Transfer limits of an internal/non-portable MicroSD card?

[PrimitiveScrewhead]

Hello, I have an old 2017 Moto E4 Plus (running Nougat 7.1.1) whose carrier I've since left that I recently turned on to discover tons of old family photos & videos on an old MicroSD card, only a handful of which ever got backed up/texted/emailed etc (I mean hell, I have photos/videos of a small concert I went to where influential dub musician/legend Lee “Scratch” Perry performed, & the guy’s now dead, so regardless of their quality, I’d like to think that’s worth preserving...).

Anyway I’d really like to get these files off, but 2 things have been preventing that:

1) Try as I might, I cannot get this phone to connect to my home Wifi. While I have similar, even older phones that do, I’ve tried adjusting the settings, default networks, proxy, IP settings as in DHCP vs Static etc, typing the IP/Gateway of other phones in manually, and though the Wifi will show “Saved,” as soon as I go to a different screen it’ll come up as “Disconnected,” Disabled,” and will not be able to pull up a website, email, the Play store, etc.

Now, maybe I need to just try resetting/typing some things into either my modem or Wifi (granted, I don’t wanna lose internet for the whole house), maybe I can just try buying a MicroUSB-to-Ethernet adapter and connect it directly into the modem, I dunno (but then if its setting aren’t compatible, hardwiring may not work either, I’m no IT guy.

That leads me to the next option/problem:

2) Apparently, the MicroSD in question NOT formatted as Portable... as in, I’ve removed it and tried plugging it into at least FOUR other old Android phones that CAN get on the internet, and THREE laptops, and it comes up as either not supported or unreadable (I assume because it’s not portable?).

I’ve also plugged the phone itself into 2 Mac computers & 1 PC via MicroUSB to USB cable to attempt a direct transfer, only to get messages like “Can’t access device storage, make sure your device is unlocked & File Transfer/MTP mode is selected,” "No Android device found," "Can't connect to device storage," etc (on Mac, the 3 programs I used were Android File Transfer, Handshaker, & OpenMTP; I hesitate to invest in a program if I’m only going to get the same warning). I assume this is because the MSD wasn’t formatted as portable.

The CLOSEST I’ve had to ANY computer recognizing it was my wife’s old 2009 Windows 7 Gateway laptop, which lists the make & model and gives an Autoplay popup of Device Options to “Open Device to View Files,” “Import Pictures and Videos” using either Windows or Windows Live Photo Gallery, Download images using Adobe Bridge. However when I try importing anything, I just get a “No photos or Videos were Found” notice, and when I try to Browse Files, it shows zero Items (again, I’m not sure if that's due to the MSD not being portable...).

All that said, I can nonetheless see a few thousand pics and vids when I go into this phone's Photos app, and I WAS able to email and/or text them in the past, so I'd like to think there’s a way to get them off of here, even if this phone no longer has phone service.

The question is, in light of all the other warnings that I’ve received trying to access this phone (or at least, its MSD) on the desktop level, should I assume that I’ll continue to be unable to get them off by using any USB-based file transfer programs, and that I’ll just have to figure out how to get this phone back online??

(I have spoken to 1-2 data transfer places that they suggested they can do it, and while you are starting at an $80 bare minimum there, with the amount of time I’ve been spending troubleshooting this issue, I’m almost starting to think that it may be worth it…

Anyway, thanks!!

 

[ocnbrze]

have you tried just re-booting the router?

if you can connect the phone via wifi, you can download an app called Airdroid and you should be able to connect the phone via wifi to your computer.

 

[svim]

Read through your posting a couple of times and it's apparent there are any number of very basic issues brought up that should be otherwise uncomplicated to solve. These are technology matters that individually will be solvable (i.e. connecting a smartphone do a WiFi network is not an arduous task) but because there are so many different aspects listed I think your best option is to have a local IT service person come in and just spend a few hours a) re-configuring/optimizing your home networking and b) show you basic tasks like how to mount/unmount SD cards and such in different devices, or to restart your router, or how to install a device driver on an old Windows PC, or etc.) If it was just one to two things to address that would be one thing but you've brought up a bunch of them. Instead of always fighting to get this thing to work or that thing to connect, it really will make a difference to have someone just give you a hands-on bit of personalized coaching that's just going to happen using an online help forum.

 

[PrimitiveScrewhead]

have you tried just re-booting the router?

if you can connect the phone via wifi, you can download an app called Airdroid and you should be able to connect the phone via wifi to your computer.

Yep, I’ve been meaning to try that, just haven’t gotten around to it yet because I didn’t wanna risk a potential lapse in coverage during the work week. But hey, now that Friday’s here, I have the time to mess around with it (and potentially.wait through cable company hold music to reach a tech should I run into any snags). If it’s something more elaborate— like potentially dealing with the Wi-Fi Protected Setup button, WPS Pin Entry, switching out the cable company’s modem for the old one etc— I assume I’m gonna have to Google it.

