Can't change from Mass Storage to Charge Only....

[dgizzim]

read my post above.

[B33]

I wish ya all the fun in thy Cord you use   Na on the Wells tha Fargo i prefer my home town C.U. and i'm Covered with my O.E.M's got at least 8 of them.. Lol Lol b 

[Heretic1989]

Hi prosepromo, i just came across this thread and found it interesting. I have the htc droid incredible 4g lte. I plugged it in (usb) and so far i see that i can listen to internet radio and charge my phone at the same time.

I'm trying to play a movie (hbogo) and so far i'm not successful with it. I'll keep trying. If i'm successful i'll let you know.

[Heretic1989]

I can't play a movie when connected to usb.

[Heretic1989]

Hi prosepromo. Just for the heck of it i tried again. Guess what? It worked. I can watch a movie and the battery is charging in the background and i'm on my computer.

[Marcellus]

Well, this thread has been seriously derailed.  I could understand if they removed the ability to charge from a computer USB becuase of current issues, but even that would be a limitation of what the USB buss on your computer can handle vs the load from other devices that depend on that buss for power, and not just data.  However, that's not the case.  What they took away was the ability for us to access our storage devices from the phone while plugged in to a computer USB.  Furthermore, this issue has nothing to do with using the cable it came with.  Using the supplied cable still nets the same result:  It still charges from a computer USB, but usage is crippled because of a software change.

As an added note, buying a charge-only cable might be a potentially bad way to solve this problem.  If the phone goes in to a higher current-draw mode when it thinks it's connected to a wall charger, this can task your computer's USB buss even further.

[Heretic1989]

Hi prosepromo. My bad. I didn't know you were trying to watch a movie from a memory card. I've yet to use my memory card for that. If and when i do, i'll let you know what happened.

[dgizzim]

I'm such a stud. I figured it out. With any USB cord to a PC, change your USB connection to "camera (PTP)" mode. The Droid will not show up in your file manager, won't show up in the hardware disconnect icon, and won't take your SD card offline.

[Heretic1989]

Hi dgizzim. Which Droid do you have?

[alien_technology]

Charging via USB has nothing to do with it.  The phone still charges that way.  The difference is that it mounts the SD card via USB which blocks the phone from accessing the data on the card, rendering any app that stores data on the SD card useless.

I listen to music and books in my car via bluetooth and after upgrading to ICS lost the ability to charge the phone while listening.  That is the issue.  No need for an argument.  It was just a handy feature that we miss and would like to have back.

[Solution]

A slightly less convenient workaround is to plug into USB, go into Settings / Connect As ... / and set to "Camera (PTP)".  The phone will charge and still have access to the SD card.  If you later want to use the phone as a USB device, change the setting back to Mass Storage or you'll only have access to photos.  Not as nice as the option we lost, but it works.