Function of connecting a flash drive to the phone. What do you need to connect a flash drive to your phone?

Twitter

In this article, we will look at the reasons why a USB flash drive does not work in Android via an OTG cable and what to do in such a situation.

Portable performance and capabilities computer equipment are growing rapidly. Based on modern smartphones and tablets, you can organize a full-fledged workplace. They “learned” to work with USB peripherals: keyboard, mouse, game controllers and even printers. All these devices are connected to Android gadgets via an OTG cable. The most popular peripheral device is undoubtedly the flash drive. With its help you can transfer documents and other useful files, expand the storage capacity of a smartphone or tablet, organize a file archive.

Why doesn’t a smartphone (tablet) see a flash drive via an OTG cable?

First of all, you should make sure that the cable is working and supports the OTG function. If everything is fine with it, but the smartphone or tablet does not “see” the external device, there may be several reasons.

The tablet (smartphone) does not support the OTG interface. Among modern gadgets This rarely happens, but it is better to read the documentation for the device and make sure the device is compatible. For example, “USB host” should be written in the gadget parameters. If there is no support, then it will only work with flash drives and disks that support the Wi-Fi interface.
The file system format of the flash drive is not recognized by the Android device. Devices with standard firmware support only file exFAT systems and FAT32. If the flash drive is formatted in NTFS, HFS+ or another system, the gadget cannot work with it. There are two ways to fix the problem: either reformat the flash drive, or install a program that supports the NTFS file system on your smartphone or tablet. The second option is preferable: you don’t have to delete the contents of the flash drive (which is inevitable when formatting), plus NTFS has support for files larger than 2GB, which is useful for recording and transferring large files (for example, videos). The only drawback similar programs- they all require root rights. If there are none on your Android device, the program will not work. You still have to reformat the flash drive.
Another reason why a smartphone does not see a flash drive is high power consumption. More often this problem occurs when connecting external hard drives, but sometimes, according to various reasons, the flash drive may also lack power. You can solve the problem using an active USB hub with external power. Just keep in mind that not all smartphones and tablets support it. And you can forget about mobility, since the active hub runs on mains power.
The devices (flash drive and Android gadget) are incompatible or have technical issues. This happens even with completely new equipment, and nothing but repair or replacement can be recommended here.

Now you know why a smartphone or tablet may not see a flash drive via an OTG cable and how you can solve it this problem.

What is this technology and how do OTG cables differ from regular microUSB cables?

What is USB-OTG

This technology, which allows you to connect mobile devices to USB peripherals, appeared in 2001. Its peculiarity is that the device (tablet, smartphone) can operate, depending on the need, in two modes: “master” and “client”. When you connect a flash drive, the gadget can read its contents, and when connected to a PC, it itself is recognized as a flash drive.

Almost all the latest (and not so recent) flagship models Android devices are equipped with chic widescreen displays with a decent diagonal and high ppi. On such screens it is quite convenient to watch movies and TV series on the road, but where to record them? Google has a bad tradition of not installing memory card slots in its Google phones. If this is not yet so critical for the Galaxy Nexus (16 GB on board), then the younger Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 are already suffering, because you can’t record a lot of video content on 8 GB, and not only Google phones are guilty of this. All that remains is to use removable external media. But how to connect it to a smartphone and tablet? Very simple.

What you will need

Smartphone or tablet to which we want to connect USB storage
Removable USB drive
USB OTG cable

USB On-The-Go cable is an adapter, one end connects to micro USB port on a smartphone, and is plugged into the other end standard USB port removable disk. Cool DIYers can solder it themselves (maybe they will send us instructions with screenshots, we will be happy to publish them), while the rest can go to the Internet or the nearest specialized store and buy such an adapter there for very ridiculous money. This posting actually opens up a lot of possibilities. With it you can connect joysticks, keyboards and other devices with USB interface, as long as the smartphone or tablet understands them.

