[Josh Tordsen]

I have a Verizon BB Classic now and am planning to get a BB Priv. The one question I have is the #1 question I ask before I get any phone and the reason I became a BlackBerry user: Does the Priv support USB mass storage?

Now, to clarify, when I say USB mass storage, I do not mean PTP or MTP like all other Android devices like to use. I am talking about generic USB mass storage. This is a problem I have had with Android devices since 4.x. Blackberry is the only phone that has supported USB mass storage. It has been so nice to be able to carry around a small hard drive without carrying around another device.

Thanks in advance.

[Josh Tordsen]

So, no dice? I tried to ask the same question at an ATT store and they were obliging in the fact that they plugged the Priv into a USB port, but were completely incompetent in trying to get it to go. The info isn't on the phone itself in settings either like on a ZTE.

I don't suppose anyone would like to plug theirs in to a PC and see what USB options they get?

Posted via CB10

[nbaliga]

Not sure what PTP or MTP is, but when I plug in my Priv to my Laptop I can see the device and SD card.

The caveat is that if the phone is locked, it will not show.

I did notice that so long as it is initially connected with the device unlocked, you can continue to use it even if the device times out and locks.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Josh Tordsen]

PTP is picture transfer protocol. MTP is media transfer protocol. They are proprietary means of transferring files from a device such as a camera and usually require a driver.

The fact that you are able to see the phone memory and card is promising but the fact the phone needs to be unlocked I am not clear on. Are you talking about a screen lock or some other type of lock?

Posted via CB10

[NickMcBride]

He is just saying that the phone must be unlocked to view the contents of the media card, I do believe it supports your requested functions

Posted via CB10

[nbaliga]

But the fact the phone needs to be unlocked I am not clear on. Are you talking about a screen lock or some other type of lock?

Posted via CB10

Yes, I meant screen lock not carrier locking.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Willeonabe]

Priv does support USB mass storage for the SD card only. When you plug into a PC, you should see a notification pop up on the Priv saying how it's connected. You can hit that notification and it opens up the options for it. You can then change it to connect as a flash drive (I think that's how the option is named).

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Soapm]

Priv does support USB mass storage for the SD card only. When you plug into a PC, you should see a notification pop up on the Priv saying how it's connected. You can hit that notification and it opens up the options for it. You can then change it to connect as a flash drive (I think that's how the option is named).

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

Does the screen still have to be unlocked? That makes no sense to me...

[TNSberry]

I plugged mine into my PC with a USB cable to load up my music. Worked very well and I saw both device memory and SD card.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Josh Tordsen]

Thank you everyone who replied. It does indeed sound like the Priv supports generic USB mass storage. This is really good news. I can certainly live with waking the phone up to connect it as a mass storage device.

Posted via CB10

[NickMcBride]

No problem man happy to help, hope you enjoy your Priv as much as I do!

Posted via CB10

[Sigewif]

I plugged mine into my PC with a USB cable to load up my music. Worked very well and I saw both device memory and SD card.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Andoid

Does the USB connection also work to transfer from the Priv? I want copy photos and videos onto my PC directly from the Priv.

Posted with my Priv via the CrackBerry App for Android

[buwee]

Does the USB connection also work to transfer from the Priv? I want copy photos and videos onto my PC directly from the Priv.

Posted with my Priv via the CrackBerry App for Android

Yes it does

[booker1953]

Yes, you can do that as well. Transferred a bunch of documents and photos to my computer the other day with no issues. Also transferred photos and documents to my OneDrive cloud storage.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Andreas Boozon]

Provided that you have, as mentioned earlier in the thread, changed (through the notification) that you want to "Mount SD card", it works just as if you would have plugged it in a regular SD card slot on the PC, i.e. it is assigned a drive letter (e.g. F:\).

This means that you can copy files to and from the SD card, and you can also (which is very important to me) use Beyond Compare or a similar comparison tool to see what has changed since you last copied files.

Thanks, BlackBerry!

[TheChosenDoge]

Yeah it supports that but the only thing it doesn't support is USB Hosting where you can plug in a USB drive to the PRIV through an adapter and use it to write or play stuff off of it.

I love phones that can do this watch some episodes on a long flight and not have to carry a tablet or laptop

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Andreas Boozon]

Yeah it supports that but the only thing it doesn't support is USB Hosting where you can plug in a USB drive to the PRIV through an adapter and use it to write or play stuff off of it.

...and this is based on what exactly? That you can't get it to work? Or that it does not work out of the box?

USB OTG (On The Go), or as you call it USB Hosting, works just fine on my Priv using Solid Explorer and their USB OTG plugin.

So: Yes, the Priv supports both being recognized as a regular SD card AND USB OTG.

[TheChosenDoge]

...and this is based on what exactly? That you can't get it to work? Or that it does not work out of the box?

USB OTG (On The Go), or as you call it USB Hosting, works just fine on my Priv using Solid Explorer and their USB OTG plugin.

So: Yes, the Priv supports both being recognized as a regular SD card AND
USB OTG.

GSMArena Data and Personal Use with the phone itself thank you.

And yes I was speaking more out of the box natively...as most androids can because they have built in file managers unlike the PRIV which doesn't

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Andreas Boozon]

GSMArena Data and Personal Use with the phone itself thank you.

And yes I was speaking more out of the box natively...as most androids can because they have built in file managers unlike the PRIV which doesn't

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

Mkay...

Friendly piece of advice:

I think most people will read your post as "it does not work, period" rather than "it does not work out of the box".

That's just like saying "No, the Priv does not support watching h.264-encoded mkv files with ac3 audio."

(...because you have to download vlc first...)

Without that last amendment your information, for someone who does not own the phone and where USB on the go or watching mkv files with ac3 is a dealbreaker, is misleading.

[Centerman66]

I use usb otg on my Priv all the time. Works perfectly well. In fact, it works more reliably than my Z30 in this respect.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android on my Priv

[Andreas Boozon]

I use usb otg on my Priv all the time. Works perfectly well. In fact, it works more reliably than my Z30 in this respect.

Do you use the Solid Explorer plugin for that, or do you have some alternative means of doing that?

[Centerman66]

Do you use the Solid Explorer plugin for that, or do you have some alternative means of doing that?

solid explorer plug in is exactly what I use. No issues. Good luck to you!

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android on my Priv

[Josh Tordsen]

Just got my Priv from Verizon yesterday and I couldn't be happier. It absolutely does connect as USB mass storage and with the full android OS, blackberry hub and other apps it makes this the world's best built phone IMO.

Posted via the CrackBerry App on my Priv

[Brandon_oma692]

Yep works well. I use a bat file to sync my SD card with my computer. I also maintain around 15 thousand pdf files and check for updated, new, or removed.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[FF22]

Yep works well. I use a bat file to sync my SD card with my computer. I also maintain around 15 thousand pdf files and check for updated, new, or removed.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

Is that BAT file something you care to share?

I'm not sure of the terminology but I just got my Verizon model on Monday. When trying to transfer files/folders to it, I could only do one such operation at a time. In other words, I would say, start transferring 3 folders of Photos. If while that was happening, I tried transferring 4 folders of music, I would get an Intercept Message that the Priv was busy. I find the same thing with my Samsung Tab S. This is with usb.

Whereas using wifi-sharing, I could compound transferring operations between my computer (win explorer) and the Z30.