Difference between USB_DRIVE and USB_STORAGE?

[twcowdery]

In my file manage I notice two folders related to USB. One says usbdrive and the other says usb_storage. When I plug in a usb flash drive, the files show up under usb_storage only. usbdrive remains empty.

What is usbdrive for? A usb hard drive maybe? Sadly, I don't have one that I could use to test that theory. Does anyone know?

Thanks
Tom

 

[Mrhelper]

The standard mount points (under /mnt) on the a500 are shown below. /mnt/usb_storage is used by the OS for any USB storage device. The /mnt/sdcard mount point is used for the internal storage, and /mnt/external_sd is used for the external SD card. Maybe the file manager you are using has a button named usbdrive intended for some other purpose. Just a guess.

app_102@android:/ $ ls -l /mnt
drwxr-xr-x root system 2012-08-11 14:24 asec
d---rwxr-x system sdcard_rw 1969-12-31 19:00 external_sd
drwxr-xr-x root system 2012-08-11 14:24 obb
drwxrwxr-x root sdcard_rw 2012-08-09 23:34 sdcard
drwx------ root root 2012-08-11 14:24 secure
d--------- system system 2012-08-11 14:24 usb_storage

 

[twcowdery]

What I'm seeing is a folder/directory, not a button. It shows up under /mnt in three different file managers.

I don't have the device with me, but there were several folders under /mnt. The ones that I recall from memory are
/mnt/sdcard
/mnt/usbdrive and
/mnt/usb_storage

The standard mount points (under /mnt) on the a500 are shown below. /mnt/usb_storage is used by the OS for any USB storage device. The /mnt/sdcard mount point is used for the internal storage, and /mnt/external_sd is used for the external SD card. Maybe the file manager you are using has a button named usbdrive intended for some other purpose. Just a guess.

app_102@android:/ $ ls -l /mnt
drwxr-xr-x root system 2012-08-11 14:24 asec
d---rwxr-x system sdcard_rw 1969-12-31 19:00 external_sd
drwxr-xr-x root system 2012-08-11 14:24 obb
drwxrwxr-x root sdcard_rw 2012-08-09 23:34 sdcard
drwx------ root root 2012-08-11 14:24 secure
d--------- system system 2012-08-11 14:24 usb_storage

 

[Mrhelper]

What I'm seeing is a folder/directory, not a button. It shows up under /mnt in three different file managers.

I don't have the device with me, but there were several folders under /mnt. The ones that I recall from memory are
/mnt/sdcard
/mnt/usbdrive and
/mnt/usb_storage

I just noticed that you are running Honeycomb on an a501. The directory named /mnt/usbdrive does not exist on my stock ICS a500. I'm guessing that it was not actually used on HC either, because a USB HDD will probably mount under /mnt/usb_storage just like a USB stick. Both use UAS (USB Attached SCSI), so the tablet "sees" both as being the same type of interface and using the same protocol.