At the initial stage this will be enough. Now we need to find out if ours wants mobile device make friends with removable media without additional manipulations. Smartphones and tablets from the same manufacturers allow you to connect USB drives out of the box. Let's connect and watch. If you were unable to access the storage, then move on.

Simple option

If you don’t want to bother, then go to Google Play Store and buy the Nexus Media Importer application there (it works not only with Nexuses) for $3. That's enough.

If your device is rooted, you won’t have to pay. Download the free StickMount application (works only with root) and along the way any file manager, if for one reason or another you do not have it installed (we like ES Explorer).

All that remains is to connect the removable drive and allow StickMount root access.

A corresponding message will appear in the notification area stating that the storage has been successfully connected and has the address /sdcard/usbStorage.

Go to this folder through the file manager and enjoy.

Users of mobile devices, from time to time, wonder how to connect a flash drive to a phone or tablet. It's convenient and useful feature needed to open files from a flash drive directly on a smartphone or tablet, or to transfer files to a mobile device or to USB flash storage device.

Is it possible to connect a flash drive to a smartphone? Most convenient way for data exchange: direct connection between smartphone and USB flash coy. In this case, there is no need additional device: a computer that acts as an intermediary when transferring data between a smartphone and a USB storage device.

Many smartphones have limited memory space due to the significant size they take up. operating system Android, applications, user files, etc. Because of this, it is irrational to store everything necessary files on the device, as they will take up a lot of space.

You can use a USB flash drive as file storage. Place it on a flash drive necessary files. To access files on a USB device from a mobile phone, you will need to connect a flash drive to your Android smartphone.

After connecting to the phone, the user will be able to open a document, listen to music, play a video, watch a movie, etc., perform other necessary actions with files located on external media. The main condition: the Android operating system must support the file types that the user works with.

Please note that the connected device uses power from your phone or tablet, so the battery will drain faster if the mobile device is not connected to electrical network via charger.

Necessary conditions for connecting a flash drive to a smartphone

But, unfortunately, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. For full use flash drives on a smartphone or tablet running under operating system Android systems, several suitable conditions must be present:

Support USB functions Host mobile device, Android operating system, support for functions in the firmware from the mobile device manufacturer.
Some devices will require presence of root right
Special OTG cable with two ends on which there is a USB connector and another port that has one connector: microUSB or USB Type-C.
Supported Android device file USB system drive.

First of all, make sure that USB Host is supported on your mobile phone. This can be done using free application USB OTG Checker from Google Play Store.

Android 5.0 and higher operating systems have a built-in USB Host function, so this function should work without problems on any device. Some device manufacturers may disable this functionality in the firmware of their device.

On mobile phones Before Android 5.0, you will need to enable root rights (superuser) to be able to work with USB flash drives from a smartphone.

To connect, you need a USB OTG (USB On-the-Go) cable, used as an adapter, which has suitable connectors for connecting between both devices: a flash drive and a phone. In a USB OTG device, the host and peripherals are determined, depending on which connector is responsible for power.

At one end of the cable there is a USB connector (USB Female, “mother”), to which a flash drive is connected, and at the other end of the cable there is a connector micro USB or USB Type-C connected to a mobile device.

In addition to the flash drive, you can connect an external HDD, mouse, keyboard, camera, joystick, printer, etc.

When connected external hard disk that has additional power, problems will not arise, and external hard disk without additional food may not open due to lack of power supplied from the mobile device.

On smartphones, flash drives with file files can be opened without problems. FAT system 32, and for example, USB flash drives with file NTFS system can only be used with third-party file managers installed on a mobile device that support this file system.

How to connect a flash drive to a smartphone

Now let's see practically how to connect a USB flash drive to a smartphone or tablet.

To do this, follow these simple steps:

Connect the micro-USB connector to your smartphone or tablet, and insert a USB flash drive into the other end of the OTG adapter.

The mobile device will detect the flash drive and offer to perform any actions with it.

In general, the flash drive will open in Explorer, the default file manager. If a third-party file manager is used on your smartphone, then you will receive a request to work with a USB device from this program.

