help with LG Cosmos connectivity to PC

[coloradoboy]

I have the LG Cosmos. It just came via Fed Ex today.

It seems like a decent phone so far, but I cannot get my PC to recognize it via the USB cord.  I cannot find the driver. It does not come with a CD and I cannot find anything on the LG website.

With the phone turned on, I connect the phone to the PC via USB; it finds the phone, and the software wizard comes up. It searches forever to find the driver; it is never successful.

This PC is running XP.

Can anyone help with this, please?

Thanks.

[bennor]

OK there appears to be some misinformation floating around in this thread about the Cosmos. The power cable that comes with the Cosmos is actually a USB to Micro USB cable. In addition to powering the phone with the wall wart, it will allow you to connect the Cosmos to a PC (more on this later). When the Cosmos is connected to a PC with the USB cable, the computer will charge the phone. The Cosmos WILL play MP3 (and other music formats, more on this later). It will NOT play videos however, no video media player on the phone. On a side note the phone will display video when the phone is put into camera mode (for taking pictures), however there is no option to save/record/playback video on the phone.

I've been using a Cosmos for several months now so there are a few comments I'd like to throw out there first.

If your Cosmos is using version 03 firmware, update it to the later 04 firmware. Firmware version 03 had all sorts of issues.

See the User Manual at this link: http://cache.vzw.com/multimedia/mim/lg_cosmos/cosmos.pdf It contains much more information about the phone features and how to use them than the small Tips, Hints & Shortcuts phone comes with.

If your having battery issues with the Cosmos, try letting the battery run all the way down till flat then charge until full. Do this several times and see if the battery life improves.

Now to the PC issues. The phone supports a microSD card, you can load music, ringtones, images, vCard contacts to that card. Insert a microSD card into the phone and format the microSD card, on the phone by selecting "Menu --> Settings & Tools --> 0. Memory --> 3. Card Memory --> Options --> 1. Format" to begin the format procedure. Note: Formatting the microSD card will destroy any data on the card. After formatting the card will contain four folders (and are accessible by the phone), those folders are called; "contact", "my_pix", "my_ringtones", and "my_sounds".

Once the card has been formatted you can transfer media one of two ways to the card. First way, connect the phone to the computer with power cord USB to Micro USB cable and then enable the phone's USB Mass Storage mode. Enable this mode by selecting, on the phone, "Menu --> Settings & Tools --> 3. Tools --> *. USB Mass Storage". This mode, AFAIK, only works with a microSD card installed.  Once in USB Mode the computer should recognise the phone's microSD card as an external drive/media and you can move files to and from the card. The second way is to remove the microSD card from the phone and insert it into an appropriate card reader for the PC/Mac. The computer will then recognise the card as a removable drive/card. Then, as with the first option, you can transfer over the pictures, ring tones, sound (your music) and vCard contacts to their appropriate folders on the microSD card with Windows Explorer (or its counterpart on a Mac). When finished put the card back into the phone or end the USB Mass Storage mode. Once data is copied/moved to the microSD card you can then copy/move files to the phone if you desire. Note: The Cosmos will play/display the contents (more on this later) of the "my_pix", "my_ringtones", and "my_sounds" folders on the microSD card without the need to copy them to the phone's internal memory.

File format supported by phone (may not be a complete list):
My Pictures: png, jpg, bmp, gif
My Sounds: mp3, mid, qcp, acc, aac+
My Ringtones: mid, midi, qcp, pmd,aac, mp3, wav

Once the media has been added to the microSD card that media can be viewed or played from the microSD card by the phone's Media Center's Tunes & Tones, and Pictures menu options. There is NO NEED to copy the ringtones, sound, and pictures from the microSD card to the phone to play/view them. The sound/music will only play, there is no option to pause, rewind or fast forward the sound/ring tones. Only the vCard files must be copied from the card to the phone for the phone to list it as a Contact in the contact list on the phone.

The phone will support syncing the Contact and Calender items from Microsoft Outlook on a PC. See this LG link: http://www.lg.com/us/mobile-phones/mobile-support/mobile-lg-outlook-sync.jsp for more information on the sync with Outlook option. There is also a LG USB Modem Driver available at that link.

The phone is supported by the LG Software Update Application Download: http://www.lg.com/us/mobile-phones/vwz-phone-software-update.jsp

BitPim (http://www.bitpim.org/) will access the phone, use at your own risk. With BitPim you can inadvertently delete files and brick/make the phone unusable.

The phone is supported by the Verizon Wireless VCast Media Manager software however I found (my personal opinion) that the software was limited in what it could transfer to the phone. I use the microUSB card transfer methods detailed above instead.

[MojaveMoon_]

Thank you, bennor -- Huge amount of detailed and great information!

I didn't realize that version3 had lots of problems. If you have the time, could you mention what a few of them are/were ?

[BigBobby]

Thanks for all of the info in this thread!

I have one more question, however.  Is there a way to download text messages from the phone onto my PC?  I have some that I'd like to move over and it's proving difficult, even after installing an SD card.  They don't appear on the card when I connect to the PC as a USB storage device.

