Help Windows can't find Captivate

[Joshrw81]

Had the same problem. You need to download Samsung Kies.

 

[Blackforge]

I had a problem with mine not being recognized this morning. The fix? Instead of unplugging/replugging the usb cable from the computer, I did it from the phone. Worked instantly after and since. Just weird.

 

[sdelliott31]

I am reading these threads and LOL'ing to myself as I got my Captivate yesterday, and though I think the phone is really great so far, I spent 3 or more hours doing the exact same things and running into the exact same problems as you all. I think this is the first device I have had a problem or conflict with Win 7. I have for sure noticed that this is a touchy phone. The "mounting of the USB drive is annoying, however I am an Android Virgin, so I need to give myself time to learn. Good luck guys.

 

[sundaybiker]

I will be damned! I got it to recognize as mass storage! The solution?

I was using the front ports on my PC. I used the same port I plug my external SD reader into and it wasn't working, gave the "unrecognized device". I plugged into a diff port on the front of my PC and Windows assigned drive letters, but I couldn't read the contents. FINALLY, I tried a port on the back of my PC and PRESTO! What a waste of an afternoon!

Now I'm gonna try to get Kies to work!

I had the same problem last nite, couldn't read the content of the 2 drives, I'll try a different port, thanks. Didn't work in either 32 or 64 bit Win 7.

 

[breley]

I will be damned! I got it to recognize as mass storage! The solution?

I was using the front ports on my PC. I used the same port I plug my external SD reader into and it wasn't working, gave the "unrecognized device". I plugged into a diff port on the front of my PC and Windows assigned drive letters, but I couldn't read the contents. FINALLY, I tried a port on the back of my PC and PRESTO! What a waste of an afternoon!

Now I'm gonna try to get Kies to work!

Had exactly the same problem on my X64 Win box. Top/front USB port would simply not permit the phone to be recognized, but once I plugged it into the rear USB ports, it worked like a charm.

What's particularly odd is that it was working with the front port(s) yesterday, so I'm not sure what system change affected that.

 

[chanchan92]

I had this same problem and after several hours of trying all of the recommended setting and usb port changes, i was ready to give up.

I finally found the solution that worked for me. I have windows 64bit and apparantly it doesnt allow you to have both the device and an external hard drive plugged into the system at the same time. It doesnt make any sense to me but after i unplugged my hard drive the device synced to my computer perfectly.

 

[MrTony]

I had this same problem and after several hours of trying all of the recommended setting and usb port changes, i was ready to give up.

I finally found the solution that worked for me. I have windows 64bit and apparantly it doesnt allow you to have both the device and an external hard drive plugged into the system at the same time. It doesnt make any sense to me but after i unplugged my hard drive the device synced to my computer perfectly.

Another user in this thread had the same problem. Definitely something going on there.

 

[MarkPharaoh]

Was only able to get it to work with my W7-64 by plugging the cable into one of my back ports. For some reason it did not want to work with one of my front ports (had a similiar issue with my iPhone).

 

[dvzablebyone]

So, I got my captivate to work just fine on my Mac @ work (transferred files freely w/ mass storage, mounted the SD card and all) but it will not work w/ my PC @ home (running XP). I have downloaded Kies, downloaded the drivers and then reloaded Kies, disconnected both of my external hard drives, moved the phone to both the front and back USB ports, turned the USB setting to both PC Internet and Mass storage on the phone and it is not even recognizing that it is hooked up to the computer (other than charging).

I really wish this would just work!

 

[acowgoat]

I also could not connect my device to my front USB port. After doing some googling, it appears there is a power issue with front USB ports. Other devices often have this problem as well.

Here is an intersting article: GigaMegaBlog Simple fix to iPhone/iPod dropped USB connections

Googling the broader problem of dropped iPhone connections uncovered a lot of people who had this problem with using a USB hub. Plugging their iPhone directly into a USB port on the PC fixed the problem for them, since the hub wasn’t able to provide the 5 volts of charge required by the iPhone (the iPod Touch has a similar power requirement).

 

[rlb4]

What about using a powered USB hub? That should have enough power.

 

[acowgoat]

What about using a powered USB hub? That should have enough power.

Sorry if my other post was unclear. Perhaps this is a better explanation:

The rear USB ports have a known good USB 2.0 interface. Unless properly installed, many front panel ports are not USB 2.0 compliant even if connected to a USB 2.0 adapter.

Many devices cannot operate properly when connected to a non-powered USB hub.

 

[Jofaba]

What Samsung should have done to make this a non-issue was put the Kies installer on the phone, set the default to mass storage, and upon connection check for the appropriate driver, and if it wasn't found ask permission to install it. Then once connected, ask if you want to install Kies, and maybe even offer a phone-viewed video of what Kies offers. The way they went about this was ridiculous.

What happens when you're over someone's house for a party, take some pics, and they want to see them up on their computer? "Oh wait, first I have to install some shit on your computer hold on for half an hour!" or have to search out for the driver while they all wait for your "amazing super phone" to finally get connected.

 

[rlb4]

Sorry if my other post was unclear. Perhaps this is a better explanation:

The rear USB ports have a known good USB 2.0 interface. Unless properly installed, many front panel ports are not USB 2.0 compliant even if connected to a USB 2.0 adapter.

Many devices cannot operate properly when connected to a non-powered USB hub.

