Edit 2: Please look at post #9 for a clearer explanation of the problem.





Edit: Just to make it more clear, I cannot connect my N900 to the PC for use as a mass storage drive consistently. Charging also doesn't work, but it's the mass storage drive I'm concerned about because I want to use mine as such fairly frequently.

Hello! I've just bought an n900 from a chap of ebay, but I'm having trouble connecting it to my computer reliably. He does accept returns, but I'd rather sort it out (if possible), than return it.

So, when I connect it to my PC, sometimes it makes a confirmation of new device noise (the 'dudu' noise), and usually then works when I hit "mass storage mode". The problem is, it RARELY makes a connection, and when I hit "mass storage mode", the phone says "connected via usb", but then goes on to say "not charging, not enough power".

Whenever it connects properly it doesn't say that there isn't enough power. There IS enough power, because I have special USB ports that can supply 5a of power.

Any ideas? It seems that doing the following sequence makes it work, but it's very impractical!

1) put phone in offline mode
2) connect USB cable but don't select mass storage or suite
3) "Switch off!"
4) turn on again
5) select mass storage

then it works, but it's a bit of a pain to do all that just to connect it!!

I've tried on multiple PC's, all except one are Win 7 64bit (the other 32bit XP). Same results on each.

I'm guessing that it should work every time, right?

No problem. I get the same message sometimes.

sometimes isn't 99% of times... it's really frustrating :S

Come on. I connect my N900 via "mass storage mode" only for some minutes to change some data. It doesn't matter, if it is charging or not.

This isn't about charging, it's about accessing my data. It doesn't matter if YOU don't find it a problem, matey It's really frustrating for me, when I want to copy some mp3s across or whatever and not be able to do so. At all. Without fiddling and messing about.

Remember, it is MOST of the time it's not working, not just some of the time as is your case.

It doesn't seem to be working properly, so I think I might return it. Unless I can sort the issue out (which is CLEARLY an issue; it should work every time). I will wait to hear what others say.

Sorry, I do not understand you right. You mean, you can not copy data to the N900 via "mass storage mode"? Than you should return it.

It was my fault for not explaining clearly

Yes, that is the case... though if I go through the procedure I noted above, I can get it to connect as mass storage.

I really really really don't want to return it, so I'm here to see if there is a fix, because it seems to be a software problem, not a hardware one.

Ok, so it worked, but the way to get it working is not a good one. You could try to flash the N900.

Hmm, I'd rather not try reflashing just yet, because I think the guy I bought it off did that before sending it off to me.

I've done a few more tests, and I've found a consistent pattern.

If I plug the phone into the PC and turn it on whilst it's connected (from being completely off), both charging and mass storage work correctly, even if I unplug the phone for a while and connect it again later (just so long as the phone isn't shut down).

When the phone is turned on when it's NOT connected to the PC, it won't connect to the PC AT ALL (it also won't charge), and there's nothing I can do but restart the phone with it connected to the PC.

So it sounds to me that some driver on the n900 isn't loading unless it's connected to the PC when it starts up. Unless it IS down to a hardware fault... this is why i've come to this forum for some help

Do you use PC Suite or Ovi?