Hi All,
Was about to buy a portable hard drive with the intention of dedicating it to my phone for films, music, N64 & PS1 roms etc. Then I wondered... is there a size limit to how big a drive the S3 can index?
As I had noticed a couple of threads (below) where people had issues with 1TB drives.
It works fine with my portable 500gb drive (coincidently it's made by Samsung, irrelevant I know!) which is a few gb away from being filled. Would it work as smoothly with a full 1tb drive or full 2tb drive?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1761489
&
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1720039
Thanks
Lowyo
Android's kernel is based on (and since Linux 3.4 vastly identic to) Linux.
That kernel runs on supercomputers with Petabytes of disk capacity and fileservers with dozens of disk (e.g. like this one)
So no, Android doesn't have size limitations [*]. Filesystems however do, and some implementations (including the extFat filesystem support on Samsung firmware) are flaky.
1TB drives need a lot of power to spin up and keep running, maybe the power is not sufficient. Maybe the owner did something wrong, ...
It works well with 2TB 3.5" hard disks with external power supply, so no worry.
[*] Well... there are limits. But none you need to worry about
Ok... I think I understand!
The indexing won't be an issue, but sufficient power for the drive may be?
I would prefer to have a portable drive just for ease of use, having no need for a socket. So is there a way of knowing how much power a drive would need and whether the S3 would be able to emit that amount?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Unfortunately it's trial and error. USB-OTG is not specified like normal USB for e.g. 500mAH, but only for a list of supported devices.
Most normal-sized disks should work altough I'm still not sure if such huge battery drains (especially during disk spin-up) may not cause long-term issues with the phone. The spinup power may well exceed the phone's total power consumption when under active usage.
Thanks for your help.
I guess an external drive could never go to waste! So I'll trial it like you suggested
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Related
Hi All,
Sorry for the noob question... but....
I have an external usb 250gb harddrive that I have formatted fat32. How do I mount the drive in the G Tablet ????
GTablet said:
Hi All,
Sorry for the noob question... but....
I have an external usb 250gb harddrive that I have formatted fat32. How do I mount the drive in the G Tablet ????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK... seems that no one knows how to do this... I am running VEGAn best 5.1
BETA 5 changes:
* NTFS support (this gives us the ability to mount drives formatted NTFS which is popular on Windows machines…. Larger File Support)
So how would I mount an external NTFS drive ??????
GTablet said:
OK... seems that no one knows how to do this... I am running VEGAn best 5.1
BETA 5 changes:
* NTFS support (this gives us the ability to mount drives formatted NTFS which is popular on Windows machines…. Larger File Support)
So how would I mount an external NTFS drive ??????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about Vegan (still on stock TNT), but with stock TNT, you plug the FAT32-formatted drive in, and it appears under /usbdisk. Have you tried plugging your drive in (the USB port under the rubber cover on the side of the Gtab) and then looked at /usbdisk?
Jim
jimcpl said:
I don't know about Vegan (still on stock TNT), but with stock TNT, you plug the FAT32-formatted drive in, and it appears under /usbdisk. Have you tried plugging your drive in (the USB port under the rubber cover on the side of the Gtab) and then looked at /usbdisk?
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P.S. For your FAT32-formatted drive, make sure that there is only ONE FAT32 partition on it. I think that there was another user who wasn't able to see his drive, but found a hidden partition on the drive (not sure, I don't think he responded definitevely).
Jim
jimcpl said:
P.S. For your FAT32-formatted drive, make sure that there is only ONE FAT32 partition on it. I think that there was another user who wasn't able to see his drive, but found a hidden partition on the drive (not sure, I don't think he responded definitevely).
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since I originally posted I reformatted the hard drive to NTFS since 5.1 is suppose to support this now. I do try to find the drive under usbdisk but is does not show up... I am quessing we probably need to create a new mount point for the hard drive but I have no clue how to do this on Android.
GTablet said:
Since I originally posted I reformatted the hard drive to NTFS since 5.1 is suppose to support this now. I do try to find the drive under usbdisk but is does not show up... I am quessing we probably need to create a new mount point for the hard drive but I have no clue how to do this on Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Sorry that I won't be able to help you on that, since I'm not on Vegan ...
Probably need something like:
mkdir /mnt/ntfs
mount -t ntfs /dev/xxxxx??? /mnt/ntfs
though, I would have thought that vold would've automatically taken care of it.
Good luck,
Jim
how do i figure out what goes after /dev/(right here)
ive tried everything and cant get mine to mount either. done a lot of googling and came up with nothing
ellis125 said:
how do i figure out what goes after /dev/(right here)
ive tried everything and cant get mine to mount either. done a lot of googling and came up with nothing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the problem....
any ideas???
