It is true the doc is not very clear about that....but it seems you have to ask the system to mount the media device for you. Can you try to use
Environment.getExternalStorageState() to see what it returns you?
Otherwise, you can also try to access the SD/External USB by using this class:
public class ExternalStorage {
public static final String SD_CARD = "sdCard";
public static final String EXTERNAL_SD_CARD = "externalSdCard";
/**
* @return True if the external storage is available. False otherwise.
*/
public static boolean isAvailable() {
String state = Environment.getExternalStorageState();
if (Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED.equals(state) || Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED_READ_ONLY.equals(state)) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
public static String getSdCardPath() {
return Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getPath() + "/";
}
/**
* @return True if the external storage is writable. False otherwise.
*/
public static boolean isWritable() {
String state = Environment.getExternalStorageState();
if (Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED.equals(state)) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
/**
* @return A map of all storage locations available
*/
public static Map<String, File> getAllStorageLocations() {
Map<String, File> map = new HashMap<String, File>(10);
List<String> mMounts = new ArrayList<String>(10);
List<String> mVold = new ArrayList<String>(10);
mMounts.add("/mnt/sdcard");
mVold.add("/mnt/sdcard");
try {
File mountFile = new File("/proc/mounts");
if(mountFile.exists()){
Scanner scanner = new Scanner(mountFile);
while (scanner.hasNext()) {
String line = scanner.nextLine();
if (line.startsWith("/dev/block/vold/")) {
String[] lineElements = line.split(" ");
String element = lineElements[1];
// don't add the default mount path
// it's already in the list.
if (!element.equals("/mnt/sdcard"))
mMounts.add(element);
}
}
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
try {
File voldFile = new File("/system/etc/vold.fstab");
if(voldFile.exists()){
Scanner scanner = new Scanner(voldFile);
while (scanner.hasNext()) {
String line = scanner.nextLine();
if (line.startsWith("dev_mount")) {
String[] lineElements = line.split(" ");
String element = lineElements[2];
if (element.contains(":"))
element = element.substring(0, element.indexOf(":"));
if (!element.equals("/mnt/sdcard"))
mVold.add(element);
}
}
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
for (int i = 0; i < mMounts.size(); i++) {
String mount = mMounts.get(i);
if (!mVold.contains(mount))
mMounts.remove(i--);
}
mVold.clear();
List<String> mountHash = new ArrayList<String>(10);
for(String mount : mMounts){
File root = new File(mount);
if (root.exists() && root.isDirectory() && root.canWrite()) {
File[] list = root.listFiles();
String hash = "[";
if(list!=null){
for(File f : list){
hash += f.getName().hashCode()+":"+f.length()+", ";
}
}
hash += "]";
if(!mountHash.contains(hash)){
String key = SD_CARD + "_" + map.size();
if (map.size() == 0) {
key = SD_CARD;
} else if (map.size() == 1) {
key = EXTERNAL_SD_CARD;
}
mountHash.add(hash);
map.put(key, root);
}
}
}
mMounts.clear();
if(map.isEmpty()){
map.put(SD_CARD, Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory());
}
return map;
}
}
The use is like this:
Map<String, File> externalLocations = ExternalStorage.getAllStorageLocations();
File sdCard = externalLocations.get(ExternalStorage.SD_CARD);
File externalSdCard = externalLocations.get(ExternalStorage.EXTERNAL_SD_CARD);
Source here: Find an external SD card location
