Posted by Farkad
I'm thinking about buying a W800i, and one of the selling points would be the usage of it's memory card as a Mass Storage Device, meaning I can plug the USB into any computer and it would recognise the Memory Stick as a storage drive.. Without drivers.
Does the W800 work that way or do you have to install drivers in order for Windows to recognise it?
Posted by CrazyBus
you must install the drivers for it to be recognised and transfer the data. If the computer had bluetooth then no installation would be needed
Posted by Farkad
Was that sucks. Guess I'll have to haul a Memory Stick reader with me at all times. ... Or better yet, I'll tape one of the phone and be done with it.
Posted by DCUK7
I'm sure you only need drivers if you want to use the Disc2Phone software. It should act as a mass storage device when you make the USB connection.
Posted by Farkad
You don't sound too sure, DC:UK.
Could someone confirm?
Thanks
Posted by whistla
You will need the drivers. In xp the drivers can be automatically installed for the mass storge device.
Posted by max_wedge
You absolutely need the drivers. In most versions of XP that have SP2 or later, you will be able to update the drivers automatically if you have an active internet connection.
So it's not true mass storage device compliant, the way a usb drive or card reader is, where generic mass storage drivers are loaded by windows. Later versions of XP will no doubt include the drivers in the onbord driver cache.
Posted by Cisst
My windows XP automaticly installed my w800i as a mass storage device when i plugged it in using the usb cable.
Posted by yorkiex
same with me no driver was needed my pc reconised my w800i as a mass storage device when it was 1st pluged in by usb
Posted by Stu|
The memory stick drivers are provided on Windows and are there by default. But Windows asks to install other pieces of hardware for the handset, before it will detect the mass storage device and thus install it. If Windows detected(and sometimes it does) the memory stick(mass storage) device first then it would work fine. I think this is how the W900i works as it installs the drivers for the handset as soon as you plug it in and thereby removing the need to download the drivers and installing them manually.
[ This Message was edited by: Stu| on 2006-01-02 20:13 ]
Posted by Farkad
Ring-a-ding ding. Confusion City, here I come.
Some people are saying that as soon as you plug the W800i into your USB port it is recognised as a Mass Storage Device and they are able to copy files onto/off it with no trouble..
Edit: Of course Windows needs to install some drivers, but those are generic Windows drivers that don't require a Windows or W800i CDs nor an internet connection.
While others are saying that one needs to first install some drivers that come with the phone(not default Windows drivers) and only then the W800i will be recognised as a Mass Storage Device.
Which one is it?
[ This Message was edited by: Farkad on 2006-01-02 20:42 ]
Posted by max_wedge
well not a single one of my pc's has ever auto-installed my K750. I've always had to install drivers for it, whether by automatically downloading the driver (ie: the driver wasn't in the driver cache and windows had to connect to windows update to get it) or manually downloading the driver and pointing windows in it's direction.
That includes win98, win2000 and winxp (both SP2 and non-SP2).
Some later SP2 updates may include the driver in the cache already. Maybe if you run windows update everyday, you may have the drivers already.
Now as far as mass storage device specifications go, EVEN a Windows 2000 computer ought to be able to setup drivers for a mass storage compliant device automatically, however this IS NOT the case with the K750. So therefore, even though some later versions of windows MAY have the driver already in the driver cache, it is the SE driver, and not the generic windows mass storage driver that is used.
So let me re-iterate: The K750 and W800 ARE NOT mass storage device compliant. When you plug your phone into a PC, it will need to have either access to the internet, or to already have downloaded the K750 driver (even if it was with a windows update).
PS a device can be a mass storage device with out being Mass Storage Device compliant. Mass Storage Device compliant simply means that the device adheres to the mass storage device protocol, which the K750 doesn't. It can however still act as a mass storage device, but it needs non-generic drivers to work.
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[ This Message was edited by: max_wedge on 2006-01-02 22:50 ]
Posted by isherdholi
Dude,
Install the drivers that come with the phone. Then, connect the phone to the PC using the supplied USB cable.
Windows will then recognise it as a mass storage device and give it a drive letter in "My Computer".
Same for the K750 as well.
Posted by Cisst
Windows first detects all the other uses of the phone (such as the modem for instance) and then detects the memory stick (standard mass storage). In case of a windows XP (SP 1 or 2, doesnt matter) it will just install everything on first connection to the pc in my experience. in the case of other windows versions you do need the drivers, but so far as i know thats perfectly normal. All my usb mass storage devices needed their own drivers installed on older windows versions. W95 and 98 for sure anyway.
