How to connect the A500 to another tablet

[danielg5]

Is there a way to mount and access files from one android tablet to another?

I have had my A500 since a week after they were released and love it. We wanted two tablets on a recent long vacation. Instead of buying the 32GB A500 at Costco, we decided to try something different and bought the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. I loaded some videos on either tablet as well as more on a USB hard-drive that I took along. I was disappointed to learn on the trip that I could not mount the Samsung tab via the USB port on the Acer. I would be grateful to hear from anyone who has a solution to this problem. Is there a way to mount and access files from one android tablet to another? The sleek, light-weight samsung is great, and it charges via USB, but the connectivity of the Acer is a real winner in this situation.

 

[2wheelsagain]

I cant really help except suggesting bluetooth connevtivity but thats not mounting.
I'm amazed at the number of people who buy tabs then expect them to work like a pc/mac.
Tablets fill a market hole but as of now they dont replace a computer.

 

[danielg5]

I did try Bluetooth, but as you might expect, moving large files that way is pretty slow and ineffective.

By the way, I can connect cameras, sd cards, hard drives, phones, and a myriad of other devices to my a500 without any problem. Why wouldn't I expect to be able to connect another tablet in in the same way? There's really no reason to insult people in your response in this forum!

Sent from my A500 using Android Tablet Forum

 

[AQ_OC]

Try WiFi File Explorer from the market. It will let you set up one tablet as a file server and you can use your browser on the other tablet to navigate files and do stuff (like move files). I use this on my PCs and my tablet to move movies around (because I'm too lazy to use a usb card because you have to power down, etc.).

Oh...you need wifi for this to work.....

Another potential way to do this...get a Goflex Satellite...it's a portable 500 GB hard drive that has it's only file server. It is mainly for playing movies and such, but you can store files to it. When you turn it on, you can connect your tablet to it as if it were a Wifi router (you lose your wifi while doing this, though). There should be an app in the market which will allow your tablet to play movies this way, but right now you have to use a browser and it doesn't work so well. But you can click files and move them to your tablet. Also, you can connect up to three devices to this to stream. I've used it with my iPad, Iconia, and laptops. I had to install another browser for the Iconia, so for Android 3.0.1 things are working as well as on other platforms. Also, this devices is not fully baked yet in terms of deliverying the full experience one would expect, but you can get it to stream movies just fine on an iPad or a laptop.

 

[Icebike]

By the way, I can connect cameras, sd cards, hard drives, phones, and a myriad of other devices to my a500 without any problem.

The problem is the way the Acer handles USB support on the micro USB port.
Its neither fish nor foul as far as being a regular USB device. It doesn't appear as a regular USB thumb drive, or as a disk drive, but instead it appears as something that can only be handled by their driver (On the Computer), which they only make for windows. Plug it into Linux and you can't do anything with it.

I almost suspect they did this on purpose seeing as how they have a master mode USB drive as well and didn't want to create a back door for people to copy each other's songs an videos.

 

[Icebike]

Another potential way to do this...get a Goflex Satellite...it's a portable 500 GB hard drive that has it's only file server. .

Why such an expensive solution?

Most you would ever need is a 32gig USB Thumb drive to move all your stuff from one Acer to the other with a file manager.

Or a MicroSD to USB converter. Take the MicroSD card out of the target Acer, mount it in the Source Acer via the USB port and copy.

 

[danielg5]

These suggestions are all fine, but I am not trying to move data from one Acer to another Acer. I am trying to move data from my Acer to a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The samsung doesn't have any ports. It only has a single data/charging port and cable. I have been able to connect either of these tablets to a pc and view the data on them without any extra drivers, as if they were just standard USB storage devices. Since I am able to connect almost any other type of USB enabled device to my acer USB port and access the data, I would have thought I could do the same with the Samsung. But, it can't be recognized on the Acer. I could move data between the two on my home network, but doing that on a hotel wifi service was not as easy. It is a matter of using both tablets while travelling and being able to share data between the two easily and effectively.

 

[Icebike]

These suggestions are all fine, but I am not trying to move data from one Acer to another Acer. I am trying to move data from my Acer to a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The samsung doesn't have any ports. It only has a single data/charging port and cable. I have been able to connect either of these tablets to a pc and view the data on them without any extra drivers, as if they were just standard USB storage devices. Since I am able to connect almost any other type of USB enabled device to my acer USB port and access the data, I would have thought I could do the same with the Samsung. But, it can't be recognized on the Acer. I could move data between the two on my home network, but doing that on a hotel wifi service was not as easy. It is a matter of using both tablets while travelling and being able to share data between the two easily and effectively.

You may think drivers are not involved, but I guarantee you they are involved. You either installed them and don't remember, or you
OS went out and got them by itself. Specifically the device is using a GeneLink driver, described here http://members.driverguide.com/driver/device.php?hwid=USB\Vid_05e3&Pid_0502&Rev_0183

Can you assign a drive letter to the Acer? No. Because its not a true usb device in the same way that a USB thumb drive is.
It uses a different protocol for its out-bound USB port. It "pretends" to be a USB device. But it only handles a certain subset of
the USB standards. Specifically the Acer does not connect in DISK mode on its microUSB port.

That leaves you with the only option of connecting the Galaxy to the Acer Standard USB port. If the Acer can't see that, then that means
the Galaxy ALSO uses this same method of "pretending" to be a USB device. I suspect this is what is happening. If you can map a drive
letter to your Galaxy then maybe it is using a different method. But it it shows up as its own device in Windows, without a drive letter, it is using the
same method as Acer.

That means you are in catch 22, because neither unit supplies a driver for Android.

 

[AQ_OC]

Why such an expensive solution?

If you want a Goflex for its other features.....

 

[2wheelsagain]

As i cant see all posts in this thread i'll assume you were "insulted" by my post.
That wasnt directed at you specifically but a general comment on what a lot of people find once they start using tabs.

As usual there are work arounds but you'll never get pc/mac connectivity built in. Not yet anyway.