Can't see Phone SD Cards in Windows Explorer

[2guests]

I have two S3's mine and my wife's. When my wife's is plugged in to the PC via USB both her internal and external SD cards show up in Windows Explorer and you can easily transfer files back and forth. When mine is plugged in you cannot see the SD cards show up in Explorer. Did the soft reboot and factory reset on the phone and no drives show up on Explorer. USB cords work fine. Different USB ports do the same thing. Tried 3 different PC's with my phone and none of them showed the phone in Explorer. Samsung's Chat help couldn't help...Samsung's Phone Support couldn't help...AT&T replaced the phone. New phone, still no luck. The only difference between my phone and my wife's is that mine has the UCLG1 update and her's doesn't. I've tried Kies and it also apparently doesn't work with the S3. I haven't tried Kies Air yet. Any other suggestions or is the update what is keeping Explorer from seeing my phone?

 

[zeteo]

I was having a problem with Kies. It turned out my memory card had to be reformatted, then it worked fine.

 

[2guests]

Kies still doesn't work and I have not put a memory card into the new, replacement phone.

Doesn't anybody else copy files from their PC to their phone using USB? Is there anybody that has the firmware upgrade that can see their SD cards in the phone on Windows Explorer?

 

[2guests]

Kies Air works okay. You can easily transfer photos. Transfering music is more of a problem. It won't let you upload music grouped together as albums. It will only let you upload music as individual files. There is no album/artist structure and no artwork. Anyone have some tips for this?

 

[litlprince]

this is going to be of no help to you but I've never had problems connecting by usb without the kies both before and after the update. Its baffling that one phone works and the other doesn't.

 

[Tom S.]

Sorry to hear about your problem. Try "Wifi File Explorer"

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SlappyMcgee]

Have you tried another pc?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[2guests]

Sorry to hear about your problem. Try "Wifi File Explorer"

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Thank you for the suggestion. I really like WiFi File Explorer and use it regularly between my wifi connected devices to share files, pics, and music!. The PC where the music and pics are stored is hard wired to my network. May have to buy a wifi connector for it...wonder if I can send that bill to Samsung just because their device drivers don't work correctly? I'm using Kies Air for connecting to my hard wired PC. It copy's files and pics fine but doesn't do all of the album related data correctly. It's just not as simple as easily dragging and dropping using Windows Explorer.

 

[2guests]

Have you tried another pc?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Yes, I've tried it on three different PC's.

 

[2guests]

Here's where I'm at with this...I've been trying to update the Samsung MTD drivers in Window's Device Manager and the screen shot below shows where my progress ends. I've tried using Windows install wizard and downloading the drivers from Samsung and get the same error message.

 

[2guests]

this is going to be of no help to you but I've never had problems connecting by usb without the kies both before and after the update. Its baffling that one phone works and the other doesn't.

Baffled is a very polite way of saying what I feel about this right now. I've also never had to use Kies before with the two other AT&T Android phones I've owned. They worked perfectly in Windows Explorer.

 

[KreepyKen]

Thank you for the suggestion. I really like WiFi File Explorer and use it regularly between my wifi connected devices to share files, pics, and music!. The PC where the music and pics are stored is hard wired to my network. May have to buy a wifi connector for it...wonder if I can send that bill to Samsung just because their device drivers don't work correctly? I'm using Kies Air for connecting to my hard wired PC. It copy's files and pics fine but doesn't do all of the album related data correctly. It's just not as simple as easily dragging and dropping using Windows Explorer.

Does your router have Ethernet ports? I have my Mac plugged into my router via Ethernet, with the computer's wifi turned off. And I regularly use Wifi File Explorer to transfer files back and forth between my phone and Mac. Give it a try.

 

[2guests]

KreepyKen, yes, the PC is ethernet connected (that's what I meant by hard wired, sorry I didn't explain that more clearly). I figured out that when using WiFi File Explorer and my PC I had to enter in the entire address path to the ext SD card for it to find it. If I just used the path WiFi File Explorer said to use I got a connection error message on my PC. However, the path WiFi File Explorer says to use works perfectly on two computers both on a wireless connection.

It took me a bit to realize that since Kies Air worked on the PC that WiFi File Explorer should work also! One more reason I really like WiFi File Explorer.

 

[Blazer]

OK... I had the same problem and struggled with it for days, including several calls to Samsung Tech Support.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-...s-connectivity-problem-explained-samsung.html

They could not resolve the problem except trying a factory reset which did not work. I eneded up swapping the GS3 for a new one at Best Buy. I finally determined that the problem was my old SD card swapped from an older phone. When I removed the SD card, Windows loaded the correct drivers. Try removing the SD card and plugging the phone into your Windows PC USB port. See if the correct drivers load WITHOUT FAIL. See if Windows explorer then sees the internal storage of the GS3. If so, then put the SD card back in the phone and see if you can then see that storage as well as in internal storage. If that works, I would reformat the SD card in the phone. Good luck...

 

[2guests]

Blazer, thanks for all the info. The 32G card that is in my phone has only been in my phone and none of my earlier Androids. After my initial USB connection problems I even reformated it in my G3. There was still no luck.

When I take the card out and try the USB connection I still get the error that is shown in the attachment a few posts back. When I use Device Manager it shows the driver is loaded but you still can't see the phone. If I update the driver Windows says the driver is up to date with the most recent version. If I delete the installed driver and then plug the phone back in the USB I get the same error shown before. When I delete the installed driver and then download the driver from the Samsung downloads page...I get the same error as before. When I look a the driver in Properties it says "This device cannot start. (Code 10)".

Guess I'm going to have to delete all the USB controls and then restart my computer...or I could try Samsung help again...

BTW, my wife's S3 has the same 32G card in her phone (bought and installed at the same time) and her's is recognized by Window's Explorer just fine.

 

[Blazer]

"This device cannot start. (Code 10)"

That's what I was getting too. Sorry I could not help. I ended up swapping the phone for a new one, but still suspect a problem with the SD card. Good luck.

 

[roger in arabia]

I had the same problem with my LG, and I finally figured out that the clip to hold the SD down had slipped out of position. After several hours of playing with using tape and such I figured out I just had to pull the clip back and everything was fine after that.

 

[Drayk]

OK.....not sure if this is the same issue you're having but....periodically, I'll plug my GS3 in to my comp and it isn't seen by Kies or show in "my comp".
The ONLY thing that worked is......pull the battery. NOT a "restart" but physically pull the battery.
Good luck

 

[Tom S.]

OK.....not sure if this is the same issue you're having but....periodically, I'll plug my GS3 in to my comp and it isn't seen by Kies or show in "my comp".
The ONLY thing that worked is......pull the battery. NOT a "restart" but physically pull the battery.
Good luck

How long have you had it? I'd take it back. Don't deal with that (unless it works in other computers).

What's the capacity? I had some issues with a 64 GB (but, it was my fault).

 

[Drayk]

How long have you had it? I'd take it back. Don't deal with that (unless it works in other computers).

What's the capacity? I had some issues with a 64 GB (but, it was my fault).

I'm cool. It's only happened a couple times. Returning is a consideration tho as it seems tap to top and tilt to zoom don't seem to be working either. Everything else is awesome!!!!!

sent from my Galaxy SIII using Tapatalk