internal storage.
/mnt/external_sd - The microSD card. Must be FAT32.
/mnt/usb_drive - A USB drive of some sorts...can be a thumb drive or a hard drive. Not sure about 3.1, but 3.0.1 needed this drive to be FAT32.
2. Is there an application, running on the PC, or an app running on the tablet, which let's me see the file systems on tablet, tablet's sdhc chip, thumb drive and PC storage in a unified way, so I can move things around without unplugging stuff? That is harder, but one of those networked file access utilities might do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer...other than ADB, no (until Acer fixes that). When you mount your tablet to your PC, you are connecting to a FUSE partition, which is an image of /data/local. You can transfer files between /data/local (via FUSE partition) and your PC. Unfortunately, because you are accessing a FUSE partition, you are restricted to only /data/local (so you can't get to /mnt). ADB is a known exception (as it uses USB Debugging to access the tablet), but that isn't graphical at all (all command line, which means it is a lot of typing).
op mentioned ES file explorer
Use it myself - as I really like the interface and the LAN access works great for me.
You can see all your storage devices from es explorer
/mnt/sdcard = internal memory
/mnt/external_sd = microsd card
/mnt/USB_drive = USB based storage device
If you want to mount ntfs you need to root.

USB OTG Question

Hi all, I have the EOS nightlies installed on my Xoom. My OTG cable just arrived - the Xoom recognises and mounts it - but im having trouble finding the location in File Manager HD and ES File Explorer.
Am I missing something some extra software perhaps? If not where does the Xoom mount the USB drives?
i'm running BuglessBeast rom I use an app called Drive Mount, that is the only way I can get my drives to appear (ntfs)
Have to do it certain order, load Drive mount , plug in drive, hit refresh on drive mount and then drive should appear and then mount the drive, it should appear in file explorer apps from there.
Look for your USB drive in /media/USB.
boabsmith said:
i'm running BuglessBeast rom I use an app called Drive Mount, that is the only way I can get my drives to appear (ntfs)
Have to do it certain order, load Drive mount , plug in drive, hit refresh on drive mount and then drive should appear and then mount the drive, it should appear in file explorer apps from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worked perfectly, thanks a bunch

USB OTG to mount Galaxy Nexus?

I'm looking to mount my Galaxy Nexus to my Nexus 7, but when I go about it like I would a usb stick stickmount doesn't see the sd card. My USB OTG host cable works perfectly with my 64gb SanDisk Cruzer thumb drive, but it is NTFS formatted to get around the 4gb file size limit. I can read files, copy files off of it, and stream files from the stick just fine but I am unable to write to the stick. I'd like to be able to get rid of NANDROID backups, playstation games, other large files, etc without having to connect to a computer.
1. What format is the "SD card" on the Galaxy Nexus? Is it ext3/ext4 which stickmount can't read?
2. If there is a better way to make an NTFS formatted writable stick I'm all ears...
3. Maybe I should just get a smaller separate stick that's FAT32 and thus writable...
Nokia?
thirtynation said:
I'm looking to mount my Galaxy Nexus to my Nexus 7, but when I go about it like I would a usb stick stickmount doesn't see the sd card. My USB OTG host cable works perfectly with my 64gb SanDisk Cruzer thumb drive, but it is NTFS formatted to get around the 4gb file size limit. I can read files, copy files off of it, and stream files from the stick just fine but I am unable to write to the stick. I'd like to be able to get rid of NANDROID backups, playstation games, other large files, etc without having to connect to a computer.
1. What format is the "SD card" on the Galaxy Nexus? Is it ext3/ext4 which stickmount can't read?
2. If there is a better way to make an NTFS formatted writable stick I'm all ears...
3. Maybe I should just get a smaller separate stick that's FAT32 and thus writable...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen that done with Android devices just yet... maybe it's possible, but I haven't heard of it. I know that Nokia phones can hook up as external storage to the N8 (saw a video on YouTube) but that's as far as I know.
Also, to write files to an NTFS volume on Android, it seems that you need to add the "fuse.ko" to your kernel (in /system/lib/modules) I tried doing this with the Nexus 7 ToolKit, but I wasn't about to insmod it (make it run) since the fuse.ko I has was apparently for a different version of Android??? I've literally spent about 10 hours "searching" on xda and all over the internet. It seems (oddly) that everyone in the Android community is content with a measly 32GB total limit, and 4GB file size limit. *(facepalm)*
This won't work. Android, with 3.0, stopped exporting storage via SD card, because of reasons[1]. If at all, you can have a vendor modify Android as to export your plug-in SD card, but not the internal storage.
Currently, Galaxy Nexus etc. offer their files via the 'MTP' protocol when plugged in, and there's no support to act as an MTP client AFAIK (since Linux support for MTP sucks balls).
[1]: since a separate storage for /data, /system etc. was considered uncool, as it made you dependent on a predefined partition size (remember 256MB 'internal storage' phones and Android Market "uninstalled due to low disk space"?), newer phones, and especially the Nexus line, features a single storage container.
The USB mass storage interface works like plugging in a hard drive into your system: it gives you block-level access, and this is usually synonymous with "exclusive" access, as it results in destroyed or confused file systems if two independent systems try to mount the file system on a storage device.
Problem is that Android still needs to be able to actually run, so it can't give you block level access to the internal storage. The only way that would be feasible is to turn off your phone completely and have the bootloader give you USB mass storage access, which is counterproductive.
Thus the need for something like MTP (which was already around for a while) was born, which gives you the ability to make it look like a file system, but actually work on a client/server basis like FTP.
tl;dr: no usb mass storage ("usb stick mode") with galaxy nexus. ever.
Can't check at the moment, but can't you mount the SD card from CWM recovery on the Nexus in USB Mode rather than MTP?
What we need is a file manager that can use MTP. I'm also interested in hooking my Gnex up to my 7. There must be something out there that can do this.
Bluetooth file transfer.
or
Connect to the same wifi and share.

