We are all familiar with the inconvenient rigmarole of having to "disconnect" a USB memory device before removing it, otherwise there is a risk of data corruption etc...
Am I correct in assuming that because the Galaxy S3 doesn't connect to the PC as a USB mass storage device, then there is no special disconnection procedure necessary (apart from the obvious precaution of not removing it while it's busy communicating)?
I'm fairly confident about this, but I don't want to risk bricking my expensive toy!
The reason for having to eject before disconnect is because the computer directly accesses the raw storage in the phone or USB-Stick.
MTP however is a protocol between 2 computers which does not know a mounted or dismounted state. It only knows a 'busy' and an 'idle' state. If you disconnect it in the busy state it will revert the current action (e.g. delete the partially transferred file).
There is no such thing as data corruption with such a protocol.
Should you however mount your phone's SDcard as mass-storage device (there's a script/app for that, requires root) the usual rules apply.
Btw: you can't really brick a device by unsafely unplugging it. Only the data on it.
In the case of a phone that means your storage partition, not the internal data partition.
Nice explanation, thanks for this, I was a little concerned about not have the 'eject' option showing in Windows 7, this has put my mind at ease
Olywa
Yes, excellent explanation thanks, d4fseeker.
Related
Folks,
I don't claim to be an expert on the microiSD card, but there are some things
that need to be said -- and if I don't get it all or get it right then other folks
need to jump in.
1. Care always need to be taken putting your microSD card in and out. Not
only is it small and fragile, but the slot is small as well. You sometimes may
have to use your fingernail or something else thin to ease it far enough in
against the spring to get it to "click" into place. Same thing in reverse for
removal.
2. YOU CANNOT JUST PLUG AND UNPLUG THE FULL SIZE USB STUFF IN ANDROID.
They are not "Plug and Play" like Windows. I don't know the final word, but on
the full size USB port -- when I put in a USB key -- I always shut down, plug it in,
then reboot.
The miniUSB you use to your PC is a little more flexible, but that's another
post for another time.
3. You can use the microSD for recovery, but you have to edit the recovery
command file to point to /SDCARD2. When you boot standard recovery, Android
checks the internal memory for a recovery/command and update.zip presence.
If it does not find them, the it looks for a microSD external card and if it finds it
then it checks for recovery/command and update.zip file there.
4. Different ROMS have different capabilities with regard to finding and using the
USB ports. You'll have to research that -- or maybe someone will fill in that
blank here.
I hope this helps. I know this is not all the info on /SDCARD2 -- but I hope it
get the discussion going to help those having problems.
Rev
Good Topic! May want to add mention that /SDCARD2 does not normally mount to your PC when the tablet is connected for file transfers (I've seen that question 3 or 4 times in the past few days). There are some apps that allow it but I've run into some serious issues with a couple of them up to and including corruption of the internal memory.
#2 - the large USB port... I'm not an expert on this either but I do have two flash drives that will not mount if they're inserted with the tablet off. They do work fine when inserted with it on. So there is at least some level of auto-detect and mount going on I'm just not sure to what degree. It is on the list for further study. I would definitely err on the side of caution on this one with regards to anything containing important data.
#3 could be expanded to include or link to a how to on making your own recovery/utility MicroSD (another thread?). This could really save some folks some time and anguish.
+1 placeholder
+2 placeholder.
I won't bump it again. Just want those who need this to have the opportunity to
read it.
Rev
If SDCARD2 does not mount to your PC, how do you get the PC to recognize it so that you can store media files from your PC? Thanks!
mebrat said:
If SDCARD2 does not mount to your PC, how do you get the PC to recognize it so that you can store media files from your PC? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I understand your question correctly, you must get a standard sd holder for your micro sd (usually comes with the micro, but not always), and then you need a card reader with a usb plug to go into your computer.
snarful,
Yes. In my case an adapter came with the microSD card and I have a card reader
on my PC -- so I'm good to go.
But if you are going to do much with the cards, it really helps and speeds things up.
Rev
Every now and again when I reboot the phone, my Internal Storage seems to be formatted. It's really starting to become a nuisance. I am on rooted on U4_2.1.1 - anyone else experiencing this issue?
Self bump...I found that if I reboot the phone in adb (using the reboot command) it formats my internal storage almost every time. I'm trying to isolate other causes while I am at it...
Bump, I also have this issue and it is extremely frustrating!!!
This happened to me when I rooted mine yesterday too, and this is my first post yay.
Adam
Hi,
Do a full format in Windows. Connect the phone in use storage mode to a pc, right click on the drive and select format, default settings, turn off quick format.
This happens when running Gingerbreak to root your phone.
Cheers!
So I backed up everything and am now formatting it but did I do something wrong wail using gingerbreak because I saw no where this could happen, just want to know what I did wrong.
Adam
hi,
This is what I am guessing happens: In order to get root, Gingerbreak hacks into the volume daemon (the android bit that knows about inserting and removing sdcards). So you get root but it's like you pulled the plug on your computer while your hard drive was accessing data, you need to do a full format to avoid glitches. At boot android checks volumes to make sure they are not corrupt, that they are 'checked' that they are fully synced and closed out before the power was turned off. If there are any problems, either a repair is attempted or a format is done, depending on the phone/firmware. So, after using Gingerbreak to root, there are some issues with the format of the internal memory, once you start filling it up, you get errors when it runs across a bad patch of the format. So, even though it may look like the drive has been formatted and empty, you still need to do a full format from a pc to clean up the mess. I would recommend both the internal memory and any external sd-cards be formatted properly afterward.
