USB Flash Drive With Unrooted N7 2013

Father Tech

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I realize there are many facets to this question, so I'll try to be specific:

1. Starting with a USB flash drive formatted with FAT32 ...
2. I transfer media - video, music and/or photos - from my PC to the USB flash drive.
3. I attach the USB flash drive to an unrooted Nexus 7 2013 (FHD, Generation 2) with an OTG cable (female USB to male micro-USB).

Will the unrooted Nexus 7 play the media, as if the media was stored on the Nexus 7 itself?

If so, what app(s) if any need to be installed to the Nexus 7 to accomplish this?

Thanks for your help. :)
 

Father Tech

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Thank you.

And this can be done with an unrooted Nexus 7 2013 (FHD, second generation, etc.)?

Is this procedure (OTG cable, NMI) supported by Google? Or at the very least: Does Google tolerate it and not actively oppose it?
 

NoraMelua

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Yes and yes. Nexus Media Importer is specifically designed to work with unrooted devices and the app has been on Google Play for ages. Google does not oppose it.

There were some compatibility problems on Android 4.3, but they were all fixed in KitKat.
 

Art Penty

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My question if similar to the above. I have OTG working -- but it will only play the music from the USB stick one song at a time. I would like to be able to cue a number of songs, or a whole music file. I do not want to use NMI to import the music and then have to delele it from the Nexus. Anyone know if there is OTG file or music app that will do this?
 

ks1g

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Nexus Media Importer works quite well for me (stock N7 2, Kit Kat 4.4) with USB 2.0 sticks. I do not have any USB 3 devices to test. 32GBytes is largest I have tried.
As best I can tell, non-rooted systems do not mount external storage where other apps on the Nexus can access it; e.g. a USB with mp3 tunes remains invisible to the playlist and DJ apps I have tried. Total Commander has a USB OTG plugin that works well, but doesn't make files on USB visible to other apps, either. Stickmount https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=eu.chainfire.stickmount&token=OeB3iXFC should do the trick, but requires root. May try that in a few days, a workaround for tethering is higher priority.
 

Art Penty

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Thanks for the info. Would appreciate if you would let me know if you solve either the tethering issue or the file mounting problem on non rooted tablets.
 

rhea

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Nexus Media Importer works quite well for me (stock N7 2, Kit Kat 4.4) with USB 2.0 sticks. I do not have any USB 3 devices to test. 32GBytes is largest I have tried.
As best I can tell, non-rooted systems do not mount external storage where other apps on the Nexus can access it; e.g. a USB with mp3 tunes remains invisible to the playlist and DJ apps I have tried. Total Commander has a USB OTG plugin that works well, but doesn't make files on USB visible to other apps, either. Stickmount https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=eu.chainfire.stickmount&token=kSUL9HnE should do the trick, but requires root. May try that in a few days, a workaround for tethering is higher priority.
FWIW, Stick Mount Pro seems pretty buggy on 4.4.2. Sometimes mounts the drive or not. Sometimes when it appears to mount the drive, no data is shown in the file manager. It requires a reboot to work. My search for whether or not I need to invest in Nexus Media Importer brought me to this thread. My USB 3.0 card reader works like the 2.0 flash drive (when it's mounted properly in Stick Mount Pro, files are available).