Is there any sure way of getting a phone and computer to connect?

Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.

But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Steve Hayes wrote:

> Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
> asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>
> But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?

perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
charging-only cable with no data pins?

On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 10:33:03 +0000, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote

>> Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>> asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>>
>> But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?
>
> perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
> charging-only cable with no data pins?

Most of the time it's the cable but you can also connect by wifi.

Oliver, 2024-01-05 15:15:

> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 10:33:03 +0000, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote
>
>>> Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>>> asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>>>
>>> But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?
>>
>> perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
>> charging-only cable with no data pins?
>
> Most of the time it's the cable but you can also connect by wifi.

But not to transfer data between the phone and the computer without
additional software.

--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de

On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 10:33:03 +0000, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk>
wrote:

>Steve Hayes wrote:
>
>> Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>> asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>>
>> But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?
>
>perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
>charging-only cable with no data pins?

No, it worked a couple of weeks ago.

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 07:15:39 -0700, Oliver <ollie@invalid.net> wrote:

>On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 10:33:03 +0000, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote
>
>>> Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>>> asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>>>
>>> But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?
>>
>> perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
>> charging-only cable with no data pins?
>
>Most of the time it's the cable but you can also connect by wifi.

My phone sometimes shows up on my computer when connected by cable,
but it *never* shows up on the the home network (wifi for the phone,
but the computer is connected by ethernet cable).

What I want to know is why it only shows up sometimes and not every
time I want to connect.

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On 05 Jan 2024 11:52:01 +0200 Steve Hayes wrote:
>Is there any sure way of getting a phone and computer to connect?
>
>Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>
>But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?

Too little information.
Windows? Mac?
OS - Win 10?
What make of phone (and model preferably)?
Android version? (Which is important.)
Box appears where? On the PC, phone...
Does it really say 'treat as a USB Drive' or is that your interpretation
of 'mass storage device'?
What appears on the phone screen eg at the top - assuming the box is on
the PC?

--
(Remove numerics from email address)

On 1/5/2024 1:52 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
> Is there any sure way of getting a phone and computer to connect?
>
> Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
> asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>
> But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?

I see the same thing, sometimes there's a pop-up, sometimes there's not.

On my Pixel, with Android 14:

Settings > System > USB Preferences then tick "File transfer/Android Auto."

If you go into "Developer Options" then you can set "File
transfer/Android Auto" as the default. This eliminates the need to go
through authorization every time you connect. To become a developer:
Settings > System > "About Phone" > then click "Build Number" seven times.

--
“If you are not an expert on a subject, then your opinions about it
really do matter less than the opinions of experts. It's not
indoctrination nor elitism. It's just that you don't know as much as
they do about the subject.”—Tin Foil Awards

Steve Hayes wrote on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:49:45 +0200 :

>>> perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
>>> charging-only cable with no data pins?
>>
>>Most of the time it's the cable but you can also connect by wifi.
>
> My phone sometimes shows up on my computer when connected by cable,
> but it *never* shows up on the the home network (wifi for the phone,
> but the computer is connected by ethernet cable).

It will if you set it up to show up on the home network over wifi.
> What I want to know is why it only shows up sometimes and not every
> time I want to connect.

You were already told why which is a bad connection in 9 out of 10 cases.

"Steve Hayes" <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote

| Is there any sure way of getting a phone and computer to connect?
| | Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
| asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
|

Assuming you mean an Android cellphone, and assuming that you want
to transfer files, such as images, it should work if you have a compatible
cable. Another option is bluetooth. Enable BT on both and then on Windows
(assuming Windows) use the GUI to connect. I did this a few days ago
on Win10 but don't exactly remember the process. I think I found the
bluetooth options in PC Settings, but it's not very obvious. There should
be a dedicated program on the Start Menu.

On 1/5/2024 7:49 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:

> What I want to know is why it only shows up sometimes and not every
> time I want to connect.

I don't think that you'll ever know why you don't always get the pop-up
as soon as you connect. It's just an Android thing and I've noticed the
same thing.

One thing to be aware of is that if the screen lock comes on then you
won't see any files on the computer until you unlock it, you'll only see
"This folder is empty."

It's highly unlikely that it's a bad connection or a bad cable.

--
“If you are not an expert on a subject, then your opinions about it
really do matter less than the opinions of experts. It's not
indoctrination nor elitism. It's just that you don't know as much as
they do about the subject.”—Tin Foil Awards

On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 17:01:33 -0000 (UTC), Dave
Royal<dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:

>On 05 Jan 2024 11:52:01 +0200 Steve Hayes wrote:
>>Is there any sure way of getting a phone and computer to connect?
>>
>>Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>>asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>>
>>But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?
>
>Too little information.
>Windows? Mac?
>OS - Win 10?

