How to connect an Android device to a computer with USB Mass storage mode. Connecting a flash drive to a smartphone: Four ways (plus bonus)

You can enable USB ports on a laptop through the BIOS, Device Manager, Registry Editor, or Group Policy Editor. If access to the USB connectors was intentionally prohibited using special software, then you can unblock it in a program where the interface is blocked. All methods are available to ordinary users and do not require special training.

Disabling unnecessary devices

If the USB ports suddenly stopped working and you are now looking for how to turn them on, then the first thing to do is look to see if the device is connected to the laptop too much. When using a USB hub, the laptop may not be able to supply power to all devices, causing the USB ports to become unresponsive. Before setting up USB in the BIOS, unplug any unnecessary hardware from your laptop and check if the ports work. If nothing has changed, then reboot the laptop and go into the BIOS.

Enabling ports in BIOS

To enter the BIOS during boot, press Delete, F2 or another key depending on the motherboard model. You can view it on the start screen.

In the case of a laptop, this screen does not appear because the fast boot feature is activated. You can temporarily disable this technology in the power settings:

Restart your computer. Without Quick Start, you will see all stages of Windows boot and can get into the BIOS. If this doesn't work on Windows 8 or 10 with UEFI BIOS, try the following method:

Once rebooted, select Diagnostics, then go to Advanced Options and open UEFI Firmware Options. Click "Reboot", the next time you start, the BIOS UEFI interface will appear.

To configure USB ports in UEFI, you need to go to the “Peripherals” tab and set the “Legacy USB Support” parameter to “Enabled”. If support for USB 3.0 ports is required, activate the corresponding item (USB 3.0 Support).

In the AMI BIOS, go to the “Integrated Peripherals” section and set the four options to “Enabled”:

• USB EHCI Controller.
• USB Mouse Support.
• USB Keyboard Support.
• Legacy USB Storage Detect.

In Phoenix AwardBIOS, you need to go to the “Advanced” tab and go to the “USB configuration” section. All parameters inside must be set to “Enabled” for the USB ports to work.

In all BIOS versions, to save the configuration, you must press the F10 key and confirm the selection by writing “Y”.

Windows setup

If ports are enabled in the BIOS, but devices connected via the USB interface are not detected by the system, then check the registry editor, device manager and group policy editor. It is possible that changes were made to the system through them, due to which the ports are no longer working. You should start with the Registry Editor.

If USB support is enabled in the Registry Editor, check the controller drivers in Device Manager.

If you see an exclamation mark icon next to the controller, and you are sure that the interface is supported in the registry editor, then this means that there are problems with the drivers. First try updating the software:

If updating the controller software does not help, update the motherboard driver. Download it from the manufacturer's website and install it manually. Another way to update the drivers of all controllers at once is to remove them from the system. Right-click on the controllers and select "Delete". After a reboot, the system will automatically install controller drivers, so you no longer have to worry about how to enable the USB ports - they will work just like that.

If only removable devices connected via USB do not work, check in the Group Policy Editor to see if a read ban is set.

Find the Removable Devices: Deny Read option and set it to Disable. The problem with identifying flash drives and external drives should disappear.

Hardware damage to ports

If the laptop's USB ports or the south bridge on the motherboard are damaged, then no methods will help enable the interface. Therefore, if the connectors stop working after mechanical impact, liquid getting inside the case, short circuit or other negative factors, then you should take the laptop to a service center for diagnostics.

Despite the support of an Android smartphone or tablet for SD cards up to 32 GB, sometimes you need to connect external “storage” - portable hard drives and flash drives.

The essence of the problem with USB-Flash drives on Android devices

Modern Flash drives have a capacity of up to 128 GB. This amount of memory is not superfluous, especially when the owner of a smartphone or tablet downloads and distributes many films, music, programs, etc. at once. Additional memory is needed. The essence of the problem is as follows.

For this you need to connect additional “flash drives” via microUSB. An ideal option for those who often go on business trips or travel is to carry a tablet and several 32–128 GB flash drives in your bag.

How to connect a flash drive to an Android gadget via OTG

OTG is a USB-microUSB adapter, a replacement for a USB cable with a Card Reader device. Takes up little space - no more than a standard flash drive. In this case, the flash drive must be formatted in FAT32 - not everything is going smoothly with the NTFS file system for the Android operating system.

There is a more difficult way: install a special Android application that allows your smartphone or tablet to work with NTFS media. So, these can be exFAT/NTFS for Total Commander, Paragon NTFS & HFS+ and their analogues.

If the flash drive is not readable, you need special Android applications. Some of them require Root rights.

How to get Root access

Applications that allow you to get Root access without using a computer: FramaRoot, Universal Androot, Visionary+, GingerBreak, z4root, BaiduRoot, Romaster SU, Towelroot, RootDashi, 360 Root, etc.