Posted by max_wedge
I'm not personally having a problem, I've got everything working fine. but I disagree with anyone who says the K750 is mass storage device compliant. YES, it does appear as a drive letter and yes you can use the device as mass storage, but In Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP you need either an internet connection or the drivers on disk to setup the mass storage.
I know because I have installed my K750 on Windows XP SP2 on three different computers, on Windows 2000 on 2 different computers, and have NEVER been able to use the mass storage on the K750 WITHOUT either installing the drivers manually or using windows update. The drivers have never just installed themselves the way MASS STORAGE DEVICE's do.
Now Bluetooth is another issue, as a bluetooth dongle WILL get installed automatically by Windows XP SP2 (native bluetooth support in SP2 and later).
Posted by Cisst
Well When I connected my w800 to my home computer (XP) It installed by itself without asking anything. On W2000 however It asked for installation (w update using inet)
Posted by Farkad
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You are missing the point. My plan was to be able to carry all sorts of stuff on the phone(like useful programs) and be able to connect it to a computer if the need arises. This, however would be a problem if I need to carry around the drivers CD with me at all times or hope the computer has an internet connection.
Guess my plan won't work after all. I'll have to carry around a bluetooth dongle or a card reader with me.
Thanks for the help, everyone.
Posted by max_wedge
the dongle will only work natively (ie: no extra drivers needed) in Winxp SP2 or later. Atleast the card reader will be a Natively supported mass storage device in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (all versions).
I don't know what these guys posting that it works automatically in Windows XP are on about, since I have tried several XP boxes and never any sign of automatic driver installation. Personally I think either 1. they already installed the driver and forgot, or the driver cd was in the cd drive when they plugged in the cable, or 2. they have update via windows update at some stage and the driver cache was updated.
I wonder about point 2 as I have plugged my K750 into brand new dell boxes and still had to install drivers.
So take my word for it, even if some machines out there will recognise and install your phone, most (including XP) will need the drivers.
Sucks doesn't it
I'm a big SE fan, but this is a really stupid ommision on their part.
Posted by rockygali
so the conclusion is????
as per W800i is concern... it can be used as a mass storage device but with some considerations!
MAINLY! if the PC to be used is previously installed with the proper SE drivers! (obviously like the only PC youve always been using.. tadaaa! yer own PC that is or with others who has the SE drivers surely ull get the idea)
but take note that W800i, K750i and other SE phones with expansion slots or any other brand that uses MS duo, MMC SD etc etc etc can be used as an storage device.
taking out these expansion cards leaving the phone as a stand-alone still has some considerations in using it as a storage device since it has built in memory capacities, again take into consideration the thing i have said above.
as for me... ive been using my K750 as a storage device for my docs apps installesr stuff lyk that. tho i cannot read them or use them flip flop em within the phone... but what they do is just sit there and when time comes sumone needs em files... then ill transfer via bluetooth (again with some consideration as to the target PC has a dongle blah blah).
oh man do we hafta discuss these?
ok im out! hehehehe
Posted by londonlad123
im on xp sp1. My w800 installed itself as a Mass Storage (my SE cd is still sealed and windows update is off). It installed itself as my modem, this that and something else and then Mass Storage. I did have my net connection though, so must be that.
Posted by petergent
indeed after a series of drivers that XP installed (mainly from the cd-rom) i think, i could use my W800 as mass storage.
But i think, for own savety, to just save documents in de 'other' folder.
Posted by baste07
don't understand you you had troubles using is as a flash drive
Posted by optiplex
I’ve tried my K750 on several PCs, most of them required me to install drivers to use it as a mass storage device, but it worked on 2 PCs without drivers (what I mean is it worked with default XP drivers). Out of the two, one had a live internet connection but the new hardware found wizard never ran; and the other PC was a dialup machine which was offline at the time. None of the PCs had any SE software installed nor was a K750/W800 connected before. So I can confirm that it works without installing drivers, but very rarely.
Since it worked on two PCs and since SE claims that it acts as a USB mass storage device, I think it does. Which only leaves me to believe that the problem lies in the way the phone announce it self to XP, maybe XP is detecting other services like modem etc. before it detects the storage device as some people have already mentioned.
I was so thrilled about this feature before buying the phone, cos I thought I could replace both my flash drive and the MP3 player with the phone, but things didn’t exactly turn out the way I hoped. However I managed to get by using the phone as a storage device most of the time cos most of the places have access to the internet.
Posted by traveler1234
How about for Macs -- is driver needed?