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Help How to mount internal storage on RAZR MAXX HD

jrdioko

Lurker
Oct 22, 2012
8
0
I recently picked up a RAZR MAXX HD. On my old phone, I could just plug it into my computer and I'd get two drives (internal storage and external SD card). On the new one, I only seem to have access to the SD card but not the internal storage. Logs show that the USB device is detected, but it cannot be mounted (I'm using Linux). Is there any way to mount the internal storage of this phone (to be able to backup things stored there) without rooting?
 
What is internal storage listed as (i.e. the terminology) in your logs and does it give a reason for failure to mount?
What distro are you using?

Debian 6.0.6

Well now that I dig into it I might have been wrong about that. The SD card auto-mounts as soon as I plug the phone in, but the internal storage doesn't. dmesg shows a Motorola device being recognized, but it looks like all the other usb-storage/sd lines are referring to /dev/sdg (which is where it's putting the SD card). Turns out I was trying to mount something that doesn't exist.

So as far as I can tell it recognizes a Motorola USB device but only presents the external storage as a USB storage removable disk.
 
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I've never messed around with a RAZR MAXX. Is the internal storage formatted ext4 or FAT?

It's a MAXX HD, not a MAXX (don't know if that makes a difference). I'm not sure, how can I find that out on the phone? But regardless, it should show either way, no? It seems to me like the device itself is only letting the external SD be mounted as mass storage and isn't making the internal storage available.
 
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...how can I find that out (formatting) on the phone?
Install FX File Explorer, ES Strongs or similar and that will tell you.

It seems to me like the device itself is only letting the external SD be mounted as mass storage and isn't making the internal storage available.
Apparently. Likely the internal storage is ext4 and access is permissions-restricted. You might have to root the phone to get external access via USB.
 
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Install FX File Explorer, ES Strongs or similar and that will tell you.

I have Astro and ES, but can't seem to find filesystem info on either. Any idea where it is?

Apparently. Likely the internal storage is ext4 and access is permissions-restricted. You might have to root the phone to get external access via USB.

That would be annoying. Is that common on Android phones? Any workaround (could I trick it with a symlink or something)? I don't necessarily need write access, just read to backup would be nice.
 
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I have Astro and ES, but can't seem to find filesystem info on either. Any idea where it is?
Not offhand. I use FX File now and uninstalled all other file managers.

Is that common on Android phones?
Android will use ext4 more and more, which is a Good Thing. Faster and more reliable than the trashy old FAT system.

Any workaround (could I trick it with a symlink or something)? I don't necessarily need write access, just read to backup would be nice.
Why not use Dropbox or Google Drive? Simple, effective. Dropbox even has a desktop Linux client.
 
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Why not use Dropbox or Google Drive? Simple, effective. Dropbox even has a desktop Linux client.

Well, because I'd like to do a complete backup of everything apps put on internal storage, rather than having to configure everything to save somewhere else. If I want to move something specifically I can move it with a file manager app to the SD card and pull it that way. I agree ext4 is the way to go, but it's sort of strange that I can see all these files with a file manager, I can copy them to the SD card and then to my computer, but I can't mount that internal storage directly. I found something else someone mentioned about "adb pull," and that might be the way to go...
 
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I recently picked up a RAZR MAXX HD. On my old phone, I could just plug it into my computer and I'd get two drives (internal storage and external SD card). On the new one, I only seem to have access to the SD card but not the internal storage. Logs show that the USB device is detected, but it cannot be mounted (I'm using Linux). Is there any way to mount the internal storage of this phone (to be able to backup things stored there) without rooting?

I have the answer to your problem:

GO to Settings > developer options > turn ON

Check boxes next to "USB debugging" and "Stay awake"

This should allow you to mount the phone to where you can see internal storage and external storage.

Dont forget to turn "USB debugging" and "Stay awake" off when youre done backing up.
 
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