wrote:

SNIP
Hi Vanguard,

I appreciate your willingness to help me. I can live with the Zip file
method to preserve the T&D of files, and use "X-plore" to see those
files with their original T&Ds. I can view those files without any
difficulty. FYI: If I select a file (within Zip file), and copy it to another
folder (using Xplore), the T&D of the file copied changes to current T&D.

When I connect the tablet via USB cable to laptop with Windows 7,
"AutoPlay" displays, "Galaxy Tab A (2016)". When I click on "Computer",
I see, besides the C: drive (HD). "Galaxy Tab A (2016), "Portable Media
Player" (no drive letter).

This tablet has Android 5.1.1.

I forgot to mention that the USB flash drive is a Lexar brand. I am
in NO hurry to find a better method. I don't know when I will hear
this ham friend on the air (he seldom gets on the air). I also want
to ask him what brand flash drive he uses, in addition to what AP.
He did mention he uses a "On The Go" (OTG) cable. I saw image
of the OTG cable and it looks just like a USB female connector on
one end, and a micro USB connector on other. This in effect is
whet I made with the gender changer.

The first time I plug this or other USB flash drive into my laptop,
Windows searches for the driver, but before it does that, it detected
a new device. When I first installed the SD card into my tablet,
the Android OS detected that. It does NOT detect the USB flash
drive.

When & if I hear my ham friend, and get that info about the Ap,
etc. I will post another "Update" here.

Regards, John

Hi Vanguard and others,

VERY IMPORTANT:

I just REALIZED, even if I am able to copy files from a USB flash
drive (connected to my tablet) onto my "stuck" SD card, the original time
and dates will be replaced with the current T&Ds. Therefore, I no longer
have a desire to use that procedure.

Since I am unable to remove the SD card, I will use the Zip file &
"E-plore" method.

Since my previous post, I did a Copy and Paste test on a file that was NOT
within a Zip file using "My Files" (came with tablet) and "File Manager+".
The results, the T&D of the copied file changed to the current T&D.

I am VERY SORRY for not realizing this sooner.

John

the file was replaced with the current


In one case, you are creating a NEW file. No matter what is the source
of the data stream, you are having the OS create a new file and then
writing the data stream into that file. That's why the new file has the
current timestamps.

In another case, you are mistaking an archive file as a real folder or
real file in your OS' file system. Nope, what's inside the archive file
(e.g., .zip) is a database of records with attributes or fields
containing the data. One of the attributes for a "file" record is the
time and date of last modified. There are no files or folders inside an
archive file, just records, like a database. That the archive tool
presents a folder hierarchy with files is simply presenting those
records in a format with which you are familiar. When you read the
source file, its contents get written into a data field in a record in
the archive file. Also written to the record as attributes or fields
are the timestamps for the source file. While it is possible to extract
the "file" from the archive file where it the NEW file will have the
current timestamps, many archive tools and file managers will 'touch'
the timestamps of the new file to match the timestamp attributes
recorded in the archive file. The extraction from the archive create a
new file (that will have the current timestamps) but the archive tool or
file manager will touch the new file's timestamps to make them match the
timestamp attributes of the "file's" record inside the archive file.

There are probably sync tools that will also touch the target file's
timestamps to match the source file's timestamps. A simply copy is
creating a new file that happens to have written into it the contents
read from another file. Think of using Notepad to create a new file (so
it has the current timestamps) and then you reading from a piece of
paper to write its contents into Notepad and then saving the changes.
That's similar to the copy operation where you see the old timestamps of
the source file getting changed to the current timestamps for the new
file. A move is nothing but a copy followed by a delete.

If you want to preserve timestamps, you need to use a tool that does the
copy along with touching the timestamps of the newly created destination
file. Some file managers will do that when extracting from archive
files (but usually not when creating a new destination file when copying
a source file). Some sync tools will preserve the old timestamps by
touching the timestamps of the new file. Backup programs will do that,
too. Archive (zip) tools should do the same timestamp touch, too, after
extracting the data stream from a record into a new file.

Looks like the file manager you used (File Manager+) either does a
simple copy operation where the new destination file gets the current
timestamps (time and date) or perhaps it has a timestamp preservation
option that you didn't use. Alas, Google usually discards
non-alphanumeric characters in a search, so "File Manager+" results in
hits on "file manager", and there are lots of those apps. Don't know
which one you are using. Too often a user-configurable option for
timestamp preservation is usually omitted from the description of an
app, so you find other users that have discovered the buried option.
While I have Total Commander installed on my Android smartphone, I
rarely use it. I hunted around in it but didn't find a timestamp
preserve option but me not finding it doesn't mean it doesn't have it.
I did see a user comment that mentioned Total Commander could preserve
timestamps; see:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/sho...11&postcount=4

If timestamps are needed for sorting order, are you sorting on Created
or Modified timestamps?