I just discovered that I can’t use the microsd slot in my wifi Xoom, even though the kernel supports it and it was advertised to me as containing a microsd slot that would support up to 32GB microsd cards, because Motorola can’t decide where in the filesystem to mount it. Words fail me. (Well, no, actually, they don’t; “false advertising claims” and “bait and switch” come to mind.)

I note, for the record, that Samsung figured this out a long time ago and made it work just fine on my captivate (galaxy S).

Silly to get this wrong when they got so many other things right; overall I’m quite pleased with the Xoom, and I’d buy it again even knowing that the microsd slot is currently functional only if you root the tablet; I just wish they’d tell the truth about it up front.

Michael K Johnson July 10, 2011 06:51

The update to 3.1 was the first thing I did. That gave me the driver. It doesn’t mount the card, and there is no app I can find to see the card, and my understanding of the reason for it not working is from a Motorola employee answering user questions on their official forum.

This is a wifi xoom, so I am my carrier…

Michael K Johnson July 10, 2011 07:07

Who is your “carrier” for a non-cell, wifi-only xoom?

I’m trying to use the card on the xoom, I’m not trying to use the xoom as an overpriced microsd adapter. Yeah, I’m aware of the MTP limitation…

Michael K Johnson July 10, 2011 07:36

Oh, btw… I’m sure you know this, but for the benefit of anyone else reading this who might not: There is an MTP fuse file system, so I can run “mtpfs /some/directory” on my linux system with the xoom connected by USB and browse the internal “sdcard” but not browse the (not mounted) external microsd.

Thanks much, especially for mentioning MTP; it can come as a surprise to someone used to an android phone.

Michael K Johnson July 10, 2011 08:31

It gets worse. You can’t join the motorola forum without entering your device serial number, among other things. There are too many required fields. I got so tired of entering required fields that I gave up before I had even scrolled to the end of the page.

This microsd limitation is one of those things that I could work around if I root the device, but motorola, like most other android device providers, says that rooting the device will void my warranty. I think that’s kind of rude, and a sign of poor hardware design at best (the assumption being that software could break the hardware, or that a software change could render the device non-recoverably non-functional).

To be 100% clear, this is a complaint against the android platform providers, not against google. ☺

Jes Sorensen July 10, 2011 17:03

I believe Motorola is also known for using a boot loader which only allows signed kernels (dunno if that situation changed), which kinda goes with their bad attitude on the warranty there :(

Michael K Johnson July 10, 2011 19:31

“fastboot oem unlock” is reported to be the key

Michael K Johnson July 12, 2011 14:45

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/07/12/android-3-2-update-for-motorola-xoom-rolling-out-now-in-small-batches/ – but not yet, alas, to me. I’m curious whether this will resolve the bait-and-switch microsd debacle.

Michael K Johnson July 15, 2011 08:07

3.2 arrived overnight, and sdcard support works for me. Yay!

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