[Q] External USB drives (HDD/SSD) And Mounting - Shield Android TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

[Q] External USB drives (HDD/SSD) and mounting
How does the SATV decide what directory it will mount an external USB drive to?
/mnt/media_rw/usbdrive
/mnt/media_rw/usbdrive2
/mnt/media_rw/usbdrive3
I keep noticing mine will change from one to another each time I reboot. This is really messing with Foldermount. Does it matter what other devices are plugged in? How can I force it to a certain one? I am rooted so if this can be done from terminal, I assume it's *NIX like, I'm all ears
thanks

Mine is mounting the same every time. Make sure you are connecting to the usb port every time obviously.

I personally use stickmount to mount inside the sdcard directly.

In my situation I have a SSD in an external USB 3.0 chassis that is always plugged in, same port. I just allow the OS itself to perform the mounting and have never had an issue where it didn't mount, it just intermittently changes the mount location it is using.
The big problem here is when it switches it screws up any app that previously had the drive noted at the last known mount folder. Foldermount being the main app but others like emulators lose the last folder used too.
Is the mounting process on an Android device similar to Linux? Will I find some config file that I can edit to force the mount location every time? Although I'm not sure why it changes sometimes, not all the time, on restarts of the device. For now I've been trying to not restart unless really, really needed.

I also use the same setup minus the fact that I use stickmount also. The system will still do what you are discribing, but it will also mount within the SD card in the same place every time for me.

Related

Applications SD access while in USB mass storage

Hi People.
Sorry if this isn't an appropriate forum to post this.
I am trying to connect my SGS2 to car radio through USB cable to access music files.
First, there was a problem to even connect the phone to the radio and the car told me that there is an error connecting to the device.
But after turning on USB Debug mode on the phone, now I can connect (Although after 2-3 attempts, why ???) to the car and it finds all my mp3's on Internal SD.
But now there is another problem. Because the car now uses the SD card (As Mass storage), any application that trying to access it is denied.
So when I'm trying to use Waze for example while listening to music it writes me that Waze can't access my SD card.
Is there a workaround to be able to use the SD card from both the car and the applications at the same time ?
I'm using Lite'ning Rom v1.4
Search in the market for dual or multi mount.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Multi Mount SD Lite - doesn't work.
All is the same as it was, when I mount the SD the applications can't access it.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong ?
The notes say don't use android mount feature.. what does it mean ?
Anyone? It's really annoying that I can't hear music while navigating..
Please help..
P.S - If I'll buy external SD card for music, will be there an ability to mount only it, so the internal will be for the applications and the external for the car radio to mount ?
Ok, the question is still open.
Is there any real solution, like patch or something ?
Because both Multi Mount and Dual-mount doesn't work.
If I use those apps the car can't even find the phone as if it is not mounted. (With the built in mount feature the car finds the phone on the 5 try or something..)
any answers as follow up? i got myself a dension gateway 300 and when i try to plug in my galaxy s (2.3.4) i have the same problem.. multi mount sd manages some time to do the trick.. but its very random..
i am thinking that the android system is "fighting" with the multi sd app. and it manages to mount the internal storage or something like that. ]
does anyone have any hint?
cheers
My guess is that the Dension only mounts the first partition it sees (i.e. the /sdcard directory). At least that's what I've seen with memory sticks I've tried to put into my Gateway 300 -- I haven't tried mounting the SGS2 since I have all the same music on a dedicated 32GB microSDHC card & USB card reader.
Anyway, if the Dension has mounted the /sdcard directory, you should be able to access the SD card through the external_sd directory.
Actually it does not seem to mount any of the partitions. if i check at the source menu it says "no usb".
when i use "multi sd mount" app i can sometimes get it to work (setting the app to mount only the external sd) but thus is only once every ten tries. i cannot do it at will...
it seems somehow that the android mass storage software and the app are "fighting" somehow. (of course the android on its own does not succeed).
may i ask you to check if you can mount your galaxy on the dension? not many have this configuration so your feedback would be valuable.. thank you in advance
cheers

