Accessing USB drive attached to Linksys router??

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Level 1

5 points

Accessing USB drive attached to Linksys router??

iMac, iPhone 6+, Linksys WRT1200AC router with a Seagate 1.0T USB drive.

Using Finder, I can access the drive via my Mac - copy, paste, open files etc ; with the Linksys app on my iPhone I can see the router and that there is the usb drive. But I don't see any way to access the files with any phone app (Music, Pages, Adobe, etc - since there is no Finder per se).

My goal was to access music from my Mac via my iPhone. I was planning on copying a bunch of music files to the USB drive, attaching it to the router .... and now what? How can I use the Music app that came with the phone (or any other MP3 player) to access files on the USB?

Any addy I use in Safari (on the phone) I get an error msg and redirected back to the app.

I've turned SMB and AFP on in Preferences on the Mac. On the phone, using SMB or FTP with either fwd or back slashes; one gives me a Google search listing - the other tells me I don't have permission to view "Butler14B150.N56N66OS". I've tried the router and USB drive addys.

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 10.3.2

Posted on Jul 16, 2017 8:18 PM

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Answer 1

LACAllen

Level 8

43,590 points

Jul 18, 2017 10:39 AM in response to eilandj

iTunes is the only way to get music synced to an iOS device.

If the router manufacturer makes an app for iOS to access that USB drive, you may be able to access some files, but not music. iOS has a highly protected filesystem. You can't access it like you can a Mac.

If they are purchased iTunes files, sign in to your phone with the same Apple ID and add them to your phone.

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Answer 2

eilandj Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 18, 2017 10:55 AM in response to LACAllen

Tnx. Guess I have separate issues I need to work on.

1, using my iPhone to access any files at all on the USB/router.

2, mebbe it's a Linksys issue and time to find another router.

3, the reason for this thread - find another way to play music on my hifi other than wifi. At the end of the day, the iPhone is just that - a phone. A purty cool and useful phone, but not a laptop nor desktop.

Moving the music to the phone won't work - I've got gigs and gigs. Some purchased ACC but a lifetime's worth of collecting on MP3s. Never quite sure what mood will strike me when the studio monitors are turned on - and I don't want to be running up and down the stairs transferring music.

Only good news I can see is that I only want to access music file in the studio. A cheaper laptop may be sufficient to use the home network. Would have preferred to not start severing the Apple umbilical cord with all the devices we own, but it's gotta make sense for the final use.

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Answer 3

Courcoul

Level 6

18,726 points

Jul 18, 2017 11:52 AM in response to eilandj

Up till now, the iOS computing paradigm has hidden the file/directory/storage from the user. So even if you can somehow detect the USB stick in the router, iOS cannot show you by itself the contents. Likewise, the Music app shows you the jingles, but in an abstract manner: song/composer/album/collection. Not as individual files stored in some private directory.

From what we saw in the iOS 11 presentation, this will be loosened somewhat when that version comes out and you could eventually do what you want. But we won't know for sure till that happens.

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