Windows XP

>What make of phone (and model preferably)?

Samsung SM-A-260F

>Android version? (Which is important.)

8.1.0

>Box appears where? On the PC, phone...

On the phone, when it does, The problem here is what one can do to
make it appear when it doesn't appear.

>Does it really say 'treat as a USB Drive' or is that your interpretation
>of 'mass storage device'?

Since the problem is that I can't see it I cannot say what it "really
says". That is roughly what I remember it giving as an option after
using several generations of Android phones for this purpose.

Ha, this morning it appeared:

It says

Use this to

- Charge phone
- Transfer file
- Transfer images

I'd still like to know whaty made it appear this morning when it
didn't appear yesterday.

>What appears on the phone screen eg at the top - assuming the box is on
>the PC?

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On 06 Jan 2024 05:31:22 +0200 Steve Hayes wrote:
>On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 17:01:33 -0000 (UTC), Dave
>Royal<dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:
>
>>On 05 Jan 2024 11:52:01 +0200 Steve Hayes wrote:
>>>Is there any sure way of getting a phone and computer to connect?
>>>
>>>Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>>>asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>>>
>>>But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?
>>
>>Too little information.
>>Windows? Mac?
>>OS - Win 10?
>
>Windows XP
>
>>What make of phone (and model preferably)?
>
>Samsung SM-A-260F
>
>>Android version? (Which is important.)
>
>8.1.0
>
>>Box appears where? On the PC, phone...
>
>On the phone, when it does, The problem here is what one can do to
>make it appear when it doesn't appear.
>
>>Does it really say 'treat as a USB Drive' or is that your interpretation
>>of 'mass storage device'?
>
>Since the problem is that I can't see it I cannot say what it "really
>says". That is roughly what I remember it giving as an option after
>using several generations of Android phones for this purpose.
>
>Ha, this morning it appeared:
>
>It says
>
>Use this to
>
>- Charge phone
>- Transfer file
>- Transfer images

I thought you remembered the message wrong.

(Important) Are those choices (select one) or is XP just saying "I see a
phone - do you wan't to connect it?" (select 'yes' or do nothing)?

When the box _doesn't_ appear did you look in Explorer to see if it was
mounted anyway - as a drive (E: or something)?

>I'd still like to know whaty made it appear this morning when it
>didn't appear yesterday.
>
>
>>What appears on the phone screen eg at the top - assuming the box is on
>>the PC?

You didn't answer. There may be an icon top left with a pull-down menu.

Use the same USB port next time, btw.

--
(Remove numerics from email address)

On 2024-01-06 01:07, sms wrote:
> On 1/5/2024 7:49 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
>
>> What I want to know is why it only shows up sometimes and not every
>> time I want to connect.
>
> I don't think that you'll ever know why you don't always get the pop-up
> as soon as you connect. It's just an Android thing and I've noticed the
> same thing.

It never happens to me.

>
> One thing to be aware of is that if the screen lock comes on then you
> won't see any files on the computer until you unlock it, you'll only see
> "This folder is empty."
>
> It's highly unlikely that it's a bad connection or a bad cable.

It is very probably a bad cable or a bad connection.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Steve Hayes, 2024-01-05 16:49:

> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 07:15:39 -0700, Oliver <ollie@invalid.net> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 10:33:03 +0000, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote
>>
>>>> Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>>>> asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>>>>
>>>> But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?
>>>
>>> perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
>>> charging-only cable with no data pins?
>>
>> Most of the time it's the cable but you can also connect by wifi.
>
>
> My phone sometimes shows up on my computer when connected by cable,
> but it *never* shows up on the the home network (wifi for the phone,
> but the computer is connected by ethernet cable).

Define "shows up". If you expect the phone to be visible as a device on
your computer, where you can copy files from or to it, this will *never*
happen when using WiFi.

When using USB with a data connection (and not only power), the computer
will see the device as storage device depending on what protocols are
supported by the computer and by the smartphone (usually PTP or MTP).
However this has to be enabled in the smartphone *and* the cable has to
work properly.

> What I want to know is why it only shows up sometimes and not every
> time I want to connect.

Most likely because the cable is defect or low quality or the connectors
are dirty or otherwise damaged in some way, so the connection is not
reliable.

--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de

Andrew, 2024-01-05 20:25:

> Steve Hayes wrote on Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:49:45 +0200 :
>
>>>> perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
>>>> charging-only cable with no data pins?
>>>
>>> Most of the time it's the cable but you can also connect by wifi.
>>
>> My phone sometimes shows up on my computer when connected by cable,
>> but it *never* shows up on the the home network (wifi for the phone,
>> but the computer is connected by ethernet cable).
>
> It will if you set it up to show up on the home network over wifi.

How? I mean how will a smartphone show up on a *computer* in the same
network when connected to WiFi?