If I connect the phone without activating the mass storage capaibility, it seems to show up at a COM port (COM5).  I downloaded the LG Phone Manager software, which seems capable of retrieving text messages.  It won't let me select COM5 as the port for my phone, however, and fails to connect on its default port (COM3).  If I try to change my phone to COM3 through the device manager, it says that port is in use

Has anybody had any luck getting text messages off of this phone onto the PC?  I've tried forwarding them to my e-mail address, but that gives me an error message too.

[SuzyQ]

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BigBobby wrote:

Has anybody had any luck getting text messages off of this phone onto the PC?  I've tried forwarding them to my e-mail address, but that gives me an error message too.

---

What is the error message?  I have forwarded texts to my email without problems...?

[bennor]

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BigBobby wrote:

I have one more question, however.  Is there a way to download text messages from the phone onto my PC?  I have some that I'd like to move over and it's proving difficult, even after installing an SD card.  They don't appear on the card when I connect to the PC as a USB storage device.

If I connect the phone without activating the mass storage capaibility, it seems to show up at a COM port (COM5).  I downloaded the LG Phone Manager software, which seems capable of retrieving text messages.  It won't let me select COM5 as the port for my phone, however, and fails to connect on its default port (COM3).  If I try to change my phone to COM3 through the device manager, it says that port is in use

Has anybody had any luck getting text messages off of this phone onto the PC?  I've tried forwarding them to my e-mail address, but that gives me an error message too.

---

Unfortunately the moving of the text messages from the phone's internal memory to the external card does not appear to be possible. Don't know if this is a phone limitation or a "feature" that Verizon has crippled. As of now it appears one must forward the message to an email address. If your getting an error, post exact error message to others can assist you.

Where are you finding the "LG Phone Manager" software and what version of it are you using? That software is not listed as a download on the Cosmos support page over on LG. The Verizon Wireless VCast Media Manager software is also very limited in what it can transfer to and from the Cosmos.

Edit to Add: The LG Phone Manager program I did find (not from the LG site) appears to be version 1.5.0.25 and is from 2003. The setup file for the program was from 6/16/2006. It would not recognise the phone nor show the correct COM port for the phone, as such the program doesn't work, probably because of its age it doesn't recognise the newer phones or its USB drivers.

[BigBobby]

Thanks for looking into this.  When I try to forward the messages to my e-mail address, I get the error "MESSAGES WITH ENHANCED FEATURES CANNOT BE SENT TO E-MAIL." 

I don't know what advanced features these messages have.  They seem to be text and nothing more.  I wish the phone would just send the text and ignore the advanced features, whatever they might be.

Thanks,

Bobby

[bennor]

Well it does appear you cannot send enhanced text messages to an email address, per a Verizon Wireless How to Use Guide: TXT messaging: Note that currently Enhanced TXT messages cannot be sent to e-mail addresses or vtext.com nicknames

It appears any message with 160 or more characters is treated as a Enhanced Text Message. Messages shorter in character length should go through to an email address. What you may have to do is break up each message so its less than 160 characters and send them that way. In looking at the user guide/manual and googling there doesn't appear to be any obvious way to disable the Enhanced Txt Message feature. If there is a way to disable it hopefully either someone from Verizon Wireless will chime in or someone who knows more about this features can answer the question.

This link, while dated, also has some discusison on the Enhanced Text Messaging feature and what it is, what is supported and what isn't.

[SuzyQ]

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BigBobby wrote:

Thanks for looking into this.  When I try to forward the messages to my e-mail address, I get the error "MESSAGES WITH ENHANCED FEATURES CANNOT BE SENT TO E-MAIL." 

I don't know what advanced features these messages have.  They seem to be text and nothing more.  I wish the phone would just send the text and ignore the advanced features, whatever they might be.

Thanks,

Bobby

---

The "enhanced features" could be referring to  long messages, more than 160 characters.  Some phones break those up into multiple messages, some deliver them intact as a long message, some phones don't handle them and only deliver the first 160 characters or no message at all.

Enhanced can also mean that there is a "signature" attached to the text message, or the characters are formatted with color, special fonts, animated smilies, etc.

HTH,

[acraftylady]

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SuzyQ wrote:

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BigBobby wrote:

Thanks for looking into this.  When I try to forward the messages to my e-mail address, I get the error "MESSAGES WITH ENHANCED FEATURES CANNOT BE SENT TO E-MAIL." 

I don't know what advanced features these messages have.  They seem to be text and nothing more.  I wish the phone would just send the text and ignore the advanced features, whatever they might be.

Thanks,

Bobby

---

The "enhanced features" could be referring to  long messages, more than 160 characters.  Some phones break those up into multiple messages, some deliver them intact as a long message, some phones don't handle them and only deliver the first 160 characters or no message at all.

Enhanced can also mean that there is a "signature" attached to the text message, or the characters are formatted with color, special fonts, animated smilies, etc.

