Troubleshoot your device issues
robbif's profile

Teacher

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13 Messages

Saturday, February 16th, 2013 12:48 AM

Z431 Problems Using USB

I just purchased the Z431. I was told by the ATT store that I could transfer photos to/from the phone and
my Win 7 laptop. There is no information in the user guide (printed or online version) in setting up and using
the USB connection. So I connected the phone to my Win 7 laptop. Basic USB drivers were installed automatically
by Windows.

My Computer saw an E: drive on the phone, 100% used. It was apparently a "virtual CD-ROM"
with an autorun.exe. I ran the autorun on the phone and it installed the "drivers" and I see them in a
Program Files folder. Now when I connect the phone, Windows (My Computer) does not see it. The autorun
installer apparently marked the virtual CD-ROM hidden. So now Windows does not see the phone.

I tried to find out more information. Only after Googling Z431 did I find the mfr, ZTE.
Here is my corrspondence with ZTE:
============================================
I just purchased the Z431. There is almost no information on setting up and using the USB connection
in the Setup or User Guides. I connected the phone to my Win 7 laptop. The basic USB drivers were
installed automatically by windows. Then I rand the Join Me autorun on the phone and it installed
the Join Me drivers. When I connect the phone, Windows does not see it.
There are no user programs or desktop icons to run Join Me (at least that's how I assume it would work.
No Installation disk was in the ATT box.
1. What do I do?
2. Am I supposed to be able to transfer images from phone to computer and computer to phone?
---
On 2/14/2013 9:52 PM, mobile@zte.com.cn wrote:
>
> Dear Valued ZTE Customer,
>
> Thanks for contacting ZTE.
>
> Please insert an SD card in the device and the connect it to the Computer.
Once after it is connected, please us the below steps to transfer data.
>
> 1.Insert a SD card to the phone.
> 2.Plug the usb cable to the PC, a virtual CD-ROM will appear in My Computer.
> 3.Open the virtual CD-ROM and find autorun.exe, double click it.
> 4.A option list which shows install driver and U-disk mode will appear,
Click U-disk mode in the list .
> The U-disk mode will be open.
> Should there be further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
-----------------------
02/15/2013 08:34 AM
To mobile@zte.com.cn
Subject: Using USB Connection

Thank you for the quick response.

1. I do not have a micro SD card. Do you mean I must purchase one before continuing?

2. Since there were no instructions, not knowing I needed an SD card, I already connected the phone to my
computer and saw the virtual CD-ROM as the E: drive. As I said I then ran the autorun.exe. I saw an option
for Install driver but I believe there was no option fir a U-disk mode.

3. Now that the drivers were installed, when I connect the phone now, there is no virtual CD visible on the
phone. Windows My Computer only sees my laptop's C: drive.

-----------------------
Subject: Re: [Bulk] Re: Using USB Connection Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2013 05:07:36 +0530
You need to buy the SD card.Without the SD card you will not be able to perform the task.
================================================
Earlier today I went back to the ATT Store and the salesman said he aways just takes the SD card
out and puts it in an adapter to connect to to the computer.

Before I got the Feb 16 answer from ZTE via email, I called their tech support and tried to
understand a lady with a heavy foreign accent. After asking her to repeat almost everything she said
several times, I finally asked her: Are you saying I must have an SD card installed? and she said Yes.

Then I spent a while with an ATT tech, a nice, certainly American, named "Elvis". After my explanation,
he said every phone he had didn't need an SD card; he just connected it and the computer
saw it. I told him it isn't so wiith my phone. He even called ZTE himself and got the same answer I did: need an SD card.

(Repeating) My biggest complaint: Nowhere in the User Guide does it explain that you need an SD card - or how to use it - to transfer photos back and forth.

 

Question: What works for you?

 

Teacher

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13 Messages

11 years ago

My latest correspondence with ZTE:

 

As instructed I now have a micro SD card.
When I install it, the phone sees it.

But when I connect it to the computer, Windows says: USB device not recognized and that it has malfunctioned and tells me
to reconnect the device. When I reconnect the phone to the couputer I get the same message.