Fire tv 3 USB OTG

I've had the AFTV 3 for a couple of months but only just tried hooking up a usb flash drive. I tried through the OTG + ethernet usb hub and I tried it with just a OTG cable. It doesn't mount the usb drive.
I'm sure I have it hooked up right. I formatted Fat 32 (even though it should do that automatically). It's getting power because the light on the Flash drive turns on.
I'm wondering if the update I got on May 15th removed the USB storage option?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
The Fire TV 3 has never mounted USB drives in a way that all apps can access files on the drive. Your only option is to use an app that can mount the drive itself. Two such apps are ES File Explorer and Total Commander with a mounting addon. Once those apps mount the drive, you'll then be able to select a file and choose a different app to open the file. Some more info here: http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire...rives-keyboards-mice-flirc-ethernet-hubs-etc/
AFTVnews.com said:
The Fire TV 3 has never mounted USB drives in a way that all apps can access files on the drive. Your only option is to use an app that can mount the drive itself. Two such apps are ES File Explorer and Total Commander with a mounting addon. Once those apps mount the drive, you'll then be able to select a file and choose a different app to open the file. Some more info here: http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire...rives-keyboards-mice-flirc-ethernet-hubs-etc/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Elias!
I should've read the full article.
For now is there still no way to mount usb drive permanently?
Looks like Gen 3 is more protected then older versions, but maybe we can execute commands like "mount" in some way? (just my naive guess)
mntlzr said:
For now is there still no way to mount usb drive permanently?
Looks like Gen 3 is more protected then older versions, but maybe we can execute commands like "mount" in some way? (just my naive guess)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly not, a Fire TV 3 is only suitable for "paying" apps (Prime, Netflix, etc.), and is much more limited than its predecessors (similar to Apple TV). That's why neither the 3-series nor the Cube is an option for me. I don't like closed systems!
Why is a NAS not an option?

[GUIDE] Installing fortnite to a USB or portable HDD

Well, im not much of a fan of gaming but when i had a game of fortnite i was hooked.
Unfortunately my PC only has a 120GB SSD and as a computer programmer/software engineer i can really use any of that space.
So i explored alternatives.
Ive made a youtube video demonstating this and an instruction set below. theres also proof its running off the USB drive for any of you sour fellas out there.
Video tutorial with proof - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQUl0w1BY8
Requirements - a 32GB or more USB stick or HDD
NOTE: all data on the drive will be deleted. so if your planning on storing other stuff on it move it to another location before formatting, then put your files back onto it after formatting
Instructions -
1. Head over to https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite and download fortnite
2. Insert your USB stick or Portable HDD
3. Right click on it and select format
4. Change the Filesystem type to NTFS
5. Click format
6. Install the file you downloaded from epic games, keep clicking next as its the launcher and not the game
7. Sign in to your epic games account
8. When the launcher opens click install and change the installation folder to your USB or HDD
9. Wait for installation to complete.
10. Like, Share and Subscribe for more great content!
How did i figure this out?
First i tried changing the installation directory to my 32GB usb drive, installation kept repeating itself multiple times and not finishing.
So i did a little research and checked out the installation on my friends computer.
Apart from a few 4.5GB files and some registry entries, the game could very well be portable.
The registry entries are only for the launcher, the fornite games data is stored locally within the Fortnite installation folder.
So whats the issue? Simple. The USB filesystem type. by default a USB is fortmatted to a FAT32 filesystem, that doesnt support storing files larger than 4GB.
Thats why when you format it to NTFS it works.
Vdgyd

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