Format 1TB USB Hard Drive For Android Phone With OTG Cable - Allow 8GB File Size
SYSTEM
1TB USB Hard Drive (Colorado USB 2.0)
2TB USB Hard Drive (WD Elements USB 3.0)
OTG Cable w/ USB to Micro USB Connectors
Samsung Galaxy S4 Phone (T-Mobile) and Note 8 Tablet (Wi-Fi only)
Windows 7 Desktop Machine (NTFS File System)
BACKGROUND
Trying to copy large files (6GB to 8GB) from Windows machine to the USB hard drive. The USB hard drive will be connected to my Android phone or tablet using the OTG cable.
PROBLEM
When the USB drive was formatted to exFAT using the Format tool that comes with Windows 7 (and files copied to the USB drive), the Android device (connected using OTG cable) was able to recognize the USB drive, but the USB drive appeared to have no files on it.
I then tried using the Ridgecrop FAT32 format tool. After "quick" format of the USB drive to FAT32 with allocation unit size of 32K, I could not copy the 6GB file to it. Error message said the file was too large for the operating system. Then tried 64K allocation unit size, but same error message.
NOTE: My Android devices do not have a native formatting tool on them (as some YouTube tutorials have suggested) that I can find (I've looked in Settings > More > Storage.)
NOTE: I do not want to "root" my devices.
QUESTION
How do I allow my Android device to read 6GB files from my USB hard drive?
1TB USB Hard Drive (Colorado USB 2.0)
2TB USB Hard Drive (WD Elements USB 3.0)
OTG Cable w/ USB to Micro USB Connectors
Samsung Galaxy S4 Phone (T-Mobile) and Note 8 Tablet (Wi-Fi only)
Windows 7 Desktop Machine (NTFS File System)
BACKGROUND
Trying to copy large files (6GB to 8GB) from Windows machine to the USB hard drive. The USB hard drive will be connected to my Android phone or tablet using the OTG cable.
PROBLEM
When the USB drive was formatted to exFAT using the Format tool that comes with Windows 7 (and files copied to the USB drive), the Android device (connected using OTG cable) was able to recognize the USB drive, but the USB drive appeared to have no files on it.
I then tried using the Ridgecrop FAT32 format tool. After "quick" format of the USB drive to FAT32 with allocation unit size of 32K, I could not copy the 6GB file to it. Error message said the file was too large for the operating system. Then tried 64K allocation unit size, but same error message.
NOTE: My Android devices do not have a native formatting tool on them (as some YouTube tutorials have suggested) that I can find (I've looked in Settings > More > Storage.)
NOTE: I do not want to "root" my devices.
QUESTION
How do I allow my Android device to read 6GB files from my USB hard drive?
Lee W, MVP
Try formatting the drive ExFAT - see http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm for limitations and other details on the various file systems. Android SHOULD support exFAT, but I'm not surprised if it doesn't support NTFS.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Wow, I swear I tried reading that several times and I missed that exFAT thing...
ASKER
I will try the Linux format tools that you suggested.
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTION
Can you tell me why the 64GB USB flash (thumb) drives and the 64GB MicroSD cards can accept and read 6GB files by my Android devices "as-is", and the USB hard drive cannot? I was under the impression the flash and SD are formatted as standard FAT32.
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTION
Can you tell me why the 64GB USB flash (thumb) drives and the 64GB MicroSD cards can accept and read 6GB files by my Android devices "as-is", and the USB hard drive cannot? I was under the impression the flash and SD are formatted as standard FAT32.
FAT32 doesn't and has never supported files larger than 4GB. That is one of the biggest shortcommings of FAT. ExFat on the other hand does support larger files, but you say it doesn't work with your device...
ASKER
Earlier this week, I purchased a 64GB MicroSD card and a USB card reader that has both a standard USB connector and a MicroUSB connecter. I copied several 6GB files to the MicroSD card and plugged it into my Galaxy S4 MicroUSB port. The phone recognizes and "mounts" the USB device, and I am able to view and manipulate the files using the native Android "MyFiles" folder viewer as well as ES File Explorer and VLC player.
UPDATE Large USB flash drives are formatted in exFAT.
UPDATE Large USB flash drives are formatted in exFAT.
ASKER
SOLUTION FOUND
When formatting the USB hard drive, you need to select a smaller size Allocation Unit. 64KB works for now. I had been using 1MB before, and that is why it was not being "seen" by the Android devices. A larger size other than 64KB might work, I have not tried it.
When formatting the USB hard drive, you need to select a smaller size Allocation Unit. 64KB works for now. I had been using 1MB before, and that is why it was not being "seen" by the Android devices. A larger size other than 64KB might work, I have not tried it.