Database Users

FAT32 File Limitation

I have many movies that I want to put on my tablet to watch. Most are over 4 GB in size since their HD. You cant transfer them to the SD because of the FAT32 size limitation. Since Android doesn't recognize SD cards formatted to EXT3, you cant format the SD that way to allow the higher size file transfers.
I got myself an adapter on ebay so I could hook my portable 1TB drive to the tab. It connects the usb end of the tab cable and makes it into the micro usb end that goes into the drive. Only problem is that it didn't work. The tab doesn't put out any power to run the drive.
Is there an app or tweak that can be made to have the tab push power out to do this?

dubie76 said:
I have many movies that I want to put on my tablet to watch. Most are over 4 GB in size since their HD. You cant transfer them to the SD because of the FAT32 size limitation. Since Android doesn't recognize SD cards formatted to EXT3, you cant format the SD that way to allow the higher size file transfers.
I got myself an adapter on ebay so I could hook my portable 1TB drive to the tab. It connects the usb end of the tab cable and makes it into the micro usb end that goes into the drive. Only problem is that it didn't work. The tab doesn't put out any power to run the drive.
Is there an app or tweak that can be made to have the tab push power out to do this?
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Link to said device?

natious said:
Link to said device?
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Doesnt matter because it doesnt work........

USB Host Adaptors do not put out power of any decent level on the TAB, this is not a software limitation as I understand it but actually a Hardware Limitation in the pinouts. Most USB Host/USB On The Go portable devices don't put out the sort of power required for a HDD.
At any rate, said device should work with an externally powered HDD, instead of a USB powered one.

Whether the videos are mkv or avi. You can get a splitter software.
Splitting is much faster than Transcoding. You can split your files within seconds and then copy them over.
Trust me. I know it's inconvenient, but it's just so stupid how manufacturers keep ignoring USB host.

USB Hard Drive connection

Has anyonebeen able to connect successfully an hard drive to TP?
I've tried by all manners without success,even with the docking ... no luck.
Would thisbe possible if we root TP?

for your usb drive to be mounted by the thinkpad, it has to be formatted in fat32. not fat or ntfs.
Ive got 2 hard drives (1terabyte and 500GB) with loads of data on them and are both formatted ntfs. I connected them to my thinkpad, they powered up but did not mount. I wasn't ready to reformat my hard drives with data on them so i didn't try.
However, I think I've got a 2GB usb stick lying around somewhere . I'll format it to fat32 and post some feedback here later.
oh and before trying, go to settings-->storage and enable usb storage devices. otherwise no device would mount on the tablet. even when formatted properly

as darkhandsome18 mentioned, yes but the harddrive has to be formatted in Fat32. Windows XP, Vista, and 7 don't allow you to format harddrives over 32GB within windows. However, you can use a thirdparty utility to format drives that are over 32GB in size to Fat32.
i personally use Fat32formatter (its commandline based) to do this w/my drives.
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/FAT32format.shtml
i did verify that my 1TB external usb harddrive did mount on the TPT, i have not tried to run any videos or music from it though.

darkhandsome18 said:
for your usb drive to be mounted by the thinkpad, it has to be formatted in fat32. not fat or ntfs.
Ive got 2 hard drives (1terabyte and 500GB) with loads of data on them and are both formatted ntfs. I connected them to my thinkpad, they powered up but did not mount. I wasn't ready to reformat my hard drives with data on them so i didn't try.
However, I think I've got a 2GB usb stick lying around somewhere . I'll format it to fat32 and post some feedback here later.
oh and before trying, go to settings-->storage and enable usb storage devices. otherwise no device would mount on the tablet. even when formatted properly
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i have tried 4 ext HDD (ntfs and fat32), and all of them is not working.... (except for draining my battery for powering the HDD.. )
but for usb flash drive, that is a different matter, is it easily recognized by my TPT..
there is 1 unique problem that occurred to me, while trying to copy files from/into my TPT, there's a notification that file copy is successful, but when i check the file, it's size is 0 bytes..
this has happened to me 3-4 times, unfortunately, i dont know where's the "glitch" is coming from, as i can't replicate the problem anymore (i haven't got any update at all)

I have 2 different 500gb 2,5" drives. My samsung drive works fine playing music on the TPT. The WD drive I have only works sometimes strangly enough.
Normally when I use playback from hdd I use my supercharger power which connects throught the docking port or else the TPT just gets sucked dry of power as the hdd draws almost 500mA's.

