Why don't I see an option to eject my Lumia phone in Windows 7?

[Luminator55]

I used to connect my Lumia 830 to my laptop with the data cable provided. But whenever I connect, I don't see a USB detected or any sign of a USB connection made. I can still find the folders and browse stuffs on phone memory and the memory card. The phone charges too. But still, I am disconnecting the phone just by unplugging my device, as I don't see 'Eject the USB device'.

So far, I think the phone is not connected in 'Mass Storage' mode. Could anyone help me figure out why I don't see the USB options? Is it safe to unplug the handset?

 

[colinkiama]

I used to connect my Lumia 830 to my laptop with the data cable provided. But whenever I connect, I don't see a USB detected or any sign of a USB connection made. I can still find the folders and browse stuffs on phone memory and the memory card. The phone charges too. But still, I am disconnecting the phone just by unplugging my device, as I don't see 'Eject the USB device'.

So far, I think the phone is not connected in 'Mass Storage' mode. Could anyone help me figure out why I don't see the USB options? Is it safe to unplug the handset?

Yeah its safe(as long as you aren't transferring any files.)

 

[Dusan Randj]

There is explanation but I'm too lazy to google it now. Anyway it's completely safe to unplug it that way. And there ahouldn't be eject option.

 

[gpobernardo]

First things first: No, it doesn't seem to be safe to just unplug the handset. Did that with my L535 and soon my SD Card got corrupted. From what I've learned, the "safest" way to disconnect a WP8 from a W7 is to restart the laptop and unplug the phone right at the moment the "Shutting Down" Screen disappears and the screen turns off, just before the screen could turn on again. It's a hassle... so I just connect my SD Card directly to my Windows 7.

BTW, my PC detects my phone, it's just that when I press "Eject", it says that the device couldn't be stopped right now... even if I've completely terminated all of my actively running software. As for my older L1020, there was also an eject option and it could be "safely removed".

With that aside, you may want to check the Device Manager of your Windows 7 and force it to detect any hardware changes. Some sources suggest forcing a reinstallation of the drivers related to the USB port, by uninstalling the Generic USB Hub, USB Composite Device and USB Root Hub, followed by restarting your PC. These drivers will be reinstalled automatically once you plug in a related device anyway.

Let us know if this works.

 

[gpobernardo]

There is explanation but I'm too lazy to google it now. Anyway it's completely safe to unplug it that way. And there ahouldn't be eject option.

I disagree. There is an eject option in my Windows 7 PC for connected Lumia phones, both for my 535 and my 1020. This can be found by clicking on the tray icon for USB devices.

 

[Dusan Randj]

I disagree. There is an eject option in my Windows 7 PC for connected Lumia phones, both for my 535 and my 1020.

Like I said, there shouldn't be, if I'm not wrong it's MTP connection and data isn't send im background so no necessity.
If there is option, ok, but phone shouldn't be in "mass storage mode".
And on my brothers w7 PC is same as on my W8.1 PC, no eject option.
And never had problem with that.

 

[Luminator55]

With that aside, you may want to check the Device Manager of your Windows 7 and force it to detect any hardware changes. Some sources suggest forcing a reinstallation of the drivers related to the USB port, by uninstalling the Generic USB Hub, USB Composite Device and USB Root Hub, followed by restarting your PC. These drivers will be reinstalled automatically once you plug in a related device anyway.

I did try this once. But I think it didn't help. I still don't see any USB icon in the tray or device manager. I guess it's because the phone is not connected in Mass Storage mode. But still, I am gonna go with your method (Restarting the pc) until I get a permanent solution (or an answer if it is safe or not). By the way, I've read that the USB buffer is cleared in Windows, if there is no file transfer between the computer and the device for a long time (say 20 minutes). So isn't it the whole point of 'safely remove USB'? If there is no Data Transfer for a long time, i.e when the device is idle, it is already safe to remove the handset right?