But again, I have not been able to get the phone on Wifi, that’s why I was asking about the USB file transfer. If the router reset/adjustment work and assuming Airdroid’s compatible with Nougat, I’ll give it a shot. Thank you!

4/23/22 A.M. EDIT: Yep, tried that rebooting suggestion Chief-- or at least, the ol' unplug the modem, wait 30-60, replug, relink, assuming that was what you meant? Apologies if you were suggesting something more elaborate-- and yet I am still getting the "Couldn't sign in, you don't have a network connection" / "No internet, try turning off airplane mode/turn on mobile data" / Wi-Fi, ERR_INTERNET_DISCONNECTED," Google Chrome UX's Dinosaur running through the desert/jumping over cactus-game that my browser has been tempting me with as I've been casually troubleshooting this over the last day or so (and as fun as that classic is, I could be playing more complicated games on any of my RPi emulators...)

So all that said-- if admittedly in light of the unfortunate precedent that others have chosen to set-- what other (ideally non-condescending) suggestions/solutions might you have, amigo?

 

[PrimitiveScrewhead]

Read through your posting a couple of times and it's apparent there are any number of very basic issues brought up that should be otherwise uncomplicated to solve. These are technology matters that individually will be solvable (i.e. connecting a smartphone do a WiFi network is not an arduous task) but because there are so many different aspects listed I think your best option is to have a local IT service person come in and just spend a few hours a) re-configuring/optimizing your home networking and b) show you basic tasks like how to mount/unmount SD cards and such in different devices, or to restart your router, or how to install a device driver on an old Windows PC, or etc.) If it was just one to two things to address that would be one thing but you've brought up a bunch of them. Instead of always fighting to get this thing to work or that thing to connect, it really will make a difference to have someone just give you a hands-on bit of personalized coaching that's just going to happen using an online help forum.

Yeah pal, you could’ve merely said something along the lines of “you likely won’t see any of that MSD's files in either MacOS or Windows, because it’s internally formatted for that specific Android device,”

• I list the “different aspects” to show my process, what I’ve already attempted, & what other options I’m considering, so that others who could potentially offer solutions can advise accordingly.

• My “always fighting to get this thing to work or that thing to connect”—as you so dramatically put it—is nothing more than me post-taxes directing my attention toward another domestic project/curiosity for a few hours to troubleshoot & DIY learn what I can before I decide if it’s necessary/worth it to recruit the professionals.

• In between my post and your response, I'd already downloaded quatro Moto drivers-- incl. mtppk12.exe, Motorola_Mobile_Drivers_v6.4.0_64bit.msi and their ilk-- and installed at least one on the relatively antiquated Windows PC in question, yet still couldn’t access any files on this phone. Coincidentally, that might’ve been the only semi-detailed/helpful suggestion you made, and yet it was already on my radar.

Seriously, why would I (or anybody) pay an IT tech hundreds if not thousands of dollars to come by to “reconfigure/optimize [one’s] home networking,” all to connect one device? I can simply call the cable company for that.

 

[kate]

I would just buy a cheap OTG (On The Go) adapter and use a file manager app to transfer the files from your phone/SD card to a USB drive.

Your phone has micro USB, two of many options:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BNFKCYM/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C6032G0/

@PrimitiveScrewhead I removed some sentences from your post, please keep your replies civil. Thanks

 

[Hadron]

I've never formatted a card as internal storage so don't have personal experience of its quirks. But for file transfer to work you will need to set that mode on the phone. It should prompt you when you connect it to a computer, though you can make that the default in the Developer Options menu (which is hidden - you need to tap repeatedly on the build number in the software information to reveal it. Google seem to think this is cute...).

I had problems with Android File Transfer at one point until I installed the latest version (a couple of years ago). So it might be worth checking whether yours is up to date.

But yes, it is possible there is some quirk of an internal formatted card and USB transfer, so Katie's suggestion of an OTG adapter and copying to USB flash drive is a good one: that way it's only the phone's software you are dealing with, and anything it can see it should be able to copy.

 

[PrimitiveScrewhead]

I would just buy a cheap OTG (On The Go) adapter and use a file manager app to transfer the files from your phone/SD card to a USB drive.

Your phone has micro USB, two of many options:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BNFKCYM/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C6032G0/

@PrimitiveScrewhead I removed some sentences from your post, please keep your replies civil. Thanks

Belated reply here to @kate , @Hadron , I greatly appreciate the both of you for chiming in with your suggestions. And needless to say Kate, my apologies for my prior conduct/you having to edit my prior reply; civility is generally my M.O., & I'm grateful for any and all specific suggestions that you all have to offer, I suppose in that case being advised to hire an IT guy to show me how to mount a MicroSD card etc felt a bit more like editorializing than troubleshooting.

