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Why won't my macbook recognize my samsung galaxy s3?

Normally, when I plug a device into the USB drive of my computer, an icon pops up and recognizes it as a USB or memory drive of some sort. When i plug in my brand new Samsung Galaxy S3, it charges, but nothing else seems to happen. Is anyone else having this problem? Any suggestions to fix it? I've mounted the phone as MTP or "Media Transfer Protocal", tried it with debuggin both on and off, but still cannot get it to recognize the phone.


Ultimately I'm trying to get my iTunes music onto my droid phone through an app called DoubleTwist. I'll try anything at this point. Any sugesstions would be appreciated.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), Samsung Galaxy S3

Posted on Oct 4, 2012 4:10 PM

Reply
23 replies

Feb 19, 2017 5:56 AM in response to Frank Bisono

Your entry in response to SpaceRangerPrincess's question is timeless! I have a Samsung Note 4 that Android File Transfer never recognized since I first purchased it in 2014. I do not remember if I had installed the Verizon apps when I first connected to my Mac at that time, but AFT never recognized my phone. From other forums, I had removed Kies and reinstalled AFT, but still no recognition. Until now...2.5 years later! Only by following your instructions did AFT on my Mac (OS 10.9.5) recognize my Note 4 for the first time. What a good feeling. I believe the key step in your process is allowing Kies to recognize the phone before uninstalling Kies. Simply uninstalling Kies doesn't work, but your detailed steps of first allowing Kies to find the phone, then closing it out, disconnecting the phone, and then uninstalling Kies was instrumental for AFT to find my Note 4. Thank you for your detailed instructions.

May 2, 2017 5:18 AM in response to Frank Bisono

Your entry in response to SpaceRangerPrincess's question is timeless! I have a Samsung Note 4 that Android File Transfer never recognized since I first purchased it in 2014. I do not remember if I had installed the Verizon apps when I first connected to my Mac at that time, but AFT never recognized my phone. From other forums, I had removed Kies and reinstalled AFT, but still no recognition. Until now...2.5 years later! Only by following your instructions did AFT on my Mac (OS 10.9.5) recognize my Note 4 for the first time. What a good feeling. I believe the key step in your process is allowing Kies to recognize the phone before uninstalling Kies. Simply uninstalling Kies doesn't work, but your detailed steps of first allowing Kies to find the phone, then closing it out, disconnecting the phone, and then uninstalling Kies was instrumental for AFT to find my Note 4. Thank you for your detailed instructions.

May 2, 2017 5:25 AM in response to Frank Bisono

Frank, your entry in response to SpaceRangerPrincess's question is timeless! I have a Samsung Note 4 that Android File Transfer never recognized since I first purchased it in 2014. I do not remember if I had installed the Verizon apps when I first connected to my Mac at that time, but AFT never recognized my phone. From other forums, I had removed Kies and reinstalled AFT, but still no recognition. Until now...2.5 years later! Only by following your instructions did AFT on my Mac (OS 10.9.5) recognize my Note 4 for the first time. What a good feeling. I believe the key step in your process is allowing Kies to recognize the phone before uninstalling Kies. Simply uninstalling Kies doesn't work, but your detailed steps of first allowing Kies to find the phone, then closing it out, disconnecting the phone, and then uninstalling Kies was instrumental for AFT to find my Note 4. Thank you for your detailed instructions.

Oct 26, 2013 8:03 AM in response to SpaceRangerPrincess

Google™ offers a free Android File Transfer application, available fromwww.android.com/filetransfer, with installation instructions.

Important! You must uninstall Kies for Mac before running Android File Transfer. Otherwise, the application will not connect to your device.

Note: If you are using Mountain Lion OS X 10.8, you will need to Control-click or right-click on the icon for Uninstall and click Open. Click Open again to grant access.

  1. To uninstall Kies, download the Kies for Mac software by visiting the Kies website.
  2. From Finder, click Go > Downloads > KiesMac_xxxx.dmg > Uninstall.

After installing Android File Transfer, follow these steps:

  1. Connect your device to your Mac using the supplied USB cable.
  2. Open Android File Transfer on your Mac. Your device should connect automatically and display the contents of your device and optional memory card. You may need to change the USB settings if you cannot connect; swipe your finger from the top of the screen to the bottom to open the Notification Panel and touch Connected as a camera. Touch Media device (MTP) to change the USB settings. The Notification Panel should show Connected as a media device.
  3. Navigate to the appropriate folder containing your music on the Mac.
  4. Select a file or highlight all. Drag and drop the files to your music folder on your device or optional memory card.
  5. The selected music files will now be on your device. Open the Music Player on your device to begin playback.

Nov 6, 2013 12:37 PM in response to SpaceRangerPrincess

Something to be aware of for VERIZON customers with a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. When you initially connect your phone to your Mac, it will mount as a CD ROM with some Verizon utilities and software. DO NOT INSTALL THESE!!! The Verizon updater app will BREAK your ability to use Android File Transer.


If you installed the Verizon software unknowingly, removing the Verizon software will not restore your ability to use AFT. The only way that I have found to restore your Mac's ability to mount your Note 3 as a Media Device (MTP) via AFT is to install the Kies software, then uninstall it. http://www.samsung.com/us/kies/#downloadMac


Make sure your phone is NOT connected to the Mac when installing Kies. After installing Kies you will need to reboot. Once you are back up, connect your phone, (if you have AFT installed it will launch and fail), close AFT and launch Kies, let it find your phone, then close it out. Disconnect your phone, open the Kies .dmg and now run the UNINSTALLER.


Once you run the uninstaller, connect your phone again and select to mount it as MTP. AFT should now launch and you are back to functioning normally.


Thank you Verizon for being utterly and completely USELESS in helping your Mac users fix the problems you created.

Why won't my macbook recognize my samsung galaxy s3?

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