Applications that “hack” Root via PC: SuperOneClick, Unrevoked, GenoTools, vRoot, MTKDroidTools, etc.

Remember that by obtaining Root rights, you lose the supplier’s warranty and risk harming your gadget.

Another way is to change the licensed Android firmware to a “custom” one with unattached Root access.

Viewing the contents of a flash drive on an Android smartphone or tablet using third-party applications

USB Media Explorer app

If you want to simplify the process of accessing a flash drive, use the paid USB Media Explorer application. The old name of the program is Nexus Media Importer; it was initially developed for Nexus gadgets, but quickly expanded the line of supported Android smartphones and tablets. Root rights are not needed, the program is paid.

If this solution doesn’t suit you, you’ll have to work a little harder.

Solutions based on the StickMount program

The StickMount application is one of the most famous and requires Root rights. Works in conjunction with any Android file manager, for example, ES Explorer. Both applications are available on the Play Market.

The flash drive is read/write.

All your files are now available

Connecting USB flash drives to devices that do not have miniUSB/microUSB

A number of companies, not as well-known as ZTE, Huawei, Sony and their other competitors, install non-standard interface connectors. OTG adapters with miniUSB/microUSB are absolutely not suitable for gadgets with a highly standardized connector without a special OTG adapter. Look on Ebay or AliExpress for an OTG adapter that matches the standard of the interface socket of your smartphone or tablet. Further steps to obtain software access to your flash drives are the same.

Other ways to connect a flash drive to an Android smartphone or tablet

There are the following methods:

Video: Connecting additional devices to a smartphone and tablet, including flash drives: problems and solutions

By connecting flash drives and other storage devices to an Android smartphone or tablet, you free up your hands when it comes to organizing the storage of the data you carry with you. This can be very useful to you on business trips and travel. Good luck!

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 the necessary information and delete files from the product that are not used, but at the same time take up a lot of space.

Using an Android mobile device in the form of a flash drive, there is no need to constantly carry a 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 sequential 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:

1. You need to connect the gadget to your PC using a USB cable.
2. 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.
3. 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, Android does not use USB storage mode; a tablet or smartphone can be used as Media Transfer Protocol (MTP). But you can make the gadget work as a storage device.

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

• Install Root rights on Android.
• 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 the 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 a 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.

Greetings. Now many people do not know how to connect a flash drive to their phone. Because it simply doesn’t fit or there are other reasons why it can’t be done. In today's article I want to take this issue apart. You will learn how to connect a flash drive to an Android phone (smartphone) and how to view files on it.

I don’t think there’s any need to explain why you need to connect a flash drive to a smartphone. The reasons can be completely different and the most unusual. Maybe there are simply no other devices nearby for reading information from a flash drive, or maybe you decided to transfer music to your phone this way.

How to connect a flash drive to an Android smartphone?

If you are holding an ordinary USB flash drive and your favorite smartphone in your hands, you see that there is nowhere to insert it. Because the flash drive has USB Type-A, and the smartphone has a micro USB Type-B connector. That's bad luck. (Read more about)

Fortunately, many modern smartphones support this technology. USB On-The-Go, allowing them to use most peripherals directly without the help of a computer or laptop. You can connect a mouse or keyboard, work with flash drives and much more. But for this you will need.

An OTG cable usually has a full USB Type-A on one side, and a micro USB Type-B on the other side. Therefore, if your smartphone does not have a micro USB connector, then you should take care of an additional adapter to connect a flash drive. Although the likelihood of this is negligible, now almost all smartphones and tablets have a micro USB Type-B connector.

Eventually, to connect a flash drive to your phone, need to:

• so that your The smartphone supported USB On-The-Go technology. Although almost all smartphones now support it, there are nevertheless exceptions. Carefully read the phone's specifications before purchasing if this parameter is important to you.
• to have in stock. It is inexpensive, so it would be nice if you still have it. You never know when it will come in handy.

Adapter cables for different types of devices

OTG cables need to be selected depending on what connector is available on your smartphone or tablet. It could be microUSB, appleLightning or the most modern USBTYPE-C. The table shows some representatives of these cables.

How to open a flash drive on Android (tablet or phone)?

« How to open a flash drive on a phone, there is no shortcut “ My computer "and nothing similar?- you will be surprised. Naturally, for this we will need some kind of file manager. You most likely have some kind of simple pre-installed file manager. But if it is not there, then you need to install it.

Today, popular file managers on Android OS are: “File Manager”, “ES Explorer”, “Total Commander”, “X-plore File Manager”, “File Commander”, “ASTRO” and others. There are actually a lot of them. For example, I have been using for a very long time X-plore. I have loved it since the days when the Symbian OS operating system was popular on smartphones. X-plore is a convenient, functional and free manager. What else is needed?

