Help N5 Not Connecting via Windows XP

[CrystalSC]

So if I plug my N5 into my laptop which is running Windows XP, a notification bubble pops up in the taskbar of my laptop saying a new MTP Device has been found but then keeps blinking. It won't fully load. I cannot double click on the bubble to open the device properties. I cannot find the N5 as a device under Windows Explorer either.

Has anyone else heard of this problem? I really wanted to load some music onto my N5.

ETA: The N5 is visible if I connect via Camera mode. It's only inaccessible via MTP mode.

 

[Rukbat]

Wild guess - have you looked at the N5 screen after you plugged it into the computer? Is it asking for you to okay the connection?

 

[jhawkkw]

The MTP protocol isn't natively installed in Windows XP. You may need to install the MTP protocol first before it will successfully install the driver.

 

[CrystalSC]

Wild guess - have you looked at the N5 screen after you plugged it into the computer? Is it asking for you to okay the connection?

Just for me to choose MTP or PTP.

The MTP protocol isn't natively installed in Windows XP. You may need to install the MTP protocol first before it will successfully install the driver.

I downloaded this porting kit and installed it but it's still not working. I'll dig into it some more.

ETA: completely uninstalled the MTP porting kit and reinstalled it, restarted my computer and it still won't work.

 

[CrystalSC]

Well, I'm getting closer but no cigar yet.

I followed some instructions here and turned on USB Debugging (had to look up how to do that). And now my computer wants to install it but I just can't seem to find the right driver to install. I'm afraid to try data wiping as some of the others in that group suggest.

I did download the trial of the program in this article and it successfully registered my Nexus 5 and let me drag and drop music onto my phone. And I can see the music on my phone but I get an "error on playback" message. None will actually play.

I'm getting frustrated and my eyes are beginning to cross. I'll give it another go tomorrow after taking a break.

ETA: after posting this I realized I had zero sound coming from my speaker, not only music but nothing was making sound. Rebooted device and music (along with everything else) played back just fine.
So it seems a program like Wondershare is the easiest solution however that program is not free and I do not want to purchase one. Anyone know of an open source program that has the same functionality?

 

[EarlyMon]

Do you have Windows Media Player 11 installed?

Would you consider something free like AirDroid on your N5 and just do what you need via wifi?

You can also go for an ftp or WebDAV server on your phone and access it from your browser that way.

 

[CrystalSC]

Yep, I have WMP 11. I am not opposed to any particular programs or methods. I will try them out and see which method I like best that works well.

 

[Hook]

Weirdly, I had trouble with this on Win 7, despite having no problems with either my Nexus 4 or 7. The only thing that would show up in Device Manager was the ADB device, not an MTP device. I would try updating the driver and it would just reinstall the same ADB driver. However, when I asked Windows to show me a list of possible drivers, it showed me, along with the ADB driver a "Composite USB" driver which I kept ignoring. Finally, having tried everything else, I let it install. It gave me a Nexus 5 in Device manager with a yellow triangle under "Other devices" I think. So I cliked that and chose "update driver" and I was finally offered an MTP driver. Installed it and now everything works fine.

Now, this was Win 7 and it's not the way Win 7 is supposed to work, but I offer it as a possibility. Really, I have no idea how it worked, but it did.

The Nexus 5 still shows up as other device, but Win Explorer sees it and lets me transfer files.

 

[EarlyMon]

Yep, I have WMP 11. I am not opposed to any particular programs or methods. I will try them out and see which method I like best that works well.

The apps I suggested are free, post back if you want particular recommendations and links.

I expect the servers to be pretty much the same but if any give trouble please let me know.

 

[CrystalSC]

Thank you. I spent a few more hours tonight trying to find a work around for the driver issue, hunting for drivers, etc...and could still not get it working so I went ahead and setup AirDroid. That'll work okay as long as I don't hit the data limit for free accounts. I'll keep learning about alternate programs/methods.
Was a little panicked with AirDroid at first when I saw that you can't upload m4a files directly into music - that was a lot of files I'd have to convert, but thankfully saw online that you can just use the "files" folder to import m4a files. *whew!*

I'm pretty frustrated about the driver issue. I'm happy there's a workaround and I'll gladly use it. I just get aggravated by not being able to use something as advertised. I am surprised they haven't released drivers for the N5. Is that normal?

 

[EarlyMon]

Nothing about Windows drivers seems normal or makes any sense to me. Not being snippy, just honest.

AirDroid can be used locally without any accounts or limits last I checked.

Tell you what though, check out "My FTP Server"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.droidcreation.myftpserver

The setup screen is friendly and once you decide on a name and password, turn it on and get anything you want from your favorite browser. Drag and drop ought to work just fine with XP, I've done it myself with that.

The AirDroid advantage is a friendly layout for getting to pictures and music.

With the ftp server, you have to learn what the storage folders are. It's not really difficult.

Look for your pictures and videos under DCIM, that's the original Android standard, I don't think they'd change that for the N5.

Music can be app specific and is usually obvious.

Meanwhile, maybe someone will figure out the driver thing.

This way you won't be stuck in the meantime.

I never bother with a USB cable and Windows unless I really have to.

Turn on a phone app, pull up a browser, let wifi figure it out, that's the life for me.