Galaxy Nexus can't do USB mass storage, but other 4.0 devices will
Share:
The explanation comes from Android engineer Dan Morrill in a comment on a Reddit article, who says that the Galaxy Nexus doesn't support USB mass storage mode for the same reason that the Motorola XOOM didn't with Honeycomb: there's no expandable memory slot. Morrill says that devices with SD card slots will support USB mass storage. However, devices that only have internal storage like the Nexus or the XOOM will not.
As we mentioned though, this is really only an issue for Mac and Linux users because those platforms don't have native support for the standard media transfer protocol (MTP) used by the Galaxy Nexus. Windows users will be fine, but Mac users will need something like the Android File Transfer app in order to transfer files.
source: Dan Morrill via The Verge
Share:
Related phones
34 Comments
1. tuminatr posted on 22 Nov 2011, 11:32 2 2
come on guys fix this one, makes me not want the gn
27. sudhar131998 posted on 22 Nov 2011, 13:58 0 0
here's one thing I would recommend you to try. Switch off the phone and connect it to the laptop , I think it should enter into the usb mass storage mode. I haven't tried it yet but if your friends has one tell them to try it that way too.
28. sudhar131998 posted on 22 Nov 2011, 14:02 2 3
but it would be more better for android to make galaxy nexus support usb otg so that you could transfer files to nexus eventhough you have a mac or windows . thumbs up if you agree.
2. wassup posted on 22 Nov 2011, 11:33 1 3
okay that\'s it... i\'m not buying this anymore... the lack of SD slot was okay for me, but no mass storage mode makes this a no-go in my book... *waiting for SGS3*
i have the SII (European), and its good enough...its getting ICS anyways
4. remixfa posted on 22 Nov 2011, 11:39 13 10
its only an issue if you use a mac.
get rid of the mac, solve lots of problems. :)
8. Synack posted on 22 Nov 2011, 11:56 2 1
truth, but this is kind of ridiculous. im currently test driving the 4S because of Verizon's epic holiday return policy. I originally got it to tide me over to the GNexus but I kind of feel like I might just keep it. This phone keeps getting delayed and random downers keep getting announced, such as this. I love Android to death but I feel like I might get the iThing to tide me over until a super amazing Android comes out next year that'll stomp all over the Nexus. Funny how I've been holding out these past few months for the Nexus Prime > Droid Prime > GNex and now I'm almost sure that I'm sticking with the iPhone. I'll tell you one thing, I'm seriously unhappy that I can't change a lot of settings on the iPhone and ringtones?? Really? I have to jump through a million hoops just to get a damn custom ringtone. Peace.
18. beatsandmelody posted on 22 Nov 2011, 12:30 1 0
Shouldn't be an issue reading/writing files:http://www.androidpolice.com/2
011/11/18/impromptu-qa-session-with-android-engineer-dan-morrill-brings-to-light-reasons-behind-galaxy-nexus-lack-of-usb-mass-storage/
19. LewsTherin006 posted on 22 Nov 2011, 12:34 2 0
blame verizon. they keep delaying it because they released so many high end phone in a short time frame. i would just wait till the gnex comes out and test it out then.
11. The_Miz posted on 22 Nov 2011, 12:09 3 7
No just no. Perhaps Google and Samsung need to stop limiting features in the SGN.
33. remixfa posted on 23 Nov 2011, 09:29 0 0
lol, such a funny hippocrit itroll.
14. wassup posted on 22 Nov 2011, 12:14 2 2
@ Remix, i don\'t have a mac, never will... don\'t like their UI :P
but still... i don\'t think i\'m buying this... waiting for SGS3, or i might just go for a note, if it arrives quickly enough
21. tacohunter posted on 22 Nov 2011, 13:11 1 1
now i have to disagree with you remix. Personally if i have the nexus i won't have a problem with this. But linux (ubuntu) and mac are great. you've probably never seen linux OS never closly enouph and in all it details.
34. aergern posted on 17 Dec 2011, 03:26 0 0
Change the mode from MTP to PTP (camera) and Linux IS juuuuuuuuuuust fine with mounting the phone as mass storage and puts a nice little camera icon which can be changed to a HD icon if it suits you. It will pop up a KDE or Gnome file manager window which shows the EXACT same directories as Windows Explorer would. I copied 22G of music and a bunch of other stuff to my Nexus today with just a drag and drop from one window to the next.
So it's just basically Mac users who are getting screwed by Google/Samsung. They COULD write a driver for MTP that works fine in OS X ... they choose not to. Just like Samsung's KIES program SUCKS butt on my MacbookPro for use with my Galaxy Tab 10.1 ... Samsung could fix this by writing drivers as they do for Windows and having decent sync software.
Would I give up my shiny new GN ... ABSOLUTELY not this phone KICKSASS .. microSD card or not. ;)
5. protozeloz posted on 22 Nov 2011, 11:48 3 1
i think they are trying too hard to make the device computer free
6. Derekjeter posted on 22 Nov 2011, 11:51 3 3
Ok this phone is just the worst launch in the history of Android. How is it possible that I can go from being the most wanted phone in November to the least wanted phone in December
31. MichaelHeller posted on 22 Nov 2011, 16:07 3 1
The answer got bigger than I expected:
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Why-Google-wants-to-kill-SD-cards-and-whats-holding-them-back_id23986
9. jdrevolution posted on 22 Nov 2011, 11:58 0 0
That's not that big of an issue. All my android phones so far have attempted launching on my computer with the software anyways. And with all the crap I end up putting on my computer, one more isn't going to hurt.
Not the end of the world for the phone, but it would've been nice if they had found a way around this.
And plus, I don't have a mac :P I have a PC for the same reason I have an android, I like customizing my stuff and having variety.
10. kshell1 posted on 22 Nov 2011, 12:09 5 1
i just got an sgs2 epic touch from amazon so i dont really care :D
