Root Copying files to and from a PC?

[Zoandroid]

I'm confused. I used my Win7 PC to root this A500 without any issues at all. But when I connect it to the A500 to view files and folders on the A500's SD card, I am seeing some inexplicable results.

If I create a new folder in /mnt/external_SD, using Root Explorer running on the A500, it never shows up on the PC in Windows Explorer when connected by USB.

If I create a new folder, using the PC connected by USB, in that same location on the A500's SD card, then it shows up in both locations. BUT..... if I put some files in the folder, while using Root Explorer in the tablet, the folder still appears to be EMPTY when viewed on the PC, even after refreshing the view???

I have a suspicion this may be some kind of "permissions" issue, but I don't know what to do to fix it.

The files I am trying to transfer over to the PC under my current project are the specific*.ogg audio files which are used during on-screen typing on the tablet. I like the sound feedback while typing, but I want it to be at a quieter level. None of the volume settings on the tablet affect the playing of those sounds. So I am going to copy them over to my PC, and do some audio kitchen magic on them to reduce their native volume by 50%, and then copy them back into position on the tablet (I backed up the originals).

I managed to send the files in a zip file by email to my PC. I can send the modified versions back the same way. But I would like to know what is going on with the PC and tablet not seeing certain folders and files that I make on either device. I've never seen that happen on either of my Android phones. However, the tablet, when connected by USB to my PC, also doesn't seem to require the "Safely Disconnect" issue, and there is no mention of USB being connected in the notification area of the tablet, like I would see on one of the smartphones. When preparing to root I had to install the PC driver so the PC would see the phone. I got that driver in with all the other files provided in the XDA forum thread I used for rooting. But I see that Acer has a couple of USB drivers for download on their support site. Do I need to also install one of those?

 

[Zoandroid]

I found a solution!

Over on another thread, they were discussing a similar issue, and one member, goodwindc, posted this:

have you tried remounting it by going to the storage tab in settings?

So I did as he suggested on the tablet, while it is connected to the PC. Once un-mounted and re-mounted, ALL the files on the SD card now show up in Windows Explorer!

 

[splatoid]

Cool
Glad you got it sorted and let us know.

 

[Zoandroid]

The files will transfer OK, but the tablet isn't happy with them one they have been modified. In fact, it isn't happy with my restoring the original files back where they reside either. I had to restore a Nandroid to get the typing key sounds back to normal. I posted in another thread asking why this might be.

 

[splatoid]

Is it ogg files that are giving you the problem.

 

[Zoandroid]

Yes, they are.

Hey! This is my 1,000th post!

 

[splatoid]

I didnt think you could play them on the tablet. But I never tried.

 

[Zoandroid]

Actually, the tablet uses them by default. you can see the ones used for the key press sounds at /system/media/audio/ui in the tablet. All I did was copy them to my PC, run them through Nero Wave Editor and reduce their volume by a few decibels, then copy them back and overwrite the originals (which I backed up).

The changes did not take effect until I rebooted. But then I had no key press sounds. So I tried restoring the backups, and rebooting. I then had intermittent sounds on some key presses but no sounds on others. I had to restore a nandroid to get the sounds back to normal.

 

[splatoid]

Well now that you mention I do remember seeing them. But never put it together. I never use ogg files myself. I'm a flak man.
I never use keyboard sounds cause my daughter and wife whine about the sound.
They always give me crap about how loud I am. They watch crap TV all night so I put on my head phones and jam out and I like to hum sing whistle and what not and it drives them nuts. I mean whats not to love about hearing your loved one singing Rammstein when he doesn't even know German.But I love my head banging music. Oh and I'm too old to play air guitar also. TMI huh?

 

[Zoandroid]

Well, whatever floats your boat. My wife says the typing noise doesn't bother her. I like it over not having any other tactile feedback, but I think it was asinine of Acer not to allow its volume to be adjusted. One of my pet peeves is design engineers and software programmers who make default 'choices' and then don't allow them to be adjusted. My ideal program or device environment is where everything is user-configurable. They could have tied the volume of the key sounds into at least one of the 3 volume settings we do have. Or, better yet, allow us to select ANY sound file to use for the keys. But in this case they seem to have placed some kind of Jobsian 'lock' on using ONLY those files provided and if they are at all edited, they fail to work. Hopefully someone will eventually write an app to customize the sounds.

 

[Zoandroid]

I like to make nandroids and backups of apps and such every Saturday night, and then I copy the backups to my PC for eventual burning to Bluray discs. I have to say that the way the USB connection to a Windows PC works on the A500 tablet makes me a little nervous. Unlike a smartphone, where you have to actually "do" something to "connect" the SD card to your PC, with the tablet you just plug it into the PC via USB cable and the files are "accessible" (but to make sure you are seeing ALL the files from Windows, it is prudent to un-mount then mount the tablet's SD card after you have connected the USB cable.

However, when you are finished, there is no "safely remove" feature to make SURE the file copying is totally finished. Is there any way to assure that it is indeed safe to unplug the tablet from the PC? If it were in the middle of writing to an SD card file, could it not risk damage to the data?

 

[splatoid]

Wont you have a diloge box showing you the progress of the files that are being transferd. I just wait till the box is gone and its done.I think thats what you mean.

 

[Zoandroid]

Yes, I do see that, and I've been doing just as you suggest. It's just a bit strange after having the whole Windows OS "safely remove USB" pounded into my head for a few years that now with this tablet that doesn't apply.