You'd need to talk to the author(s) of Gingerbreak to get more of a breakdown on what happens.
Cheers!
Atrix internal storage format after boot
I've the same problem using Atrix when reboot...
The internal storage will format after every reboot...
And my Atrix is new phone, that not root before...
I've try to format storage within phone format tool.
It success to stop the format after reboot.
But, I when put the sdcard into the phone, the reboot will format the phone, again...
Anyone can help////
wow thanks for the break down man really appreciate it.
Adam
I have this problem, but cannot get the computer to see the phone as drives to format. Is there any other way of doing this?
persource said:
I have this problem, but cannot get the computer to see the phone as drives to format. Is there any other way of doing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have it set to Mass Storage under USB Settings when you have it connected?
Do you have the proper drivers installed?
I had this problem too. But even trying full format using pc, it still wouldn't help. I even did a full wipe on my whole phone.
Hi,
I'm pretty new to the SGS world and it's the first time I have a phone with MTP/PTP mount when connecting to a PC.
1) Is it safe to "hot" unplugg the SGS3 from the PC? I can't see any unmount button/option on the device
On my previous phone, with "normal" USB connection, I would unmount the phone first before unplugging it from the PC, otherwise I might risk loosing some data on my sdcard (already happened to me).
2) Is there any way to speed-up file transfer between PC <-> Internal SD card, because it is sooooooooo slooooooooooow!
Surfinette said:
Hi,
I'm pretty new to the SGS world and it's the first time I have a phone with MTP/PTP mount when connecting to a PC.
1) Is it safe to "hot" unplugg the SGS3 from the PC? I can't see any unmount button/option on the device
On my previous phone, with "normal" USB connection, I would unmount the phone first before unplugging it from the PC, otherwise I might risk loosing some data on my sdcard (already happened to me).
2) Is there any way to speed-up file transfer between PC Internal SD card, because it is sooooooooo slooooooooooow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no usb option with device... If you want though then there is a app which requires root..
You can unplug it whenever you want..
I don't know how you can make the transfers faster
Sent from someone in the Milky Way
Hello,
I own a Samsung Galaxy S2, running android version 4.1.2 (unrooted). I never had an external SD card inserted therefore the problem below is related to internal storage on the phone.
I recently plugged my phone under USB mass storage mode onto a laptop that prompts me to encrypt external USB storage devices. I accidently clicked “enter” to encrypt, but immediately – within seconds – unplugged the USB wire from the computer.
I now get a notification on my phone that says “Damaged USB Storage – USB Storage is damaged. Try reformatting.”
Storage does not recognise my internal storage at all. (see image attached)
Trying to connect via USB mass storage to PC does not work. (see image attached)
Other thoughts: The drive never got encrypted (99% sure). I think the problem may have happened because I removed the USB while it was in some operation.
What I’ve tried so far, and failed:
Connecting via USB mass storage to PC.
Connecting via USB debugging.
Tried both above options in Safe Mode and regular mode.
Tried to re-encrypt/decrypt the drive (computer doesn’t even recognise anything to encrypt/decrypt).
Tried to check disk for errors using chkdsk in command prompt on PC. It says “Cannot open volume for direct access”
What I would like is to recover my data from the internal storage on my phone. I haven’t tried formatting as my main goal is to recover the data first.
Thanks for your help!
well most people commit this mistake!
1. If you had mistakenly clicked enter you should have let it do its work and when it was done you could have reverted back with easy steps mate.
2. I personally had this kinda problem (not coz of encrypt prob)
3. You've mentioned that loosing data is not your mail goal. but after all these you must sacrifice something to get your storage back.
4. Since your are unrooted got to sock recovery (volume up + home + power) and do a factory reset and clear the cache (you'll loose all your apps but 90% CHANCE THAT YOU WONT LOOSE YOUR PERSONAL DATA 10% CHANCES THAT YOU MAY LOOSE.
5. Since your external is working you can always backup your apps with TB (titanium backup)
6. And yes this helped me fix this problem.
7. Incase if the problem still exists we'll think of another solution
thuva06 said:
well most people commit this mistake!
1. If you had mistakenly clicked enter you should have let it do its work and when it was done you could have reverted back with easy steps mate.
2. I personally had this kinda problem (not coz of encrypt prob)
3. You've mentioned that loosing data is not your mail goal. but after all these you must sacrifice something to get your storage back.
4. Since your are unrooted got to sock recovery (volume up + home + power) and do a factory reset and clear the cache (you'll loose all your apps but 90% CHANCE THAT YOU WONT LOOSE YOUR PERSONAL DATA 10% CHANCES THAT YOU MAY LOOSE.
5. Since your external is working you can always backup your apps with TB (titanium backup)
6. And yes this helped me fix this problem.
7. Incase if the problem still exists we'll think of another solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response!
And yea, in hindsight I regret removing the USB on impulse like that! I should have let it finish the encryption.
I'll definitely give this a try later on today. I know when I reset my phone - sometimes the data is wiped, but sometimes it isn't. It's totally worth a shot.
I'll keep you updated on what happens.
Deciding to perform a backup is a safe way to preserve your data whenever you flash something that might brick your device, so whenever I plan to do one, I tend use my own usb flash drive with a usb to otg host adapter. However, I've always wondered, isn't there a better and more efficient way to transfer such a large file? Upon choosing which storage to mount in the TWRP recovery, I see either two options, the phone's internal storage or a usb storage, but why can't the third option be the storage of our own computer? So today I ask the knowledgeable and obviously helpful users of the xda forums to give their own generous input on whether this action is even remotely possible or if they simply and bluntly tell me I'm full of it to end my curiosity.