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Adam314

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Mount LG Chocolate as a drive

I have an LG New Chocolate VX8550.  The software used (WMP 10+) to load music onto the device really sucks.  I would like to mount it as a drive.  I'd prefer to do this in linux, but could use Windows XP if I can't get it to work in Linux.
In windows, when I plug the device in, there will be a section called "Audio devices" in My Computer.  If I open that, there will be two devices "Internal Memory" and "Removable Memory".  If I open either of those, I can access it like a folder, but it doesn't get a drive letter.

In Linux, the device shows up if I do lsusb, but there isn't a /dev device that can be mounted.
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SysExpert
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I would check to see if the drive shows up in WIndows Disk manager.

If not then I would say either it can not be done r you need third party SW.

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Adam314

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It does not show up in disk manager.  The only place I see it is in my computer.
Adam314,

Not being much of a linux user, I can't speak to that, but I know BitPim does support some LG phones in Linux: www.bitpim.org/help/howto-linuxusb.htm

In WinXP, etc, the phone should appear as a drive. You might check to see if you have an up-to-date drivers, try this set: http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/attachments/lg-electronics/1437d1158665399-lg-vx8500-drivers-chocolate_drivers.zip

Cheers,
LHerrou
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I've tried BitPim... my phone is not supported, and the default does not detect my phone.

I tried the new drivers... it comes with it's own app to sync to the phone.  Still can't access the phone as a drive though.

Both WMP and this new app have a problem if you select all songs and then select "sync".  It crashes.  Not sure if it is the windows software or the phone software.  But if you select 10-20 songs at a time, it will sync okay.
If you select a song more than once and select sync, you will end up with two copies on the phone - it doesn't seem to be smart enough to know which ones have already sync'd.

Hopefully someone will have some ideas... otherwise I just need to deal with this.  Or I might get a USB memory card reader, and just take the memory out of the phone when I want to sync.  That would also be a pain though...

One phone I worked with would not show as a drive in a desktop running XP and a laptop running Vista no matter what I did: drivers, turning it on then off, etc. Then, just by happenstance, one day I tried hooking it up to a different desktop with XP, and it worked fine instantly.
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Just tried a second XP computer - no luck.  Thanks for the tip though.
Who's your service provider? I'm going out on a limb here (ok, not very far), but I'm gonna guess it's Verizon. Verizon is notorious for disabling features in phones, so that only Verizon's services can be used to UL and DL photos, load music, etc. They also do funny things like turn off "vibe then ring". If this is the case, there are ways to do Seem Edits to return some of these features, but they do invalidate your warranty. I am not familiar with LG's phones, most of the Seem Edits I have done have been on Motorola's.
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You are correct, my provider is Verizon.
I've been reading that site you linked to (and others), and I've read that Verizon does disable some features.  This version of the phone is still pretty new, and I haven't found anything about people enabling additional features.  Maybe they just need more time, or maybe there aren't features disabled?

Anyways, from the site, it looks like I can transfer files using bluetooth.  The guy at the store (circuit city) didn't think this phone had that feature.  I'm not sure how that works - I've never had a bluetooth phone before.  If I get a bluetooth adapter for my computer, does the phone (assuming I can transfer files using bluetooth) show up as a drive (or two drives: internal and external memory)?
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lherrou
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I have read that, so I'm not sure.  If I go into the bluetooth menu, and select the show Supported Profiles option, the phone says it supports File Transfer, with this as the help info "Allows the capability to send or receive non-protected data files to a compatible Bluttooth device".

If the phone does support bluetooth file transfer, how does it work?  Will it show up as a drive in windows?
Don't know, I've never used Bluetooth for file transfer.
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Okay, been busy over the weekend....
I got a bluetooth USB adapter, and tried that.  I was able to get it to work in Linux and windows.  But it didn't work as I wanted - it would not allow me to mount the phone directly... I would have to use bluetooth software and either "send" or "receive" a file.... could not sync a list.

So I got a card reader.  This works exactly as I want the phone to work - so unless some software comes out that allows me to mount the phone, I'll just use this.  It's a little bit of a pain having to remove the memory from the phone, but at least it works the way I want.

Thanks for sticking with me...
Sorry there wasn't an easier way. You may want to use Google, etc to search every month or so for "seem edit VX8550" and see what comes up.
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Thanks.  I'll continue to look for updates.  I expect BitPim will eventually support this phone also, so I'll keep checking that site.
I've been wanting a memory stick reader anyways though.  There have been several times friends have come over with their camera's, and some of them needed a special cable or special software (eg: the camera doesn't show up as a drive), so I couldn't copy their pics.  I got a 28-in-1 reader, so it should support most media types.