Copy Paste Error on Large Files?

[Android Central Question]

I noticed yesterday that I had a weird error when I tired USB connecting to my phone and copying and pasting a Video over to it.

After a bit I tried restarting both my computer and Phone which failed to fix it, and after that I tried enabling USB Debugging to see if that would fix the issue.

It didn't, the weird thing is I can open it up and go through my phone storage on my computer. I can even Copy something from my computer including my Music and still delete stuff on it.

I tried Copying one of my Games over since they are over 1GB to see if that might cause the error. It did fail so it might be that issues occur whenever a large item is copying or pasting both ways.

But if so I'm not sure how I'd go about fixing it. I've had this phone for more than a year and copy pasted 100's of times. The most likely suspect in my opinion is most likely a Windows Update that changed something, but I'm not sure about how I'd go about checking or fixing it.

 

[Rukbat]

Android phones aren't designed to copy huge files via USB - the chip overheats and shuts down. Use WiFi to transfer huge files. (There are WiFi file transfer apps.) Or, if the phone has an SD card, use that to transfer huge files.

 

[B. Diddy]

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[Raj8]

I made an account and that's truly unfortunate Rukbat, I've been moving Files the size of GB over for years over USB Cables and they've always been far faster than using WiFi to redownload it essentially.

This has just started being a problem a few days ago, likely due to Windows so I was hoping I could go back to the status quo. I suppose it's also possible something happened to my Android Wire recently, will have to try with another one. I doubted as I'd been doing so for the last several months but it might have stopped working.

 

[joeldf]

I don't buy that the USB chip "overheats". It's just data. Whether it's one big file, or a bunch of smaller files that altogether use a huge chunk of data.

I've copied multi-gigabyte files for years to phones or tablets via USB with no problem.

Question for the OP - what are you copying to? Device internal storage or to an SD card?

If it's to the SD card, what size is it, and how is it formatted? Fat32, or ExFat?

Just for your information, Fat32 has a 4GB file size limit, and will just not copy a file that big or bigger.

Internal memory wouldn't have that issue, so could be something else. What that is, I don't know.

 

[B. Diddy]

In my experience, transferring huge amounts of data over USB can lead to occasional data errors, so my recommendation is usually to transfer the data over in smaller chunks. Obviously, this isn't possible if the data is all in one file. I agree with trying a different cable.

Just to be sure -- you're trying to copy the files to the phone's internal storage, and not an SD card, right?

 

[Rukbat]

I made an account and that's truly unfortunate Rukbat, I've been moving Files the size of GB over for years over USB Cables and they've always been far faster than using WiFi to redownload it essentially.

So have I - I move a file of approximately 1.6GB every month (the Pixel factory image), with no problem. But some phones have a problem. (And some PCs may too - I don't know, his is a 16GB RAM box with SSDs, so I don't see a lot of the problems that occur on smaller computers.)

This has just started being a problem a few days ago, likely due to Windows

I'm running Windows 19041 release 191206-1406 with no problem transferring files to the PC. Transferring them to the phone might cause problems - that depends on the phone. If the cable transfers small files, it will transfer large files - there's nothing in the cable to tell it what happened even a nanosecond ago. The phone is a different matter - it has memory, it has components that can overheat, etc.

 

[Raj8]

I don't buy that the USB chip "overheats". It's just data. Whether it's one big file, or a bunch of smaller files that altogether use a huge chunk of data.

I've copied multi-gigabyte files for years to phones or tablets via USB with no problem.

So have I.

It's actually automatically fixed itself a few days later, and I noticed that Windows has updated again with a slightly different version so it probably was that.

Thankfully it is working again.

Question for the OP - what are you copying to? Device internal storage or to an SD card?

If it's to the SD card, what size is it, and how is it formatted? Fat32, or ExFat?

Right now it's System Hierarchical due to permissions and how it's being handled by my computer. A quick google search mentions that it does not have the 4GB limitation but is slower due to needing to ask permission first.

I am copying to my SD card yea, but again I've been doing this for over a year and it suddenly stopped working as well. After restarting both devices it could copy and paste small files but failed with anything bigger.

Waited a few days and it can work again.

As for the SD card itself is formatted I suspect it's ExFat, but not 100% sure. The video's I was copying were 1.8GB at there largest though so well under the 4GB mark.

Windows auto updates so it's my prime suspect for the issues as well as the fix.

In my experience, transferring huge amounts of data over USB can lead to occasional data errors, so my recommendation is usually to transfer the data over in smaller chunks. Obviously, this isn't possible if the data is all in one file. I agree with trying a different cable.

Just to be sure -- you're trying to copy the files to the phone's internal storage, and not an SD card, right?

Like I mentioned above it was an SD card yea, and since it's Video I actually haven't had any experience with Data corruption.

The closest I've encountered to that is when a Download gives me a 0MB file and says it saved correctly. But that has nothing to do with copying and pasting.

So have I - I move a file of approximately 1.6GB every month (the Pixel factory image), with no problem. But some phones have a problem. (And some PCs may too - I don't know, his is a 16GB RAM box with SSDs, so I don't see a lot of the problems that occur on smaller computers.)

I'm running Windows 19041 release 191206-1406 with no problem transferring files to the PC. Transferring them to the phone might cause problems - that depends on the phone. If the cable transfers small files, it will transfer large files - there's nothing in the cable to tell it what happened even a nanosecond ago. The phone is a different matter - it has memory, it has components that can overheat, etc.

Huh weird. To clarify I've been transferring to the same phone using the same computer, and it's started working again after a few days.

That to me suggests it's likely to be software related rather than hardware related.

 

[Raj8]

And of course the issue has somehow unfortunately come back.

Just to be certain I also tried copying to Internal Storage as well as Changing my to a different Wire but both failed again.

Made sure the phone was cool and not overloaded in case it was a heat issue.

(Sigh) I may actually have to start downloading this stuff over WiFi unfortunately.

 

[Raj8]

For now I guess I'll just use an FTP Server as it worked flawlessly and honestly far faster than I was ever expecting it to.

Worst thing is I can't easily access my SD card but I can just paste to internal storage and move it over to my SD card after. One extra step isn't bad. I do wonder what the issue could have been but at least this means I can leave my USB cord in the charger now.

Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

How about the USB ports on both the device and the computer -- make sure they're both clear of any debris by blowing them out with a can of compressed air and cleaning the contacts with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.