External Hard Drive

estok

Member
Oct 10, 2011
3
0
So far i haven't been able to get a single external hard drive to connect with my tablet, I've tried two USB powered and 1 wall powered with no success. I'm wondering if the issue is that I'm using a reconfigurable usb cable to go from mini -> micro. Has anyone successfully had a hard drive connect? If so are you using the Sony adapter to micro?
 

Valler

Member
Oct 17, 2011
8
0
Just to tell my story :)
With the Cable mentioned, I can read USB-Pen (tried 1,2 ... 64GB), but not an external harddrives on its own. If I have extra power to the harddrive, I can read the harddrive and by I, I mean Sony Tablet S :)
All Fat32 an cable have to be Micro-B USB HOST OTG
Cable: Micro-B USB HOST OTG Cable For Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 I9101,MOTO XOOM TG01
http://www.amazon.com/Micro-B-USB-C...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1321308655&sr=1-1
Wiki: USB On-The-Go - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Sewal46

Member
Sep 16, 2011
19
0
I have an Acer A500 with full-sized USB port. Since the Android 3.2 update the tablet can read NTFS formatted hard drives as well as FAT.
 

dbaps

Member
Aug 2, 2011
2
0
The Acer Iconia Installer app, after rooting supports fat32, ntfs, ext2,3,4 through USB. However I have not personally tried it. Others have said it works. It may be worth trying.

Sent from my A500 using Android Tablet Forum
 

jcscrogs

Member
Oct 22, 2011
8
1
I have a 500gb portable hard drive, any idea that max size it will read (I have 32gb partitioned to FAT32 which works) but more is always nicer...
 

troycava

Member
Nov 8, 2011
6
0
I have a FAT32 1TB western digital works great connected to my tablet.

Is this a Sony Tablet????

I have just brought the new Seagate Freeagent GoFlex 1.5 TB hard drive and it doesnt come up at all. I have formatted into FAT32 (with help from an app) and tried it a few times and it just doesnt work. the 4 GB usb stick I have works..?? the adapter cable does the job... I think this must be either a Android thing, or a Power to the Hard Drive thing...???
 

Sing

Member
Nov 19, 2011
3
0
Hmm .. ok .. Android 3.2 is supposed to add NTFS support. I guessed Sony Tablet S's hardware somehow doesn't support reading NTFS drives? Or is it a software (driver) issue?
What about exFAT? I searched & searched but I can't find any info on whether Android 3.2 onwards can natively support exFAT or more specifically, whether Sony Tablet S can support exFAT via both the micro-USB port & the SD slot.

Anyone has any experience or can point me to some authoritative source?
 

LaughingMan

Member
Jan 9, 2012
7
0
I also have the Sony Tablet S (Android 3.2.1, revision 2), and I cannot get any to read. All I get is the Lost.Dir empty folder. I reformatted my entire 2 TB to Fat 32, and it didn't work (I pulled some hair out getting that accomplished). I also have a 60 GB and 160 GB external that I also reformatted. Nothing! The drives work well on my iMac, my wife's windows 7 laptop, and even my PS3. Why not the tablet?
 

LaughingMan

Member
Jan 9, 2012
7
0
I still can't find a fix for this. I was able to get it to read my 160gb drive once when I added power, but it has never mounted again since then. It also sucks that avi is not a supported format, which is easy enough to side step.

I hope that ice cream sandwhich will remedy many of these minor glitches. Anyone have an inside tip as to when it will hit tab s?

Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Android Tablet Forum
 

divetta

Member
Aug 17, 2012
1
0
same problem for me:my Sony tablet recognizes my Kingston Usb but not my WD Passport hardisk: it doesn't recognize the software...any idea for fixing this problem? i'm completely ignorant inthis field! :)
 

triggerjerk

Member
Aug 12, 2012
4
0
I can't get my Sony S to read any drive I connect to it. It sees the inserted sd card in the slot, but nothing plugged into the micro slot, including several different thumb drives. I can connect to my laptop and transfer files like that. I would really like to be able to use an external drive or stick, without my laptop present.

Joe B.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After consulting with Sony tech support, it seems that in order to attach any peripherals to a Sony S tablet, you need an authentic Sony cable.


Which they no longer provide.


They gave me the names of some online retailers who have the required cable, at prices from $20+ to $50+.


For a glorified 6 inch usb female to micro male cable.


eBay is your friend here, I got the cable for $6.49, shipping included. It works perfectly, so I ordered a spare and one with a 90 degree bend, so I can use it while holding the S upright on my lap.

Now, I know Sony is infamous for proprietary cables that no one else makes (see our S power cable), but to not provide this simple accessory with a tablet that retailed originally for close to a thousand dollars is just beyond incredible. To then not even offer the cable for sale borders on the insane. Who's minding the store here?

And while we're at it, what's with the "My Sony S won't start" sticky? Would we accept this in any other machinery?

"I can't make it to work today, my car occasionally won't start, but if I let it sit for a couple days it usually fixes itself."
"My new refrigerator is off, but it's OK, it usually works."
"My television doesn't work on Tuesdays, but I got a great deal on it."

If Sony is truly interested in taking on the iPad challenge, maybe they should try a little harder on customer support and satisfaction, and not try to squeeze every last dime out of our pockets.

Bottom line: I used to recommend the S to friends as a lower cost alternative to thr iPad, but no more.
 
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