Is there a way to mount your own computer's storage to TWRP? - Galaxy S6 Edge Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

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.

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[Q] internal memory

apologies in advanced but i have searched high and low for the answer to this .
i am trying to get the internal memory of the HTC Legend to show up as a standard hard drive in my computer.
is this possible? I thought it might happen when i rooted the device however it did not so now im not sure i actually even rooted it.
Any answers would be helpful but really im just looking for a yes or no as to if its possible... if it is possible i will get to the bottom of it but i dont want to waste my time if far more intelligent people have not been able to do it
Try Swiftp from the market,it takes some setting up and needs to run via wifi.It's read only though
Or get handy with ADB and push and pull via the command line
Another solution would be to modify the vold.fstab to mount the internal memory as USB storage... Either way, I can't see a need for it and I think it will create more FC's than it's worth (it would involve unmounting /data). the safest way to access internal memory is when booted into recovery mode and using ADB

USB Mass storage?

How do I enable USB Mass storage mode instead of the stupid MTP og PTP?
Regards,
BTJ
Not sure if this works for the SGS3 but it worked for the SGS2:
Bring up Settings.
Click More… (under Wireless and network).
Then select USB utilities ~ Set USB cable connection mode.
Select Connect storage to PC then.
Connect USB cable from phone to PC.
Select Turn on USB storage.
That’s all.
Sorry, no such settings in SGS3, we are stuch with MTP or PTP... Don't understand the logic behind removing USB Mass storage mode!! Both MTP and PTP are slow as hell and there is no support for S3 in libmtp at the moment to make matters worse... If I had known this, I would have reconsidered my choice of buying a SGS3.....
BTJ
Like the Nexus, /sdcard is mounted at /data/media (IIRC, mount point could be different), meaning that internal data and the internal sdcard space share the space, rather than being split. UMS removes access to the device that is mounted from the phone, so it cannot be used when the sdcard is shared in this fashion.
I thought libmtp worked? I've been using adb and a GUI for shifting lots of files, qtadb
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Seems to be a problem with both SII and SIII... But I will check out qtadb, thx...
BTJ
So am I reading this right. You can't plug a USB cable in, the SD card appears then in explorer?
I have a sensation XE at moment and use this a lot for transferring files at work/home etc.
So can I not access my files normally now that I copy to SD card, eg docs etc?
Nope... But it sounds like you are using Windows so then MTP will work, kind of like you are used to...
BTJ
The idea about using MTP is it allows you to continue to use your phone without disruption, loading Mass Storage un-mounts the sd from your phone.
However I do think we should still be given a choice
Yes, I guess I understand the idea... What I don't understand is why they have removed the choice we used to have.... :-|
BTJ
I stil don't have an S3, but am a little confused on the MTP etc. Also I use a Mac and a Windows PC.
So when you plug in an S3 on a Windows PC, what does it do in MTP mode? just still allow you to drag/drop files? does the S3 come up as another drive or something in explore?
Also anyone with a Mac, how does this work?
cheers
This might give us some insight on why no USB Storage.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/1...behind-galaxy-nexus-lack-of-usb-mass-storage/
fylim said:
This might give us some insight on why no USB Storage.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/1...behind-galaxy-nexus-lack-of-usb-mass-storage/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I got the jist of that article lol but does this mean android developement were looking for devices to have either internal storage or sd storage but because the SG3 has both its sort of screwed things up a bit?
So UMS might be released in a later patch to allow easier access to added SD storage? Or does the current setting allow access to both storage thru windows pc?
Soz if I come across as a noob I havent got sg3 yet but planning to get one in a few weeks for upgrade and Ive been trying to get the low down on positives and negatives before I get the phone
Keep things simple!
Please can someone answer this simply.
Can I plug in the device into my mac/pc and just transfer any file to the micro SD card whilst it is in the phone?
All I want to do is to be able to put avi files on it as samsung kies or doubletwist doesn't seem to suppor them...
A yes or a no with and explanation would be great ta!!
pow001 said:
Please can someone answer this simply.
Can I plug in the device into my mac/pc and just transfer any file to the micro SD card whilst it is in the phone?
All I want to do is to be able to put avi files on it as samsung kies or doubletwist doesn't seem to suppor them...
A yes or a no with and explanation would be great ta!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can easily do that. No issues in that. Simply treat it as a normal pendrive in such a case.
sorted!
toxicthunder said:
yes you can easily do that. No issues in that. Simply treat it as a normal pendrive in such a case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help. Although I figure out what everyone was talking about.
This is how I did it (maybe this will help others noobs as well):
You will need the 'Android File Transfer program' --> google search it!
1.Connect phone to PC (you will see usb icon at the top of the screen)
2. Pull down the notification centre.
3. Touch the usb thing.
4. Click PTP mode
5. Open the file transfer program
BOOM! Rock on nerds!

[Q] Safely disconnect USB ?

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.

[Q] USB OTG support in recovery

OK, so the DNA has support when booted into the OS for USB OTG cables/thumb drives... is it a pipe dream getting the same feature in recovery?
I've tried with both TWRP and CWM to no avail. When in the phone's OS, the mount point is located at: /storage/USB but that doesn't appear in either recoveries.
My reason for asking is simple: Considering the DNA's weakest feature is the storage space (both the relatively small amount and lack of SD Card slot), it would be beneficial for many to enable it so that when performing nand backups, ROM/Mod/Script flashes, etc. in recovery, one could actually store all of those items on the Thumb Drive rather than the internal storage. I'm finding it very painstaking to have to perform these types of items, having to copy/paste/move/delete them on and off the phone's "SDcard" folder... it's also somewhat of a risk if your phone somehow gets hosed and you didn't move your files off of the phone prior to the hosing.
HTC may not have given us more storage options (dare I say like the iPhone, where you can get 32/64gb+ space), but with USB OTG we can use a thumb drive as our sdcard.
WorldOfJohnboy said:
OK, so the DNA has support when booted into the OS for USB OTG cables/thumb drives... is it a pipe dream getting the same feature in recovery?
I've tried with both TWRP and CWM to no avail. When in the phone's OS, the mount point is located at: /storage/USB but that doesn't appear in either recoveries.
My reason for asking is simple: Considering the DNA's weakest feature is the storage space (both the relatively small amount and lack of SD Card slot), it would be beneficial for many to enable it so that when performing nand backups, ROM/Mod/Script flashes, etc. in recovery, one could actually store all of those items on the Thumb Drive rather than the internal storage. I'm finding it very painstaking to have to perform these types of items, having to copy/paste/move/delete them on and off the phone's "SDcard" folder... it's also somewhat of a risk if your phone somehow gets hosed and you didn't move your files off of the phone prior to the hosing.
HTC may not have given us more storage options (dare I say like the iPhone, where you can get 32/64gb+ space), but with USB OTG we can use a thumb drive as our sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried poking around in /dev or similar folders for the drive?

Is there a Mod for mounting internal storage as UMS?

Before anyone says that this question has been asked, I'm coming from another angle. I've searched; I know it's only MTP because of Google. However, if in TWRP I can easily mount my internal storage as USB Mass Storage. So is there a way we can use the same approach TWRP is using to implement in the ROMs?
Would it be possible if a dev could mount the internal storage a second time to another mount point as a Mass Storage device solely for transferring files? I don't know if this is even possible but just throwing it out there. I haven't played in Linux for awhile but I'm going to get back in to see if I can contribute at all - if it's possible of course =)

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