[GUIDE] How to mount USB external harddisk(support NTFS and multi disks)

[ClydeB1]

not to be an idiot but you say " no need to push any file to android anymore." but then in step 2 you say to push files over. so does the APK work for xoom or do we still need to push over files. I might be over thinking here but I cant seem to get any usb storage to work but my mouse and keyboard are working

The initial post required the push via adb, but the post has since been updated to say that there is now a new method, so it is now no longer needed to do all of the push instructions. Just side load the apk.

I see as per your signature your kernel should support usb host, but do you have a USB OTG cable?

 

[jhax01]

I'm using a self powered (ie only powered via usb) 1TB external HDD and a purchased OTG cable. If your HDD's don't even start up then yeah it sounds like not enough power is getting through. Mine initially lit up and spun up, but showed as empty until I loaded the little app mentioned in my post above which mounted the NTFS drive.

Care to fess up on the model # / brand? I'd like to replicate your success without guesswork!

 

[sgtagem]

The initial post required the push via adb, but the post has since been updated to say that there is now a new method, so it is now no longer needed to do all of the push instructions. Just side load the apk.

I see as per your signature your kernel should support usb host, but do you have a USB OTG cable?

Yeah I have a cable, it works for a mouse keyboard but not a flashdrive. haha

 

[ClydeB1]

Care to fess up on the model # / brand? I'd like to replicate your success without guesswork!

I'm using this OTG cable which cost a whole $4 including delivery
http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-USB-Host-...325252?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item3a66888184
HDD - Western Digital _Elements 2.5" 1TB

 

[jhax01]

I'm using this OTG cable which cost a whole $4 including delivery
http://cgi.ebay.com/Micro-USB-Host-...325252?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item3a66888184
HDD - Western Digital _Elements 2.5" 1TB

Awesome...thank you!

 

[EwanG]

I have a Xoom flashed with Tiamat's 3.1 and his 1.4.4 kernel. I just got a Motorola Camera Connection Kit cable which I understood supported Host Mode. I installed the Mount NTFS 1.2 apk.

I then attach my USB cable to my 4TB Hard Drive on one end, and to the Motorola cable on the other. I turn on my HD and let it spin up. I then attach the Motorola Cable to the Xoom and wait for a full minute to make sure it is getting time to see the drive. I then run the Mount NTFS program. When I run it, it does not see the HD and gives me no Devices to select.

Is the problem here the Motorola cable, the order in which I'm doing things, or something else?

I'm getting ready for an extended business trip, and would like to avoid having to get a laptop or PC just to be able to work with files off my external HD. I thought I had the answer here, but... ???

 

[qwerp_]

I have a Xoom flashed with Tiamat's 3.1 and his 1.4.4 kernel. I just got a Motorola Camera Connection Kit cable which I understood supported Host Mode. I installed the Mount NTFS 1.2 apk.

I then attach my USB cable to my 4TB Hard Drive on one end, and to the Motorola cable on the other. I turn on my HD and let it spin up. I then attach the Motorola Cable to the Xoom and wait for a full minute to make sure it is getting time to see the drive. I then run the Mount NTFS program. When I run it, it does not see the HD and gives me no Devices to select.

Is the problem here the Motorola cable, the order in which I'm doing things, or something else?

I'm getting ready for an extended business trip, and would like to avoid having to get a laptop or PC just to be able to work with files off my external HD. I thought I had the answer here, but... ???

are you sure your 4tb drive is being formatted as NTFS? if you plug in a FAT32 device, it will only show under /mnt/usbOTG/ instead.

the above method only works for NTFS partition.

i recommend you to plug it onto a PC and double check the FS type.

 

[EwanG]

Yes, my 4TB is NTFS. It's the drive I use everyday that I pulled just for this experiment. Thinking it might be the sheer size of the drive, I have also tried a 1TB drive and had the same experience.

I then got one of my 16 GB USB sticks, and it mounted just fine as FAT 32. When I reformatted as NTFS and tried to attach, the Xoom did recognize the stick, but went a little haywire as if it was trying to mount the stick as the SDcard (i.e. File Explorer showed no files on SDCard and the stick did not show up on the /mnt anywhere either).

Am now suspicious of Tiamat 1.4.4 since I have noticed if I try to hook my Xoom up via USB Cable to my desktop, it no longer shows as external storage. Am contemplating going back to 1.4.3, but I am not sure that would fix this.

Anyone out there with a 2TB or larger drive that is externally powered that has been able to successfully mount to a Xoom? If so, specifics would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[brandenk0]

Hi everyone, I'm having a bit of a problem trying to use the app made by hellcat. Whenever I tried to open the app it would immediately force close. Any ideas? Also when trying the first way posted by the OP, whenever I tried to push the unmount_force file it would state "cannot stat 'unmount_force': No such file or directory" even though I clearly had the file in the tools folder. The ntfs-3g was pushed over perfectly fine. I'm at a loss as to why this is happening. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: Found a post with another person stating that he encountered the same thing. We both had the Tiamat Rom installed. Would this be the cause of the trouble?

Edit: Restored to stock rom and tried installing the app again. Installed perfectly and no force closes. So if anyone is having a problem with the app force closing and they're on the Tiamat Rom, then the Tiamat Rom is the problem.

 

[darthtony]

HI ! Just a little question !
IS it possible to made this app works on other tablets ?

I've to explain i've a chinese tablet (ok it is the best choice but it is a gift =D )

I've mounted on it a Custom rom and it works perfectly ! i can read USB disk and also the external hard disk ... but with the limit of 32 GB !

I mounted on it my verbatim 250 Gb hard drive! and it didn't worked ! I make on it a 32 GB partition and it worked !

So i've read this post and i thought there's hope for me ! I really need to make it works for my holydays !

 

[shuura]

can I use hellcat's apk with the stock kernel? I've recently rooted, but have not flashed a rom or kernel and wanted to know if that was a requirement with the apk.

 

[AspenMan]

I use this USB host cable and it works great (you have to use a USB "HOST" cable, not just a regular cable. Have tested it with my 750gb Oyen and 320gb WD Passport external HDD's, several usb flash drives (8-16gb), San disk USB memory card reader, and a USB keyboard.

For those having issues getting their Xoom to recognize USB storage devices here's what I've got and did to get it to work: I flashed my XOOM (3.1) to the 2.6.36.4 Tiamat_Xoom-v1.4.4-Full_Throttle Kernel and was unable to get the USBMount to recognize drives or storage at first.

I installed USB Mass Storage Watcher from the market (it's free) and it works awesome! Can mount any storage I want (NTFS, FAT16/32, HFS, HFS+, EXT2, ETX3, EXT4) with any capacity. I think this app will work with any rooted Xoom (or other devices). Under my Kernel my USB host is located under mnt/usbOTG.

Hope this helps.

 

[Delgoth]

The files from the guide were hosted on megaupload.

That place is now extinct. Can someone please upload again?

 

[Tye:P]

Will this app mount USB Flash Drives/HDDs as RW?

 

[soomat]

is it work on ICS - Eos-umts_everest-2.0.0 MZ601 ....???