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0B5.1 using Tapatalk
zpad works
zpad v2.2 rom works great with my usb 500gb fat32 maxtor. its mounted at sdcard/usbdisk1
I had the same problems with mounting a external hard drive. Formatted to fat32, plug in correctly, disk led's light up, surely it must be working?
But wait, it works fine on the computer, why not the G tab? So what gives?
For me the usb port on my G tab does not put out enough power to run the drive up to 100%. It's all about amperage, and I found that my G tab did not output enough milliamps @ 5 volts to make the drive read / write. Some drives use less, some more, just depends on what you have. If you have a external powered hard drive that shouldn't be a problem. If your drive is trying to operate solely on a usb host, then it may / may not work reliably.
Anyways that's my G tab / hard drive experience and I use external powered drives with no problems.
(hint) If your drive is making a slight clicking sound when plugged in to the G tab then you probably have same problem I did.
Bit Banger said:
I had the same problems with mounting a external hard drive. Formatted to fat32, plug in correctly, disk led's light up, surely it must be working?
But wait, it works fine on the computer, why not the G tab? So what gives?
For me the usb port on my G tab does not put out enough power to run the drive up to 100%. It's all about amperage, and I found that my G tab did not output enough milliamps @ 5 volts to make the drive read / write. Some drives use less, some more, just depends on what you have. If you have a external powered hard drive that shouldn't be a problem. If your drive is trying to operate solely on a usb host, then it may / may not work reliably.
Anyways that's my G tab / hard drive experience and I use external powered drives with no problems.
(hint) If your drive is making a slight clicking sound when plugged in to the G tab then you probably have same problem I did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anybody know the maximum current supplied by the GTab's USB host port?
My 2.5" 500 GB External came with only a short (single) usb A to usb mini cable.
And it gets powered up fine from every laptop/netbook I have tried. They have always displayed 500 mA max current for each port.(when I look in Windows Device Manager, USB Root Hub).
Can the G-Tab supply up to 500 mA from it's USB host port??
I want to make sure it will work on a GTab before I buy it.
i tested my gtab and i get 488ma out of my usb port. that is the max i can pull. It's the same when charging or not.
JD
Old thread but this is EXACTLY what I was looking for when I registered here. I have TONS of 16gb and 32gb USB drives, SDHC cards, microSD cards, a few USB thumbdrive adapter's for the SD cards....I watch movies on my gTab from these various drives but I wanted to buy a larger external HDD. Didn't know if I needed a self powered one or if the USB port on the gTab would power it alone.
Looks like I'm buying an external HDD with a power cord! Too bad my 2tb one I have now is formatted to NTFS and has A LOT of data on it already......
Bit Banger said:
I had the same problems with mounting a external hard drive. Formatted to fat32, plug in correctly, disk led's light up, surely it must be working?
But wait, it works fine on the computer, why not the G tab? So what gives?
For me the usb port on my G tab does not put out enough power to run the drive up to 100%. It's all about amperage, and I found that my G tab did not output enough milliamps @ 5 volts to make the drive read / write. Some drives use less, some more, just depends on what you have. If you have a external powered hard drive that shouldn't be a problem. If your drive is trying to operate solely on a usb host, then it may / may not work reliably.
Anyways that's my G tab / hard drive experience and I use external powered drives with no problems.
(hint) If your drive is making a slight clicking sound when plugged in to the G tab then you probably have same problem I did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi guys,
Has anyone ever thought of connecting a slim USB powered external DVD re-writer disc drive to the Samsung Galaxy S2. I am still awaiting my Galaxy S2 to be delivered and from what I have gathered in order for this type of usb hardware to be recognized in the OTG, there would need to be support for the CDFS and UDF filesystems which many burned CD's and DVD's are recorded in. It's a 2.5" usb powered DVD re-writer (no external power needed) I attach and use sometimes on my win 7 laptop.
Would be awesome if I could view many of my old backed up DVD rips (standard 700mb XviD's) that I burned to CD through the USB OTG on my Galaxy S2 using an Android video p[layer like Rockplayer or moboplayer. Does anyone agree?
many other possibilities with burned CD and DVD media such as photo CD's, traditional music CD's (cda) and more all on Android. Optical disc drives, like other usb drives tested on Galaxy S2, may likely require separate power source.
I've even written to Samsung's UK headquarters about it and they said they will forward the request onto the relevant department. I know USB OTG function on Android is still in it's infancy.