[Q] Question re: USB Disk drive

OK, I just downloaded and installed the 3.1 update, running stock OS.
CONFIG
I have a 32GB A500 which I assume is main memory / SSD. I also added a 32GB micro SDHC chip in it, and for testing, an 8GB thumb drive in the large USB port. They all show up in system Settings,
When I have had the A500 connected via the mini-USB port, the memory / SSD shows up, but not the sdhc card, and not a thumb drive if i plug that in (when I look at it as an extended drive)
Some applications can see memory / SSD, and the micro SDHC chip. For example, ES File Explorer has a tab which cycles between the memory / SSD file system, and that on the SHDC chip. It doesn't include USB storage.
QUESTION
First, I'd like to confirm that something (anything) can read the USB file system.
Next, I am looking for a utility that would allow me to see all three file systems: main/SSD, SDHC, and USB, and move things back and forth between them, and to/from my PC as well. Recommendations?
As far as I know there is nothing that will allow you to read the 'external' drives from PC. This was supposed to be fixed in 3.1 (just another thing borked..), so go figure when or IF it'll ever be available.
Incidentally, my 2.2 Archos 101 did all that perfectly, but the new android versions won't, funny eh?
Assuming he has the proper drivers installed, what if he went micro usb connected to pc and thumb drive in tablet. He could read/transfer files from thumb to tablet and have the pc read/transfer to/from the tablet. If that makes sense or helps.
Get a file explorer and go to the mnt directory. the internal, external and usb storage are all there.
I guess I'd be happy with an answer to the first question below, happier with an answer to the second:
1. Is there any app, running on the tablet, which will allow me to see the file system on a USB thumbdrive? Which one. It's odd to me that I can see the drive, apparently properly formed, in the tablet "system settings" app, but (so far) haven't seen how to get at it myself, and haven't found an app which access it either.
2. Is there an application, running on the PC, or an app running on the tablet, which let's me see the file systems on tablet, tablet's sdhc chip, thumb drive and PC storage in a unified way, so I can move things around without unplugging stuff? That is harder, but one of those networked file access utilities might do it.
GCurry said:
I guess I'd be happy with an answer to the first question below, happier with an answer to the second:
1. Is there any app, running on the tablet, which will allow me to see the file system on a USB thumbdrive? Which one. It's odd to me that I can see the drive, apparently properly formed, in the tablet "system settings" app, but (so far) haven't seen how to get at it myself, and haven't found an app which access it either.
2. Is there an application, running on the PC, or an app running on the tablet, which let's me see the file systems on tablet, tablet's sdhc chip, thumb drive and PC storage in a unified way, so I can move things around without unplugging stuff? That is harder, but one of those networked file access utilities might do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I use Root Explorer and I can see the USB Storage in the MNT directory in the root of the device.
2) from the PC, adb i assume, but i've never done this. For network, try Samba server - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.funkyfresh.samba&feature=search_result.
GCurry said:
I guess I'd be happy with an answer to the first question below, happier with an answer to the second:
1. Is there any app, running on the tablet, which will allow me to see the file system on a USB thumbdrive? Which one. It's odd to me that I can see the drive, apparently properly formed, in the tablet "system settings" app, but (so far) haven't seen how to get at it myself, and haven't found an app which access it either.
2. Is there an application, running on the PC, or an app running on the tablet, which let's me see the file systems on tablet, tablet's sdhc chip, thumb drive and PC storage in a unified way, so I can move things around without unplugging stuff? That is harder, but one of those networked file access utilities might do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To answer the first one, no, there is no application to read the external data drives.
