dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
uniqs
35

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

Hayward0 to n3koChan

Premium Member

to n3koChan

Re: [Tablet] Windows 7 can't see my Nexus 7 anymore

Does any drive type USB device work? (A HDD or Flash/Thumb Drive)

There really shouldn't be a product specific driver, beyond a standard USB Mass storage device.

Unless you are talking about NEXUS specific sync software not loading.

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

pflog

MVM

said by Hayward0:

Does any drive type USB device work? (A HDD or Flash/Thumb Drive)

There really shouldn't be a product specific driver, beyond a standard USB Mass storage device.

Unless you are talking about NEXUS specific sync software not loading.

Well, the Nexus devices don't use USB mass storage. They use MTP. So even if a thumb drive worked, that only rules out the USB port hardware on the laptop.

OP - try what's suggested here to re-install the MTP drivers manually.

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

Hayward0

Premium Member

said by pflog:

Well, the Nexus devices don't use USB mass storage. They use MTP. So even if a thumb drive worked, that only rules out the USB port hardware on the laptop.

Wow never realized they were that standard non conforming

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

pflog

MVM

said by Hayward0:

said by pflog:

Well, the Nexus devices don't use USB mass storage. They use MTP. So even if a thumb drive worked, that only rules out the USB port hardware on the laptop.

Wow never realized they were that standard non conforming

That's the price you pay for a single storage device partitioned the way they do it. It's all about cost. FWIW, MTP *is* a standard, just a craptastic one

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

1 edit

alkizmo

Member

said by pflog:

said by Hayward0:

Wow never realized they were that standard non conforming

That's the price you pay for a single storage device partitioned the way they do it. It's all about cost. FWIW, MTP *is* a standard, just a craptastic one

What's wrong with MTP?
I was able to transfer large files pretty darn quickly to my TF300T which also uses MTP instead of mass storage.

As for the device not being recognized, I just experienced the same thing on my Windows 7 desktop. The front USB ports wouldn't handle it, right away windows 7 said it couldn't install the drivers.

Then I tried the rear ports (directly hooked to the motherboard) and it worked. I'm thinking those devices just draw up too much power from the USB and certain USB ports can't handle it. I'm actually feeling lucky my Windows XP laptop was able to handle it (on the rear ports). The front port made the laptop screen flicker non stop (power draw).

You know what they need to do? Those 2-part usb cables that you need on portable 2.5" HDD. You can plug it into 2 usb ports to have enough juice. It's not necessary, but useful for those weak ports. I could probably build one myself, but it would be kludgy, so not very nice for traveling.

edit - Okay I just read the draw backs of MTP over MSC (mass storage). However, in MSC, your android needs to block you out while in MTP you can move files without having to stop working on the android. And it seems there are ways to activate MSC if you want to transfer tons of gigs quickly.

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

pflog

MVM

You cannot enable USB mass storage on Nexus devices. I wish you could.

There are a number of reasons I dislike MTP:

1. files don't show up right away, you have to refresh/rescan sometimes

2. it's much slower than a normal USB MS connection

3. it's clunky and doesn't work with free OSes such as FreeBSD or Linux distributions, at least not without some work. Compared to USB MS, which is a simple protocol and just works.

Like I said, I get why they use it and why they need to use it, but the fact of the matter is, it's inferior in many ways to simple USB MS.

FastEddie

join:2000-12-29
Channel Z

FastEddie


Kubuntu doesn't recognize the Nexus 7 so I had to find a solution.

I did sudo apt-get install gmtp

to install a app called gMTP.

It works slower than USB but it was no trouble to install and get working. You can use the Package Manger to install gMTP too.


alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo to pflog

Member

to pflog
said by pflog:

3. it's clunky and doesn't work with free OSes such as FreeBSD or Linux distributions, at least not without some work. Compared to USB MS, which is a simple protocol and just works.

