Related
If you are still wondering:
- What is the breakdown of that 32GB Xoom internal memory (how many parition, how much space for apps / files)?
- Why Google is using MTP instead of USB file transfer on Honeycomb?
Here is straight answer from Google developer:
MTP is a big improvement over USB mass storage — for devices with lots of internal memory, a manufacturer no longer needs to come up with some hard partition between the USB mass storage and internal storage. Instead, they are all in one partition, with MTP providing access to the directory of media files that would normally be available through USB mass storage.This means there is no longer a need for apps on SD card for such devices, because what used to be the “internal SD card” is in the same partition as where applications are stored. The storage on your device can be used for either applications or media, depending on what you want to put on it. You aren’t stuck with how much space the manufacturer decided to leave for the two areas.
Oh also this means that the media storage doesn’t need to be unmounted from Android when it is being access through the PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://phandroid.com/2011/02/27/mac-users-require-file-transfer-utility-for-android-3-0/
Finally, true APP2SD You now have 32GB to put all your apps!!!
Sounds like a good thing!
This is a great explanation. Thanks for posting.
There is no doubt that mtp has advantages over mass storage. On the other hand I miss the ability to attach it to any computer and access files. It is not a huge problem but does add a limitation that was not there before.
That saod it is nice being able to access files on my computer without losing access to the partition on the device.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
I only see a problem if you flash different roms and have to do full data wipes.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
jvs60 said:
I only see a problem if you flash different roms and have to do full data wipes.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure future versions of CWM will be set to ignore that one folder.. I hope. Otherwise nandroid backups will take forever.
I'm not sure in terms of security it is a huge improvement; unless there is an option to turn it on/off somewhere.
Previously I would have to plug an Android device in to my computer, turn the device on, enter my unlock code, and then specifically allow the computer access via the USB. This morning I just plugged my xoom in and, poof, access to all my stuff.
At least before someone had to take my sdcard out at put it in their computer manually
Does MTP have anything to do with file size limit? I've seen posted on this forum that you can't load video files larger than 4gb onto the Xoom because of FAT32, is that still the case?
This MTP also seems to hide a lot of file from being seen by a pc. I open folders with File manager on the Xoom and see more folders namely the android folder which has game save data and other odd ball files. When hooked to a pc its blank. With MTP it seems all your allowed to do is transfer music, video and pics.
Malcus1 said:
Does MTP have anything to do with file size limit? I've seen posted on this forum that you can't load video files larger than 4gb onto the Xoom because of FAT32, is that still the case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still haven't got around to testing (so many things to try out!), but in some of the video threads, I've been told XOOM uses EXT4 format not FAT32, and thus, should not have that 4GB limit. I've been re-encoding video files to meet XOOM's current playback limitations, and have been reducing them to sub 4GB anyway, so I haven't tested that for myself.
hi, i've just got my iconia and I am also new on the Android world. A couple of things I've noticed about the external SD card that maybe somebody could help me to understand.
1.- when I hook my tablet to my windows 7 laptop, I get to see the internal memory on the win explorer but not the external card, so is this normal or do I have to look for more updated drivers on my PC?
2.- with the external SD card on I get to see my files on an android file manager and I get to open any file individually by getting the "select app for opening this file", but this is time consuming so I am wondering if my stock lumiread, gallery, multimedia player have the current limitation of only reading the content from the internal memory. If so, what free alternatives do I have to replace stock apps?
A couple of answers
First, if you install File Manager HD, you won't need to tether your Iconia to your laptop any more. In the app, open the 'menu' and touch 'LAN Connections'. Your Windows PC will show up as an IP address. Make sure to change the IP Address to a computer name (long press, rename) so that next time File Manager won't have to search for it every time. You will be able to transfer anything on the tab to the 'Public' folder on the PC, and vice versa. Depending on what folders are shared on the PC, you will be able to access more on the PC.
I keep my music on my external SD card in a folder named 'My Music'. The stock music/multimedia players found them with no problem.
I haven't tried moving any books for Lumiread to the external SD card, so all I can suggest is to look at the file structure and duplicate it on the ext SD card, copy a book into it (a new one, or move an existing one) and see if it finds it. I don't see anything within the app to set search/storage directories, but maybe it will scan everything like the music apps do.
Have fun with you new Tab. The more you play with it the more you will understand Honeycomb and it won't seem so foreign to you. It does pretty much everything every other OS does, just a little different way.
