Hi, so I plug my Moto G 3rd gen into PC via USB. The PC recognizes the phone. However when I try to open it to look at the folders, nothing shows up. It looks as if the phone were completely blank. This used to work fine; it was how I moved pics and videos to my PC and deleted old files. However, now it's not working. Last night, I did upgrade to the newest system 6.0.
acejavelin
Well-known member
This is a known issue with the Marshmallow update on G3 with SD card set as portable storage (users who switched to internal storage seem to have no issues)... Disconnect USB, then Go to Settings, Apps, and Show System Apps, then find External Storage and Media Storage, and clear data and cache on each one and reboot. Give it 5 min after full boot up to rebuild media databases and connect to USB and select MTP, should be good to go.
All you have to do is.....drop down menu------- and tell the phone what action you want to do. Charge only, transfer photos, or transfer files
Posted via the Android Central App on Moto G3 16/2 on $35 Cricket wireless plan.
Posted via the Android Central App on Moto G3 16/2 on $35 Cricket wireless plan.
d7v7d
Active member
Have same issue on my moto g and seems to have noticed this after allowing a system update. Searched online and for "android enable usb mtp" or "moto g enable usb mtp" any useful hits are overwhelmed by the large number of hits for previous moto g versions that had the issue. Went through your process up to the point of re-installing the USB cable then selecting MTP (versus PTP). After about an hour could still not figure out how to enable MTP to complete your process?
acejavelin
Well-known member
BTW... If you enable Developer Options, you change the default USB behavior from Charge Only to MTP File Transfer, then you don't have to grab the pull down every time
Many thanks for your solution to the problem of PC not seeing the SD card on 3rd gen Moto G with Marshmallow. Why isn't Motorola providing any help with this at their site? Why did it take me days to find this solution?
Regarding the USB default, I do not see an obvious Developer Option on my Moto G to allow MTB file transfer as the default. Can you help? Thanks again.
Regarding the USB default, I do not see an obvious Developer Option on my Moto G to allow MTB file transfer as the default. Can you help? Thanks again.
delrey1900
Well-known member
Settings/About Phone/ Tap Build Number (all the way on the bottom) 5 times. Developer options will be second from the bottom in settings. Turn on Developer options, under 'Select USB Configuration', select the one you want.
Thanks, I followed advice, and found that USB was already set for MTB file transfer as default.
Oops, now the MTB default is no longer working.
But, now the PC is not seeing the SD card again. Do I need to keep clearing the data from the internal and SD memories each time I want to get access to the files, or move music over?
I have rebooted, went to developer options, MTB still appears as default. But, when I connect to PC with USB, I again see the notification that USB is for charging, and given option of MTB. I had to clear the data, reboot, wait 5 min. PC sees SD, but I still have to select USB file transfer.
Oops, now the MTB default is no longer working.
But, now the PC is not seeing the SD card again. Do I need to keep clearing the data from the internal and SD memories each time I want to get access to the files, or move music over?
I have rebooted, went to developer options, MTB still appears as default. But, when I connect to PC with USB, I again see the notification that USB is for charging, and given option of MTB. I had to clear the data, reboot, wait 5 min. PC sees SD, but I still have to select USB file transfer.
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acejavelin
Well-known member
You probably tried to change it with the USB connected... Disconnect USB and change USB default to Charge Only, reboot, then change it to MPT and connect USB, should work.
Thanks, I followed advice, and found that USB was already set for MTB file transfer as default.
But, now the PC is not seeing the SD card again. Do I need to keep clearing the data from the internal and SD memories each time I want to get access to the files, or move music over?
But, now the PC is not seeing the SD card again. Do I need to keep clearing the data from the internal and SD memories each time I want to get access to the files, or move music over?
Well, I followed the instructions. Even after I selected "USB for charging", and rebooted, the "developer options" still showed MTP as the default. But, when I connected to USB, the dropdown notice shows "USB for charging". Is there something I'm missing regarding saving selections for USB settings in the "developer options" or ??? At this point, my PC is seeing the internal and SD card with all files/contents.
Thanks for sticking with this.
Thanks for sticking with this.
acejavelin
Well-known member
To be honest, I haven't tested it... Just saw the option there and tried to use logic, guess that didn't work this time. ☺
I appreciate your help, and will keep trying.
Is there an established path to Google/Motorola to fix these things? It is very annoying to install an upgrade to a system that is doing what I want it to do, only to find that it can take hours and weeks of fiddling to fix the upgrade. Having spent good money on SD cards, it is irritating to find that they don't do what I bought them to do. I suspect Google simply wants users to buy all their music from them, and store it all in Google's cloud, rather than on one's own memory device.
Is there an established path to Google/Motorola to fix these things? It is very annoying to install an upgrade to a system that is doing what I want it to do, only to find that it can take hours and weeks of fiddling to fix the upgrade. Having spent good money on SD cards, it is irritating to find that they don't do what I bought them to do. I suspect Google simply wants users to buy all their music from them, and store it all in Google's cloud, rather than on one's own memory device.
d7v7d
Active member
Would you please explain how to enable MTP with the gen 3 moto g as I'm apparently stuck in PPT and have not stumbled on where that is set up?
acejavelin
Well-known member
Change it each connect in the pull-down apparently... You can't set it to a default anymore.
d7v7d
Active member
What I was doing.
USB cable not inserted
Phone boots up.
No apps running.
Select Settings...Apps
Select 3 dot menu top right
Show System
External Storage
Storage
Clear Data
OK
Media Storage
Storage
Clear Data
OK
Power off phone for reboot
Boots back up
Power up, boots back up
no apps running
Wait 8 minutes
At this point is where I had gotten stuck.
Plugged in USB cable and nothing seems to change on default moto g display but this time I swiped down from the top of the display to expand the status bar displays and then saw
USB for file transfer
at bottom of list that when selected a pop up with options show including
Transfer Files (MTP)
Thus what I had not considered doing was to look at that status display because I was instead looking in settings areas which is where I expect to set up modes.
USB cable not inserted
Phone boots up.
No apps running.
Select Settings...Apps
Select 3 dot menu top right
Show System
External Storage
Storage
Clear Data
OK
Media Storage
Storage
Clear Data
OK
Power off phone for reboot
Boots back up
Power up, boots back up
no apps running
Wait 8 minutes
At this point is where I had gotten stuck.
Plugged in USB cable and nothing seems to change on default moto g display but this time I swiped down from the top of the display to expand the status bar displays and then saw
USB for file transfer
at bottom of list that when selected a pop up with options show including
Transfer Files (MTP)
Thus what I had not considered doing was to look at that status display because I was instead looking in settings areas which is where I expect to set up modes.
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This is going to sound ridiculous but are you using a power only cable?
Posted from my Moto G (2015) on the Android Central app.
Posted from my Moto G (2015) on the Android Central app.
acejavelin
Well-known member
If it's working I wouldn't bother, but you missed a step... you should be clearing data/cache on External Storage -AND- Media Storage apps.
d7v7d
Active member
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