Monday, 17 November 2014

Changing the USB setting on Galaxy S3 running Android 4.3 to enable USB connection to PC

I was banging my head trying to figure out why my Samsung Galaxy S3 (SGH-T999) was not able to be accessed as a media device on my PC. After a long search, I finally found that it was to do with me USB settings for my Qualcomm Modem (it might have been changed after the upgrade to Android 4.3).

The "USB PC Connection" in the "Settings" is no longer available. So, now, how do I check/change my USB settings on Android 4.3 on my S3?

Here's how.

1. Ensure that you have downloaded and installed the USB driver on your PC for your phone from:
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads (select the model of the phone)

2. Enable Developer Options:
     • Settings > More > About device
     • Scroll down to "BUILD NUMBER"
     • Tap it a couple of times (about 5 times) - an alerts tells you how many more times to tap
     • "Developer options" would now have appeared (Settings > More > Developer options)
     • Under "Developer options", tick the check box for "USB debugging"

3. To change the Qualcomm Modem settings, dial *#0808# for Android 4.3 (*#7284# on Android 4.2)

4. You will see the following screen:

5. For me, "MTP + ADB" worked. (MTP = Media Transfer Protocol)

6. Click "OK". If your PC does not detect the phone, reboot the phone.

You should not be able to access your phone via a USB connection on your phone running Android 4.3.