Ok, just to be clear on this: If you use a free OS or a linux distro, you're asking for "some work" for MANY other things, hence it isn't a disadvantage of MTP, it's a disadvantage of linux distros.

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

pflog

MVM

said by alkizmo:

said by pflog:

3. it's clunky and doesn't work with free OSes such as FreeBSD or Linux distributions, at least not without some work. Compared to USB MS, which is a simple protocol and just works.

Ok, just to be clear on this: If you use a free OS or a linux distro, you're asking for "some work" for MANY other things, hence it isn't a disadvantage of MTP, it's a disadvantage of linux distros.

So what? USB mass storage is a wimple standard that works on pretty much every OS. And your opinion of Linux is quite dated (as is mine really, I had no idea about gMTP).

I don't understand the vehement defense of MTP, when it really is a horrible protocol.

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo

Member

said by pflog:

I don't understand the vehement defense of MTP, when it really is a horrible protocol.

I don't.
I just say that your point #3 was invalid.

But here, read this
»www.androidpolice.com/20 ··· storage/

They explain why the Nexus 7 doesn't support MSC.
I guess it makes sense. I can't test if the MSC function exists for my TF300T. I just know it's not a menu option, but it might be because I don't have a microSD card in it at the moment.

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

pflog

MVM

Yep, I'm aware of why it's not possible on the nexus 7 because, like the nexus 7, my 1 year+ old galaxy nexus also lacks dedicated emmc internal storage and an sdcard slot.

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

1 edit

Hayward0 to alkizmo

Premium Member

to alkizmo
said by alkizmo:

They explain why the Nexus 7 doesn't support MSC.
I guess it makes sense. I can't test if the MSC function exists for my TF300T. I just know it's not a menu option, but it might be because I don't have a microSD card in it at the moment.

And begs the question why can't the Nexus do BOTH???
MTB where possible or default to standard Mass storage.

Its not an universal aspect of Android only the implementation.

Never an issue with my same manufacturer ASUS Transformer... oh but yeah it has true host USB and expansion SD.

Makes me think its almost a Google thing trying to be a bit Apple'ish restrictive.

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

pflog

MVM

Did you not read alkizmo See Profile's link? It explains exactly why mass storage doesn't work.

The bottom line is that UMS requires a dedicated partition in order to work. From the article:
quote:
It isn't physically possible to support UMS on devices that don't have a dedicated partition for storage (like a removable SD card, or a separate partition like Nexus S.) This is because UMS is a block-level protocol that gives the host PC direct access to the physical blocks on the storage, so that Android cannot have it mounted at the same time.
No, it's not a "Google thing trying to be a bit Apple'ish restrictive"

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

1 edit

Hayward0

Premium Member

said by pflog:

Did you not read alkizmo See Profile's link? It explains exactly why mass storage doesn't work.

The bottom line is that UMS requires a dedicated partition in order to work. From the article:

quote:
It isn't physically possible to support UMS on devices that don't have a dedicated partition for storage (like a removable SD card, or a separate partition like Nexus S.) This is because UMS is a block-level protocol that gives the host PC direct access to the physical blocks on the storage, so that Android cannot have it mounted at the same time.
No, it's not a "Google thing trying to be a bit Apple'ish restrictive"

Only because they have chosen to BE THAT WAY... it is NOT the nature of Android OS.

My same maker ASUS (not Google limited) ASUS Transformer does just fine as a mini PC... none of this an issue. Because they are not branded, are free to do whatever... CONTRACTED to GOOGLE another matter.

Where they can dictate the parameters are and are not.... Again ASUS products(not out contracted to others) themselves no problem like this.

pflog
Bueller? Bueller?
MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA

pflog

MVM

It's dictated by the hardware. Yes, they chose to do that. I'm not saying they did not. They did so because it is much cheaper. In order to fit the Nexus (even the phones) into their niche price range, they have to cut costs somehow. It wasn't because they just decided "well, let's do something non-standard just because we can" as you're implying.