Help Samsung vibrant doesn't connect to PC

[ivanoid]

It connects perfectly to my mac but I don't know why it doesn't to my PC? It says I need to install some sofware or dirvers... I don't know.
Help?

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Try this, not sure if it will help, but it might.

First Reboot your phone, lets start fresh. Once it boots up, give it time to scan the sd cards..

when ready plug in usb cord connected to computer.

Slide down your notification bar.

Tap your finger on "USB Connected"

A message pops up, asking you if you would like to "mount"....yes you want to mount. Click "mount"

Now give it a second, and go check to see if your computer sees your phone and the sd cards.

If that doesn't help try turning on USB Debugging. If that still doesn't work, you may need drivers.

 

[krichek]

If you need the USB drivers you can find them here, along with some other helpful info.

Support for Samsung Vibrant? (SGH-t959) SAMSUNG

 

[yatimameiji]

A way to check the usb is to right click on 'My Computer' and select 'Manage.' Then from there find the 'Device Manager' and from the menu, select, it goes along the lines of sort by connection. Then expand the device tree till you find the usb hubs and expand them out. When you plug in the phone you should see some activity. If nothing happens, could be a bad cable. Even if you don't have drivers(which you shouldn't need, it should find them by itself, well if you are online), you would still see 'Unrecognized Device' pop up if it didn't know what it was.

Also in the place were you turn on usb debugging on the phone, there should be the option to set the phone to Mass Storage. Make sure that is set.

 

[Tarzanman]

I solved this problem after a half day of issues.

First off, download the driver in case you need it (Support for Samsung Vibrant? (SGH-t959) SAMSUNG).

Next thing is make sure that you are using a good USB cable and that the path from the phone to the USB port on the motherboard is not more than ~3 ft.[/b] - This is important!

I had all sorts of problems with my WinXP computer not recognizing the device at first. I tried plugging the phone in through the USB hub in my monitor, and I tried plugging the phone in through the USB port extender on the front of my PC case and it wouldn't work.

On a hunch, I tried plugging the phone straight into the USB ports at the back panel of the machine (where the ports are directly soldered onto the motherboard) and it worked instantly.

I have USB debugging off (but it shouldn't matter for a PC)

 

[Quakerwildcat]

My Vibrant simply won't recognize that the USB cord has been plugged in. It did when I first got it, but for the past week - nothing.

I've tried it on multiple PCs, and using every possible USB setting on the phone.

Probably NOT coincidentally, it also doesn't seem to be able to tell whether it's plugged in or not. When I plug it in, the little lightning bolt charging symbol sometimes doesn't show up for an hour or so. Conversely, when I unplug it, it will still show charging and/or 100% battery life for 1/2 a day before realizing that it's unplugged, when the battery indicator jumps from 100% down to 50%.

Unrelated, I'm sure, but the touch screen becomes unresponsive when I lie the phone flat. I'm wondering if I need to punt and wipe the phone clean and reinstall everything.

I'm as big an Android supporter as anybody, but yeesh..

 

[wildblue]

Tried different USB cables?

 

[Quakerwildcat]

Tried different USB cables?

3 different ones

 

[wildblue]

Sounds like at least a factory reset, if not a new phone. I would guess a HW problem, but reset would be the first step. Mine doesn't have any of those symptoms, except perhaps the battery level icon being way off. I use the My Device app to check my battery level which does seem accurate.

 

[Quakerwildcat]

That's what I'm afraid of. What a massive pain as I've spent a month customizing this thing.

 

[wildblue]

I'm in the same boat. I would dread wiping everything and starting over.

Have you looked at rooting and using something like Titanium to do a backup? You should be able to do a restore after the reset, but I haven't tried it.

Of course, depending on what's corrupt you might end up restoring the bad stuff. But testing it out after a reset and before the restore should help sort out if it SW or HW.

Just a thought.

 

[Quakerwildcat]

I have never rooted anything and frankly am a little frightened to try. If I root the Vibrant, does that mean I won't get the 2.2 update next month?