But I've not had any problems in doing as you described. I just wait a moment after that dialog closes, and then go ahead and unplug the cable.

 

[splatoid]

Yeah same here. I have to work with some people's windows NT and 2000 systems for my work and I just yank the thumb drive and I have that pop up it always freaks me out. I keep forgetting about that. But ever since XP and 7 its not as big of an issue.As long as the dialogue box is gone I'm sure your safe then. That's another thing that I do that most people probably think is bad but when I get a ROM to try instead of messing with the md5 check sum I just unrar the file if it unrar without any error I consider it good. It has worked every time for me.

 

[Zoandroid]

I use a Firefox tool called DownThemAll to download. In the screen telling it where to save the file, there is a field for any MD5 hash if you have one, and it automatically will check things out. If it doesn't match up, it will re-start the download.

So I'll use an MD5 if one is available. But I've seem my share of 1GB download scenery files for FSX that refused to unrar after I got them. So I know how frustrating that can be. The place I was getting them doesn't use MD5 checksums, so I had to write them and ask them to check things out on their end. Each time, the new file they posted would then work. So it was likely a problem on their server.

 

[splatoid]

Now that sounds cool. Ill have to look into that.

 

[Zoandroid]

I've been using that add-on for many years. It is very reliable. It has some other features too. Sadly, they do not have a version of DownThemAll for Firefox on Android. But Firefox has proven to be hinky for me on the tablet, so I stopped using it and am currently using Opera Mobile. I like Miren Browser on my Droid X, but when I tried downloading it from their website (it doesn't show in the Market when using the A500) it was unstable. So I guess it doesn't like Honeycomb OS.

 

[splatoid]

Yeah I have tried a lot of browsers and the only one I really like is the stock one with the quick launch menu enabled. So what ROM are you currently running on the tablet? And have you been following the Tegraowners forum on their progress on the ICS build. It sounds close to ready for prime time. I'm close to trying it again. A couple more updates and I will be tempted.

 

[Zoandroid]

So far I have stuck with the stock ROM after rooting. Unlike with my phones, I've not seen a compelling reason to switch here on the tablet. When a stable ICS ROM comes down the pike I'll try it out, for sure. I had not heard of the Tegra Owners forum yet, so I'll have to check that out. Are they here on Android Forums, or elsewhere?

Browser selection, for me, is mostly about speed and stability while typing into these forum posts. On the A500, the stock browser has some lag in that regard. On both my Android phones, but especially the slower speed LG Ally, most browsers had such terrible lag while typing, or were unstable, that I ended up settling on Miren. My next choice was Opera Mobile, after their Lite version tanked on the Ally. Firefox on this tablet was OK for a while but then it started exhibiting some really frustrating behavior. If I try to type a quoted forum reply, immediately after every letter I type at the bottom of the window, the cursor jumps straight up to the first line, embedding itself within the text of the quote. I found no solution, so I had to dump Firefox yet again. Ever since they got their 'rapid release' mental disease, Firefox, which has for years been my standard browser, has proven to be unreliable in ever new release, and apparently not just in Windows, but also here in Android. They spend no time assuring quality anymore. Which is really odd to me, because it isn't like they are rushing out a half-baked product to garner quick profits, as are most manufacturers these days. It's free, so why the rush??

That's why I use Opera here, until they do something stupid to screw it up too.

 

[splatoid]

Here is the link to the tegraowners forum.More civil on this forum compared to XDA.
Acer A500-ROM TegraOwners – Nvidia Tegra2 & MultiCore Tablets, Phones – ROM, Apps, News

 

[Zoandroid]

I can't say I've experienced a lack of civility on XDA, but they are certainly a different breed of people. Thanks.

 

[Zoandroid]

So you have flashed and run the Thor ICS ROM from there? It looks like the few remaining things in the 'to do' list are not very critical. Was everything else stable for you? I'd like to hear that the parts they do have working are working properly before I jump in. The thread is over 100 pages in length, but I looked at the last couple pages. It does sound like they are still ironing out the wrinkles.

However there was one thing I saw which gives me cause for pause. They mentioned that many apps are not yet ready to run on ICS. So maybe jumping ahead into it at this point is not the best move for me.

 

[Zoandroid]

Hey, I just found an alternate keyboard that, among its many nice features, has the key-press sounds from the stock keyboard, but includes a volume adjustment!!

It is called Super Keyboard, and so far testing it I am impressed! I like its appearance, and it has cursor movement keys which the stock keyboard lacks. Handy for editing those pesky typos in forum posts.

I need to find a "screen shot" app so I can post a picture of this nifty keyboard.

 

[splatoid]

So you have flashed and run the Thor ICS ROM from there? It looks like the few remaining things in the 'to do' list are not very critical. Was everything else stable for you? I'd like to hear that the parts they do have working are working properly before I jump in. The thread is over 100 pages in length, but I looked at the last couple pages. It does sound like they are still ironing out the wrinkles.

However there was one thing I saw which gives me cause for pause. They mentioned that many apps are not yet ready to run on ICS. So maybe jumping ahead into it at this point is not the best move for me.

The first time I tried it It was a mess. And I lost root and thought I was stuck with that mess. But I was able to mess around with CWM and acer recovery and I got root back. Freaked me out.The second time I tried it out it was much more stable but still not ready for prime time. I knew that but I cant help myself.I'm running FlexStriker A-500 right now and I think it is one of the fastest and cleanest Roms Ive used to date. Everything is working like Netflix all the game that I have tried pretty nice ROM...
Pretty cool about the keyboard looks like just what your were wanting.