Android 4.0 unable to recognize USB mass storage

[cplloyd42]

Hi,

I've just joined this forum so I'm not sure whether this problem has occurred before. If so, please point me to the appropriate thread.

I have recently upgraded my GT-P6810 to Android 4.0. Prior to this, I have been able to plug in my Samsung USB card reader and have the tablet recognize my 32GB SD cards. Now, the tablet recognizes the USB adapter when it's plugged in, but any card I insert is declared 'blank'. These cards, when plugged into a PC-connected card reader shows many files (along with the LOST.DIR folder).

Is there something I need to set up on the tablet, or do I need to reformat the SD cards to another file system? The current file system is FAT32.

Any help you can offer I would appreciate.
Thanks in advance,
Paul.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Hi,

I've just joined this forum so I'm not sure whether this problem has occurred before. If so, please point me to the appropriate thread.

I have recently upgraded my GT-P6810 to Android 4.0. Prior to this, I have been able to plug in my Samsung USB card reader and have the tablet recognize my 32GB SD cards. Now, the tablet recognizes the USB adapter when it's plugged in, but any card I insert is declared 'blank'. These cards, when plugged into a PC-connected card reader shows many files (along with the LOST.DIR folder).

Is there something I need to set up on the tablet, or do I need to reformat the SD cards to another file system? The current file system is FAT32.

Any help you can offer I would appreciate.
Thanks in advance,
Paul.

I think for security purposes this feature has been restricted if not eliminated. You can try reformatting the card. Try NTFS format, and see if that helps.

 

[cplloyd42]

Golfdriver97,

Thanks for your suggestion. NTFS and exFAT formats didn't work, unfortunately (I used Windows' quick format facility) - they both gave the same result: when the card reader is inserted it displays "USB connector connected", and when the SD card is inserted it displays "Blank USB storage" then "USB mass storage safely removed". The card does not appear under extStorages, as you would expect, and the pop-up system status window shows "Blank USB storage - USB storage blank or has unsupported filesystem". When the card reader is removed it displays "USB connector disconnected".

I also tried the USB connector, which I had not used before, and it also shows "USB connector connected". When a 32GB flash drive is inserted, it displays the contents of that drive and under extStorages it shows "UsbDriveH". Since the tablet cheerfully accepts a flash drive, I think this would discount your security suggestion. Surprisingly, it does not appear under Storage at all - I would have expected to see some MTB device there.

I'm beginning to suspect that the card reader might have developed a fault. Sadly, I have no way of checking this apart from purchasing another Samsung connectivity kit.

If you or anyone else has another suggestion, I would like to hear from you.

Paul.

Update: I was able to get an SD card to be recognized, then inserted another one that I haven't tried before and that was readable too. However, any other SD card I inserted after this was unreadable, including the 2 that were previously. This looks suspiciously like a hardware problem (I hope it's not the 30-pin slot), so have ordered another kit. I'll keep you posted.

 

[cplloyd42]

Well,

I have a new USB SD card reader, but it shows exactly the same problem. So, I have delved further:

Standard SD cards, 4GB, 16GB - both work OK with the USB card reader.
SD card adapter + mircoSD card inserts: 4GB OK, 32GB does not read.
Unfortunately, I don't have a standard 32GB SD card, or a micro 16GB card to cross-check. It would appear from these tests that this version of Android is baulking at 32GB storage.

However, if I use the other USB connector and attach 16GB and 32GB flash drives, it reads both without problems. So, is the issue with the microSD-standard SD adapter combination? I hope this isn't an issue as I have 8 x 32GB microSD cards with video data that I want to access. Note that there is no problem reading 32GB microSD cards in the tablet's microSD card slot.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this?
Paul.

 

[cplloyd42]

I have made a little more progress with this issue.

I have tested all 8 SD card adapters I have and found that 4 work consistently and 4 don't work at all. I must have chosen the 2 I tested earlier from the 4 that don't work. It's curious, though, that these 4 'faulty' cards work just fine in a card reader connected to my PC. Perhaps I should check out another brand of micro-SD to standard SD adapter.

I have also found that you need to insert the SD card adapter with its micro SD card inserted into the USB card reader first before inserting the card reader into the tablet.

I hope this helps others with a similar problem.
Paul.