I have breezed a look at these two favourite XDA topics relating this issue:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1070573
and
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1090961
Also outside of these forums, I have also looked at these topics:
http://forum.dailymobile.se/index.php?topic=39360
and
http://forum2.mobile-review.com/sho...st-for-a-Galaxy-SII-sucessor-(aka-Galaxy-SIII)
Any response?
i kinda doubt itll work due to the power requirements of the drive
i know that you cant connect up a 2.5" harddrive cos they suck down more power than it can output.
hell even a 256gb thumb drive ive got didnt work
Another related topic about this, this below link:
RISC OS Open: Forum: When should we have a new BeagleBoard ROM image?
Has anyone on this forum with knowledge on these disc file-systems made any investigations as to whethere it could be supported on the Galaxy SII? Maybe on a custom ROM maybe?
Please anyone share something of what you knows
Related topic:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1844395
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1091210
OR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dKvwom5K8s
BennyT83 said:
i kinda doubt itll work due to the power requirements of the drive
i know that you cant connect up a 2.5" harddrive cos they suck down more power than it can output.
hell even a 256gb thumb drive ive got didnt work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Power is not a problem. It works fine. All you need is a separate USB hub with its own power adapter.
You connect your USB hard drive or anything else to a hub and connect your hub to your Android device
by USB OTG cable.
You should also have a program which can read for instance NTFS file system for your Android like
USB OTG Helper or Paragon NTSF&HFS+
The problem is that there is still no similar programs for Android which could read CDFS or UDF
I think i saw that option on stweak on dorimanx kernel
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Could you please write any updates about this? I want to buy external dvd-rw but I'm not sure in success.. Is it possible to burn disks? How it can be done?
My current portable hard drive apparently uses too much power for the galaxy tab.
Are there any 500gig + hard drives that use the same power as a thumb drive or is this just wishful thinking?
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
You will have to use an USB Hub with power supply. All spinning HDD's require much more power than the tablet is supplying.
I know it is not cheap, but you can today buy 128GB USB flash drives - they will work well and store also a lot of HD movies!
i am curious how you are connection your HD to the tab? if you are usign the usb host usb adapter, the little paper that came with it supports up to 32gb fat32 drives. i dont know if thats true or not, but if it is, you wont even be able to use a 128 usb flash drive as previously suggested.
i can confirm that a 32gb fat32 usb flash drive works, used with my sandisk cruiser 32
For portability the Seagate wireless drive would work.
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Satellite-Wireless-Storage-STBF500101-Black/dp/B004Z0S7K6
Using a powered hub will work just fine with portable hard drives. I have a 500GB Seagate that works very well
The USB 2.0 spec can only handle supplying 100mA x 5. So 500mA draw us the max it can supply to any drive. I don't know of any drives that are that low, might as well use a flash drive or SD card.
cleblanc92 said:
The USB 2.0 spec can only handle supplying 100mA x 5. So 500mA draw us the max it can supply to any drive. I don't know of any drives that are that low, might as well use a flash drive or SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hosts are actually not required to supply 500 mA even. They are required to supply 100, and may negotiate up to 500 during device enumeration.
PCs that don't support 500 are extremely rare, but mobile devices with OTG are a different story - many are limited to 100. This seems to include our device.
2.5" spinning hard drives that use less than 500 can be found. Less than 100 is not possible.
As to the 32GB limit - I have no idea why that's in the flyer, other than maybe the fact that it's VERY rare to see drives above this size formatted as FAT since Windows refuses to format drives of this size as FAT.
I have a 120GB WD external drive that works fine on my netbook (single USB port cable) I'll have to pick up a USB adapter and try it.
IIRC as the size (GB) of the drive goes up so does it's power draw.
Has anybody tried a 1.8" drive from an MP3 player?
Power consumption
Start 1.8W (max.)
Seek 0.9W (typ.)
Read/Write 0.8W (typ.)
Low power Idle 0.3W (typ.)
Stand-by 0.1W (typ.)
Though I suppose this Thread is kinda dead...I'd still like to know if there is a way to connect harddrives bigger than 32GB (and to format a Fat32 driver bigger than 32GB). Wish to stream media from my tablet to the PS3 and other players via Skifta...but I don't want to buy harddrives randomly, hoping they will work.
Tried with different USB Drives I have at home, but none works (well, NTFS of course).
Has anyone tried a bigger driver via powered USB Hub yet?
Or 64GB Sticks etc?
Cheers,
J.
i use a samsung hd 750 GB via powered hub, works great.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Sounds awesome! So, I suppose any powered hub works. Did you format the HD in any specific way or by the help of some fancy software (just wondering as I think Fat32 cannot be formatted under Win7 if the harddisk exceeded size x) ?
