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Please add USB Mass Storage option on FR945!

Andras
over 4 years ago

On FR945 USB mode can be set to MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) and Garmin protocol. Older models (like FR935) had the "Mass Storage" option.

Please garmin, would it be possible to add "Mass Storage" as an additional option besides MTP and Garmin? 

MTP is hard to use on MacOS, there are workarounds but overall it is not supported and pretty slow. I know it is convenient on Windows and I know that Garmin Connect can be used to add Music through MTP.

Plenty of users were using the Mass Storage mode to back up activity files and settings also it is an essential help for troubleshooting.

Garmin support does instruct us several cases to check / remove / add files (updates) by hand in case of an issue - to prevent sending the device back to Garmin if possible. I believe removing this alternative will increase the amount of cases when devices will be sent back for service.

Mass Storage also seems superior over MTP in terms of speed - at least on MacOS.

Garmin Connect on MacOS is unable to open large music libraries in acceptable times. Instead we transfer music with Android File Transfer tool via MTP.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I'm with You too! PLS Garmin... 935 is perfect, 945 not for this!!!

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I did a quick search on Google for MTP MacOS, and came across an app called commander. The free version allows me to see the contents of my FR945. I used it to manually install beta FW 2.64 :-)

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to bobbywise

    Hi, thanks @bobbywise.  Yep, free version of 'Commander One' app worked for me too on Mac OS.  Have also just used it to upgrade to beta v2.64. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to afballard

    Android file transfer is fully free. Much as I hate having to run an Android program on my Mac, it's the one that I felt worked best due to its simplicity.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

    Thank you very much! It seems now you need the pro version of commander one in order to have the MTP feature. I solved my issue (loading .fit workout files on the device bypassing the connect service) using the android filetransfer!

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Hello. Just chiming in on this debate as I read a lot of misunderstanding.

    While MTP is indeed a file transfer protocol, "Mass Storage" isn't, it is much lower level and is just de device pretending to be a USB thumbdrive.

    This has many implications:

    • the operating systems of the computer and of the watch have to be able to understand the way the media is formatted, which one should Garmin chose?
    • Those general purpose file systems (even FAT/exFAT) are way too complex to be implemented safely* on an embedded platform like Garmin watches
    • The device would have to manage things like concurrent access, improper device ejection, recovering from a corrupted file-system, all the werid hidden files that Mac/Windows/Linux create when the open a folder
    • It would be a lot of bloat in the FW

    *I'm not even sure the platfrom has a MMU or even kernle/user space separation, etc.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I bought a 945 in february, and had I known this, I would have not bought it. After Garmin service outage a few years ago, I decided to sync my files manually, which I kept doing with my Forerunner 920XT. But now, on a Mac, I have no option. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Andras

    no MTP is not windows specific. I used it in linux like 15 years ago. Apple sucks - they purposefully make it so when you buy one of their devices you are locked into the ecosystem.  MTP may have originated on windows but is an extraction layer so that the connected device doesn't have to know the filesystem of the device.  It's been accepted as a standard protocol for a long time and is standard for Android. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I tried OpenMTP on my MacBook with Ventura 13.3.1 (22E261) and it worked like a breeze! I could download all screenshots, finally delete all my courses/routes which were cluttered. Great tool!
    github.com/.../openmtp

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Andras

    MTP is definetely not windows specific. It started as part of the windows media framework indeed. But it pretty much a standard at the moment. Fully free / open source implementations are available, libmtp for example. Most modern systems can work with mtp without issue. This is just apple not wanting you do so.