Can't put files on my tablet anymore
I've got an old Android tablet that I'm using just for reading. Well, was using. It doesn't seem to work anymore.
I've got a bunch of PDFs on it that I can read wherever I am. I haven't used it much lately, but a couple of years ago I put a ton of Shadowrun PDFs on it to prepare for a Shadowrun campaign, for example. I just bought a bunch of Delta Green PDFs that I'd like to read from it, but I cannot for the life of my get those PDFs onto the tablet.
I'd like to download them from Drivethrurpg.com, but Chrome refuses to load that site. It still loads other sites.
I do get a lot of certificate errors, though. How do I update my certificates? No idea, but let's try a system update. Doesn't work. It claims a network error. Could it be certificates? How do you update those if you can't do a system update?
Make more space by deleting a bunch of files and trying again. Storage isn't big, but I've got 500MB available now (the file is 25MB). Retry everything above.
Try downloading a new browser, like Opera or something. Play Store crashes when I try that.
Try installing F-droid, so I can install a more open browser from there. Fails to do anything. Nothing happens.
Back to just transferring the PDF. Bluetooth? Tablet and PC can't find each other, no matter how much I set them to discoverable and have them search each other.
USB? Neither tablet nor PC recognize the USB connection. It is charging, though.
Email? The email arrives. Can't download from GMail at all, and from my other mailbox (xs4all), I only get an empty file.
Is there anything I haven't tried? Why is it so stubbornly refusing to download this file? I'm at a complete loss. Maybe it's time for a new one. This one is over 10 years old now. But still, the tablet itself seems to work fine. I can read the existing PDFs. Only the home button doesn't work (and hasn't for at least 8 years). 3 years ago it could download stuff jut fine.
Doc Edward Morbius mag das.
Martijn Vos
Als Antwort auf Martijn Vos • •Nevermind. Bluetooth from my laptop worked.
Still, weird that bluetooth from my Linux PC didn't work, or that all of the other methods failed so hard.
My problem is solved for now, but the mystery remains.
Doc Edward Morbius
Als Antwort auf Martijn Vos • • •My preferred option: install Termux and use its SSH client.
You can also use various direct SSH clients (Android apps), or maybe the Android native userland (though that's exceedingly anemic).
The Android debugger and a USB cable connection can also be used, though I've had limited success with that.
Martijn Vos
Als Antwort auf Doc Edward Morbius • •@Doc Edward Morbius
Both great ideas, except I can't seem to install anything anymore; play store keeps crashing, and trying to install f-droid from the website doesn't seem to do anything. Maybe I can send the apk over bluetooth?
Also, it doesn't seem to recognize the usb connection, so I doubt that will work.
Doc Edward Morbius
Als Antwort auf Martijn Vos • • •@Martijn Vos ADB (Android Debugger) then. Physical cable is most reliable.
"How to Transfer Files to Android with ADB or Fastboot"
teamandroid.com/transfer-files…
Often simply plugging in the cable to a booted device, or invoking the debugger (on device) at boot (try holding down various combinations of hard buttons, e.g., volume, power, and/or home button if present) should invoke file-transfer mode.
The device presents as USB storage with a filesystem, you can hunt down what you want to copy from the Android device, or transfer files to it. Generally you're going to want the system Download directory on the Android device in order to access files copied to it from system utilities or other apps.