Connecting Flash Drives To Samsung S10
Now we will consider the reasons and what to do in a situation where your Android phone does not see a USB flash drive or hard drive via a USB OTG cable.
This article is suitable for all brands producing Android 10/9/8/7 phones: Samsung, HTC, Lenovo, LG, Sony, ZTE, Huawei, Meizu, Fly, Alcatel, Xiaomi, Nokia and others. We are not responsible for your actions.
Attention! You can ask your question to the specialist at the end of the article.
Attention! In the comment, another tip from the reader with experience in solving this problem. Do not forget to read.
Reasons why an Android phone does not see an OTG adapter
In addition to the lack of support for USB On-The-Go technology (read below), there are other reasons that your Android phone or tablet does not see the USB flash drive through the cord, even if the indicator is on:
- The volume of the connected drive is too large.
- If there is a connection sound, but you cannot determine the equipment (or it is only charging), make sure that its file system is in the appropriate Fat32 format. NTFS and ExFat on Android are not readable. Read How to format a microSD memory card on Android
- Flash drive malfunction. Try connecting it to a computer to make sure that the drive is working.
- Damage to the connector on the phone / tablet. Even if the device is charging, this does not mean that the connector is fully functional. the contacts responsible for data transfer may be damaged.
- Damage to the OTG cable or adapter. To make sure it is working properly, connect another USB flash drive to another phone that is obviously suitable for this task.
- Unsuitable OS version. Read your manufacturer’s specifications.
In some cases, connecting the device will fail without root. This happens if a particular phone model cannot automatically mount an external drive. To eliminate the drawback, you need third-party software. for example, StickMount application, which can work with flash drives, modems, cameras and other devices.
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When connecting equipment through an OTG cable, the program will automatically detect and mount it. You can find the contents of the drive in the / sdcard / usbStorage / sda1 folder. To safely remove the drive, select “Unmount” in StickMount.
You can connect a USB flash drive or even an external hard drive via an OTG adapter to your Android phone, but this does not always work the first time. The reasons can be different, from the wrong file system to partial damage to the connector on the smartphone.
Most often, the problem can be fixed independently, but in severe cases you have to contact the service center.
Check OTG support with your phone
If you are trying to understand why Android does not see a USB flash drive, then the first thing to do is make sure that the smartphone can work with USB Flash in general.
To do this, it must support USB On-The-Go technology. It implies that microUSB supplies power to an external drive through an OTG cable, so that it becomes visible in Android, just like in Windows 7/10 / XP.
To make sure that the hardware specifications allow you to connect a modem, flash drive, keyboard or any other USB device to your phone, install the USB OTG Checker application on Android.
If the program shows that the phone is ready to work with external devices through the hub, then you can connect the OTG cable and through it establish a connection to the USB flash drive.
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How to properly connect a USB flash drive to Android via USB
What should I do to prevent unnecessary difficulties and errors when connecting a USB flash drive to my phone? Follow the instructions clearly:
- Make sure that your phone is suitable for connecting external devices. Look at the Android version in the settings, check the device in the USB OTG Checker application.
- Plug the OTG cable into the microUSB connector.
If the device is not detected or mounted, use the capabilities of the StickMount application. Do not forget to unmount before removing the media, so as not to damage its file system.