If the flash drive is detected, but it is impossible to work with it, pay attention to the following circumstances: the flash drive has an unsupported file system, the USB flash drive is divided into several partitions, there is not enough power.

Connecting a flash drive on an old Android smartphone

In older versions of the operating system Android function USB Host is not working. Therefore it is necessary to use third party software, to use which you need to obtain root rights on Android, for example, using the Kingo Root program.

Two paid programs: Nexus Media Importer and Nexus USB OTG FileManager, work without root rights on the device. Before installation, you need to make sure that these programs will work on your device.

In other cases, you will first need to obtain superuser rights, and then use applications to mount the flash drive, for example, free programs StickMount or USB OTG Helper.

Conclusions of the article

The user can connect a flash drive to a smartphone or tablet to access data on a USB drive. Connections between devices are carried out using a special USB adapter OTG, some conditions must also be met: support for the USB Host function on the mobile device, a supported file system on the flash drive.

Connecting a flash drive to an Android device is very convenient, because it allows you to store data on it and quickly access it. Often the connection occurs without complications, and modern smartphones immediately determine removable media. However, sometimes unexpected glitches or incompatibilities occur that prevent normal operation. If you encounter any problem and your phone does not see the flash drive, read the article to the end. In it you will find a solution to your problem, which will allow you to easily view files.

The situations we will consider are relevant for all phones from different manufacturers, but there are a number of limitations, which we will talk about at the beginning.

The main reasons why the phone does not see the flash drive

Before we begin to analyze the reasons why a smart device does not see a flash drive via an OTG cable, let’s consider important point- checking the phone's compatibility with USB Flash. In order to power the drive, the smartphone must support a technology called USB On-The-Go. It helps apply current to the media, making it visible and interactable.

You can verify development support using the USB OTG Checker application, which is included in Play Market. If the program indicates that the smartphone is capable of working with flash drives, then read on, below there will be an example of solutions to problems. If the device does not support external devices, then there is no way to fix it.

An Android device may not display storage for one of the following reasons:

outdated version of the operating system. To work with USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, Android 3.1 and higher is required, otherwise the flash drive will be invisible;
lack of power to supply the drive through the adapter (you can use an active USB hub, but it is not practical);
incorrect connection;
the storage capacity exceeds the value that the device can handle;
unsupported file system;
mechanical damage to the carrier, adapter or connector.

These are the main reasons that prevent the flash drive from working correctly.

What to do if the phone does not see the flash drive?

Now let's talk about each reason in turn to find out how best to eliminate it.

Reason #1. The connection is not made correctly

Sometimes users incorrectly connect devices to each other. To avoid mistakes, follow the instructions:

make sure that your smartphone can work with portable storage devices;
check Android version and compatibility when USB help OTG Checker;
insert the wire into the mobile port;
insert the second end of the cord into the external flash drive;
open any file manager, find there removable drive and work with it.

If after this there is no result, proceed to the next steps.

Reason #2. Ignoring storage limit

Read the instructions. It says whether USB-host is supported or not. If you threw away the documentation, then look for it on the Internet so as not to get confused about how many GB the phone supports.

Also remember that portable hard disks(HDD) is not supported by all mobile phones, since they require a lot of energy to recharge them. Usually budget models cannot open them and are limited to reading small volumes from flash drives.

Reason #3. The file system is not supported by the device

The phones support the FAT file system: exFAT and FAT32. Therefore, if the flash drive is formatted in NTFS, then you need to remount it in order to change the files. There are two options, let's consider each separately.

Reformatting

Attention! Formatting will permanently delete data on the media.

This is done via PC as follows:

When the utility reports completion, you can insert the flash drive into your phone or tablet.

Connection through special programs (Root required)

The second method is not suitable for everyone, since you need Root rights, which are not always easy to install, and not everyone is ready to take this step. However, we will talk about one program. This is StickMount, which can be downloaded from the Play Store, and it will work with most flash drives and allow you to read documents from different file systems. In addition, it even helps to interact with cameras and other equipment.