Thanks
hoodie said:
Though I suppose this Thread is kinda dead...I'd still like to know if there is a way to connect harddrives bigger than 32GB (and to format a Fat32 driver bigger than 32GB). Wish to stream media from my tablet to the PS3 and other players via Skifta...but I don't want to buy harddrives randomly, hoping they will work.
Tried with different USB Drives I have at home, but none works (well, NTFS of course).
Has anyone tried a bigger driver via powered USB Hub yet?
Or 64GB Sticks etc?
Cheers,
J.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your tab is rooted you can get "usb mass storage otg" from the market which support your ntfs formatted drives no need for fat 32 crap anymore!
achaayan said:
If your tab is rooted you can get "usb mass storage otg" from the market which support your ntfs formatted drives no need for fat 32 crap anymore!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
would you mind to sharing the apk with us ? as i tried to install from market an said that my device not compatible. thank you very much in advance.
almith said:
Hi,
would you mind to sharing the apk with us ? as i tried to install from market an said that my device not compatible. thank you very much in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am kindae new to androids. Since i installed the app from the maket where on my phone can i find the apk file?
Sent from my GT-P7500 using Tapatalk
achaayan said:
I am kindae new to androids. Since i installed the app from the maket where on my phone can i find the apk file?
Edit:think i figured how to go around. Find attaches the. Apk file. I found a few seconds delay while first opening. Also sometimes i had to reopen the app to allow root acces.because it didnt ask for root access on first run. Apart from the first run, its a breeze afterwords
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
achaayan said:
achaayan said:
I am kindae new to androids. Since i installed the app from the maket where on my phone can i find the apk file?
Edit:think i figured how to go around. Find attaches the. Apk file. I found a few seconds delay while first opening. Also sometimes i had to reopen the app to allow root acces.because it didnt ask for root access on first run. Apart from the first run, its a breeze afterwords
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very kind of you, thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's true, you actually have to format your 500GB drive as FAT32 to get it working?
I guess this means no HD movies (files bigger than 4 GB) right?
i plug in the lod fashioned 3.5hdd externally powered and ntfs formatted,
not able to connect 2.5hdds yet. if anyone was successful,what is powered usb hub used, i was not able to connect using a local brand of powered usb hub.
---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 AM ----------
mlhdk said:
i use a samsung hd 750 GB via powered hub, works great.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you use a 2.5" hdd. what is the usb hub that you used ?
I saw a lot of videos on the internet talking about the SGS III's ability for OTG USB connections and I decided to try them out. While I was able to run a PSX Controller, a wireless keyboard and a mousewith the cable, I was able to get it to detect only a 4 GB pendrive and only in FAT32 format. It outright refused to detect my HDD of 160GB and 500GB {both NTFS} or my 8GB microSD card which I put in through a card reader. Now, most sites I've seen using the OTG feature use the 2nd cable I've posted as an attachment. I know this is an absurd longshot, but is there anyway that my using the cable in the 1st attachment instead of the second a reason for why it isn't working for me? If not, what am I doing wrong?
No, the cable is just fine if it works for some devices. Most generic ones just work fine.
The actual reasons are multiple:
NTFS is not supported by the stock kernel. Flash e.g. the aftermarket Siyahkernel to use the devices
Card readers need drivers, they are not "real" mass storage devices. I'm not sure if and which drivers are included in the kernel.
USB 2.5" HDD's without external power supplies need a HUGE amount of power, often even above the specified 500mAh. I don't think the S3 can provide that much power and you may damage it trying or even if it works (Altough I think it has a limiter, but better safe than sorry)
d4fseeker said:
No, the cable is just fine if it works for some devices. Most generic ones just work fine.
The actual reasons are multiple:
NTFS is not supported by the stock kernel. Flash e.g. the aftermarket Siyahkernel to use the devices
Card readers need drivers, they are not "real" mass storage devices. I'm not sure if and which drivers are included in the kernel.
USB 2.5" HDD's without external power supplies need a HUGE amount of power, often even above the specified 500mAh. I don't think the S3 can provide that much power and you may damage it trying or even if it works (Altough I think it has a limiter, but better safe than sorry)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank God. I thought I screwed up the device somehow. I understand. I merely wanted to see whether or not I have support. I highly doubt I'll do anything beyond actually playing using the PSX Controller, but I wanted to know how far it can go. Just one more question. Flashing an aftermarket kernel means data loss right?
Depends. You usually have (or at least are strongly recommended to) factory-reset the device due to the low-level changes between the ROM's which can and will cause issues.
However that is not really an issue;
Just copy your whole internal sdcard (/mnt/sdcard) to an USB stick and do the same with your Apps through Titanium Backup.