External Drives
zeb crs said:
I have 2 different 500gb 2,5" drives. My samsung drive works fine playing music on the TPT. The WD drive I have only works sometimes strangly enough.
Normally when I use playback from hdd I use my supercharger power which connects throught the docking port or else the TPT just gets sucked dry of power as the hdd draws almost 500mA's.
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If your external drive is formatted at fat32 and has its own power source, you will have success using it with the TPT. But if you are depending on the tablet's USB port to supply enough power to spin the disks in the external hard drive, you will get varying results, depending on the power requirements for your external drive. USB flash drives work fine because they have no moving parts and a low power requirement. As zeb crs stated, you see a huge power drain on your tablet when trying to use an external hard drive without its own power source.

have anyone tried to insert a san disk SDXC 64G SD card into the tablet?

flss01001 said:
have anyone tried to insert a san disk SDXC 64G SD card into the tablet?
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XC is not supported . just HC

Skateddy from the Lenovo forums got a Komputerbay 64GB SDXC Class 10 card to work properly: http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-slate-tablets/Max-SD-size/td-p/524571

Moved to Thinkpad General
No questions in the development section please. Once sorted out feel free to post a [Tutorial] thread. That can go in the dev section.
Take it easy
O_G

Just to share that yesterday, after waiting +/- more than 1m, my TPT has recognize an external 1TB HD formated in FAT32
Good news for travelers, right?!

Update 2
Drive Mount
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=drive+mount&c=apps
For those who have root this app even mounts nfts!
Hope you find this use full.
Cheers,
Paulo

Connecting to drives larger than 32GB

heya...
Not sure if this is the right place to list this, but....
I found a tool that formats any drive larger than 32gb to fat32.
With it I formatted a 1TB hdd in an external, self powered enclosure and connected it to the tablet.
Holy crap it worked like a charm
The tool is called FAT32 Format...google it its free

Yeah. I was pleased to see the USB 3.0 hard drive charger cable port.

Nice find......that really opens up the possibilities.....with a hard drive that stores the stuff on my mac....I can actually use the pro as my main device. I have a 500GB laying on the shelf to play with.
Can you confirm that any pics would show in the gallery?

You can do this from diskpart too (built in Windows tool). Use the FS=FAT32 option.
http://blog.powerbiz.net.au/fixes/using-diskpart-to-create-a-bootable-usb-of-windows-8/

I seem to remember some of the later Samsung devices have exFAT support. It does not have the max 4GB size per file limitation associated with FAT32.
Not sure about the Note Pro though
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

Can you give some more details. I want to connect a powered 3.0 hub to my 12.2 with an osg to 3.0 usb adapter so that I can use an external (non powered) hdd. I'd also like to try an external dvd drive.
Thanks

I used an OTG cable and plugged in my 500 MB external to it, no problem, no formatting. Do some need to be formatted to work?

USB OTG Max Drive Size?

Anyone know the max size of drive attached to MXPE USB OTG?
I verified an old 320GB FAT32 2.5" external USB 2.0 drive works.
However, a new 2TB FAT32 2.5" external USB 3.0 drive does not work. It crashes the phone hard to a self-inflicted reboot every time it starts to mount it.
Both drives "mount" OK to a WinXP system. Both drives have enough extra power through a Y-cable and/or powered USB hub when connected to the phone, so power is not the problem. Both drives were partitioned and formatted to FAT32 using GParted (on Parted Magic boot CD).
Update on power: Newer 2.5" external drives don't need additional power using Y-cable or powered hub.
Any info would be appreciated.

Here I go again, replying to my own queries on XDA Developer.
The phone will happily mount the 2 TB drive formatted to exFAT. And no external power needed either - the phone has enough power to run it with just an OTG cable.
The first attempt using GParted to partition and format the drive to exFAT did not work to get the phone to mount it. Not sure why.
However, using Windows XP command (DOS -like) shell to format it to exFAT worked, with the /FS:exFAT and /Q parameters. Had to install the WinXP patch to add exFAT support too.
Now, time to fill this sucker up.

Why would you need 2 Tb connected to a phone anyway ?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

patt2k said:
Why would you need 2 Tb connected to a phone anyway ?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
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Streaming is OK for convenience, but quality is only so-so, and sometimes there is no available network connection sufficient to stream.
This phone has outstanding audio quality (with Audio Effects OFF), it really comes out with lossless audio like FLAC. High quality video and lossless audio files take a lot of storage. 50-something GB on phone plus 128 GB mSD card are not enough by themselves for the amount of media I have. A 2 TB drive to carry along for USB OTG provides a workaround, I can put my ENTIRE audio and video library on it and it will always be available in lossless quality wherever I am.
I wouldn't run the OTG drive to listen/watch directly, that uses too much power. Use it to copy on to phone them unmount.