 

[wildblue]

Sorry, I haven't gotten under the hood on the Vibrant yet so can't offer any personal perspective.

I've read posts both ways on whether rooting prevents OTA updates, but it appears un-rooting is as easy as rooting, so it should be reversible.

Still, you need to gauge your own experience and comfort level, and spend some time on XDA if you want to give it a try.

 

[Quakerwildcat]

Thanks.

XDA?

 

[wildblue]

Samsung Vibrant - xda-developers

These appear to be the heavyweights in Android hacking.

 

[ConceptVBS]

My Vibrant simply won't recognize that the USB cord has been plugged in. It did when I first got it, but for the past week - nothing.

I've tried it on multiple PCs, and using every possible USB setting on the phone.

Probably NOT coincidentally, it also doesn't seem to be able to tell whether it's plugged in or not. When I plug it in, the little lightning bolt charging symbol sometimes doesn't show up for an hour or so. Conversely, when I unplug it, it will still show charging and/or 100% battery life for 1/2 a day before realizing that it's unplugged, when the battery indicator jumps from 100% down to 50%.

Unrelated, I'm sure, but the touch screen becomes unresponsive when I lie the phone flat. I'm wondering if I need to punt and wipe the phone clean and reinstall everything.

I'm as big an Android supporter as anybody, but yeesh..

Try putting the cable all the way into the port. Sometimes, its a contact issue.

 

[ConceptVBS]

I have never rooted anything and frankly am a little frightened to try. If I root the Vibrant, does that mean I won't get the 2.2 update next month?

You can always unroot and go back to factory setting.

 

[marthaemedwards]

I just scrapped everything everyone told me, turned off the debugging, turned my phone off, then on again. Then I went to Settings -> About Phone -> USB Settings -> Mass Storage, then I went back to the home page, and then plugged in my USB cord and TA DA! After an hour of following everyones crappy advice, it worked.

 

[wildblue]

Then I went to Settings -> About Phone -> USB Settings -> Mass Storage, then I went back to the home page, and then plugged in my USB cord and TA DA! After an hour of following everyones crappy advice, it worked.

Odd. My phone doesn't have Settings > About Phone > USB Settings.

Looks like you'll fit right in around here offering "crappy advice".

 

[Big-Dog]

Odd. My phone doesn't have Settings > About Phone > USB Settings.

Looks like you'll fit right in around here offering "crappy advice".

Ya, I was thinking the same thing when I had a problem connecting to my PC. My issue was resolved replacing the cable.

The USB setting doesn't show up unless the vibrant recognizes there is a PC connected to it.

 

[Quakerwildcat]

The USB setting doesn't show up unless the vibrant recognizes there is a PC connected to it.

and therein lies the problem. The cables I've tried all deliver a charge to the phone, but aren't recognizing USB.

 

[Big-Dog]

That's what mine was doing too, but replacing the cable once with a vibrant supplied cable did the trick.

 

[Quakerwildcat]

That's what mine was doing too, but replacing the cable once with a vibrant supplied cable did the trick.

Yeah, I have two different Vibrant-supplied cables. Nothing. I am dreading the factory reset, but I don't think I have a choice.

 

[Quakerwildcat]

Well, I bit the bullet and did the factory reset.
When I connect the USB, nothing happens.
Damn, I'm screwed. This has to be a hardware problem, right?

 

[wildblue]

Not necessarily. I have lots of issues with USB connections on my desktop PC. Some devices connect fine, others don't. The Vibrant doesn't. The PC just doesn't detect that a USB device has been connected.

I have no problems on my laptop with any USB devices connecting, so I use it instead for any Vibrant work I need to do.

I've tried everything I know of to get the PC to work. Drivers, patches, you name it. Same version of Windows as the laptop, etc. No idea what the problem is, so I've just given up on it for devices it can't see.

Point is, it may not be your Vibrant that's the problem.