Simple connectivity questions...

[aSteve641]

For many years I wanted a tablet - principally to browse detailed A4 PDFs documents in comfort - and have recently taken the plunge and bought a Nexus-10, (almost exclusively motivated by the awesome 'headline' screen resolution) and I am mostly very happy with it.

I wasn't concerned by the absence of removable media - or the modest 16Gb internal storage - because I expect to be using it, 95% of the time - at least - on my home (W)LAN - which has effectively unlimited cheap storage that I can make available over just-about any protocol.

What's surprised me is that it isn't obvious to me how best to access my own data using the Nexus-10... I'm sure I'm overlooking something.

I've tried downloading a free DNLA media player - which gets access to my music and videos - but it isn't a patch on the built-in player... though the built-in player only seems to support local media files.

I'm aware that there's a professional Calbre that supports wi-fi access.... and I guess I can run a Calibre server... but I want to be confident that this approach will really be the best before purchasing apps.

I'd originally expected out-the-box access to WebDAV and SMB/CIFS shares (or perhaps, even, SSHFS/SFTP) as if integrated into the local file-system... and this would work brilliantly for me. Is this supported, and... if so, what hoops do I have to get it working?

 

[alan sh]

Get hold of es file explorer. That can access cifs shares as though they were local once you set up permissions. I think that will be what you need.

Alan

 

[aSteve641]

Hmmm - ES File explorer does look as if it might help... I've also found CIFS manager which I intend to try... though I've had a small setback with a router failure... so, it might take a few days before I can verify this.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

I use "andFTP" for SFTP to my sever (both WAN and LAN), and it works great.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...t.andftp&feature=search_result&token=RJRooGCa

There is a pro version as well, which I haven't needed, that supports additional feature as well...

 

[aSteve641]

Well... I've got andFTP and ES File Explorer working - with SFTP and CIFS respectively... but they're both imperfect.

I really want to mount these remote file systems and have them accessible as indistinguishable from the local files on internal storage.

I had understood that Android tablets support this... though SSHFSAndroid says Android 4.2 is not supported.,, and CIFS Manager - which seems to promise something similar for SAMBA shares doesn't seem to work.

Definitely a frustrating problem.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Well... I've got andFTP and ES File Explorer working - with SFTP and CIFS respectively... but they're both imperfect.

I really want to mount these remote file systems and have them accessible as indistinguishable from the local files on internal storage.

I had understood that Android tablets support this... though SSHFSAndroid says Android 4.2 is not supported.,, and CIFS Manager - which seems to promise something similar for SAMBA shares doesn't seem to work.

Definitely a frustrating problem.

Gotcha -- I didn't realize exactly what you were trying to do. I've actually played around with this a bit, although it's been a while (at least since Gingerbread, maybe Froyo), and I know it's possible, but you probably have to be rooted to do it.

Here's an example of a method to get it working on an N7, which I image wouldn't be too different than on the N10...
Nexus 7 Tutorial: Use Network Share as a Mount Point | Review Lagoon

I haven't actually tried this, though I've been meaning to figure out how to do this for a while now....

What I really want to do is get my home VPN set back up again (had a router blow up on me last year so I have to rebuild it), and get it so that I can mount to my shares whether over wifi or WAN -- possibly with some Tasker profiles to tell my phone when to mount and unmount the shares...but that's a project for a different day...

 

[aSteve641]

Nexus 7 Tutorial: Use Network Share as a Mount Point | Review Lagoon

I haven't actually tried this, though I've been meaning to figure out how to do this for a while now....

Bloody hell!

I'm not entirely unfamiliar with grunging about with Linux... but I have to admit that I'm a little reluctant to do this to device I hoped to use as a 'commodity appliance' - for want of a better term.

To be honest, I'm rather disappointed that this isn't supported out-the-box as standard... it's the most obvious requirement for just-about anyone, I'd have thought.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Bloody hell!

I'm not entirely unfamiliar with grunging about with Linux... but I have to admit that I'm a little reluctant to do this to device I hoped to use as a 'commodity appliance' - for want of a better term.

To be honest, I'm rather disappointed that this isn't supported out-the-box as standard... it's the most obvious requirement for just-about anyone, I'd have thought.

I hear ya... But you'd be surprised how many folks don't even understand simple file sharing, and it really doesn't seem to be a feature people clamor for. I have imagine it wouldn't be hard to support out of the box, if it was a feature enough folks asked for... But Most people would probably just say, "why do I need that? I have Dropbox"

honestly though, it doesn't look that difficult to follow those steps... But the root retirement would turn a lot of folks off.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

FYI... just want to be clear... the link I posted above is for Nexus 7 running 4.1.2. I do NOT recommend actually completing the steps outlined with those files!

I posted that only to serve as an example of how it has been done -- I highly doubt following those instructions verbatim would work on an N10 running 4.2.2.

If I do figure out how to do with the Nexus 10, I'll post here....

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD

 

[aSteve641]

honestly though, it doesn't look that difficult to follow those steps... But the root retirement would turn a lot of folks off.

Aye - but the real issue is one of confidence that blindly following a few steps (anonymously posted on the net) will not brick the tablet. If it were a second-hand cheapo, or if there were definitely no alternative, I'd I'd take the risk... but I'm still hoping that there's an easier way for me to get access to the 3Tb of data on my server using my tablet... ideally without making local copies first - and without restricting myself to a file browser to launch individual files.

FYI... just want to be clear... the link I posted above is for Nexus 7 running 4.1.2. I do NOT recommend actually completing the steps outlined with those files!
I posted that only to serve as an example of how it has been done -- I highly doubt following those instructions verbatim would work on an N10 running 4.2.2.

I hadn't missed that it was the wrong OS... however, I suspect it won't be as easy to achieve as you do. I've found this:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...shfsandroid&feature=nav_result&token=pZQfFV6C

I think it relevant that SSHFSandroid works on 4.1.x but not 4.2.x. While I'm usually a stingy open-source leach, ?1.58 would be an absolute bargain - if it worked. My fingers are crossed... An SSHFS mount would suit me perfectly - as not-only would I have access at home - but from anyone else's wi-fi network with internet access. SSHFS would be prefect.