After spending countless hours on the phone with Sprint customer service and technical support (including an unusual interchange with not one – but two – Chinese-speaking technical support folks), debugging and reformatting multiple microSD cards, and downloading endless versions of device drivers and software from the Microsoft and Samsung websites, we finally stumbled upon the solution – which Web Watch will share with you, if only to help ease the burder that others may find if they too run across this extremely seemingly undocumented feature.
First, the issue:
Plug the phone into the computer’s USB port via the supplied cable, and the computer will recognize the phone as a SAMSUNG_ANDROID device. Windows will then go into standard “find a driver” mode, prompting you to locate the device driver on your machine on a floppy disk or CD.
Trust us, you won’t have that driver.
Neither does Sprint. Or Samsung.
The Solution:
- On your phone, go to the SETTINGS menu.
- Choose APPLICATIONS
- Choose DEVELOPMENT
- Choose USB DEBUGGING
- Clear the checkbox associated with USB DEBUGGING. You may now return to your home screen.
- Connect your phone to the computer, if you have not already done so. Feel free to dismiss those “Can’t find a driver” messages.
- Note that the Status Notification bar now shows a USB icon.
- Pull down the Notification Bar, and select USB CONNECTED
- Select MOUNT USB STORAGE to connect the phone’s memory card to your computer as an external disk drive
This seems to be a way to protect the memory card from rogue programs if you connect your phone to a stranger’s computer via USB to simply charge your phone. No need to get a virus just because you’re getting some juice.