Nonetheless, in defense of that person's suggestion, yes, in a perfect world, I would've indeed known what I was getting into when I did defer to/entrust one of my more Droid-savvy friends to format the MSD in question as Internal, NOT Portable. At the time, the understanding was that apps could be moved onto and operated off of such a card (since those were what had been taking up the majority of the space on my previous Droid). Still, even if that was ever true, obviously it can/did create a transfer hassle down the road...in other words, mistakes had already been made, and one remembers not to repeat them.

All that said, Hadron, I did attempt your suggestion to enable transferring using the Developer menu, although unfortunately that didn't seem to work either with any/all variations of "MTP" selected (and the only article I could find about the process was this one, which suggested that Nougat wasn't ideal for it either). https://nerdschalk.com/set-transfer-files-mtp-default-nougat/

Regardless, yes, as you advised, Kate was indeed the MVP with her winning suggestion of getting a MicroUSB to USB adapter and simply plugging a flash drive directly into the phone itself. As an Internal card, I wasn't even sure if it'd be allowed, but it did. Took a few days-- I suppose that's what happens when ES File Explorer 4.1.9's the only transfer app available and you either have to transfer all 3000+ files at once (and hope that happens before the battery dies) or click each file of a smaller transfer individually-- but it finally happened. Granted, some of the video files came over as empty zero-byte mp4s that couldn't be played, not sure if that was a transfer error, but at the end of the day, something's better than nothing.

So again, thank you all-- apologies again to anyone I might've disagreed with-- at this point, the MSD card can potentially be reformatted and repurposed, the phone can be factory reset, which COULD even fix its connectivity issues, who knows.

I suppose that's a question/potential post for another time...

 

[radzey]

I have an old 2017 Moto E4 Plus (running Nougat 7.1.1) whose carrier I've since left that I recently turned on to discover tons of old family photos & videos on an old MicroSD card

If you still have the phone, you could simply insert the microSD into it, then connect the device to the computer via PTP, and move the photos off. Other file types will likely not be listed via PTP, and since Android 7, it apparently only lists the "Pictures" and "DCIM" folders, but better than nothing.

 

[PrimitiveScrewhead]

If you still have the phone, you could simply insert the microSD into it, then connect the device to the computer via PTP, and move the photos off. Other file types will likely not be listed via PTP, and since Android 7, it apparently only lists the "Pictures" and "DCIM" folders, but better than nothing.

Hello @radzey , I appreciate your reply. Anyway though I tend towards thorough posts, in my typically lengthy last one, we done got the whole transfer issue resolved, largely thanks to Kate's suggestion of getting a simple MicroUSB-to-USB adapter, attaching a flashdrive to that, and transferring everything to that onto my comp etc. Super slow process-- prob because I made the mistake of just getting a basic USB device and not a 3.0 or something that could transfer everything faster-- and I have a feeling that I may have lost several videos in the process when the device either got loose or the phone ran outta juice mid-transfer (or at least, several transferred, but they were just empty files with no data on 'em), but it's better than nothing.

That said, I still haven't figured out how to get the damned device to connect to my Wifi network. It CAN connect to Wifi-- I brought it both to a friend's house (who's also a Spectrum customer, albeit with a router that he himself purchased), and stood outside my local Starbucks, and it connected both places no problem-- there's just something about my own home network/router it doesn't like.

So, hopefully at some point I can figure that out, and I'll still entertain any construct troubleshooting suggestions, for better or for worse though since I got these files off of it, it hasn't been as much of a priority as it was when I first posted all that.

 

[puppykickr]

The connectivity issue sounds like mine at home, or at least similar.

My guess with that is that your home wi-fi is using 5Ghz, while your friend and Starbucks is using 2.4Ghz.

Most likely, your Android 7 is not compatible with 5Ghz wi-fi.

Anyway, to be safe, I would COPY the files to a (any) folder that is in the real (device) internal memory before MOVING them, especially those important ones.

That way a glitch during transfer won't destroy the file.

If there is not enough room for all of the files to be copied, then it would need to be done in chunks.

Also, having the files in the real (unencrypted) memory may make them able to be seen with your PC.

At the very least, you could go to your friend's house (or anywhere else that the wi-fi will link) and transfer files there- even if it is just from one phone to another, that's better than nothing- and you can transfer the files to the PC later.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.nitroshare.android/

https://github.com/nitroshare/nitroshare-desktop

https://nitroshare.net/