Storage & Space Management On the Nexus!

[Preach2k]

How could we manage The storage space on the Nexus 32GB when it is released. If you love Movies and Music we know how much space that they eat up on our Microsd Cards and with the Nexus have 32GB. Some may say that it is more then enough space while others who have a lot of movies and music might say it is not enough. I found this on another forum about how to manage your memory. I hope that it helps some of you out there.

So, what's the solution? Essentially, you have two options:

1. Cloud Storage
2. USB Hosting

I know most of you already know about cloud storage, but let me run through both real quick (sections are conveniently hidden so you're not assaulted by a wall of text immediately).

1. Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is the storage of your files and media on the "cloud", i.e. someone else's servers. There's a few services that offer this, the most famous being Dropbox (2GB+ free storage), but there are other options such as Minus (10GB+ free storage) and Box.net (idk how much free storage) as well. Then there's also specialized services such as Google Music and Amazon Music as well for, you guessed it, music.

There are a few advantages and disadvantages to cloud storage.

Advantages

• No need for extra hardware (i.e. SD card, thumb drive)
• Convenient
• Automatic synchronization
• Um, I'm sure you guys can think of more, I'm drawing a blank right now
  

Disadvantages

• Requires constant connection, either via data or wifi
• Potentially slow over 3G or weak Wifi
• Streaming movies is difficult, if not impossible (at least with Dropbox, etc.)
• Eats up a limited data plan quickly

So that leads us to our second option, one that's new with ICS and the Galaxy Nexus:

2. USB Hosting

USB hosting was a feature introduced in Honeycomb on tablets. Now, with the release of Ice Cream Sandwich, the feature will be brought to phones as well!

So, what is USB Hosting? Most of the time, you hear it being mentioned when talking about game controllers, and yes, that potential is there. However, USB hosting allows you to do much more than just use your Xbox controller on your phone. It essentially allows you to plug in any USB storage device into your phone, as long as you have the right adapter.

The Galaxy Nexus, like many phones, has a micro USB port (well, technically, it's an MHL port but, you know). There are plenty of adapters out there that will connect a USB device to your micro USB port, and they're dirt cheap (here's one).

So, when you combine
this:

with this:

you can easily have up to an extra 64GB of storage to access your movies and music when you need it. When you're done, you can unplug it and keep it in your pocket. You're not restricted to thumb drives either, you can plug in an SD reader or even a 1 TB portable hard drive if you wanted.

There's a disadvantage here, too, though, namely, that you have to carry a jump drive (or hard drive, depending on how much space you want) around.

Video Demo

[video=youtube;giJXF5pIITc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giJXF5pIITc[/video]



TL;DR version: you can either upload your files to a cloud storage service like Dropbox or plug in a USB drive and access your files from there.

If you're looking for good cloud storage, you should check out Minus! 10GB free (compared to 2GB with Dropbox) and they have Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS applications

Credit: Roosevelt

Source

 

[NewAge]

Yup, just make sure the micro USB to female usb is an "OTG" cable. The first one pictured will NOT work, but the one he uses in video is good. Its sucks having to carry a seperate cable and usb card reader, but I find myself only taking them when needed, when traveling. Verizon sells them for $20 or get them on ebay for <$5 but it takes a month. I have two 16gb sd cards from old phones that are able to hold my movies and music. And the cards or hotswapable, meaning I can switch them without a reboot.

 

[guitarskoota]

Option 2 will not work on the Galaxy Nexus It's unfortunate because that is one of the big things that let me look past the lack of an SD card slot, and it is taking a step back in technology.

Galaxy Nexus does not support USB Mass Storage, and is unable to interface this way with any USB storage. ICS allows it, but Galaxy Nexus' internal storage technology is not compatible.

This also means that plugging the GNex into a USB cord, to run to your car stereo, will not work. Basically anything that normally communicates through USB, will not communicate with the GNex. It uses a USB cord, but not the USB storage format.

 

[NewAge]

I guarantee it will work! If it doesn't out of the box it will with a custom kernel. Out of the box it should have the drivers to work with i/o devices and cameras. I WOULDN'T be surprised if it lacks the ability to read external Storage devices, but that's a quick mod away . Its been so long time since I was stock on Xoom so I'm not 100% sure what stock can do. Once rooted and the kernels or ROM's have the mod baked into them, it will be second nature. It may be as simple as getting a USB listener APP that mounts once it detects a USB storage device. This is already available and should be compatable with ICS, or will need to be updated. (Not sure about the truck connection.)

I can't wait for the Devs to BLOW MY MIND! I just hope I can afford to donate to them all, I may have to pick and choose.

 

[sbenson]

Option 2 will not work on the Galaxy Nexus It's unfortunate because that is one of the big things that let me look past the lack of an SD card slot, and it is taking a step back in technology.

Galaxy Nexus does not support USB Mass Storage, and is unable to interface this way with any USB storage. ICS allows it, but Galaxy Nexus' internal storage technology is not compatible.

This also means that plugging the GNex into a USB cord, to run to your car stereo, will not work. Basically anything that normally communicates through USB, will not communicate with the GNex. It uses a USB cord, but not the USB storage format.

Actually, you're wrong, kinda. I think you're confusing a couple terms. USB Mass Storage and USB Host are not remotely the same thing. Mass Storage is for mounting to a computer, where Host is reserved for input devices. There's been a lot of speculation whether or not the G-nex would support USB Host. ICS supports it, but sadly the G-nex does not.... out of the box. However, the kernel in the G-nex definitely supports the functionality - so it's either up to Google or our dev community to enable this function. Anyway, sooner or later, YES you will be able to use USB Host on your G-nex.