As for the second, to transfer files between these, you need to get a file explorer like Root Explorer. The multimedia apps have the ability to access the external data drives so if you want to store music and/or movies on them, you do not have to use up your internal memory.
Hope that answered your question.
Does 3.1 add ntfs support??....if not can I make it support without rooting my tab??
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App
Root explorer works great, so does File Manager HD
GCurry said:
OK, I just downloaded and installed the 3.1 update, running stock OS.
QUESTION
First, I'd like to confirm that something (anything) can read the USB file system.
Next, I am looking for a utility that would allow me to see all three file systems: main/SSD, SDHC, and USB, and move things back and forth between them, and to/from my PC as well. Recommendations?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Astro, in Astro I see them all. Home, Up and you'll see all the storage areas.
Astro will allow you to move things back and forth between SD, USB and Internal storage.
Nothing that I know of, will allow you to directly view your USB or MicroSD using your PC, by directly I mean through the microusb connection.
There's an app called Wifi File Explorer Pro which may allow you to see them on the PC however I'm not certain as I never used it extensively and may be more trouble than it's worth as you'll have to open a port in your router for it to work properly.
Hope this helps.
Any file manager can access /mnt/external_sd and /mnt/usb_storage.
Drive mount or USB mount all can mount ntfs drives. Must be rooted.
Can only access internal memory front PC. End of story until google/Acer fixes it.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Euclid's Brother said:
Any file manager can access /mnt/external_sd and /mnt/usb_storage.
Drive mount or USB mount all can mount ntfs drives. Must be rooted.
Can only access internal memory front PC. End of story until google/Acer fixes it.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on 3.1 ota and I wanted to root it for ntfs support.....but don't want to void my warranty.....(weather here is too humid so generally all electronic devices don't work or something or the other happens to them)...so I will unroot later to claim my warranty.....what else can I do with root.....(no custom roms..).......
Sent from my XT720 using XDA App
1. Is there any app, running on the tablet, which will allow me to see the file system on a USB thumbdrive? Which one. It's odd to me that I can see the drive, apparently properly formed, in the tablet "system settings" app, but (so far) haven't seen how to get at it myself, and haven't found an app which access it either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any file system application (ASTRO, Root Explorer) can access all storage devices in your system. The location for the storage devices is /mnt.
Note that the /mnt/sdcard directory is actually a FUSE mount of /data/local
The directories related to storage are:
/mnt/sdcard - a FUSE image of /data/local. This is internal storage.
/mnt/external_sd - The microSD card. Must be FAT32.
/mnt/usb_drive - A USB drive of some sorts...can be a thumb drive or a hard drive. Not sure about 3.1, but 3.0.1 needed this drive to be FAT32.
2. Is there an application, running on the PC, or an app running on the tablet, which let's me see the file systems on tablet, tablet's sdhc chip, thumb drive and PC storage in a unified way, so I can move things around without unplugging stuff? That is harder, but one of those networked file access utilities might do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer...other than ADB, no (until Acer fixes that). When you mount your tablet to your PC, you are connecting to a FUSE partition, which is an image of /data/local. You can transfer files between /data/local (via FUSE partition) and your PC. Unfortunately, because you are accessing a FUSE partition, you are restricted to only /data/local (so you can't get to /mnt). ADB is a known exception (as it uses USB Debugging to access the tablet), but that isn't graphical at all (all command line, which means it is a lot of typing).
op mentioned ES file explorer
Use it myself - as I really like the interface and the LAN access works great for me.
You can see all your storage devices from es explorer
/mnt/sdcard = internal memory
/mnt/external_sd = microsd card
/mnt/USB_drive = USB based storage device
If you want to mount ntfs you need to root.

