How to Use Your iPhone as a USB Drive

Posted October 3, 2009 at 3:26pm by iClarified | Please help us and submit a translation by clicking here | 645113 views
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These are instructions on how to use your iPhone as a USB stick / USB flash drive without needing to install software on your computer.

Step One
Press to launch Cydia from your iPhone Springboard.


Step Two
Press to select Manage from the tabs at the bottom


Step Three
Press the large Sources button.


Step Four
Press the Edit button at the top right of the sources list.


Step Five
Press the Add button that appears at the top left.


Step Six
Enter http://apt.dmytro.me as the Cydia/APT URL then press the Add Source button.


Step Seven
Cydia will now update your sources. Press the large Return to Cydia button when finished.


Step Eight
Press the Done button at the top right of the sources list.


Step Nine
Press to select the apt.dmytro.me source we just added


Step Ten
Tap to select the USB Drive package from the list of packages


Step Eleven
Press the Install button at the top right of the screen.


Step Twelve
Press the Confirm button at the top right of the screen


Step Thirteen
Cydia will now install your package. When it has completed successfully, press the large Return to Cydia button.


Step Fourteen
Press the Home Button to return to your Springboard then press to launch USB Drive from your list of applications.


Step Fifteen
First we must create a Virtual Disk on the iPhone. Press the Create Disk... button to continue.


Enter a name for your virtual disk and use the slider to specify how much space you would like to allocate it. When done click the Create button at the top right of the screen.


Step Sixteen
Now that we have created a disk to access we must specify the USB Mode. You have three choices:

Drive + iTunes:
In this mode USB Drive replaces Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) interface with Mass Storage interface and lets you use the iPhone as a USB Drive. At the same time you can perform iTunes synchronization, developers can use XCode debugger ,etc. In this mode USB Mass Storage will not work on Windows with iTunes or Apple USB Drivers installed.

Default:
This is the iPhone default mode. USB Drive doesn't install daemon application nor modify any USB settings. Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) is active as well as iTunes synchronization and tethering over USB.

Drive Only:
This mode is to resolve compatibility issues with Windows and iTunes. In this mode USB Drive changes the iPhone's USB product ID. This will prevent iTunes synchronization, but USB Mass Storage will work on Windows (and other operating systems). Switch to the Default or Drive + iTunes mode will restore iTunes sync.

Press to select the mode of your choice. We chose Drive + iTunes because we rarely need Windows compatibility.


A popup will appear asking you to reboot to apply the changes. Press the large Reboot button.


Step Seventeen
Once your iPhone reboots you will now be able to access the virtual disk you created using USB Drive.





***THANKS: This is one of the most useful iPhone utilities we have ever seen. A big thanks goes to dmp for creating this app!

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Phantoms Cry - April 23, 2013 at 8:42am
I was a little worried using this app, seeing as it felt relatively old. I haven't read to many good comments about it either. It was unfortunate, but since I require a tethered boot, I was unable to properly operate the device. I didn't put to much effort in it to be honest, I don't have much space on my iPhone to begin with. I love the concept, it's a real quick relief. I was in a rut to play a movie, and this was perfect. I found I needed to reboot after deleting the volume. It gave me some worry after deleting it through the app (lol). Back to square one, luckily.
Deborah Carmichael - April 9, 2013 at 2:35pm
Why has there been such a problem with finding a solution to "USB not recognized". I'm still having issues after using drive only.
amin - March 18, 2013 at 5:15am
thanks a lot. very very useful
A - September 6, 2012 at 4:36am
Mine is iPhone 3g, and it worked prefectly. THANKS! Note Go to USB drive, and then choose 1) If use default, it will only show photos you have in the iphone 2) if you use device only it willonly open USB, then you can add/exchange PPT, PDF, word files between your PC and iphone. 3) drive +iTunes doesn't work for me in my case (iphone 3G #) either #1 or # 2 works (but not both at the same time). However, when ever you need eaither you can "Reboot" whichever you want. Hope it helps
Charan - October 6, 2011 at 5:52pm
Hi, I'm able to use the USB drive however when trying to find the file stored on virtual disk. I'm unable to locate it on my iPhone using iFile. Please help, let me know the correct path where the files get stored on iPhone
Amit - September 6, 2012 at 4:39am
Mine is iPhone 3g, and it worked prefectly. THANKS! Note Go to USB drive, and then choose 1) If use default, it will only show photos you have in the iphone 2) if you use device only it willonly open USB, then you can add/exchange PPT, PDF, word files between your PC and iphone. 3) drive +iTunes doesn't work for me. In my case (iphone 3G #) either #1 or # 2 works (but not both at the same time). However, when ever you need eaither you can "Reboot" whichever you want. Hope it helps
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