Google Drive massive fail for me when trying to save

dave1812 · Apr 29, 2012

I've got google drive installed on my PC and on my Bionic. If I edit a spreadsheet on my Bionic and try to save it, I always get a "directory xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is not writable". can't find any help at Google. anyone else having issues with google drive?

EDIT: I just installed Dropbox. Awesome. To heck with google drive!

Thom · Apr 29, 2012

Need more information.

... Thom

dave1812 · Apr 29, 2012

Thom Little said:
Need more information.

... Thom

I gave up and uninstalled. I wanted a simple way to sync docs to my phone. Tons of issues w google drive at the moment. Was released prematurely

moosc · Apr 29, 2012

Google docs have been around along time. The drive part is new. And they changed Google docs name to drive and made one app. I'd rather they would have kept the two separate. You probably just had the wrong ext on your doc. But still u should have been able to upload it the cloud. Maybe next time zip then send it up. I find that always works best.

dave1812 · Apr 30, 2012

moosc said:
Google docs have been around along time. The drive part is new. And they changed Google docs name to drive and made one app. I'd rather they would have kept the two separate. You probably just had the wrong ext on your doc. But still u should have been able to upload it the cloud. Maybe next time zip then send it up. I find that always works best.

i've used google docs for years. the extension is the same as always--xls. i mentioned what the error was. nothing to do with file names... i'm not about to go thru any time wasting procedures. i uninstalled. if/when they fix the app, i'll give it another go. thanks for your time.

dave1812 · Apr 30, 2012

i read the supporting info. it just doesn't work--i can't save files from my bionic. i'm not the only one that can't get it to work--many people are complaining about Drive, with no current fix in sight. when they get it sorted out, i'll give it another go, as i like the idea of it.

dave1812 · Apr 30, 2012

I just tried Dropbox. Awesome. Now when i edit an xls on my bionic, it saves it to the web flawlessly in a few seconds. no hassle. google drive can kiss my rear.

doogald · Apr 30, 2012

Dropbox has a lot of nice features, including the ability to auto-upload new photos and videos as you take them (or when you get back to WiFi, if you prefer.) That said, I use something called Dropsync to automatically keep files in sync between the phone and Dropbox (i.e., if I delete a photo from my computer, it deletes from the phone as well.)

Groid · May 1, 2012

I opened Drive on my bionic and edited an existing spreadsheet and saved it. Then I opened Drive on my pc and the edits were in place. I also tried saving a spreadsheet created on my bionic to Drive and it saved perfectly. I've used native extensions (.xls) and gdoc extenstions (.gsheet) and both work and can be opened and edited and saved from either pc or bionic. Not sure why dave1812 had problems, but Drive works great for me.

dave1812 · May 1, 2012

Groid said:
I opened Drive on my bionic and edited an existing spreadsheet and saved it. Then I opened Drive on my pc and the edits were in place. I also tried saving a spreadsheet created on my bionic to Drive and it saved perfectly. I've used native extensions (.xls) and gdoc extenstions (.gsheet) and both work and can be opened and edited and saved from either pc or bionic. Not sure why dave1812 had problems, but Drive works great for me.

OK....so yours works and mine doesn't. awesome. no matter--dropbox does precisely what I want.

ev4red · May 23, 2012

I'm having the same issue with google drive on my motorola phone. I just tried uninstalling and reinstalling. Still getting the message saying it is a non writeable drive. Dropbox seems to be working well though.

AMTrombley0924 · Jul 8, 2012

I figured it out on my Droid 4. In order to make the document editable, you need to export is to Google docs first. This is a SEPARATE step from just uploading the desired file to Drive. This basically makes a writable version of the document that Docs recognizes. To do this, just open the file you want to edit ON YOUR COMPUTER via Drive, and then hit File>Export to Google Document. There will now be a Google docs duplicate of the file that you can edit on your phone. Voila

dave1812 · Jul 8, 2012

AMTrombley0924 said:
I figured it out on my Droid 4. In order to make the document editable, you need to export is to Google docs first. This is a SEPARATE step from just uploading the desired file to Drive. This basically makes a writable version of the document that Docs recognizes. To do this, just open the file you want to edit ON YOUR COMPUTER via Drive, and then hit File>Export to Google Document. There will now be a Google docs duplicate of the file that you can edit on your phone. Voila

thanks, but I'm lovin' Dropbox. what's weird is if I use Dropbox on my Touch I can't find a way to edit documents. is the Dropbox iOS app THAT lame?? I shouldn't have to hunt around for ways to edit on iOS, IMO...

