[SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

woof · 2016-05-29 09:47:27

I got a new phone it runs android 5.0 (no longer connects to a PC as a mass storage device) I can connect it via usb cable as camera PTP and transfer files but when i try connect as MTP there is nothing shown in file manager. I installed pcmanfm but its not showing there, I reinstalled the MTP drivers in synaptic : libmtp9, libmtp-common and gvfs-backends, didnt help.

I can connect with MTP in my windows 8.1 but prefer using bunsenlabs. Connecting as a camera is very limiting it can only access the internal memory in pictures folder. I know i could use one of the wifi transfer apps but its annoying the cable cant do it.

Im hoping its an easy fix one of you guys might have the solution, cheers!

Last edited by woof (2016-06-02 10:44:47)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-05-29 09:50:42

Do you have gvfs-backends installed?

woof · 2016-05-29 10:14:28

Yes that is one of the files I tried re-installing within synaptic.

twoion · 2016-05-29 10:23:13

woof wrote:

I got a new phone it runs android 5.0 (no longer connects to a PC as a mass storage device) I can connect it via usb cable as camera PTP and transfer files but when i try connect as MTP there is nothing shown in file manager. I installed pcmanfm but its not showing there, I reinstalled the MTP drivers in synaptic : libmtp9, libmtp-common and gvfs-backends, didnt help.
I can connect with MTP in my windows 8.1 but prefer using bunsenlabs. Connecting as a camera is very limiting it can only access the internal memory in pictures folder. I know i could use one of the wifi transfer apps but its annoying the cable cant do it.
Im hoping its an easy fix one of you guys might have the solution, cheers!

I have three+ options to suggest, in descending order of convenience.

Use KDE Connect, if you can connect your PC and the phone to the same wireless network. Solved everything for me, I love it. The daemon works without running the full KDE suite, but it might be necessary use Dolphin for transferring files because it uses KIO and not GVFS for mounting the virtual file system.

There is a KDE Connect app, install that from f-droid or the playstore.

Then,

apt-get install kdeconnect

After that, use

kcmshell5 kdeconnect

for pairing and configuring the PC side and the KDE connect app on the phone side. Brings additional features like shared notifications, clipboard sharing and other stuff. File transfers are encrypted. It's dead-simple and glorious.

I switched to KDE connect because all MTP clients were garbage and unreliable (probably still are) with my Samsung phone. In the past, I used to install a FTP server on the Android phone and just used that for transferring files -- you might want to look into this too. It was annoying.

The simplest/bare-bones solution I can suggest is using the adb command line tool

adb push $stuff
adb pull $stuff

and possibly a few wrapper scripts around it to transfer files over USB. It's fast and solid (usually). You might want to look into that too. You will be able to write all user-read-writable locations on your phone, including internal and sd card memory. No root required, just enable USB debugging.

xaos52 · 2016-05-29 10:23:23

'gvfs-backends' is a package, not a file.
Run command

apt-cache policy gvfs-backends

to see if it is installed, and what version is installed.

woof · 2016-05-29 12:19:14

$ apt-cache policy gvfs-backends
gvfs-backends:
  Installed: 1.22.2-1
  Candidate: 1.22.2-1
  Version table:
 *** 1.22.2-1 0
        500 http://ftp.nz.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

The wifi is what i will end up using twoion if i cant get this cable to work, the adb command line tool looks beyond my capability haha. I have total commander on the phone already thats bound to have ftp or wifi sharing capability. Ill look up that KDE app thanks.

Last edited by woof (2016-05-29 12:21:28)

hhh · 2016-05-29 19:42:53

Another option is Airdroid

http://help.airdroid.com/customer/porta … s-airdroid-

Airdroid links your phone to your computer via your network and a browser. Open the free app on your phone, open web.airdroid.com in a browser and accept the alert that appears on your phone. You can now send text messages, transfer files, play the phone's music files, etc... via your browser (their GUI is lovely).

I assume transfer rates depend on your internet speed, but it doesn't get much easier than opening Play Store and installing the app, and it has some advantages.

damo · 2016-05-29 21:00:48

With an earlier Android phone I found Airdroid horribly slow. I got a useable fix with an MTP method (using go-mtpfs), which maybe could be updated for recent releases. HowTo: Connect to an Android 4 phone

Also see: https://wiki.debian.org/mtp

woof · 2016-05-30 12:00:15

Airdroid, i have used before and it is a nice app I cant remember what the speed was like. also i used an app 'wifi file transfer' which is basic but gets the job done well.

Im using the usb cable anyway to charge the phone so It seems odd to use wifi apps when the cable should be faster and its all ready to go but its not playing ball

Rocky · 2016-05-30 13:21:22

I have become disillusioned with Android ( perhaps not Android per se but the seeming inability of manufacturers to provide timely updates) . Always a bit surprised that Android then seems to have a lot of traction with Linux / otherwise "clued in" computer users

woof · 2016-06-02 10:44:09

I got it working now, its a bit embarassing, I mistakenly assumed the drivers would be installed from default. I searched synaptic for mtp and installed the top 2 packages in the search: mtp-tools and libmtp-runtime.

After a reboot the phone now shows in mtp mode and i have access to the internal memory and the sd card. Thanks everyone, marking this as solved big_smile

MW2K · 2016-11-19 12:45:16

I know I'm necroing this thread, but thank you for the Airdroid tip. It works like a charm, and I've had a gutful of mtp only sort of working and/or breaking every time Google updates their Android version.

davidgouzien · 2017-09-17 08:08:13

Very Usefull ! Did the same, installed the 2 files. Worked perfectly. Thank you Woof.

Last edited by davidgouzien (2017-09-17 08:10:30)

#1 2016-05-29 09:47:27

[SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#2 2016-05-29 09:50:42

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#3 2016-05-29 10:14:28

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#4 2016-05-29 10:23:13

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#5 2016-05-29 10:23:23

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#6 2016-05-29 12:19:14

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#7 2016-05-29 19:42:53

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#8 2016-05-29 21:00:48

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#9 2016-05-30 12:00:15

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#10 2016-05-30 13:21:22

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#11 2016-06-02 10:44:09

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#12 2016-11-19 12:45:16

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

#13 2017-09-17 08:08:13

Re: [SOLVED]New phone wont connect as USB media device MTP

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