Droid 3 - Internal Storage in USB Mass Storage Mode

iamkevski

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Jul 5, 2011
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Got my new droid 3 today, and I'm trying to mount the device from the computer in order to transfer all my stuff from a desktop backup I did manually.

When I mount the device, I get options including "USB Mass Storage" on the device. When I choose that, it shows a new Drive in windows explorer that is a cd drive showing the motorola drivers. Ok, cool, I figured I would run the driver install, so I did.

After running the driver installation, I unmounted, and gave it about 20 seconds to get back to normal, and then I mounted again. Unfortunately in USB Mass Storage mode, I only see the stupid driver CD "drive" that it creates, and I can't see the Internal Storage or my SD card that I added to the droid 3.

The only way I can get to "internal storage" is to use the "PC" mode on the option list, however that doesn't help me, because I still can't get to the SD card.

Any ideas on what I may be doing wrong? Using Windows 7 Enterprise X64, and my drivers should be the right 64 bit drivers, as I went to the moto site and downloaded the newest ones, because I thought that might be the issue.
 

iamkevski

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If you are able to view the "internal storage", is there not an "/sdcard" directory you view?

I don't own a D3, just wondering...
The phone is on "USB Mass Storage" option - there are three other options displayed on the phone when I connect it to the PC: "PC Mode", "Windows Media Sync" or "Charge Only" - the UI is different that the Droid 1 which I knew before.

Here's the result set when I'm on USB Mass Storage: (1.png)

When I'm on PC Mode, I actually get a really nice UI and it lets me get to the internal storage, but it's not showing a separate area for the SD Card... Weird: (2.png)
 

WarER4X

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On the D3, for just normal transferring of files, you want to use USB Mass Storage Mode. On a Windows computer, you're internal storage space on the D3 will be assigned a drive letter and then you can move files to and from the space using that drive. If you have an SD Card installed in the D3, it will also be assigned a drive letter and then you just have to figure out which one is the internal storage and which one is the SD Card. Note that you will not see the /sdcard (for internal storage) or /sdcard-ext (for SD Card) when you mount it through Windows Explorer. You only see those directory structures when browsing your file system with an app on the device or the adp.

-SR-

PS: I have no idea what the experience looks like through Mac OS or any Posix systems.
 

paintdrinkingpete

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Yup, that "removable drive" *is* the virtual SD card, I believe.

That's the way my Galaxy tab works.

I guess I should ask, did you actually put an SD card in the device, or are you just using internal storage?
 
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Showtime68

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I'm having what I think is an identical problem with my new D3.
I did notice while playing with it from the storage screen on my phone that in "charge only" it shows my available memory space but when I choose USB Mass Storage it says I don't even have an SD card mounted.
 

doogald

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I'm having what I think is an identical problem with my new D3.
I did notice while playing with it from the storage screen on my phone that in "charge only" it shows my available memory space but when I choose USB Mass Storage it says I don't even have an SD card mounted.

Yes, that is the way that it works. When you choose USB Mass Storage, the internal storage (called "sdcard") is dismounted from the phone so that it can be mounted by the PC to which you are connecting - it cannot be mounted by both the phone and the PC at the same time.