Something changed and I don't know why.

[bilglas]

I've had a Droid X for several months. Since the beginning, whenever I plugged it into my computer via USB, it would make its notification sound, and it would appear as a new drive that I could access through Windows Explorer (using Win7).

In the last few days, something has changed. NOW, when I plug it in, it goes through a "soft reboot" ... the Droid logo appears briefly, followed by the swirling red eye, my home page appears ... AND it does NOT show up in Explorer! Then, I can DISCONNECT it, plug it right back in, and this SECOND time, it functions as it used to ... no reboot, and the drive becomes accessible through Explorer.

I'd love to know what changed, and how I can fix it so it goes back to the way it was before.

Thanks for reading this.

 

[nessa23]

I've had my DX for about 8 mos and I have noticed a lot of instability in the different USB options. I am currently rooted with the leaked Gingerbread and it did not solve this problem. (I have seen other discussions about this on the forum as well.)

What selection do you use? PC Mode? Windows Media Sync? USB Mass Storage? Charge Only? (You can change this from notifications bar when plugged in, click the USB link.) I have found that I cannot use the USB Mass Storage option for anything. It just won't show up as a peripheral device.

And I have found that with all of the options EXCEPT "Charge Only" I can never rely on the connection. I have an auto reboot at times as well. Sometimes I have to power down and reconnect many times to finish what I am doing. Very irritating. Eventually, the USB connection will "bug" my WiFi and freeze my computer as well.

I currently try to avoid using USB at all. I have downloaded My Phone Explorer and sync my contacts and calendar with the desktop app with that program (all free apps). MPE for android is in the market. You can Google My Phone Explorer and find the developer website. With MPE there is also the ability to upload files to my phone via the wireless sync. It takes some practice and working with the app to figure it all out but it is a lot more stable than the USB connections.

Hope this helps.

 

[bilglas]

that was very helpful ... thanks!

That DID help quite a bit, Nessa, but I'd have to be WAAAAY smarter for it to completely sink in. I'm just a dumb ol' fart ... I don't know anything about Gingerbread or what MPE is, etc. But that's cool.

You DID teach me about the four USB options that I was not previously aware of. It's set on USB Mass Storage, and to the best of my knowledge, it's ALWAYS been there.

When I first connect it to the USB, the notification bar says "USB Connection" ... then it does a quick reboot, and when it comes back, the USB icon is no long in the notification bar, at ALL. Then I can unplug and plug back in, and it does NOT reboot, and it DOES give me access to the USB controls. Pretty funky ... I'm sure that's not the way it's supposed to work, eh?

I think I'm just going to leave it on Charge Only, and see if that fixes things. I don't have to transfer files very often, and when I do, I will know (thanks to you) how to change to a mode that will allow me to do so.

I never had this trouble with my rotary-dial desk phones.

 

[xan]

do you have usb debug enabled? if yes, disable it.

 

[nessa23]

bilglas: maybe you should go to motorola.com and search for the droid x user guide. it is in a .pdf (portable document format) that you can access either on the website or download and have on your computer. It really explains a lot.

If you are a newbie to the whole smart phone thing, it helps to have a users guide! I read it when I got my X and it was invaluable. Also, just reading the forums and searching for answers (almost everything has been answered about the X by now) really helps. There are a lot of walkthrough threads that teach you a lot.

Gingerbread is the newest version of the Android OS (operating system) for mobiles (except Honeycomb which is for tablets). Gingerbread was rumored to be pushing OTA (over the air) for the X but I don't know if that is still happening. There is a "leaked" version of Gingerbread in the forums. Doesn't really take a brain trust to figure it out if I can do it!!!

After I installed the new OS, it seems to have solved a lot of the bugs in the prior OS EXCEPT THE USB instability.

MPE is MyPhoneExplorer. It is a syncing software/app with a mobile application and desktop software. It helps when trying to sync with Microsoft Outlook. (Android doesn't sync with Outlook.) But after I started using it, I found that I just don't use Outlook anymore and just use MPE for syncing my contacts and calendar with my phone. Works great on wireless sync through WiFi.

Good luck with your Droid X. It has been the most satisfying relationship I have ever had . . . with person place or thing. LOL! I LOVE it. It just takes some time and effort to figure everything out and get it where you want it.