 

[noersetiawan]

It's safe, and indeed the phone isn't in mass storage mode but in MTP mode (Android has both option, WP is MTP only) . In mass storage mode the phone eject the phone storage so it can be connected to your PC, and your PC need to eject it again so it can be connected to your phone, but in MTP mode, the phone didn't eject the storage, but act as a bridge between your PC and the storage, so the storage is still accessible both from PC and your phone, unlike mass storage mode. Your phone itself is not a storage device, so you don't it to eject it, much like you don't need to eject your USB mouse.

 

[gpobernardo]

In theory, yes. But in my case, even without any file transfers (not copying, browsing anything in the phone, no running applications related to the phone) for around an hour my PC still says that the device could not be removed. So something elusive must be preventing it. I'd still go with safety rather than regret.

There's another safety precautionary method and a much simpler one, too: Eject your SD card through your phone settings first before unplugging your phone. Once the phone is unplugged, simply pull out and push the SD Card back in to get it running again... or you could turn the phone off first before pulling it out and pushing it back in. Nothing should go wrong with the phone itself, but for the more volatile SD Card it's best to be careful.

BTW, could you go to Settings > USB and let us know what you find there? This may have something to do with Mass Storage mode (my phone always asks me to allow USB storage mode (or something like that) every time I connect it to my PC.

 

[gpobernardo]

It's safe, and indeed the phone isn't in mass storage mode but in MTP mode (Android has both option, WP is MTP only) . In mass storage mode the phone eject the phone storage so it can be connected to your PC, and your PC need to eject it again so it can be connected to your phone, but in MTP mode, the phone didn't eject the storage, but act as a bridge between your PC and the storage, so the storage is still accessible both from PC and your phone, unlike mass storage mode. Your phone itself is not a storage device, so you don't it to eject it, much like you don't need to eject your USB mouse.

Not sure about your last sentence. Unlike a USB mouse, USB camera, USB microphone, etc., a smart phone has a storage drive. The fact that images and apps can be stored in it effectively makes it a storage device. It's just not exactly like a USB Flash drive that is solely a storage unit (no processors).

I'm voting for safety and preventing unwanted damage to the SD Card. Though affordable, having to move apps to the phone from a failing SD Card and then back to a new SD Card could really waste time.

 

[slyronit]

Not sure about your last sentence. Unlike a USB mouse, USB camera, USB microphone, etc., a smart phone has a storage drive. The fact that images and apps can be stored in it effectively makes it a storage device. It's just not exactly like a USB Flash drive that is solely a storage unit (no processors).

I'm voting for safety and preventing unwanted damage to the SD Card. Though affordable, having to move apps to the phone from a failing SD Card and then back to a new SD Card could really waste time.

No. You should go read how MTP works. The OS never has direct access to your memory card or the internal storage. The desktop OS sends the file data to the phone OS which itself saves the file to the memory card or internal storage. Putting the device in the midst of a file copy will not damage your memory card.

 

[Luminator55]

BTW, could you go to Settings > USB and let us know what you find there?

"Connected to PC, Data Turned ON"
Ask me before using USB data connections is turned on too.

 

[Luminator55]

No. You should go read how MTP works.

Any external links to a trusted source would help other (future readers) a lot :smile:

Edit: Got it http://www.howtogeek.com/192732/android-usb-connections-explained-mtp-ptp-and-usb-mass-storage/

 

[gpobernardo]

No. You should go read how MTP works. The OS never has direct access to your memory card or the internal storage. The desktop OS sends the file data to the phone OS which itself saves the file to the memory card or internal storage. Putting the device in the midst of a file copy will not damage your memory card.

Thanks, but I'm aware of that. My reply wasn't against MTP; it was about his last sentence.

Going back to the OP:

Could anyone help me figure out why I don't see the USB options?

You're initial guess seems to be right, since you've already gone through the Device Manager "fix" and since the settings in your phone are the same with the settings in my phone. I'm just still not sure why my PC shows the eject option while yours doesn't.

Is it safe to unplug the handset?

From my experience, doing this corrupted my SD Card - doesn't seem safe from this perspective. However, from the MTP argument, it does seem safe. I guess actually pulling the phone out and seeing what happens would conclude this chapter, but still my vote goes to safety and precaution. Let us know what you do and what happens.