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Can't connect my MacBook to Galaxy S8

F

Ffosse

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 5, 2012
1,827
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I want to do this to put approx 70GBs of music on the phone. I've tried a couple of programs including Samsung switch but when "connect phone" appears, it fails to recognise my phone.

Am I doing something wrong? Surely it should be simple enough to connect and browse the files on my phone from my MacBook.
 
Depends on your internet connection, install google music, upload itunes library then download to your S8, also serves as a backup for your music. :)
 
I don't use iTunes but I already use Google Play Music with which I can download individual albums or playlists; what I'm talking about is placing 70GB of music directly onto my S8 yet the computer and phone won't connect.
 
I think if you use the included Samsung S8+ USB C to USB A adapter plugged in to the charge cable USB A to USB C then to your MacBook it should recognise the S8 as a USB drive

I don't know why but sometimes I use this method as a last resort and it seems to work

Then you can just drag and drop your files

Best of luck
 
For some reason it won't connect and recognise the S8 as a USB drive.

Still, I can stream my entire library from Google Play and download content for offline use, so it's a first world problem, really.
 
Ffosse said:
For some reason it won't connect and recognise the S8 as a USB drive.

Still, I can stream my entire library from Google Play and download content for offline use, so it's a first world problem, really.
Click to expand...
Do you have any Company accounts (eg email) installed on you S8 as your company may have a compulsory security police enforcing or restricting USB access

I assume you are unlocking the phone and tapping USB option plus visible to other devices on

Else

Copy files to USB A thumbdrive and use the Samsung OTG dongle supplied USB C/USB A with the thumbdrive plugged in directly

Do not use the little dongle BTW
 
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It's a personal phone, I can't see anything on its screen regarding USB option, perhaps that's where the problem lies. Where should I be looking on the S8 as nothing pops up on its screen when connected to the MacBook?
 
Ffosse said:
It's a personal phone, I can't see anything on its screen regarding USB option, perhaps that's where the problem lies. Where should I be looking on the S8 as nothing pops up on its screen when connected to the MacBook?
Click to expand...
I think we may be running around in circles :)

Seems like your S8 needs a hard reset and is not recognising any connection, just check it on another laptop 1st
 
SteveJUAE said:
I think we may be running around in circles :)

Seems like your S8 needs a hard reset and is not recognising any connection, just check it on another laptop 1st
Click to expand...

I've tried the hard reset to no avail; I think I'm just resigned to using Google Play Music, no big deal really as music is the only reason I ever wanted to connect the phone to the MacBook, but I can simply download straight onto my phone OTA only not all in one go.
 
Ffosse said:
I've tried the hard reset to no avail; I think I'm just resigned to using Google Play Music, no big deal really as music is the only reason I ever wanted to connect the phone to the MacBook, but I can simply download straight onto my phone OTA only not all in one go.
Click to expand...
Good, but the thumb drive (Fat32 formatted) option should of worked as its a handy thing at times
 
Yes and it doesn't work - won't recognise the phone.

I'm more or less resigned to just using the phone to download offline playlists.
 
Glad you got it going.

I had to do the following on my S7 edge but my mate 9 pops up and asks when connecting to my Mac.

when you plug phone in.... drag down top notification bar and look for USB mode.
my old S7 edge was set to charge only by default and had to change to mass storage mode.

once done android file transfer app worked fine.
I could see the phone and sd card.
 
The only problem now is that it is taking hours to transfer the 70GB music folder via USB-C and dongle plus USB-C connection to the phone.

Will the battery on the MacBook last? Have transferred 25GB with an estimated 6 hours waiting time left. I don't get why it is so slow, although it is to the 128 micro SD card in the phone. Can't use either in the meantime.
 
USB 2.0 port?

or speed of phones usb port?

if you have usb 3.0 on laptop I'd use a usb card read straight to the SD card then put card in phone after.
 
Ffosse said:
The only problem now is that it is taking hours to transfer the 70GB music folder via USB-C and dongle plus USB-C connection to the phone.

Will the battery on the MacBook last? Have transferred 25GB with an estimated 6 hours waiting time left. I don't get why it is so slow, although it is to the 128 micro SD card in the phone. Can't use either in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Lol, maybe plug in the MacBook. I think the slow bit is writing to the card.

I have 120GB of music on mine and that took quite a while also.

elf69 said:
USB 2.0 port?

or speed of phones usb port?

if you have usb 3.0 on laptop I'd use a usb card read straight to the SD card then put card in phone after.
Click to expand...
How do you get it to read the card? I formatted the card originally on the phone and then when I put a card in a reader and into the computer USB port, it gives me an error telling me the card is not formatted.
 
Hmmmm never had that format error with mine, 64GB micro SD card.

are you using micro SD reader or using micro to full sd adaptor?
I had issues with an adaptor, which makes no sense as it just a connector with no electronics.

worked fine in micro SD reader.
Not needed for this but I also have paragon installed, but should have no bearing on this.
 
elf69 said:
Hmmmm never had that format error with mine, 64GB micro SD card.

are you using micro SD reader or using micro to full sd adaptor?
I had issues with an adaptor, which makes no sense as it just a connector with no electronics.

worked fine in micro SD reader.
Not needed for this but I also have paragon installed, but should have no bearing on this.
Click to expand...

USB-C to USB-C with which my MacBook recognises the card in the phone. In the end I gave up as transferring overnight it still wasn't nearly finished and only 30% left of power.

I'm simply going to download albums straight from the cloud if and when I want them.
 
elf69 said:
Hmmmm never had that format error with mine, 64GB micro SD card.

are you using micro SD reader or using micro to full sd adaptor?
I had issues with an adaptor, which makes no sense as it just a connector with no electronics.

worked fine in micro SD reader.
Not needed for this but I also have paragon installed, but should have no bearing on this.
Click to expand...
I have a Lexar micro SD reader and the micro to full SD adapter.
 

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If OP is doing it via the phone then maybe the phone is slowing read/write speeds of the card transferring to computer.

I'd be tempted use just card reader to the computer and see if speeds are better.
 
SteveJUAE said:
I think we may be running around in circles :)

Seems like your S8 needs a hard reset and is not recognising any connection, just check it on another laptop 1st
Click to expand...

Could be the other way around. I often have problems with my MB air not recognizing things I plug in. Many times it’s a cable issue. Other times it works with one USB port but not the other.
 
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bopajuice said:
Could be the other way around. I often have problems with my MB air not recognizing things I plug in. Many times it’s a cable issue. Other times it works with one USB port but not the other.
Click to expand...
Agreed but the fact OP could not even attach a thumb drive directly to the S8 was the 1st thing to solve :) but in later posts it does imply the wrong cable was being used
 
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Since the S8 has an SD card slot, I would just get a card reader and transfer stuff from the Mac to a microSD card.
 
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