Second down:

View attachment 42794

Image source: So, You Want More Storage Space... - Page 2 - Android Forums

 

[lanza_david]

I wonder why you say it will not work. I understand that the Nexus S does it. Why would it be different on the GN?

Edit : I just read the recent posts. Time to relax.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[NewAge]

Actually, you're wrong, kinda. I think you're confusing a couple terms. USB Mass Storage and USB Host are not remotely the same thing. Mass Storage is for mounting to a computer, where Host is reserved for input devices. There's been a lot of speculation whether or not the G-nex would support USB Host. ICS supports it, but sadly the G-nex does not.... out of the box. However, the kernel in the G-nex definitely supports the functionality - so it's either up to Google or our dev community to enable this function. Anyway, sooner or later, YES you will be able to use USB Host on your G-nex.

Second down:

View attachment 42794

Image source: So, You Want More Storage Space... - Page 2 - Android Forums

Awesome! That proves it there! I wonder how many mount points there will be? On Xoom there is an external1 (SD Card), SD Card (Internal Memory), usbdisk (for USB thumb drives and SD card readers). Its confusing how the labeling is particularly having the internal memory named SD Card, but that's just a name. With the proper connection I can hook up an NTFS external HD, microSD card reader, a 2.4 ghz receiver to wirelessly connect a keyboard and mouse all at the same time! If you are willing to carry the cable an equipment you should have no storage problems.

Or get the seagate goflex satellite. It even has an Android app to stream music and movies.

In a pinch CWM can read contents from SD card hooked through microUSB. (The mount time is Looong when connecting device to PC. So its quicker to stick it on SD and mount in CWM. Or if you are missing or away from USB Cable.)

 

[doublea500]

Just keep the movies your going to watch on your phone and delete it when your finished. Another option is to use the adapter with the usb memory or external hard drive. 32 gb shouldn't be an issue, even for movie watchers and people with a lot of music. Many options

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[guitarskoota]

Actually, you're wrong, kinda. I think you're confusing a couple terms. USB Mass Storage and USB Host are not remotely the same thing. Mass Storage is for mounting to a computer, where Host is reserved for input devices. There's been a lot of speculation whether or not the G-nex would support USB Host. ICS supports it, but sadly the G-nex does not.... out of the box. However, the kernel in the G-nex definitely supports the functionality - so it's either up to Google or our dev community to enable this function. Anyway, sooner or later, YES you will be able to use USB Host on your G-nex.

Second down:

View attachment 42794

Image source: So, You Want More Storage Space... - Page 2 - Android Forums

I read that too, but as of right now the only thing certain, is it does not support USB OTG out of the box. Whether or not it can be enabled by a dev, remains speculation at this point. Even though the files are in ICS because it is an ICS feature, the hardware on the SGN might not be capable of ever enabling it. I really hope they can enable it too, but it just seems like for a vanilla phone this thing is locked down quite a bit.

Ice Cream Sandwich Supports USB Mass Storage, Galaxy Nexus Does Not | Gadget Helpline

 

[sbenson]

I read that too, but as of right now the only thing certain, is it does not support USB OTG out of the box. Whether or not it can be enabled by a dev, remains speculation at this point. Even though the files are in ICS because it is an ICS feature, the hardware on the SGN might not be capable of ever enabling it. I really hope they can enable it too, but it just seems like for a vanilla phone this thing is locked down quite a bit.

Ice Cream Sandwich Supports USB Mass Storage, Galaxy Nexus Does Not | Gadget Helpline

I understand what you're getting at, but again USB Host has absolutely nothing to do with USB Mass Storage. Mass Storage cannot and never will work on the G-nex. USB Host on the other hand already works for certain things, devs just need to figure out how to make it work for usb thumb drives.

 

[coverton341]

I read that too, but as of right now the only thing certain, is it does not support USB OTG out of the box. Whether or not it can be enabled by a dev, remains speculation at this point. Even though the files are in ICS because it is an ICS feature, the hardware on the SGN might not be capable of ever enabling it. I really hope they can enable it too, but it just seems like for a vanilla phone this thing is locked down quite a bit.

Ice Cream Sandwich Supports USB Mass Storage, Galaxy Nexus Does Not | Gadget Helpline

Yeah, as stated above, you're confusing two different functions. The article you linked says nothing of OTG. The way that the partitioning is the Mass Storage won't work the way that it does on say an OG. It has to do with the internal memory of the device, which when using it as a USB OTG host doesn't take internal memory partitioning into account.

 

[Deano2423]

Just wanted to verify something. If I plug in the nexus to my computer (and enable debugging mode) will I be limited in terms of what I can drag onto (and off of) my phone from/to my pc?

 

[NewAge]

Just wanted to verify something. If I plug in the nexus to my computer (and enable debugging mode) will I be limited in terms of what I can drag onto (and off of) my phone from/to my pc?

Enable debugging if you want to use adb or fastboot. adb remount/reboot/rebootbootloader etc. If you want to click and drop files from PC to device, disable debugging and the entire internal storage contents will be in a folder "Nexus" or whatever folder name is, on PC. No limitations, other than file size larger than 4gb.

Edit: I say 4gb limit on PC only. Mac and Linux may be different depending on thridparty used and the protcol limit it sets.

 

[sbenson]

Just wanted to verify something. If I plug in the nexus to my computer (and enable debugging mode) will I be limited in terms of what I can drag onto (and off of) my phone from/to my pc?

Negative. Drag away.