Kp
Thanks Ken, I downloaded FMHD and will try it soon. I also though about reproducing the lumiread folder on the ext sd card but no luck, so probably a future update on the app will fix that. I tried this as well copying the pictures folder (and also renaming it as 'My Pictures') but the stock gallery just won't see the image files, is there any chance you could see if you get the same results? I have not tried yet on the music stock app. Again, thanks for your help, it is great to find nice people on the web with similar tech passions as I do
Hello Ken, like that app. Wondering if it would be an easy way to tether to my HTC Evo? Thanks in advance for you thoughts.
Bob
Get Quickpic
sensei22 said:
Thanks Ken, I downloaded FMHD and will try it soon. I also though about reproducing the lumiread folder on the ext sd card but no luck, so probably a future update on the app will fix that. I tried this as well copying the pictures folder (and also renaming it as 'My Pictures') but the stock gallery just won't see the image files, is there any chance you could see if you get the same results? I have not tried yet on the music stock app. Again, thanks for your help, it is great to find nice people on the web with similar tech passions as I do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Quickpic from the Market (free) since it lets you choose which drives/directories to scan.
Here is what you do.
1. Create the My Pics directory on the External SD card with File Manager HD, put a few pics in it.
2. After installing Quickpic, start the app. It will display everything it finds on the internal SD Card.
3. Touch the Menu button from the main screen.
4. Choose SETTINGS-INCLUDED FOLDERS-ADD
5. Tap the double dots at the top of the list, it will display all the memory devices attached.
6. Tap EXTERNAL_SD. All directories on the card will be displayed. Press OK.
Now press the 'back' button and you will see your pics that are anywhere on the External SD card.
All I did to get the A500 music player to find the music on the External SD card was run the NemoPlayer app and open the music. Once I did that the regular music app found them, too.
Have fun!
Evo
pov1 said:
Hello Ken, like that app. Wondering if it would be an easy way to tether to my HTC Evo? Thanks in advance for you thoughts.
Bob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't quote me on this, but I don't think so. From what I have seen and heard so far it is only connecting to Windows shares. I don't have an Android phone to test with, so can't swear to it, but I know it doesn't see an iPhone, so likely won't see a Mac either.
Anyone else been able to connect to anything but a Windows share? Let us know if you have, and what app you used please.
I am trying to understand the folder structure on the TF.
I have a 16GB micros SD card and I want all data type files to be saved there e.g. photos, downloads, music etc.
There is a folder at the top level called /SDCARD and I had assumed that this was the MicroSD card and all this sort of data is being stored in sub folder from there.
I have now realised that the MicroSD card is actually accessed from /Removable/MicroSD and that the TF has not stored anything on it. I have just moved my music and video to there.
Can I move all the other SDCARD subfolders to /Removable/MicroSD and then delete the SDCARD folder?
I can't see the point of having a folder called SDCARD it is very misleading.
Thanks for any help.
This is your internal storage. I'm not sure why it is displayed this way, maybe that will become standard in Gingerbread?
You cannot 'delete' the SDCARD folder. It is a mount point for the remainder of your internal storage (16GB or 32GB)
As bizarre as it seems when compared to a phone, this actually makes more sense. My Droid X has 6.5GB of the 8GB internal memory put aside for the /data partition. Despite having the phone for a full year and having a ton of apps installed, /data still has 5GB free. That's 5GB of storage I do not have access to, so it's effectively wasted.
On the ASUS (and others HC tabs?) that space exists as a virtual device /dev/fuse and is mounted as /mnt/sdcard. A symbolic link exists /sdcard which points to the mount point. The net result is, you have the majority of free space on the internal memory available to you. If you didn't, there'd be no incentive to buy the 32GB version over the 16GB version.
It is called /sdcard to maintain the illusion within the OS. This space, like it or not, is your primary storage. It makes your actual sdcard more of a transient storage location, great for just music, movies, etc., that you do not necessarily want to keep on the device long term. This is a great advantage as you can keep multiple sdcards with different content and not worry about messing up the core OS storage needs.
Be aware that the OS and apps expect to find certain data in /sdcard and moving the folders to your 'external' card will only force these apps and processes to recreate the folders in /sdcard. Also some apps will have lost some of their data and may not operate as expected or will act as when they were first installed (games will redownload supporting data, for example)
Sent from my rooted ASUS Transformer running PRIME 1.4
jhanford said:
You cannot 'delete' the SDCARD folder. It is a mount point for the remainder of your internal storage (16GB or 32GB)
As bizarre as it seems when compared to a phone, this actually makes more sense. My Droid X has 6.5GB of the 8GB internal memory put aside for the /data partition. Despite having the phone for a full year and having a ton of apps installed, /data still has 5GB free. That's 5GB of storage I do not have access to, so it's effectively wasted.
