Unable to use USB storage on Google TV

by mincedshamu

I have a Sony Google TV that uses android 10 for the OS, it only have 4GB of storage so I am attempting to use a USB storage device to increase the storage capacity.

I inserted the USB drive, formatted as device storage, and tried to use the option to move storage to that device and it fails. I then attempted to enable developer options, and manually move apps to the USB drive, each time it tells me there is not enough storage, even though the device is 32GB. I have also attempted to install an app, instead of the usual insufficient storage notice, it downloads and attempts to install, but then tells me it failed to install. I have re-formatted it a few times and tried different USB drives, none of them seem to work.

The only thing I noticed is that after formatting the drive using the TV, when plugging into a computer the drive now has 2 partitions, one that is 16MB and the other that has the other 31GB of storage. My concern is that it is trying to install apps or move apps to the 16MB partition, but am unsure how to verify this as when it is plugged into the TV it shows it has 31GB of storage. Any ideas?

gifford_jim

You have to enable developer mode and turn on use external storage.

gifford_jim

I had issues like that. I erased the USB drive and delete both partitions. Create 1 partition then format it. I used windows and formatted it as fat32.

venkatx5

Welcome to the Club!

Same issue reported by multiple other users.. No fix yet.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/zp8hl4/sony_android_tv_doesnt_let_me_download_to/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/zqeb34/cant_format_usb_drive_to_internal_storage_it_only/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/zp8hl4/sony_android_tv_doesnt_let_me_download_to/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/zow322/how_to_give_write_access_to_fx_file_explorer/

sneddsdeadMs1

Just read that for some reason Sony tvs from 2018 onwards don't allow you to record TV programmes onto USBs, thought it might just be the type of USB as I had to get a specific type for my Phillips Android tv

Se7enLC

Sounds about right. USB support on Android is super broken.

clerk37

I'm not gonna tell you that it's completely useless to have a USB as storage, because it's better than nothing. However, it's pretty damn close. 99% of apps won't run on external storage, so basically you need to have more internal storage, or pick and choose your apps. If you're determined to make this setup work, my best suggestion is to delete all your apps and then when you reinstall them, hopefully any that are USB compatible will fully or partially download there. But honestly, the much better option is to just go with a seperate android box that has more internal storage.