I connect USB flash drives regularly and they just work, so I can't really help you. Are you using an original Samsung OTG adaptor? Some are weird differently I believe.

 

flash drives work fine. i just tried a wd small hard drive and i could not see it on my note 3, could be not enough power coming from usb.

 

The HDD is probably in NTFS format. Android does not recognize that file format (only FAT32 or exFAT). If you want NTFS recognition, you need to root.

Edit: I have used external HDDs on my Note 2 and Note 10.1. I had to format the HDD to exFAT for both to recognize it. It also requires an external power supply to work as well.

I have tested with an OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD, Seagate 500GB SSD/HDD hybrid, WD Blue 1TB HDD. They were connected using a Bytec external 2.5" HDD enclosure.

 

Format a USB stick to FAT32 on your PC and if it works with your adaptor it should be OK for external hard drive with its own power source. I don't think the phone would provide enough power to run one that does not require it's own power supply.


For those that don't know a normal USB micro adaptor to female USB (full size) works when plugged in to the right hand port of the Note 3's USB 3 port. Some are wired (not weird like I posted above) differently though. While my Samsung one works a treat for USB flash drives I have a Nokia one that does not, be aware if you buy a cheap one from eBay.

 

Not necessarily. The file format it is in will also be a factor in whether or not it will work. Android does not have native NTFS file support. Also you cannot format a high capacity HDD to FAT32 unless you use other means.

If anything, I would suggest dropping FAT32 if your devices support exFAT. Most of the file restrictions found in FAT32 are not present with the newer exFAT format. So feel free to dump your large files (>4GB) into the HDD formatted to exFAT. It won't choke and give errors like FAT32.

 

I found a really nice way through it all!!
There is no need for the storage to be in fat32
There is no need for the phone / tablet to be rooted,
There is no need for the hard drive to be outlet powered.
I only used Total commander + "USB plugin for total commander" !!
And it works with both 1tb WD my passport (usb powered) and with 2tb seagate (outlet powered) both NTFS.
I only use them for read-only stuff such as movies and music.