On the ASUS (and others HC tabs?) that space exists as a virtual device /dev/fuse and is mounted as /mnt/sdcard. A symbolic link exists /sdcard which points to the mount point. The net result is, you have the majority of free space on the internal memory available to you. If you didn't, there'd be no incentive to buy the 32GB version over the 16GB version.
It is called /sdcard to maintain the illusion within the OS. This space, like it or not, is your primary storage. It makes your actual sdcard more of a transient storage location, great for just music, movies, etc., that you do not necessarily want to keep on the device long term. This is a great advantage as you can keep multiple sdcards with different content and not worry about messing up the core OS storage needs.
Be aware that the OS and apps expect to find certain data in /sdcard and moving the folders to your 'external' card will only force these apps and processes to recreate the folders in /sdcard. Also some apps will have lost some of their data and may not operate as expected or will act as when they were first installed (games will redownload supporting data, for example)
Sent from my rooted ASUS Transformer running PRIME 1.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reading your explanation, it makes better sense to me. I was a bit annoyed, but I see how this could work to my favor. Using just the actual SD cards for movies, music, ect.
Moving data - Video
Sorry, I find what is said here a little disconcerting.
Why have SD cards and USB devices attached (eg. USB Flash drives, hard drives) when the data flow only goes one way, "in", and not out.
If I want to edit a video, the files are too large to email.
I can't find a way to move the video to an external device.
All one can do, as far as I can tell, is to upload the unedited video to YouTube.
Once there initially one get an error message saying that the file type is not recognized. It is...eventually, but only after it's fully processed. This is really confusing to the user. You'd think Google would give Android users a processing message rather than something that makes you think there is no way to view and share your video other than your tablet.
I couldn't find a way to tag a video either.
The default seemed to be "entertainment."
The options for sharing video are much to limited.
The only site you can upload a video to is YouTube.
I'd love to be able to put it on another site (e.g. a personal/corporate website).
I sure wish there were a way of off-loading and storing a folder generated from the Tablet to an external device, especially one with external ports like the Transformer.
If anyone knows of an app to do two way data flows, I'd sure like to know about it because my SHDC card and USB Flash drives look so lonely with nothing to do.
[email protected] said:
Sorry, I find what is said here a little disconcerting.
Why have SD cards and USB devices attached (eg. USB Flash drives, hard drives) when the data flow only goes one way, "in", and not out.
If I want to edit a video, the files are too large to email.
I can't find a way to move the video to an external device.
All one can do, as far as I can tell, is to upload the unedited video to YouTube.
Once there initially one get an error message saying that the file type is not recognized. It is...eventually, but only after it's fully processed. This is really confusing to the user. You'd think Google would give Android users a processing message rather than something that makes you think there is no way to view and share your video other than your tablet.
I couldn't find a way to tag a video either.
The default seemed to be "entertainment."
The options for sharing video are much to limited.
The only site you can upload a video to is YouTube.
I'd love to be able to put it on another site (e.g. a personal/corporate website).
I sure wish there were a way of off-loading and storing a folder generated from the Tablet to an external device, especially one with external ports like the Transformer.
If anyone knows of an app to do two way data flows, I'd sure like to know about it because my SHDC card and USB Flash drives look so lonely with nothing to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing stopping you from copy files from the internal storage to an external sdcard. From the built-in file manager you can select a folder using the check boxes to the left of it, and then click the Copy or Cut button at the top of the screen, then navigate up until you see "Removable". Tap that and then "MicroSD" and then you can tap "Paste" at the top of the screen to copy or move to the new location.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
Drive letters or some kind of unique ID from the root would be favorable. I know it's meant to adapt to Android, but last time I checked, Honeycomb was a separat version of the OS. It's unfortunate that it has to fool both the user and itself to be effective.
moo99 said:
Drive letters or some kind of unique ID from the root would be favorable. I know it's meant to adapt to Android, but last time I checked, Honeycomb was a separat version of the OS. It's unfortunate that it has to fool both the user and itself to be effective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It still maintains the overall Adroid/Linux filesystem structure, there are no lettered drives in *NIX.