Then restore both again after having flashed the custom ROM and you're up and running without data loss.
You'll need root for Titanium Backup tough, just flash Siyahkernel or CF-Root through Odin to gain the privilege.
Hi,
does anyone know which file systems are supported by the OTG feature? Am able to read/write just fine on a FAT32 USB stick, but an external HDD that is allegedly formatted with NTFS isn't recognized. I thought I read somehwere that NTFS is supported on most newer devices... I'd assume the Z3TC qualifies as "newer"
i at least can confirm that exfat is working. so large files may be stored on it. ext3 is not. haven't tried anything else yet. i never use ntfs for anything. this fs is too bad.
a user said:
i never use ntfs for anything. this fs is too bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get this conclusion about NTFS?
If you just mean that NTFS is not optimised for USB flash disks, then I agree.
_jis_ said:
How did you get this conclusion about NTFS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
20 years of experience and knowledge.
If you just mean that NTFS is not optimised for USB flash disks, then I agree.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no. it's at the bottom end of modern filesystems if not the worst. ntfs is broken by so many ways... and its performance sucks too.
microsoft pumped also full with features that actually never were really used but caused various problems and security isses so they had to disable them, while actually they only removed the tools to access them (well, maybe meanwhile they removed some of them). one of the most stupid, broken and security-wise dangerous "features" were the filechannels, which actually ended in the space of unneeded bull****.
but ntfs disaster is nothing uncommon, it's like everything MS produced (where most top products actually were bought from others and "enhanced" by microsoft).
but we are getting oftopic. sorry.
It is very strange; the same hard disk worked fine on my Nexus 7 with StickMount. Not sure if the software that comes with the Z3 is the problem - but of course the Z3TC is not rooted (yet), so StickMount is not currently an option.
Sony Xperia Z3 USB OTG
I can confirm that with the Nexus Media Importer app, the Sony Xperia Z3 (the smartphone) can read & write to NTFS file systems. I have a USB OTG "Y" cable (a female micro USB port for extra power). Without the paid app though, the Z3 can only read exFAT and FAT32 file systems, stating the NTFS as an "unsupported file system". As an added bonus, the smartphone is able to charge itself if you charge it by the magnetic port! I have a Deff magnectic adapter. Another device that can power an external USB OTG device while charging itself is my Google Nexus 5 with a special USB OTG "Y" adapter.
thanks for the info charging via magnetic while having OTG connected!
size of your HD
Hi anyone of here.what's the size of your hard drive and the brand? I have a seagate 500gb and would like to upgrade to 2tbm seagate backup plus and i wonder if this would work without external power suppor. My 500gb seagate works fine without any external support. Also my Z3 phone can load the 500gb hard drive without issues. I just want to know before ordering the hard drive. I would be using this to watch movies while traveling so a hard drive should be able to load with no need for external support,
Size doesn't matter...in general
It solely depends on the power consumption of the HDD which is not (necessarily) dependent on it's size. Most important is the current your drive needs to spin up when the device is turned on. You probably won't find the current requirement on the HDD itself - only the current needed when running. Spin up power may be higher and if it's too high, your USB-SATA will probably not "light up" at all or constantly restart.
Short: Try to find Datasheets for your old and new HDD and compare spin up current if available or continue to hope for someone having tried the same HDD.
sandrap said:
Size doesn't matter...in general
It solely depends on the power consumption of the HDD which is not (necessarily) dependent on it's size. Most important is the current your drive needs to spin up when the device is turned on. You probably won't find the current requirement on the HDD itself - only the current needed when running. Spin up power may be higher and if it's too high, your USB-SATA will probably not "light up" at all or constantly restart.
Short: Try to find Datasheets for your old and new HDD and compare spin up current if available or continue to hope for someone having tried the same HDD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick update ; bought 1.5tb because it was on sale and both z3 tab and z3 powering it with no problems
Sent from my SGP621 using XDA Free mobile app
a user said:
20 years of experience and knowledge.
no. it's at the bottom end of modern filesystems if not the worst. ntfs is broken by so many ways... and its performance sucks too.
microsoft pumped also full with features that actually never were really used but caused various problems and security isses so they had to disable them, while actually they only removed the tools to access them (well, maybe meanwhile they removed some of them). one of the most stupid, broken and security-wise dangerous "features" were the filechannels, which actually ended in the space of unneeded bull****.
but ntfs disaster is nothing uncommon, it's like everything MS produced (where most top products actually were bought from others and "enhanced" by microsoft).
but we are getting oftopic. sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if NTFS is that bad, what do you use and why?
Sent from my SGP621 using XDA Free mobile app