No USB MASS STORAGE Support!!? Only MTP PTP?

[yapkuen]

I think google got rid of USB mass storage because of the whole partition issue. They decided it was too much hassle and they wanted to streamline the phone for make it friendlier to use.

to be honest, i seriously think google don't care about the user as much or they are a bunch naive nerds who think their way is the right way.

The partition thing was somewhat confusing to the average consumer, and having to unmount the SD volume when using USB mass storage mode was a little annoying, but I think in the long run MTP will be a step back in terms of ease of file transfer, at least until cloud storage becomes reliable enough to be the primary method of file access -- which would require carriers to stop being so stingy over mobile data and to all get their act together on 4G speeds.

 

[anon(512898)]

The partition thing was somewhat confusing to the average consumer, and having to unmount the SD volume when using USB mass storage mode was a little annoying, but I think in the long run MTP will be a step back in terms of ease of file transfer, at least until cloud storage becomes reliable enough to be the primary method of file access -- which would require carriers to stop being so stingy over mobile data and to all get their act together on 4G speeds.

What this allows is that the phone manufacturer no longer needs to tell you how much space is available for apps and how much is available for media. The fact that all internal storage is available for whatever is huge plus and for windows users (read: most of the world) mtp is not that different from usb mass storage.

 

[FineWolf]

OK, just to clear this up...

It's the same senario as it ever was: USB MSD is only available for the MicroSD card, not for built in storage.

Since the Galaxy Nexus doesn't support a MicroSD card, it doesn't have MSD.

 

[Analog]

OK, just to clear this up...

It's the same senario as it ever was: USB MSD is only available for the MicroSD card, not for built in storage.

Since the Galaxy Nexus doesn't support a MicroSD card, it doesn't have MSD.

I'm confused. My Motorola Atrix 4G supports a MicroSD card as well as having built-in storage (an "internal SD card" actually mounted as /mnt/emmc), and it presents both of them as separate MSDs.

So is there something about USB MSD that requires a MicroSD card to be present, but as long as it's present it can also present the internal storage as an MSD? Or is just a choice made by Android's developers that if there is no MicroSD card supported, the internal storage will not be mounted as a separate partition and will not be available as a mass storage device? Or is it a Samsung thing? Or...?

 

[FineWolf]

I'm confused. My Motorola Atrix 4G supports a MicroSD card as well as having built-in storage (an "internal SD card" actually mounted as /mnt/emmc), and it presents both of them as separate MSDs.

So is there something about USB MSD that requires a MicroSD card to be present, but as long as it's present it can also present the internal storage as an MSD? Or is just a choice made by Android's developers that if there is no MicroSD card supported, the internal storage will not be mounted as a separate partition and will not be available as a mass storage device? Or is it a Samsung thing? Or...?

Since Honeycomb and the various back end changes in Android, Internal memory is no longer accessible via UMS. Before Honeycomb, your apps and data partition were separate, so you didn't have that problem. However, you were limited in the amounts of apps you could install due to the small apps partition. [More Info]

 

[Piquedram]

So what trick does the motorolla xoom use for usb storage? Because to me, if I mount it in windows, (I havo no micro sd in there) it looks a hell of a lot like usb mass storage...

EDIT: found my answer, on windows xoom does both mass storage and mtp, apparantly

 

[anon(525422)]

That's what Verizon is for... except the planes. But many international airports in the US have LTE. I downloaded 2 movies from my cloud before getting on my last flight to Mexico.

And there's the catch: if you're having to download media for use offline, it defeats the entire purpose of having the cloud over onboard storage in the first place.

Movies are a little different but my issue is music: while it generally takes less space, I have a pretty huge CD collection that I've ripped and I tend to jump randomly around it, depending on which particular earworms are plaguing me at that particular moment. So the concept of planning ahead and preloading the stuff that's on "today's listening schedule" is a non-starter for me; that's simply not the way I listen to music.

I need/want everything available so I can pick and choose randomly on the fly. In theory the cloud is perfect for making everything constantly available for streaming -- given that my CD collection wouldn't fit on even the largest iPod Touch. But in practice I use my portable media device primarily:

a) when I'm commuting (99% subway, zero coverage)

b) when I'm on a plane (zero coverage)

c) when I'm abroad (zero coverage)

Having to sync via the cloud whenever I'm in range of wifi, or temporarily above ground on my commute, is even less convenient than simply carrying around a netbook with my entire set of CD rips. With the lack of ubiquitous connectivity, the Cloud is just another tether -- albeit a non-physical one -- that forces me to sync m portable device on a regular basis for offline listening, so there's really no particular advantage over syncing via a cable the old-fashioned way.