--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de

Steve Hayes, 2024-01-05 16:45:

> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 10:33:03 +0000, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> Steve Hayes wrote:
>>
>>> Sometimes I plug my phone into the computer and a little boc pops up
>>> asking it I want to treat the phone like a USB drive, and all is well.
>>>
>>> But if the box doesn't pop up, how do I find it?
>>
>> perhaps the times it doesn't pop up are when you're using a
>> charging-only cable with no data pins?
>
> No, it worked a couple of weeks ago.

Then I would try a different cable. If you are using MicroUSB also check
the connector in the phone if it is dirty - sometimes dust builds up in
MicroUSB sockets and causes the plugs not to sit in the socket properly.
You may need a fine needle and maybe pressurized air to get the dust out
there.

--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de

Arno Welzel wrote:

> If you are using MicroUSB also check the connector in the phone if it
> is dirty - sometimes dust builds up in MicroUSB sockets and causes
> the plugs not to sit in the socket properly. You may need a fine
> needle

I'm wary of using metal needles inside USB connectors, wooden cocktail
sticks are better if you can find ones thin enough. Also use a bright
torch to shine into the socket, it only takes a bit of fluff to block
the connection ...

Arno Welzel wrote on Sat, 6 Jan 2024 15:40:07 +0100 :

>> It will if you set it up to show up on the home network over wifi.
>
> How? I mean how will a smartphone show up on a *computer* in the same
> network when connected to WiFi?

Lots of ways. With this your phone will show up as a Windows drive letter.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=webdav%20server&c=apps

On Sat, 6 Jan 2024 13:41:41 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:

> It never happens to me.

Every once in a while the phone doesn't show up when I connect it to the
USB cable where usually it's a bad connection.

>> One thing to be aware of is that if the screen lock comes on then you
>> won't see any files on the computer until you unlock it, you'll only see
>> "This folder is empty."

After a Windows update, sometimes I get the stock phone icon for a few
days. Then after a few days, the official OEM icon shows up. I suspect
that's due to drivers being overwritten or replaced during the update.
>> It's highly unlikely that it's a bad connection or a bad cable.
>
> It is very probably a bad cable or a bad connection.

It could also be lint in the cable port hole. Or a bad cable.

On Sat, 6 Jan 2024 15:38:57 +0100, Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> wrote

> When using USB with a data connection (and not only power), the computer
> will see the device as storage device depending on what protocols are
> supported by the computer and by the smartphone (usually PTP or MTP).
> However this has to be enabled in the smartphone *and* the cable has to
> work properly.

If the OP really wanted to debug the issue he'd run a USB debugger.
Here are two debuggers which have been mentioned many times in this group.
https://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtreeview_e.html
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

On 1/6/2024 9:45 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
> I'm wary of using metal needles inside USB connectors, wooden cocktail
> sticks are better if you can find ones thin enough. Also use a bright
> torch to shine into the socket, it only takes a bit of fluff to block
> the connection ...

Metal is a really bad idea.
Sharp is also a really bad idea.
Take a guess as to how bad using sharp metal will be?

Most people use those little cans of compressed air to blow it out.

On Sat, 6 Jan 2024 08:04:13 -0000 (UTC), Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com>
wrote

> When the box _doesn't_ appear did you look in Explorer to see if it was
> mounted anyway - as a drive (E: or something)?

Sometimes, rarely - but sometimes, the person fat fingers the "will you
love me forever" request when a new phone is connected to the computer.

In that case, it's best to wipe out your old USB connections (which are a
good idea to wipe out anyway) using one of the two Windows tools I listed.

Using <news:un9dpf$7k62$1@dont-email.me>, sms wrote:

> If you go into "Developer Options" then you can set "File
> transfer/Android Auto" as the default. This eliminates the need to go
> through authorization every time you connect. To become a developer:
> Settings > System > "About Phone" > then click "Build Number" seven times.

Speaking of Developer options, the OP can also reset the encryption key
stored on the phone which might get rid of a possible stale encryption key.
Settings -> Developer options -> Revoke USB Debugging authorizations

There's also a default usb configuration setting in Developer options.
Settings -> Developer options -> Default USB configuration
which for my device is set to "Transfer files/Android Auto."

On 1/6/2024 4:55 PM, david wrote:

<snip>

> There's also a default usb configuration setting in Developer options.
> Settings -> Developer options -> Default USB configuration
> which for my device is set to "Transfer files/Android Auto."

Yes, that's what I did.

But the original poster is using a very old phone running a very old
version of Android, and may not have that option.

--
“If you are not an expert on a subject, then your opinions about it
really do matter less than the opinions of experts. It's not
indoctrination nor elitism. It's just that you don't know as much as
they do about the subject.”—Tin Foil Awards