Nokia N800 & N810: How to attach an HDD (aka hard disk or hard drive) to your tablet using the USB cable

To get the most out of this tutorial, watch the video above and then read the text below. The tutorial assumes that N800 owners have upgraded to OS 2008. If you want to find out more about upgrading your N800, click here.

If you want to comment on this tutorial, please post in the comments section at the end. If you have any questions or problems regarding your tablet, please post about them on Internet Tablet Talk's Newbie Forum.

Why would you want to attach an HDD to your tablet?

Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), more commonly known as hard disks or hard drives, can store enormous amounts of data, usually far more than memory cards can. Although many HDDs are built into computers, the kind of HDDs we're talking about are self-contained external devices which you can attach to a computer using a USB cable, just like attaching a printer or a mouse.

This makes HDDs very useful as storage libraries for things like video, music, photos and other files. Because their capacity is so huge, you can put all your multimedia files in one place, and then load specific items onto the tablet as and when you need to.

Of course you could already do this with your computer as it has its own HDD. But the beauty of using an external HDD is that you don't need to switch the computer on, and you can take external HDDs with you on journeys. Modern external HDDs are very durable and they're also very small, about the same size as the tablet itself.


Three things you need to do before the HDD can be connected to the tablet...

As the video above says, you need to do two things before you can connect an HDD to a tablet: install the free "USB Control" application on your tablet, buy a Female-Female USB adaptor, and connect your HDD to an external power supply.

HDDs will only work with the tablets if they have their own power supply, because the tablets are pocket-sized devices that cannot provide enough power for a full-size HDD. Make sure you've plugged your HDD into its power supply before connecting it to the tablet.

F-F USB adaptors are extremely cheap, they only cost a few dollars or euros because they're basically just a conveniently-shaped bit of metal. You can buy them in any major electronics shop or website, and you can also find them on eBay.

Installing USB Control is much less complicated than it sounds, and we're going to go through it step by step.


How to install and use USB Control on your tablet

1. Click on the globe and open a new browser window. Go to maemo.org/downloads

2. Click on the search box in the top right hand corner and enter "USB Control". When the search results appear click on the title that says "USB Control".

3. Click on the green installation arrow on the right side of the screen, which will launch the automatic installation process. Say OK, Yes and I Agree to all of the questions that appear.

4. After USB Control has been installed, close the Application Manager using the X in the top right hand corner. You now have USB Control on your tablet.

5. Open USB Control by clicking on the Applications menu (three green squares), then Extras, then USB Control.

6. Click on the "Host" button at the bottom of the screen, and then close the application using the X in the top right hand corner. The tablet is now ready to be attached to your HDD.


How to attach the HDD to your tablet

1. Plug your tablet's USB cable into the tablet's USB socket. Leave the other end of the cable not plugged into anything.

2. Plug the other end of the tablet's USB cable into the Female-Female USB adaptor.

3. Attach your HDD to its USB cable.

4. Plug the HDD's USB cable into the other end of the Female-Female USB adaptor.

The HDD is now attached to the tablet, and the tablet should automatically launch the Application Manager which will let you transfer files onto and off the HDD. The App Manager will automatically show you the contents of the HDD on the right side of the screen.

Don't worry if the tablet says "Device not supported", you can ignore this message.


What do I do when I've finished using the HDD?

The one thing you should NOT do is unplug it straight away. Just like on a PC, you have to make the HDD safe to remove before you unplug it, otherwise you may damage it.

To do this, close any applications using the drive (such as File Manager), then click on the USB icon (the three-pronged arrow) in the status bar at the top of the screen. Select the "Disable" option, and wait for a message telling you that you can disconnect the USB cable. After the message appears, you can unplug the HDD.

Note that if you intend to attach your tablet to your computer using the USB cable, you will need to take it out of "Host" mode first. You can do this by opening the USB Control app, clicking on the "Peripheral" button, and then closing the app.

"Host" is the mode for using add-ons like the HDD, and "Peripheral" is the mode for attaching the tablet to a computer. You can use USB Control to switch between these modes, and the tablet will remain in that mode until you change it. You can close the USB Control app if you want, the tablet's USB mode will remain whatever you set it to.

Switching the tablet off and then on again will automatically put it in "Peripheral" mode, so try to avoid this if you want to use the HDD regularly. As has been mentioned elsewhere on this site, you shouldn't really switch the tablet off anyway because computers use far more energy starting up than they do staying on.


I've tried doing this but nothing happens when I plug the HDD in!

First of all, have you attached the HDD to an external power supply? You HAVE to do this if you want it to work with the tablet because the tablet cannot supply enough current for something as power-hungry as a full-size HDD.

If you're sure the HDD has got a power supply, check that all the connections on the HDD, adaptor, cable and tablet are secure, then try connecting the HDD again.

If that doesn't help, open USB Control again, click on the "host" button and close the app. Try connecting the HDD again.

If none of this helps, click here to see our tutorial on dealing with tablet technical problems.


Why does the HDD need an external power supply?

When you attach a USB accessory to a computer, it draws a certain amount of current so it can function. Some accessories such as keyboards draw very little current, but others such as HDDs draw a lot.

On PCs this doesn't matter, because they have more than enough current to supply any USB accessory.

On tablets though, the situation is very different because the power resouces on pocket-sized devices is much more limited. The tablets can only be connected to USB accessories which draw relatively little current, such as keyboards and some Flash drives. An HDD on its own will not work at all with the tablets.

However, if an accessory has its own power supply, it doesn't need to draw any current at all from the computer it's connected to. This means if an HDD has its own power supply, it CAN be connected to the tablets.


Can I use this method to attach other USB accessories?

Yes. As mentioned above, you can also connect keyboards and USB flash drives, and in theory other accessories such as mice could be connected if Nokia or other people write tablet software that supports them. At the moment though you can only use keyboards and storage devices like flash drives and HDDs.

We've done tutorials on attaching keyboards and flash drives to the tablets:

How to connect an ordinary computer keyboard to your tablet by using the USB cable

How to connect a USB flash drive to your tablet using the USB cable

If you are going to connect HDDs or flash drives, remember to make them safe before disconnecting them!