I know that, bru. Calling it , I dont know, "Internal" instead of "SD Card" would make a little sense considering there are two separate ports for SD Cards on there. Writing an alias isnt that complicated
I have read and I like the new restrictions on "external SD card" use. It will prevent a lot of apps from leaving crapola all over your device.
It does not restrict your use of data etc. It just keeps you organized. If you want to uninstall an app and still keep its data, you can simply move the data to a new folder.
mangurian said:
I have read and I like the new restrictions on "external SD card" use. It will prevent a lot of apps from leaving crapola all over your device.
It does not restrict your use of data etc. It just keeps you organized. If you want to uninstall an app and still keep its data, you can simply move the data to a new folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be stock and unrooted....Kit Kat is a major pain in the rear to root users..
jauger said:
You must be stock and unrooted....Kit Kat is a major pain in the rear to root users..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True - I only root my devices when they are out-dated.
I don't think the 8013 has reached that point yet.
I am still happy with its performance.
But what I am understanding is apps are corralled to their own folders. This implies to me that some I rely on will cease to work. Example:
I use folder sync to keep lecture notes synced between my 10.1 and S4. By my read of KitKat, folder sync will be prohibited from writing to the lecture notes folder.
What about photos? Different apps to adjust photos depending on what I want to do.
And what about ES File Explorer. Won't it become useless?
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
jauger said:
You must be stock and unrooted....Kit Kat is a major pain in the rear to root users..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry if I may be asking the obvious, but in what way is KitKat a pain for root users?
starbuckk said:
But what I am understanding is apps are corralled to their own folders. This implies to me that some I rely on will cease to work. Example:
I use folder sync to keep lecture notes synced between my 10.1 and S4. By my read of KitKat, folder sync will be prohibited from writing to the lecture notes folder.
What about photos? Different apps to adjust photos depending on what I want to do.
And what about ES File Explorer. Won't it become useless?
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We don't have all the answers, but I'd bet dollars to donuts there will, at least, be work-arounds" for any on these problems.
mangurian said:
We don't have all the answers, but I'd bet dollars to donuts there will, at least, be work-arounds" for any on these problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There aren't. I've had KitKat since weeks after release (S4 GPe). I've been in touch with many developers and made them aware of the issue before it went mainstream. Bottom line, here's the limitation in the simplest of terms.
-An app can read any file on the MicroSD Card.
-An app can only modify contents within a self contained subfolder
So, file managers won't work if stock and unrooted (read only, no writing). FolderSync doesn't work. ES doesn't work (it will tell you that it created/deleted/modified the folder, but then when you refresh, the change never happened).
A good example of how this works would be with a bare bones gallery application. If you store your photos in a random folder within the SD card, the Gallery app can view them. However, if you try to delete a picture, it will only remove from the gallery and remain on the SD card. After a device reboot, it will reappear in the gallery (this also happens with Google Photos and the stock Gallery app).
Another way to do this would be for the gallery app to copy all photos to the gallery subfolder and ignore photos outside of this folder. And if you remove the app? Photos are gone (except what was at the original location). But, this just causes duplication issues.
Lastly, applications can be given permission to read/write to VERY specific ContentProviders and folders. So eventually, you'll have a shared folder called "Pictures" that any gallery application can modify as needed. However, this function is, again, for very specific usage and still prevents file managing apps from doing what they're intended to do.
jaykresge said:
There aren't. I've had KitKat since weeks after release (S4 GPe). I've been in touch with many developers and made them aware of the issue before it went mainstream. Bottom line, here's the limitation in the simplest of terms.
-An app can read any file on the MicroSD Card.
-An app can only modify contents within a self contained subfolder
So, file managers won't work if stock and unrooted (read only, no writing). FolderSync doesn't work. ES doesn't work (it will tell you that it created/deleted/modified the folder, but then when you refresh, the change never happened).
A good example of how this works would be with a bare bones gallery application. If you store your photos in a random folder within the SD card, the Gallery app can view them. However, if you try to delete a picture, it will only remove from the gallery and remain on the SD card. After a device reboot, it will reappear in the gallery (this also happens with Google Photos and the stock Gallery app).
Another way to do this would be for the gallery app to copy all photos to the gallery subfolder and ignore photos outside of this folder. And if you remove the app? Photos are gone (except what was at the original location). But, this just causes duplication issues.