Debating whether or not to exchange 16GB for Pro

After using a 16GB Darcy for 10 days I'm now tempted to exchange it for a Pro. Basically, I could use the extra space. I was going to buy a USB 3, 500GB ssd for adopted storage which will put me at the cost of a Pro anyway. I tried adopted storage on Darcy with a 320GB HD and set it all up, but as soon as I opened ES file explorer and gave it the permission it asked for, I lost access to the disk and had to forget it then reformat it. My guess is I should have Denied that permission request because once ES cached it's files and wrote to the disk it must have invalidated it. I'll know that for next time but my point is that adopted storage on Android can be tricky. So I'm wondering, can you hear the SSHD in the Pro spin when things are quiet? That would be a con for me. And the biggest con is the lack of ir blaster on pro remote. I have volume on my TV working with this and how would I accomplish that with the Pro? I don't believe CEC can control volume on my TV. Just CEC power control is working for me. If someone with some experience with these models can chime in here it will help me make a decision. Thanks.

DJarkIV said:
After using a 16GB Darcy for 10 days I'm now tempted to exchange it for a Pro. Basically, I could use the extra space. I was going to buy a USB 3, 500GB ssd for adopted storage which will put me at the cost of a Pro anyway. I tried adopted storage on Darcy with a 320GB HD and set it all up, but as soon as I opened ES file explorer and gave it the permission it asked for, I lost access to the disk and had to forget it then reformat it. My guess is I should have Denied that permission request because once ES cached it's files and wrote to the disk it must have invalidated it. I'll know that for next time but my point is that adopted storage on Android can be tricky. So I'm wondering, can you hear the SSHD in the Pro spin when things are quiet? That would be a con for me. And the biggest con is the lack of ir blaster on pro remote. I have volume on my TV working with this and how would I accomplish that with the Pro? I don't believe CEC can control volume on my TV. Just CEC power control is working for me. If someone with some experience with these models can chime in here it will help me make a decision. Thanks.
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I have had the shield pro for almost a year now, never heard the hard disk, control volume with the shield fine, if it cant then the settings is in your tv to use external volume source. I may also add been rooted since day one with zero problems that I didnt cause myself

jionny said:
I have had the shield pro for almost a year now, never heard the hard disk, control volume with the shield fine, if it cant then the settings is in your tv to use external volume source. I may also add been rooted since day one with zero problems that I didnt cause myself
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Thanks for the info. I want to clarify that ES didn't ask for root permission regarding the adopted storage. It was simple storage permission request, "access storage, photos, etc." ES may have viewed it as external storage although it was setup as internal through Android. I'll have to experiment with that again to confirm that's what happened.

DJarkIV said:
Thanks for the info. I want to clarify that ES didn't ask for root permission regarding the adopted storage. It was simple storage permission request, "access storage, photos, etc." ES may have viewed it as external storage although it was setup as internal through Android. I'll have to experiment with that again to confirm that's what happened.
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I use to use es when I first rooted but my personal opinion is it sucks, I now use Xplore

jionny said:
I use to use es when I first rooted but my personal opinion is it sucks, I now use Xplore
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Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more. ES has practically became malware over the years. On my phone I use Amaze. I installed Amaze on the Shield but can't use it without a mouse. I just downloaded Xplore as you recommend and will give it a try. Speaking of mouse, I'm looking to purchase a Bluetooth RII i8 mouse/keyboard/ remote. Is Bluetooth the way to go over Wifi-Direct on newer Shields?

DJarkIV said:
I couldn't agree more. ES has practically became malware over the years. On my phone I use Amaze. I installed Amaze on the Shield but can't use it without a mouse. I just downloaded Xplore as you recommend and will give it a try. Speaking of mouse, I'm looking to purchase a Bluetooth RII i8 mouse/keyboard/ remote. Is Bluetooth the way to go over Wifi-Direct on newer Shields?
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My personal experience with the RII i8 with the shield is doesnt work very well, maybe just my experience. I happened upon a logitech K400 plus keyboard/mouse and it works flawless, only disapointment is I rather have something smaller like the i8

DJarkIV said:
Thanks for the info. I want to clarify that ES didn't ask for root permission regarding the adopted storage. It was simple storage permission request, "access storage, photos, etc." ES may have viewed it as external storage although it was setup as internal through Android. I'll have to experiment with that again to confirm that's what happened.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my guess is that is what happened, personally I believe es explorer is garbage at one time the best but not anymore, I use Xplore

I've a 2017 16gb model with a 250GB Samsung EVO SSD in a USB 3 enclosure. I filled it with 50+ games (more than 10 of LightSpeed Studios) and emulators, the speed is awesome and the problems non existant. The free space is aroud 100 GB.
For file management I use Solid Explorer. It's not remote friendly, but you can use it very well with the joystick.

cyberdionisio said:
I've a 2017 16gb model with a 250GB Samsung EVO SSD in a USB 3 enclosure. I filled it with 50+ games (more than 10 of LightSpeed Studios) and emulators, the speed is awesome and the problems non existant. The free space is aroud 100 GB.
For file management I use Solid Explorer. It's not remote friendly, but you can use it very well with the joystick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up keeping the 16GB darcy and added a 500GB Samsung T5 SSD as adopted stage. Seems like a good setup so I'm happy. I also have a new USB 3 hub on the inner port. Now I just have to figure out how to bypass the convertible mode on the outer port so I can have adb on without losing the ability to hook up media/storage devices to that port. I may have found a way but it requires a factory reset after the build.prop string is added. I'll get around to trying it out soon.