 

[nuchdog]

Thank you for the headup. Android Police confirmed this. With this info I think I can go ahead and activate the sim in my current Galaxy SII I just bought and skip the Nexus.

I have used 5 different Android tablets, some of them don't have microSD card so they used MTP. MTP can be annoying move files, you're not able to see all files in your SD card, just general files like pic, music, docs. Files are moved once at a time, sure you shouldn't copy two files at once to a slow storage, but with user habits and you're trying to move many different files to the card at the momemt. It is slower than mass storage mode to me.

I have folders of documents and music in my phone, I use a syncing app to sync the folders from my computer. This is not possible with MTP mode. I do not want to use cloud services.

What gets me is the fact that Android is 'somewhat' linux OS, but it has to use Microsoft protocol. Since I use linux desktop, it won't be able to recognize the phone (as it did not with my previous Honeycomb tablet that only had MTP mode), unless I boot into Windows.

This is compounded by limited storage space. (16GB is not 16GB, the available space for users is much less. Yes I know there is a 32gb version.) I don't want anyone to start asking about why one person need to carry whatever amount of contents in their phone, its their right to. It would be no different than asking "3MP camera is enough, why would you need 5MP" or "800mhz single core is enough, why would you need 1ghz dualcore?"

However, if one don't mine carrying with them an external tiny USB flash drive or microSD reader and one of those "MicroUSB OTG adaptor", it might surfice. Although I'm stilling waiting for more reviews to see other aspects of the phone.

The article you referenced was rather good and answered a lot of your questions. The actual quotes in the article come from Reddit.
Whoa, whoa. ICS doesn't support USB mass storage? : Android

Basically, ICS supports UMS but only for SD Cards and partitions that are separate from your OS. In HC and ICS Google is going to a single internal storage structure to make things cleaner. ICS will present a "virtual" copy of the partition to you computer when connected. This is done using MTP since it is abstracted and doesn't require block level access to the drive. This way you dont have to worry about file permissions, partition format, etc. Windows Explorer has native MTP support so the majority of users won't notice any difference at all. Some people are saying that Windows Media Player 10 is required to have that support, but this shouldn't be true in newer Windows systems. The average person should be able to plug their phone into their PC via USB and it should look and function the same. For Mac users, same thing (Android File Transfer: Android.com). Linux has support as well, and many people have it working. I'm not sure what your problem is with MTP in Linux is, but it should work, and I would expect the MTP offerings to become more robust since Google is moving toward MTP. XBox, PS3, etc. also have MTP support already, although I'm not sure how good it is.

 

[crxssi]

I heard this from multiple sources including engadget. This would really bother me if this was true.

That REALLY sucks and I *knew* that was going to happen. Since I saw that crap starting on Honeycomb on the Xoom, it didn't take much imagination to say ICS was going to do the same thing.

MTP is a pain in the ***. It is not compatible with everything like USB Mass Storage. It is a zillion times more irritating, especially for Linux and MacOS users.

Since I use linux desktop, it won't be able to recognize the phone (as it did not with my previous Honeycomb tablet that only had MTP mode), unless I boot into Windows.

That is not true. MTP is not yet integrated into the file browsers, but you *can* use other programs to talk MTP to the device under Linux, even though it is a royal pain in the ***.

Mounting the Xoom in Linux (as well as adb) - xda-developers

create /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

Add:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="22b8", SYMLINK+="libmtp-%k", MODE="0666"

Then "service service udev-post reload"

To use the Xoom with FUSE, plug it in use "mtpfs MOUNTPOINT"
When done, "fusermount -u MOUNTPOINT"

If you don't want to mount and unmount it with FUSE, use the GUI program called "gnomad2". But it is buggy and can't rename or move files. It also can't copy directories, only files. And it has permissions issues, so chmod or run as root.