X-plore - file manager

Then simply connect the flash drive to the phone and go to the file manager. There it will be displayed with all the contents. Of course, a completely different question is whether a smartphone can work with all files? It's still not a computer. But he can work with the main ones. There are even special programs for working with Excel spreadsheets, but it is so inconvenient that I don’t even know who these programs were written for.

Why can't my smartphone see the flash drive via an OTG cable?

There may be many reasons why your smartphone does not see the flash drive. Let's look at the most common ones.

The flash drive is also often not visible on the computer, why? Read.

Micro USB flash drives

You may not know this, but there are flash drives that fit into a micro USB connector. This information may be useful to you if you plan to often connect a flash drive to your smartphone, then it makes sense to think about such a purchase.

Micro-USB flash drive

There are also combined flash drives that have a USB Type-A output on one side and a micro USB output on the other. You can connect such a flash drive to both a computer and a smartphone. Think this might be just what you need.

If you still decide to buy a micro USB flash drive, we recommend that you pay attention to the following models with a large amount of memory. In addition, they can connect to absolutely any type of USB connector.

Conclusion on connecting a flash drive to the phone

In most cases, you will be able to use a USB flash drive on your phone without any problems. Which is good news. However, if you encounter difficulties connecting a flash drive, do not despair. Many of the problems are resolved fairly quickly. I hope you have learned enough about how to connect a flash drive to your phone. If you have any questions, please ask, we will try to help you.

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How to connect Android to computer. Many users of mobile devices running the Android operating system complain that they cannot connect their gadgets to a personal computer in storage mode (external USB drive).

Unfortunately, it is not possible to give the only correct solution to this problem. The thing is that smartphone and tablet manufacturers not only use the Android system as the main platform for their own applications, but also significantly modify the initial set of “green robot” options.

In any case, there are no hopeless situations. So, let's start dealing with the problem from the very beginning. The ideal situation is when, when you connect your Android gadget to your computer, you see something like this:

This means that your mobile device is recognized by the computer as a virtual flash drive and is ready to connect. In the additional connection menu you should expect a similar picture:

Click the “ Enable USB storage" And after that, “big brother” is simply obliged to give you a pop-up window describing options for working with an external drive (device memory):

If this does not happen, then:

1. Paradoxical as it may seem, the first thing you should do is check the cable with which you are trying to connect your smartphone (tablet) to a personal computer. Don't ignore this step! Carefully inspect the connecting cord for breaks and abrasions. If there is such a possibility, then try to establish a connection with the computer using a different, but definitely similar, cable.

Are there any visible problems with the physical state of the elements of the future connection? Then move on to the next step.

2. Try changing the device’s operating mode in the device connections menu. In this case, the mobile device must be connected to the computer! For example, as indicated in this screenshot:

It often happens that mobile device manufacturers save on developing their own drivers, using universal drivers by default. Therefore, it is possible that after connecting several gadgets to the same computer, the desktop operating system does not perceive the new smartphone or tablet correctly.

If at this step Windows begins searching for and installing the missing drivers, then you are moving in the right direction:

Once the device initialization process is complete, a similar message should appear:

Did not work out? A similar process has not started on your computer? Then we advise you to complete the next step.

3. Without disconnecting your mobile device from your personal computer, turn USB debugging on and off several times. This will help the Windows operating system identify the gadget's internal storage as a new (recently connected) device.

In this case, a pop-up message with approximately the following content will most likely appear on the desktop of your desktop computer:

If, after performing the steps described above, the virtual USB device is not recognized, then it’s time to move on to “street magic”.

4. At this step, you will have to check the drivers installed on the desktop system and the items that appear in the device manager after connecting the gadget.

So, open this same device manager:

We carefully review the list that appears. What you should be primarily interested in is not the auxiliary modes of operation of the mobile device,

and subparagraphs “ Disk devices”

or " Portable devices”:

If new lines appear in the device manager, but do not correspond to the type of connected gadget (differences in name, model, etc.), then using the context menu

and reinstall existing drivers:

The files you need can be easily found in the appropriate section of the website of the smartphone or tablet manufacturer.

Well, that's the last resort. It’s worth going to it only if, after completing the previous steps, you still weren’t able to switch your gadget to USB storage mode.

In the main window, carefully analyze the item “ Disk Management" Has a virtual flash drive appeared there? Is its size determined correctly? Has Windows assigned the correct volume letter?

In most cases, this is the root of all troubles. If in the disk tree you see the internal memory of your gadget, but its mount point is incorrectly set, then using the context menu, simply replace it with the one you like best:

We hope that after strictly following the paragraphs of this instruction, you will be able to easily work with the files of such a dear gadget to you

and a similar message will greet you every time after connecting your smartphone (tablet) to a personal computer.