Lars · Jul 15, 2012

dave1812 said:
thanks, but I'm lovin' Dropbox. what's weird is if I use Dropbox on my Touch I can't find a way to edit documents. is the Dropbox iOS app THAT lame?? I shouldn't have to hunt around for ways to edit on iOS, IMO...

No, iOS is just that lame...

Dropbox rules! http://db.tt/x85fM9j

doogald · Jul 15, 2012

dave1812 said:
thanks, but I'm lovin' Dropbox. what's weird is if I use Dropbox on my Touch I can't find a way to edit documents. is the Dropbox iOS app THAT lame?? I shouldn't have to hunt around for ways to edit on iOS, IMO...

There are apps that can edit docs on Dropbox (and Google Drive as well.) QuickOffice Pro is one (though it's $15); CloudOn is free if you have an iPad, though nothing for iPod Touch/iPhone. There are probably others...

dave1812 · Jul 16, 2012

doogald said:
There are apps that can edit docs on Dropbox (and Google Drive as well.) QuickOffice Pro is one (though it's $15); CloudOn is free if you have an iPad, though nothing for iPod Touch/iPhone. There are probably others...

don't u find it a tad weird that dropbox cant edit in iOS??

doogald · Jul 16, 2012

dave1812 said:
don't u find it a tad weird that dropbox cant edit in iOS??

Dropbox is not an editing app. However, it provides an api that allows other apps to edit files and manage updates to Dropbox files. From within the Dropbox app on iOS you can open files in other apps, just as you can in the Dropbox app on Android.

In fact, you cannot edit many files in the Dropbox app on Android, either. Tap to open an excel spreadsheet and it will ask you which app you want to use to open it (and the same goes for almost every other popular format, including pdf.) Android's sharing of files between apps is much richer than iOS, but iOS has much better apps that interface with Dropbox; you can manage pretty well with either.

(Actually, iOS is better, as you can at least see a read-only view of most files in the Dropbox app. Tap the "open in" control at the top and you can then open the file for editing in another app.)

dave1812 · Jul 16, 2012

doogald said:
Dropbox is not an editing app. However, it provides an api that allows other apps to edit files and manage updates to Dropbox files. From within the Dropbox app on iOS you can open files in other apps, just as you can in the Dropbox app on Android.

In fact, you cannot edit many files in the Dropbox app on Android, either. Tap to open an excel spreadsheet and it will ask you which app you want to use to open it (and the same goes for almost every other popular format, including pdf.) Android's sharing of files between apps is much richer than iOS, but iOS has much better apps that interface with Dropbox; you can manage pretty well with either.

(Actually, iOS is better, as you can at least see a read-only view of most files in the Dropbox app. Tap the "open in" control at the top and you can then open the file for editing in another app.)

I didn't mean LITERALLY that Dropbox edits files, but on my Bionic, clicking on a file takes me DIRECTLY (and I do mean DIRECTLY) to the appropriate editing app. No muss, no fuss, no delay, no having to choose anything. On my Touch, there seems to be NO WAY to edit. I am not about to PURCHASE additional apps to edit on my tiny-screen Touch.

(but thanks for the explanation--I don't want to seem ungrateful, as I appreciate the description you gave of what to do should one want to pursue editing files on an iOS device)

SC00BY_ · Apr 12, 2013

Google Drive = EPIC fail

Sorry but thats my viewpoint and I'm entitled to it, if it works for others and they love it - fantastic :rolleyes:

I use a pc with Windows 7, and then try to edit on a Nexus 7 and can not save changes with my office program of choice (Kingsoft) :thinking:

Massive fan of Android, having come from Symbian and then Maemo smartphones - so I am not going anywhere, but will use dropbox and when my free allowance ends (came with S3), I will either cut back on my cloud storage , or pay Dropbox - simples

EDIT:
And now for some reason, any updated file on my PC will not auto update, Drive just sits there saying that its syncing - but doesn't :mad:

I have to close it down and the reopen the file, at which point it syncs properly :stupid: :banghead: :thumbdown:

Lars · Apr 12, 2013

Drive is very un-google like with lots of issues. Dropbox along with folder sync is pretty flawless.

Google Drive massive fail for me when trying to save

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