VLC for Android doesn't accept external storage

[ttr78]

Hello,
I'm a newby, thank you for receiving me.
I would like to use VLC 3.3 for Android with an external USB drive. But it doesn't detect (display) any video file on external storage. Is there a reason for this and is there a workaround ? I must transfer the file(s) to the internal storage, which in turn gives rise to another issue, which is related to Android 7 in my opinion.
Thank you

[sun14]

try formatting your pendrive with exFAT file system

[Aza]

Do you have access to your fils in the "Browse" tab?
If yes, please make sure your drive is checked in Settings > "Media library folders"
If not: is your drive detected in any file manager app?

[ttr78]

Hi,
thanks for your replies and help. At least one-half of my problems is solved.

@sun14 : formatting the flash drive with exFAT solves the second issue that I briefly mentioned (when copying a large file e.g. 1.3 GB video to internal storage, the transfer stops at about 800 MB wih an error message, but the truncated file remains legible).

@Aza : the external files are displayed in the File Manager, but not in VLC's Browse tab (OTG peripheral), even with exFAT. There are a lot of media files, with varied sizes and extensions on that flash drive. Instead the following message shows up, something like (I'm translating from french): "No media file found. Please transfer on your device or set up your preferences". The Media Library Folders tab doesn't detect the external drive, either as "OTG Peripheral" as called by VLC or "DISK_IMG" (after the File Manager).

Nice day and best regards

[sun14]

When you browse--OTG device , it asks for 'Select OTG drive to allow access to VLC" then select your OTG disk and select folder of media files

[ttr78]

Hello,
after some investigations, it appears this issue (no access to USB external storage) is related to compatibility between VLC and the various versions of Android. With Android 8, the behaviour is as described by @sun14, but not with Android 7. But nevertheless one odd remains under Andr 8 : the browser shows 2 external folders, one named "Clé USB" (even with the english UI) which is the actual external storage, and one another named "OTG device" which is empty. The latter appears alone under Andr 7. So VLC can't access the external storage under Andr 7.
Screenshots are available on request.

Morever the UI language (locale) change doesn't work under Andr 7, always the system default.

Best regards

[Aza]

So if I understand well, the issue is only on Android 7 right? You don't get the "OTG device" item and are not able to give the permission to VLC?
Some screenshots may indeed be useful, as well as the device model you are using.

[ttr78]

Hello,
after more investigation, I found the reason of this failure: a conflict between VLC browser and one file manager (FM). It's Xiaomi's Mi File Manager. As soon as I browse the external drive with this FM, VLC browser doesn't detect the external files anymore. Closing this FM using the Recent Applications button restores the normal functioning of VLC.

Why did I installed Xiaomi FM while my device is an Asus (Zenphone ZC520KL) ? It has Asus' FM pre-installed. But the latter suffers a huge bug: it can browse the external drive, but can't transfer anything, as it requires a bizarre multi-screen authorization process which leads to nothing at end. But browsing the external drive with it doesn't impair VLC ! May be all of these bugs are related.

By the way, can you suggest me a good FM ?
One suggestion for the next release of VLC: add file association with .mkv . VLC can read them, but clicking directly on the file doesn't launch VLC, nor ask for it.

Thanks and best regards