[morbius14]

Hi guys, I can't seem to get my Android to connect via the USB. It doesn't charge or read any files. Bluetooth, aux or car charger via the old cig lighter port all works. Just the usb, nothing happens when I plug it in, no message from the car or my phone... is there anything i'm missing??
Any help would be much appreciated..thanks!

 

[bobchr]

There are just too many variants of Android phone , are you sure you don't have one where the USB port is used just for charging the phone battery and not to sync the phone?

 

[stephent]

I don't think the USB can read anything other than flash drives & ipods. Go buy an $8 flash stick to put your music on?

 

[BAZINGA]

I don't think the USB can read anything other than flash drives & ipods. Go buy an $8 flash stick to put your music on?

My Motorola RAZR HD MAXX purchased last Nov only charges through the Volt's USB port. I wound up copying my entire iTUNES library to a cheap USB memory stick and imported my music into the Volt's HDD. It took about 3 hours BTW.

 

[Bob G]

My Android (Moto Atrix 2) works just fine. And so does my Blackberry. The Volt finds all of my music and plays it back just like a memory stick.

The "trick" is to make sure that "USB Mass Storage Mode" is activated on your Android phone when you plug it into the USB port on the Volt. See page 7-16 of the Volt owner's manual for more details.

 

[petefoss]

The other thing to watch out for is encryption on the phone. The security that GM puts on our smartphones prevents any car I have tried it in from seeing the files on the phone.

 

[morbius14]

Thanks for the help guys, I have a HTC Amaze, usually when I plug it into the computer I can then select on the phone whether to charge only or use it as USB mass storage device. But whether it reads the file or not, it should charge automatically right? Nothing happens for me, its as if the port is not transmitting power at all...

 

[drbruns]

Not an answer to the OP's initial question, but I have a cigarette lighter micro USB adapter that I keep in the cigarette lighter plug inside the center console that keeps the phone charged. I use my iPod touch plugged into the USB in the center console for music and use the iPod MyLink app.

 

[emartin00]

Thanks for the help guys, I have a HTC Amaze, usually when I plug it into the computer I can then select on the phone whether to charge only or use it as USB mass storage device. But whether it reads the file or not, it should charge automatically right? Nothing happens for me, its as if the port is not transmitting power at all...

Try plugging something else into the USB port that you know will charge. It is possible there is a problem with the wiring or something.
It should charge automatically, and if the phone does nothing, then it looks like there may be a problem.

 

[cab]

Sometimes the USB plug itself is a hair too short on a given cable and never quite slots in far enough to trigger charging, etc. Have you tried any other device with that same cable or a different cable/device? Maybe a spouse or buddy at work can plug theirs in for a sec just to eliminate the port/cable/etc.

 

[Johnathan Vail]

More likely, and I will have to test this later today, your phone does not have USB Mass storage profile but Media Device profile.

My Motorla phone worked great with the Volt in that the Volt could read all my music. It also played well with the bluetooth that it displayed the caller ID and read the phone lists for numbers.

My new Samsung Galaxy Note 2 does fine for pairing and voice calls but doesn't do caller ID or phone lists It also does not have USB mass storage any more, just Media Device profile. Which at least for Windows computers isn't a big deal as it still mounts the drive and lets me use it like a mass storage device. But it won't work with other computers like my Chromebook and I suspect maybe the Volt.

I will try plugging in my phone to the Volt and see if that is the problem.

Also, another way to debug it is to put some files on a USB stick and plug it in the Volt. If it reads them OK then the problem isn't the volt.

 

[Johnathan Vail]

OK I confirmed my theory. Maybe you have a newer Samsung phone?

I used the original Samsung cable with Note 2 with my 2012 volt. It charges but the car does not see the phone.

On my older Motorola phone it worked fine.

The cause:

1. Apparently the Volt only uses USB mass storage profile to connect to phones and USB sticks for music.

2. The Samsung Note 2 (and probably other Samsung or other maker phones) only support USB media device profile (MTP) and does not support mass storage.


So boo on Volt and Samsung, they won't talk to each other. But not a big deal for me as I rarely use it like this. To transfer music to the internal hard drive I can use a USB OTG cable from my phone to a stick, transfer the file, and then plug the stick in the volt.

 

[morbius14]

Tried with different cable and different phone, not getting any response at all, seems like no power is coming from the USB port. The port does however seem a bit loose, might be loose wiring..will bring to dealer hopefully it gets fixed~ Thanks for all the help guys.