Lastly, applications can be given permission to read/write to VERY specific ContentProviders and folders. So eventually, you'll have a shared folder called "Pictures" that any gallery application can modify as needed. However, this function is, again, for very specific usage and still prevents file managing apps from doing what they're intended to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like the android team need to add some sort of "firewall" implementation, for apps users WANT their old ability back and still provide their users with this security for the majority of their other apps, it doesnt have to be all or nothing, .......make the most secured option as default, for basic users, while giving the power users the option to "fine tune" it, i.e. the "firewall" analogy
jaykresge said:
There aren't. I've had KitKat since weeks after release (S4 GPe). I've been in touch with many developers and made them aware of the issue before it went mainstream. Bottom line, here's the limitation in the simplest of terms.
-An app can read any file on the MicroSD Card.
-An app can only modify contents within a self contained subfolder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be clear, if I write an app and want to write (not modify) to an external SD card I must write to the self contained folder.
Is that correct?
mangurian said:
I have read and I like the new restrictions on "external SD card" use. It will prevent a lot of apps from leaving crapola all over your device.
It does not restrict your use of data etc. It just keeps you organized. If you want to uninstall an app and still keep its data, you can simply move the data to a new folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see how you think it doesn't restrict a user's data but keeps the card organised, when I have all my data (a LOT of work PDFs and docs, plus some photos), all nicely filed away and synchronised with my NAS, and other tablets; and now I cannot do this. I cannot organise my content at all (actually I am struggling even to put it on the SD card, except by taking it out out plugging it into a USB adapter into my PC). Until now, I have never had any apps leave crapola on my SD card. I used to be able to save lecture recordings direct to a nice "recordings" file on the SD card. Now it has to put it somewhere obscure (android/data/.somthingrandomthatisapaintofind).
It seems this works on some apps and not on others. For example foldersync doesn't seem to be able to write to the external sd card anymore, nor does X-plore, however, Es file Explorer seems to be fine about it, and happily writes files to the sdcard?! So if ES can do it, why can't the others?
jenacadabra said:
I don't see how you think it doesn't restrict a user's data but keeps the card organised, when I have all my data (a LOT of work PDFs and docs, plus some photos), all nicely filed away and synchronised with my NAS, and other tablets; and now I cannot do this. I cannot organise my content at all (actually I am struggling even to put it on the SD card, except by taking it out out plugging it into a USB adapter into my PC). Until now, I have never had any apps leave crapola on my SD card. I used to be able to save lecture recordings direct to a nice "recordings" file on the SD card. Now it has to put it somewhere obscure (android/data/.somthingrandomthatisapaintofind).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on kitkat for over month now and I don't know what is big buzz about. I did not notice any different behavior from my external card. I can read and write whatever I want using pc explorer. Es works fine. Stock my files is fine too. So can somebody explain problem litte more please?
Type from KitKat bar.
norbarb said:
I'm on kitkat for over month now and I don't know what is big buzz about. I did not notice any different behavior from my external card. I can read and write whatever I want using pc explorer. Es works fine. Stock my files is fine too. So can somebody explain problem litte more please?
Type from KitKat bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see - you are just using the USB cable I assume. The functionality I have lost is to:
a) wirelessly synchronise multiple pdf/document files in multiple folders and multiple subfolders, whether edited on the Note or on PC (or both).
b) Used a file management app to organise files & folders on my home network between my PC and external SD card. It was even able to wirelessly copy my work direct from the NAS.
None of the apps I used stored any files on my SD card and because they have taken away my access to my SD card I cannot sync my files properly. I realise I could just plug the cable in, but that is not practicable when I am editing 100s of documents in 100s of different subfolders a day - an automatic sync is fantastic. Android is strongly geared towards the "leisure" side of the market and I am going to have to take another look at Windows tablets if they don't fix this (except I would miss the S Pen!)
The_mitch said:
It seems this works on some apps and not on others. For example foldersync doesn't seem to be able to write to the external sd card anymore, nor does X-plore, however, Es file Explorer seems to be fine about it, and happily writes files to the sdcard?! So if ES can do it, why can't the others?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What device are you using that can write to SD using ES? I have the Galaxy S4 GPe (i9505G) and ES cannot do anything with the SD Card.
Have you updated ES? I heard they upated to fix it.
As I understand there is something called storage access framework that is supposed to be the replacement for direct file access.
I haven't seen kitkat. FolderSync is my biggest concern.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
jaykresge said:
What device are you using that can write to SD using ES? I have the Galaxy S4 GPe (i9505G) and ES cannot do anything with the SD Card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on a Samsung galaxy note 3, with kitkat 4.4.2 and ES file Explorer 3.1.1
Yes, thanks to a post somewhere on XDA I am now using ES file manager, which as you say, will work with the ExtSD on Kitkat (though I still prefer Astro myself).