Reason #4. Damage to the hardware component

The contacts in the phone socket are not the most reliable, sometimes they break. In this case, the user may not even be aware of the malfunction, since the contacts responsible for transmitting data via OTG are not associated with charging. Therefore, the phone can “power” from the network well, but the drive will not see it. In this case, the road to service center, to replace the connector.

OTG cables under the braid often break, which is why the smart device cannot see USB flash drive, but replacing them is cheap. To check its functionality, simply connect it to a 100% working mobile phone and see if there is contact.

A breakdown of the OTG power controller in a smartphone will also not allow it to “see” the media. To check, you will need a voltage meter.

Attention! If you test a gadget, you will have to sacrifice some unnecessary charging wire. If it is not there, immediately take your mobile phone to the service center.

Do this:

If the screen shows less than 5V, then the controller is faulty and you should send the phone in for repair.

Do not forget that there is another reason - a defective OTG cable, adapter or flash drive. So try other storage and cables if possible.

A mobile device that runs on the Android OS, unlike other portable gadgets, can be connected to a computer as a flash drive. Many Android smartphones and tablets are initially equipped by manufacturers with functions that allow them to be used as flash drives.

This allows the user to record necessary information, remove files from the product that are not used, but at the same time take up a lot of space in it.

Using Android mobile device in the form of a flash drive, there is no need to constantly carry the drive with you. Now you don’t need to carry out a lot of manipulations with connecting to a laptop or computer, spending a lot of time on it.

Options for connecting a mobile gadget as a flash drive

Let's look at how to connect a mobile device like a flash drive. To do this you need to perform certain consistent actions:

If you lower the curtain in the menu, it will display USB connection in the form of a flash drive. If you need to turn off the drive, you must also lower the curtain and click on the corresponding inscription.

Connecting the product with different versions of Android

Now let's look at ways to connect a tablet or smartphone as a flash drive, depending on the version used Android. First, we determine which operating system is on the device. To do this, go to “Settings”, select the “About device” or “About phone” section. Often it is located last in the list that opens.

OS Android 2.1 - 2.3.7

If the Android operating system 2.1 - 2.3.7 is installed, you must complete the following steps:

You need to connect the gadget to your PC using USB cable.
The computer should automatically detect the new device. If this does not happen, you need to disconnect the smartphone from the computer, go to “Settings”, select “Applications”, click on “For Developer”, then “USB Debugging”. Now you need to connect it to your PC again.
A drive icon will appear in the gadget. You need to click on “USB Connection”, and the connection itself should be made as a media device.

Android OS version 4 and higher

Since version 4.4 KitKat, the mode is not used in Android USB storage device, tablet or smartphone can be used as Media Transfer Protocol (MTP). But you can make the gadget work as a storage device.

Required to use special application, which will help you connect Android with MTP as a USB drive in a few steps. To do this you will need:

Install on Android Root rights.
Download and install the special application “USB MASS STORAGE Enabler”.

Then you need to do the following:

Launch “USB MASS STORAGE Enabler”. It will be displayed in the menu as a USB activator.
Root rights must be granted. You will be prompted to change how Selinux works. It needs to be resolved.

If this device is supported, the application will go to the main menu.

To solve the “flash drive” in Android, you need to click on “Enable USB MASS STORAGE”.

After using Android as a USB drive, you need to disable this mode. For this it opens program“USB MASS STORAGE Enabler” and press the corresponding button there. To connect a mobile device in a different mode, you need to restart Android.

Android does not detect memory card

There are situations when the flash drive in the device does not work. To find it, you can use the ES Explorer file manager or similar application. With the help of such programs you can find almost everything. In its functionality it is similar to the My Computer program.

To recognize the memory card, you should launch ES Explorer. After launching it, a menu will appear on the left side of the screen where the SDcard (memory card) will be located. All you have to do is click on it. After this, the memory card will be detected and available for use.