So would it be ok if the powered USB hub is connected to a rear USB port?

 

[c0ld29]

*I posted this on the sticky but no one has answered so I figured I'd try here*
Question... I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers literally 10 times, restarting the computer most times, I've tried doing it with the Kies program and kies selected, tried mass storage and mounted it, media player, and pc internet, and when I connect my phone to any usb hub (I'm on windows XP) it does the same thing,

it pops up saying "Found new hardware - Samsung_android" and then the found new hardware wizard pops up. If I do the "Install software automatically" it says that nothing could be found and my phone doesn't connect.
If I do "Install from a specific location" and select where the drivers were installed, it does the same thing and says it cant find the necessary hardware also.

Is there something I'm missing? Once I install the drivers from the file shouldn't the computer automatically know how to use them? Is there a step I am missing?

I also unmounted and formatted the internal SD card, not sure if that makes a difference

 

[vlad drak]

Solved my problem by:

1. Installing Drivers
2. Plugging in phone
3. Unplugging phone
4. Restarting computer
5. Restarting phone
6. Plugging in phone
7. Notification bar > MOUNT

This, along with moving the USB to the back, worked for me... Thanks, Darkeligos.

 

[sgjava]

Hopefully this will save someone some time. I tried all the tricks listed, loading drivers, turning phone on/off, etc. What works every time is to plug the usb into the PC first, then into the phone second. This works every time without the drivers using mass storage. Worked on WIn7 x86-64 and Ubuntu 10.04 x86.

 

[Baldilocks]

Just a tip for everyone. Make sure you use your USB options correctly.

ALWAYS use the "Safely Remove Hardware" option on your Windows PC before you disconnect your phone from the computer. (Can usually be found in the taskbar.) Also, after you do that, slide down the notification bar on your phone and 'UNMOUNT' the drive.

This prevents any problems your computer will have recognizing it the NEXT time you plug it in.

Remember, those things are there for a reason.

 

[ilusv]

What a nightmare.... Installed drivers and Kies, Kies recognized my devices when its set to

 

[Nadool]

The mass storage route worked for me, I will try a rear USB port to see if the other options work as well. I don't like when drivers fail in Windows, this is the first time it's happened with my current PC. I really love this phone, like tons...but this and the GPS are a pain in the ass. But I got both working so I'm deeply in love once again.

I must say I had a much easier time setting up file transfers via Bluetooth, SFTP, and WiFi though. All in all I'm so psyched to see what else this phone is capable of. After 2 HTC WinMo phones I will never go back.

 

[esprofesor]

I was having issues getting my Vista/32-bit Windows to recognize my Captivate. The USB Settings is set to "Samsung Kies" out of the box. Without the Kies software loaded just goes into an infinite loops of trying to install the drivers. what i did:

1. Downloaded and installed drivers from samsung site. These drivers are VERY finicky and doesn't give you a status bar when loading, but will tell you when installed completely.

2. On your captivate go to: Settings > Applications > USB Settings >Mass Storage

3. Look at the top of your phone in the left orner where it gives you Status Updates. You should see a USB symbol. Drag the icon down in order to open the Status Window Screen. Click on the message with the USB symbol to "turn it on". Click "Mount" and the familiar Windows "Autoplay" window should pop on the screen


This should get your pc to recognize the phone.

4. Downloaded and Installed the Kies software. Make sure to switch back from "Mass Storage" to "Samsung Kie" in order for Kies to recognize the device. You also dont have to use the software if you dont want to; you can drag and drop in and out of the phone's folders.

Before doing this i tried to install the Kies Software and would get the "cannot connect to file server" error during step 3 of the installation process. Once i switched to "Mass Storage" the Kies Software did not give me an error during the installation process. This worked for me, maybe itll work for someone else. I like a challenge, but nothing that should be this simple. =/

GOOD LUCK.

 

[Rustic23]

I have played with Keis and USB for about two weeks now. I had it working two weeks ago, then it stopped.

My solution. I installed Swiftp on my Captivate, and Filezilla on my PC. Put the address and such I created in SwiFtp in Filezilla, it connected, and I had full access to transfer files back and forth.

Other than something not working that should work, I think I have a way to move photos, videos, music, and backup files back and fourth.

If anyone sees problems with this work around, please let me know. Oh, I think you need a wireless network for this to work well although Swiftp says it will work over the web. I have not, and most likely won't try this.

 

[Rustic23]

While the ftp method works, it just bugged me that I could not get a connection by wire. After two days of turning on off, plugging in the back front, installing keis, uninstalling keis, installing drivers, uninstalling drivers, control panel uninstall, lots of @#$@#^$%

I fianaly got Darkeligos seven steps to work. In fact it works from the front and rear port. However, I had the phone working with Keis about two weeks ago, so I am going to keep my FTP method on the phone.

 

[TeyshaBlue]

I don't know if it's just good Karma or what, but my Captivate was seen instantly by my work computer...XP 32 bit. I toggled the USB settings to "Notify" and plugged it in. Bingo. Selected the Mass Storage and Mount, and zero problem. Oddly, my GPS works perfectly too
Lucky dog?

 

[RooBall]

Guys,
I was having the exact same issues and was pulling my hair out. I know it's weird but I can only mount my phone on the right-side USB ports (using a Dell E6500). I checked all my USB ports and confirmed.