Sorry to barge in on this convo - but I have a similarish qu. I've just bought the 16Gb today (not shipped yet) and will be either using a 256 flash drive, or my 1TB WD USB 3 HDD.
The thing that's putting me off is the fact that when you add the HDD/SD to the Shield, it can't be read on a PC afterwards. So how on earth would I transfer anything to it once it's been formatted by the Shield?

jonboyuk said:
Sorry to barge in on this convo - but I have a similarish qu. I've just bought the 16Gb today (not shipped yet) and will be either using a 256 flash drive, or my 1TB WD USB 3 HDD.
The thing that's putting me off is the fact that when you add the HDD/SD to the Shield, it can't be read on a PC afterwards. So how on earth would I transfer anything to it once it's been formatted by the Shield?
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You're not barging in, that's what xda is for. So I'm not sure what your goal is but if you want to add to the Android internal storage then you will keep that Drive of your choice plugged into the Shield and consider it integrated. To transfer files back and forth you could use another drive of your choice which would just be a transfer drive. That Drive is not formatted by the Shield but it's readable and you can manage it with a file manager. My preferred method would be just using a usb 3 cable (usb a to usb a) Shield to computer directly. It's basically the same way you would hook up your phone to the computer to transfer files. Another way which is supported by most file managers would be wireless transfer. You have a lot of options. I recently just added a Samsung SSD as adoptable storage which is now considered part of the internal storage. It's working well.

DJarkIV said:
You're not barging in, that's what xda is for. So I'm not sure what your goal is but if you want to add to the Android internal storage then you will keep that Drive of your choice plugged into the Shield and consider it integrated. To transfer files back and forth you could use another drive of your choice which would just be a transfer drive. That Drive is not formatted by the Shield but it's readable and you can manage it with a file manager. My preferred method would be just using a usb 3 cable (usb a to usb a) Shield to computer directly. It's basically the same way you would hook up your phone to the computer to transfer files. Another way which is supported by most file managers would be wireless transfer. You have a lot of options. I recently just added a Samsung SSD as adoptable storage which is now considered part of the internal storage. It's working well.
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Haha I know, I'm just being courteous
That makes perfect sense though. In which case I might use the 1TB hard drive for removable storage (movies etc) and then get a 128Gb flash drive to replace the integrated 16Gb (ie adoptable).
The other thing is, I didn't buy the Shield controller. I do have a spare Xbox One & PS4 pad. Do they work equally as well - bearing in mind that I'll be using it for PC streaming, emulation and Android gaming?
Cheers!

That makes perfect sense though. In which case I might use the 1TB hard drive for removable storage (movies etc) and then get a 128Gb flash drive to replace the integrated 16Gb (ie adoptable).
Just to clarify, it won't replace the 16GB internal storage but add to it. The Android System will still remain on the 16GB internal but the drive you add as adopted will contain the Data portion after you set it up and have the Shield "move Data" to it. It's not a perfect system and some apps will still prefer to install to the 16GB. But if you enable developer options and check "force apps to external regardless of manifest" you will have the ability to move the stubborn apps to your adopted storage drive.
The other thing is, I didn't buy the Shield controller. I do have a spare Xbox One & PS4 pad. Do they work equally as well - bearing in mind that I'll be using it for PC streaming, emulation and Android gaming?
As far as the controller, I'm not 100% sure. If those controllers use Bluetooth to pair they should work. You can select settings-add accessory and attempt to pair them. If you look around you will find that answer.

If you change the external storage as a GPT drive instead of MBR. the nVidia Shield can use it for added internal storage. But it won't do it without this change which you can do on a Windows PC with Disk Management.You don't need a PRO.

orbinick said:
If you change the external storage as a GPT drive instead of MBR. the nVidia Shield can use it for added internal storage. But it won't do it without this change which you can do on a Windows PC with Disk Management.You don't need a PRO.
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Yeah, we're way of topic at this point. I decided a while ago I'm not exchanging for the Pro. Instead I added a Samsung T5 500GB. Your post is very interesting, can you explain further? I'm a Mac user so I did originally format my disk with the GUID partition scheme (GPT) before setting it up as adoptable storage. But from my experience, you can pretty much add just about any disk I ever tried as adoptable storage regardless of the partition scheme. The Shield ends up formatting it beforehand although I'm not sure if it changes the partition scheme for you. What more can you do with GUID that you can't do with MPT?