I still can't sync my content though which is the bigger problem. I used to use SyncMe. A fantastically easy to set up App that would seamlessly sync content across multiple devices (still works fine on my Note 8). I can't find anything to replace this at present.
Sent from my GT-N5100 using xda app-developers app
The_mitch said:
I'm on a Samsung galaxy note 3, with kitkat 4.4.2 and ES file Explorer 3.1.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What ROM are you using? Are you on stock 4.4.2 OTA without root?
jaykresge said:
What ROM are you using? Are you on stock 4.4.2 OTA without root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, stock unrooted Samsung kitkat 4.2.2
The_mitch said:
Yes, stock unrooted Samsung kitkat 4.2.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my device, ES 3.1.1 allows me to create a folder but I cannot edit or delete the folder. I cannot create, edit, or delete files. If I delete folders, they will initially disappear, but will not actually delete. They reappear upon a refresh.
OK, what Kit Kat ROMs have USB mass storage mode?
If a ROM does have it, exactly how/where is it enabled?
Either a ROM doesn't have it or if it does the dev hides it some place and requires digging through 100's of stupid pointless posts to maybe if you are lucky, find the answer.
I'm at the point with this USB mass storage B.S. that I'm ready to leave Android completely and get a flip phone. Whomever thought it was a good idea to remove it was an idiot and whomever signed off on it was even a bigger idiot.
Lokifish Marz said:
OK, what Kit Kat ROMs have USB mass storage mode?
If a ROM does have it, exactly how/where is it enabled?
Either a ROM doesn't have it or if it does the dev hides it some place and requires digging through 100's of stupid pointless posts to maybe if you are lucky, find the answer.
I'm at the point with this USB mass storage B.S. that I'm ready to leave Android completely and get a flip phone. Whomever thought it was a good idea to remove it was an idiot and whomever signed off on it was even a bigger idiot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MTP is absolutely terrible, completely half baked and totally unreliable.
Right now I just discovered that ChromeOS doesn't even support MTP... Google's OWN PRODUCT...
I'd like to know the answer as well.
I understand the frustrations but the problem with mass storage is that it surrenders all control of the internal storage to a PC not a problem when that's a different chip but on the n7 and most new smartphones its an emulated partition and giving over total control would mean that android cannot function at the same time. This was brought in to stop manufacturers using two separate chips giving you loads of "storage space" but very little application space. Its a work in progress and has many issues but its here to stay I don't think any ROMs will support USBMS as it not possible on a single chip without shutting down android.
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
LOL. In camera mode you have access to the "Pictures" folder and is readable by Windows and other OSes. All that needs to be done is duplicate the same process and direct it to a folder called "Storage" with full permissions for the folders contents. This essentially simulates USBMS. You can even redirect mounts to that folder so that apps see it as a storage area as well so things like map data and so on are put in the "Storage" folder.
I don't have the time to mess with this but it can be done and something almost exactly like this has been done before on almost every OS.
Lokifish Marz said:
LOL. In camera mode you have access to the "Pictures" folder and is readable by Windows and other OSes. All that needs to be done is duplicate the same process and direct it to a folder called "Storage" with full permissions for the folders contents. This essentially simulates USBMS. You can even redirect mounts to that folder so that apps see it as a storage area as well so things like map data and so on are put in the "Storage" folder.
I don't have the time to mess with this but it can be done and something almost exactly like this has been done before on almost every OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I imagine it can be done but it wouldn't be mass storage and would require apps to be compatible it may have been done on other systems but how much space should this storage folder be allocated because it would no longer be avalible to install apps. In camera mode android still retains control of the folder other os can read that folder but files must be copied off the device to be edited. It would be good if android could mount the SD card as mass storage.
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
No it would not technically be mass storage, thus the "simulated" comment. As far as other OSes, it's already been done to a point on android already via the simulated partition that's already in use. This has also bee done using third party apps to mount folders as virtual drives.
App compatibility, if the folder is used as mount point then it is transparent to the OS and the apps. This has been done for some time now using third party apps.
The folder size could have the same limitations that the storage area has already been limited to. If coded so that it is part of the boot process then everything outside of system apps would only see the virtual area. Kind of like what's being done right now.
Dual mount. This has been used with much success and allows for PC and Android access to the same storage area at the same time.