OTG - USB Stickmount - Sees no mount

So, OTG works out the box with the cable.
Mouse plugged in, cursor appears.
Rooted device.
Installed stick mount.
Inserted 64GB USB (ntfs formatted) drive/stick in.
I get stickmount - chainfire 1.5 searching...then nothing.
Going into Stick mount itself, select mount
Active Mounts - none.
Any suggestions? I'm new to android, so not sure what the next trouble shooting steps are.
scorp888 said:
Inserted 64GB USB (ntfs formatted) drive/stick in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure the thumb drive needs to be FAT32 to work. Also, not all USB thumb drives work. try another one.
**UPDATE** Apparently NTFS can work, but again, not all USB devices are supported.
On this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1800473
Member Badgered had problems with the cables. They even worked on his S3 but not the nexus 7 turned out it was the cables. He got a 4th one to work.
Paragon
scorp888 said:
Any suggestions? I'm new to android, so not sure what the next trouble shooting steps are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install the Paragon NTFS & HFS+ Beta app. I have no idea if the app is helping me, but I can read files off my 64GB flash drive just fine. One thing I noticed though, you sometimes need to unplug the whole adapter along with the USB flash drive. Simply unplugging the flash drive won't work, you might have to restart the Nex7 if it doesn't mount/unmount properly.
Just don't forget to un-mount from StickMount when you're about to unplug your flash drive, and when you're removing it, remove it with the whole thing (flash drive and adapter together).
Thanks for the updates.
Cable works with a mouse, is that a good enough test?
Hmm, I'll try with 3 or 4 other drives, see if it's that. FAT32 will be a problem though, as it's 4gb + movie files I want to watch
Works OK for me with a 32Gb Transcend stick this morning..
I have a SAN disk 16 GB usb drive. stick mount sees it, attempts to mount, says its mounted and creates a folder in /sdcard/usbmount/sda1/ but the drive is not mounted.....Im using ext4 and had to use busybox to manually mount using a terminal emulator.
You can try busybox mount, but its a bit of a pain to have to do every time, not too sure where to put an automount using the blkid value, but it could be done. typically in *nix its done in a simple line in /etc/fstab
what is the equivallent for android?
More of a "this combo works" than anything else...
Using this cable:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004TJC1IM/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00
and this stick
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005KJJ50C/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00 formatted as NTFS I have had no issues, simply rooted and installed Stickmount, and it "just works".
r0zj0k3r: What was the commandline use to manually mount your usb storage?
---------- Post added at 03:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:20 PM ----------
Found it block device is at /dev/block/sda1 now need to add it to vold.fstab
calmfury said:
r0zj0k3r: What was the commandline use to manually mount your usb storage?
---------- Post added at 03:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:20 PM ----------
Found it block device is at /dev/block/sda1 now need to add it to vold.fstab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT:
I'd didn't see your first question.. I just used a basic *nix mount command with busybox
busybox mount /dev/block/sda1 /sdcard/usb
it's not fun to type in every time (without a real keyboard) but it does work, with ext4/3/2. And since in a pinch it gets the job done I can use it. I just know there is a way, to set this up to auto mount. In any *nix flavor it too easy, and but since this is a bastardized Linux I don't know how/where everything works.
I found some stuff about vold.fstab but the syntax was a little confusing for me. Will these auto mount or do hdd's only mount on boot from that file?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Mount problem
Used to work well except for being unable to unmount, but a restart would fix that and anyway I would get a usb stick mounted as sdb do it still worked.
Now, I don't know if it started after upgrading to 4.1.2 but I've noticed it since. Not even a restart would unmount it, I found a file probably left open on sda (only one file, left behind after plugging out the stick), and I deleted it, as well as the folder it was in. From then on I always had sda mounted and plugging the stick in again had no effect, I can't get it as sdb anymore.
I tried reinstalling stickmount, then I saw somewhere here that I should delete the usbStorage folder manually. From that moment my active mounts says none, it appears again when I plug the stick in but still none. Tried my mp3 player too, it was recognized but wouldn't mount either. i also tried another usb mounting app, it also recognized my stick, but pressing mount had no effect.
Any ideas please, I'm desperate?
Plugging in stick+OTG sees the stick flash before 'None' lets me down.
'Busybox mount' needs 'su' ISO Nexus7 being rooted.
It then doesn't see the stick anyway
Uninstalling Stickmount and then 'su busybox mount'-ing mounts nothing, too.
All the above with 2 OTGs and 3 sticks.
Bummer.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
celawi said:
Used to work well except for being unable to unmount, but a restart would fix that and anyway I would get a usb stick mounted as sdb do it still worked.
Now, I don't know if it started after upgrading to 4.1.2 but I've noticed it since. Not even a restart would unmount it, I found a file probably left open on sda (only one file, left behind after plugging out the stick), and I deleted it, as well as the folder it was in. From then on I always had sda mounted and plugging the stick in again had no effect, I can't get it as sdb anymore.
I tried reinstalling stickmount, then I saw somewhere here that I should delete the usbStorage folder manually. From that moment my active mounts says none, it appears again when I plug the stick in but still none. Tried my mp3 player too, it was recognized but wouldn't mount either. i also tried another usb mounting app, it also recognized my stick, but pressing mount had no effect.
Any ideas please, I'm desperate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be rooted to use Stickmount. Did you break root when you updated?
Sent from my SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
will stickmount work with any rooted phone with otg cable
You could uninstall stick mount and reinstalling it to remove that issue. It worked out for my nexus 7.
---------- Post added at 04:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:17 PM ----------
Mayank T said:
will stickmount work with any rooted phone with otg cable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on the phone if it has otg support and if the rom is able to create a mount in the system.
Stickmount stopped recognizing sdcard after the recent JB 4.2.1 OTA updade.
It worked before, but quite often ES File explorer reported directory empty when card was mounted.
Root restored with Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper after OTA update.
Checked root with Got Root, root OK
Not a cable problem, as Media Importer finds the card immediately every time.
Stickmount Pro uninstalled and reinstalled, no change.
Any suggestion?
I can't seem to get rid of two movie files that's on the Movie app. It's also visible on ES Explorer. It all started from using Stickmount. I've removed Stickmount app, and the files still shows up. The files can't be deleted. I can choose to delete it, but nothing will happen. Tried reinstalling Stickmount, and it keep stating the drive is mounted even when nothing is connected.
My N7 is rooted running 4.2.2 on CMD Roms. Had also tried restarting my N7.
Anyone got any idea cuz I really don't want to complete wipe and start from scratch again. Thanks
android phone restarts when pen drive mounted using usb otg.
my wt19i reboot when i pressed the mount button, the connected pen's light blink and the phone reboots.
but this happens in some times only, i think the problem may be in loaded modules.
please help me............:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:

[Q] Stickmount mounts went nothing attached

I have a Nexus 7 2012 and am running stickmount pro under 4.4 presently though the problem showed up in 4.2.2
The issue is that stickmount will mount a USB drive when none is actually connected to the device. I can go into usbStorage/sda1 and see an old file listed that at one time was on a stick connect to the tablet. This always happens at boot up and then randomly during use. I can still, usually, mount an actual USB stick but at times it will fail. Is there a way to "reset" stickmount so it will forget about this "old usb and file"?
When mounting a real stick it usually mounts it as sda1 but on occasion I have seen it mounted as another mount point.
When dismounting an actual stick it can take a number of unmount commands before it actually happens as it is "busy". Further, when it does do the unmount it will show the window but it will show that sda1 is still connected though I've learned over time that it seems to be fine to pull the stick as on looking into usbStorage it shows the phantom mount and not the one physically connected.
Any suggestion as to how to fix this. Uninstalling and reinstalling doesn't do anything. Nor does a cache/data reset.

How do I mount an external USB stick in OmniROM?

How do I mount an external USB stick? I thought it was under /mnt/usbdisk0, but it's apparently not. I can access this folder and create folders in it fine, but it's still there, and I can manipulate files on it even after I unplug the drive. Also, accessing this directory does not power on the USB light. How do I access external USB drives in OmniROM?
StickMount is one mounting tool that seems to work well.
---
Posted from whatever phone booted today
jeffsf said:
StickMount is one mounting tool that seems to work well.
---
Posted from whatever phone booted today
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried StickMount, but it didn't do anything on my device. I have the drive formatted in FAT32, so it should be readable on anything. I tried plugging it into my wife's tablet, and it works fine there. I just can't seem to get it to work on my phone.

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