If I remove the SD card and connect it directly to the computer, Windows recognizes it and I can write and read files to it.

How do I get Windows to recognize the SD card when it is in the phone and the phone is connected to the computer?
Please read my first email below to understand what I have done so far, since there are no instructions in the manual as to
how to do this. Remember, the virtual CD-ROM no longer appears on my phone as I explained below.

Thank you.

 

Dear Fred,

Thank you for contacting ZTE and your prompt reply.

Your email has been forwarded to the relevant colleagues for their appropriate handling.

We will respond as soon as relevant information is available.

 

================================================

I also found someone else with exactly the same problem on another website.

I also sent this to ZTE...

 

At&t z431 phone won`t show up on laptop. it shows up as cd drive (f:) join me & it asks to install
some autorun thing. why won`t my phone come up? When I connected my old phone, Samsung Eternity II, to
my laptop, I was able to download pictures, videos, music, and ringtones to the phone. Well today I got

a Z431 and the guy at AT&T said that I wouldn`t need to buy a USB cable because the cables are universal.
Well I got home and connected the Z431 to my laptop, using the same USB cable for my Eternity II, and
instead of the phone showing up it showed up as CD Drive (F:) Join Me. Everytime I clicked on the drive
it said I had to install USB Drivers. I thought that would help me access my phone, but instead it made
the CD Drive (F:) Join Me disappear. I searched for the file it installed `Join Me Now` and inside was
nothing of use. I have no idea why my phone won`t show up like the Eternity II did. Can anyone please
help me so I can transfer my stuff from my old phone into the Z431?

 

 

Professor

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2.1K Messages

11 years ago

Did you try following the instructions on page 48 of the manual?

 

Connection Settings

From the home screen, select Main Menu > Settings > Connection Settings. You can configure the following options:

Bluetooth

: Configure Bluetooth settings. See the Bluetooth section in this manual for details.

Access Point:

Add to, edit, or view the Access Point list.

Internet Profiles:

Create or edit the connection data for a service provider.

Modem:

Set modem parameters. You can use a data cable to connect the phone to a computer and use the phone as a modem. Consult your service provider for details on which modem settings to use.

PC Connection:

Choose whether to connect your phone to a computer via USB or Bluetooth.

GPS:

Turn on/off your GPS status, or enable the Third-party GPS option.

Teacher

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13 Messages

11 years ago

Max69,

 

Thanks for your response.

 

If you're recommending the USB connection setting, I should've mentioned that's the first thing I did,

so unfortunately it didn't help.

 

If I misread your advice, please correct me.

 

Thanks again.

 

P.S. I'm still waiting for an answer from ZTE.

Teacher

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13 Messages

11 years ago

Since I haven't heard from ZTE in two days, I called ATT "tech cupport", and spent more than 1.5 hours of trial-and-error resulting in no solution, and the supervisor explaining that their "resources" on devices are limited, that they deal mostly with network and account issues...quite disappointing!

 

So I did some work myself and send the following results to ZTE:

 

 This is what I have discovered:

The autorun.exe supplied on the virtual CD-ROM on the phone does not work correctly on Windows 7.

Remember the virtual CD-ROM no longer appears on my phone.

My wife also has an ATT Z431 that was purchased at the same time as mine.
Today she did as you instructed: installed the SD card, plugged the phone into her computer,
and ran autorun.exe from the virtual CD-ROM on her phone. Her computer has Vista.

I was able to copy the virtual CD-ROM from my wife's Z43 phone to a flash drive.
I then connected my phone to my Windows 7 computer and ran the autorun.exe
from the flash drive. The result was the same when I ran autorun from my phone's
virtual CD-ROM and from the flash drive. In both cases. the Install U-disk option
was not available.

On the Windows Vista computer the autorun.exe menu shows 2 choices:
- Install U-Disk
- Install USB Drivers
Then the Vista computer saw the SD card in the phone and everything works correctly.