 

[CeluGeek]

I don't blame the people who complain about not having mass storage mode on the Galaxy Nexus. Here are the top 5 reasons to hate MTP:

5. One file transfer at a time. While you can squeeze an occasional JPG or DOC file transfer in the middle of a large batch of MP3 transfer in mass storage mode, with MTP you have to wait for the current transfer to complete before you can start a new one.
4. Moving and renaming files produce excessive writing to devices. Since most Android devices use flash memory for storage, that can't be good. While in mass storage mode, renaming a file or moving it to a different folder within the device just updates the file's entry in the filesystem's table, but in MTP mode, moving or renaming results in the file being copied in full to its new name or location and then the old file is deleted.
3. No way to fix a corrupted filesystem. You can run a CHKDSK or fsck on a fscked up drive in mass storage mode to fix filesystem erros, but you can't in an MTP device.
2. Compatibility issues. While mass storage mode is recognized and works everywhere, MTP requires specific programs that may be difficult to install and/or use in non-Windows OS's.
1a. MTP is a Microsoft creation. The most ubiquitous implementation of MTP support (Windows Explorer) is rigged to favor Microsoft formats. Transfer an MP4 file to your device and you get a nag screen telling you your device might not play that format, even thougn it probably plays just fine. Transfer a WMV (Windows Media video) file to your device and you are not nagged at all, even though it's unlikely your Android device will be able to play it. MTP assumes Microsoft formats are good while others aren't.
1b. MTP is a Microsoft creation - For all their bullying to Android manufacturers with their patent trolling, Google should not have adopted MTP support in Android.

In contrast, the only benefit MTP has over mass storage mode is that you don't need to safely remove an MTP device. File transfer is done? Yank that sucker out of that USB!

 

[bulvine420]

Not having usb mass storage is not just a problem for files.Its not good for when your trying to hook your phone up to accessories.my car stereo has a usb port and when you activate mass storage you can use the controller to select folders and on the PS 3 you can sync your music.

 

[bdfull3r]

Speaking from the experience of the MTP on my Samsung Galaxy Tab, it works well for most files. Videos, pictures, music etc. It

does not like un standard files. It flat out refused to move a single bit of my playstation ROM's bin, cue, iso. You can work around it. Zip the files, then unzip them on your tablet/phone with androzip or a similar app

For most people this isn't an issue MTP will do what most people want it to do

 

[bricktron]

pretty weak. is bluetooth file transfer any kind of reasonable alternative?

 

[phyl0x]

pardon my ignorance on this subject, but is mass usb something that cyanogen or other custom rom makers could potentially allow even if google doesnt? or is this like a hardware restriction because of the lack of microsd and we'll never get it?

As a OSX user this is troubling.

 

[qst4]

I think this whole issue is more of a Samsung thing as opposed to an ICS issue. The Endgadget article and Reddit said that ICS will support USB transfer. I wiki'd MTP and appearantly Samsung is a partner with Microsoft on MTP protocol.

"Android engineer Dan Morrill took to the 'net to sort out the confusion, explaining that Ice Cream Sandwich does indeed support the feature (USB Mass storage), but only on devices that offer removable storage cards -- which explains why we weren't able to use it on the Nexus."

Ice Cream Sandwich supports USB mass storage after all, Galaxy Nexus does not - Engadget

 

[mitchstehlin]

pretty weak. is bluetooth file transfer any kind of reasonable alternative?

I though it would be convenient which is why I got bluetooth in my computer. However, it's very slow and as far as I know you have to accept each and every file that is sent to the device.

 

[nuchdog]

I though it would be convenient which is why I got bluetooth in my computer. However, it's very slow and as far as I know you have to accept each and every file that is sent to the device.

Don't forget there are apps for that do CIFS/SMB over wifi. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't work for non-UMS devices.

 

[yapkuen]

The one-file-at-a-time over MTP is the main PITA for me. Whenever I hook my phone up to transfer files, it tends to be a pile of files at one time while I do something else. Last thing I want to do is have to move every file one at a time.

 

[Piquedram]

The one-file-at-a-time over MTP is the main PITA for me. Whenever I hook my phone up to transfer files, it tends to be a pile of files at one time while I do something else. Last thing I want to do is have to move every file one at a time.

Point is, you can send multiple files in one copy-paste action, but you can't have 2 file transfers going through together. So you can select 30 music files then send them all over, but while that is running you can't decide to send over 1 or 2 extra, you need to wait for the 30 to be finished before you can send over the next one.

Basically, if you're on a windows machine, like me, you have minimal issues.

 

[jnrbshp]

so when the nexus s gets ics we will be able to use mass storage because its already partitioned, or will ics make it one mtp based storage?