HTH,

---

I had the 160 limit once and sent it as a picture message and then it went through fine.  Mary

[bennor]

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acraftylady wrote:

I had the 160 limit once and sent it as a picture message and then it went through fine.  Mary

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Was the message sent to another phone or to an email address? From some of what I've read about messaging (rarely use it), the message may get broken up into multiple messages or will have the formating or pictures stripped when a message is sent to a phone that doesn't support the EMS feature. Or the phone may accept the message but not display it.

For anyone who's interested this link Verizon Wireless Text Messaging seems to answer many questions about text messaging on the Verizon Wireless service.

[acraftylady]

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bennor wrote:

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acraftylady wrote:

I had the 160 limit once and sent it as a picture message and then it went through fine.  Mary

---

Was the message sent to another phone or to an email address? From some of what I've read about messaging (rarely use it), the message may get broken up into multiple messages or will have the formating or pictures stripped when a message is sent to a phone that doesn't support the EMS feature. Or the phone may accept the message but not display it.

For anyone who's interested this link Verizon Wireless Text Messaging seems to answer many questions about text messaging on the Verizon Wireless service.

---

To another verizon phone but that was on my ENV2 that I had that problem and also when I sent to email I did it that way and was able to send longer.  When I got my ENV3 the problem went away and I can send 160 as a regular text no problem to phones or email.  Mary

[Tech_Mom]

Even with the wonderful instructions - inserted & formatted a microSD (8GB) card and used Windows Explorer (XP, SP3) to copy music to the "my sounds" folder showing in Explorer.  Once I have exited the USB Mass Storage mode, there is no content stored when the Card memory is checked.  What probably very simple step am I missing?  Thanks in advance for the help.

[acraftylady]

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Tech_Mom wrote:

Even with the wonderful instructions - inserted & formatted a microSD (8GB) card and used Windows Explorer (XP, SP3) to copy music to the "my sounds" folder showing in Explorer.  Once I have exited the USB Mass Storage mode, there is no content stored when the Card memory is checked.  What probably very simple step am I missing?  Thanks in advance for the help.

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If you have a micro card why not just get a card reader if you computer doesn't have the slots?  They can be had for like $10 for a multi card reader and it 's so much easier than bothering with cables and trying to get it to all work that way or I think it is.  Mary

[SuzyQ]

Are you copying the files directly to the My_Sounds folder (no subfolders)? What format are the songs? Is there a My_Music folder? Try putting the songs in that folder instead, again, no subfoldrs, just the mp3 files.

HTH,

[FM_MI]

Is the Cosmos you are talking about the same as the Cosmos Touch in terms of firmware? If yes, where do I find version 4. When I check, it says I am running VN270XV3, which I assume is version 3....

[bennor]

The version 03 firmware issues were varied. Most seemed to have trouble with the voice commands not working properly. Or when using the voice command to make a call the phone would power off.

There is a big thread in this forum about the version 03 firmware issues.

LG Cosmos V03 firmware problem.
http://community.vzw.com/t5/Cell-Phone-General-Devices/LG-Cosmos-V03-firmware-problem/td-p/242021

Page 9 of the following thread over on Howardforums.com had some comments about the firmware version 03 issues as well.

LG Cosmos VN250 Release Thread
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1625566-LG-Cosmos-VN250-Release-Thread/page9

When I updated my phone from version 02 recently, the update first put version 03 on the phone, rebooted the phone and automatically downloaded version 04 to the phone. So I never saw the issues with 03 that others have reported.

[MojaveMoon_]

 Thank you

[burnz248]

First, you have to buy a micro sd card. insert it into the micro sd slot. then, from the main page, press OK, 9, 3, *. that should enable usb mass storage. hope that helps

[garyvestal1]

You can transfer files between your PC and LG Cosmos

You need to install the USB Driver first. Stop your XP pc automatic locate the driver,..just go my computer > Control Panel to install the usb driver by yourself..

Turn on the USB mass storage mode

Menu-->Settings-->Tools--Mass Storage mode.

Now plugin your Phone with USB Cable to PC.

Then pop up message on your pc, you choose to "Mount" the mass storage.

Now, you can use the PC explore to view files on your Pone SD card

Copy and Paste..

Is it work?

[rkleaman]

Here is where you obtain the correct driver for a LG Cosmos phone:

http://www.lg.com/us/products/documents/LGUSBModemDriver_Eng_WHQL_Ver_4.9.4_All.exe

Download and put it in a folder where you can find it after the download. Double click the

file, it expands, and you are prompted for the installation. If you Cosmos is connected

when you do this, it will be immediately recognized and you can see it by going to

My Computer.

And here is where you can get explicit instructions how to exchange data on a USB cable

from your phone to a computer or from the computer to the phone. Don't make any stupid

corrections and tell me it doesn't work since I have done it many times.

Pay absolutely no attention to Verizon technicians, they have no idea what day it is

much less any technical help. One technician told me that an XP computer cannot operate

with more than 20 tasks as listed in the Task Manager. This is pure ignorance since

I operate with more than that and probably so you.

http://s2.hubimg.com/u/3201565_f520.jpg

Have fun

[dwatson1092]

None of you guys know anything! I have tried all of this stuff.  IT DON'T WORK!! And all of these download links! They don't do anything!!! {please keep your posts courteous}