On my Windows 7 computer, there was only one option:
- Install USB Drivers
So I was not able to run the Install U-disk option.

Then the Windows computer did not see the SD card in the phone.

I ran the same steps on another Windows 7 computer with the same result:
autorun did not show the required Install U-disk option.

You must provide me with a U-disk installer that works with Windows 7.  

Contributor

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2 Messages

11 years ago

I am having this problem also, I really need to connect the Z431 to my computers and all I have is windows 7(soon to be windows 8).  Have you had any luck?

Teacher

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13 Messages

11 years ago

Still no response from ZTE. Will give it a few more days, then, for what it's worth, I'll send the entire story to the Better Business Bureau, pointing to ATT and ZTE.

Contributor

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2 Messages

11 years ago

Its really hard to believe no one else has tried to do this but my internet search skills bring up nothing.

In other news I have also contacted ZTE.

Teacher

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13 Messages

11 years ago

As I mentioned earlier, I only found one almost identical story on another site...

 

http://www.askmefast.com/ATT_Z431_phone_wont_show_up_on_laptop_It_shows_up_as_CD_Drive_F_Join_Me__it_asks_to_install_some_AutoRun_thing_Why_wont_my_phone_come_up-qna4833233.html

 

I couldn't find a posting date. I don't know how new a model the X431 is. I suppose if we were to give ZTE the benefit of the doubt, it could be an immature model. But that still does not excuse the lack of service and timely answers we're getting from ZTE and ATT!

 

If you remember, the ATT "Customer Care/tech" supervisor told me they deal mostly with networking and account issues and don't

have a lot of sources for "devices". Unacceptable, especially when the only alternative is to get unacceptable (or no) solution from ZTE via email and (by my experience and an ATT phone tech) hardly understanding the ZTE tech's accent on the phone. 

 

By the way, I just emailed ZTE again, informing them that another person (you) had responded here with the same problem.

I included the link to this topic.

Expert

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12.2K Messages

11 years ago


@robbif wrote:

As I mentioned earlier, I only found one almost identical story on another site...

 

http://www.askmefast.com/ATT_Z431_phone_wont_show_up_on_laptop_It_shows_up_as_CD_Drive_F_Join_Me__it_asks_to_install_some_AutoRun_thing_Why_wont_my_phone_come_up-qna4833233.html

 

I couldn't find a posting date. I don't know how new a model the X431 is. I suppose if we were to give ZTE the benefit of the doubt, it could be an immature model. But that still does not excuse the lack of service and timely answers we're getting from ZTE and ATT!

 

If you remember, the ATT "Customer Care/tech" supervisor told me they deal mostly with networking and account issues and don't

have a lot of sources for "devices". Unacceptable, especially when the only alternative is to get unacceptable (or no) solution from ZTE via email and (by my experience and an ATT phone tech) hardly understanding the ZTE tech's accent on the phone. 

 

By the way, I just emailed ZTE again, informing them that another person (you) had responded here with the same problem.

I included the link to this topic.


unfortunatly drivers come from the manufacturer of the device not the carrier. The carrier does not employ device level developers. I did see vista drivers so the device is not recent, normally a properly written driver for vista should run with no issue on Windows 7 but that does not appear to be the facts on the ZTE drivers. Don;t even see a mention of the Z431 on the www.zteusa.com website

Teacher

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13 Messages

11 years ago

Good point about how old the model is. I should've rea;lized that when the installer worked correclty on my wife's Vista machine.

 

I realize that the carrier does not provide the drivers, however:

 

1. The ATT store people just said the phone could be connected to a USB cable. (Maybe no surprise here).

 

2. There's nothing in the ATT User's Guide (printed or online) that explains existance of the installer virtual CD ROM on the phone, how to install (what installer option to choose) or use the drivers, and that a USB cable can them be used to connect the phone to a computer.

 

3. Even the ATT supervisor couldn't, or wasn't able, to get an answer.

 

4. There's still a question as to whether an SD card is necessary to install the drivers. ZTE says yes, ATT tech said no.

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