Looking for Linux File Transfer Tool for Android 4.0 Devices...
As most of you know, Google dumped the transfer via USB feature in Android 4.0 and above and replaced it with MTP File Transfer. The result is that while you no longer have to mount and un-mount your device when connected directly to a computer, your computer needs to have the ability to read MTP. Windows has this ability natively and plugging in any ICS device will immediately cause it recognized by windows and your device shows up as a folder, and immediate access sis given to internal folders. (I've tested this as far back as XP and it works).
MacOS does not have MTP ability that is native to it, so Android released a tool for mac call Android File Transfer. Once installed, This tool allows your Mac to automatically recognize your ICS device and gives you access to internal folders (though your ability to modify those folders is a bit limited).
For Linux systems there seems to be nothing. I find this odd seeing that Android is a Linux base OS. I've done some research into it and there does seem to be a way to hack this functionality into Linux, but it is an ugly hack.
I was wondering whether any of you had any recommendations on how to go about getting a Linux system to recognize an ICS device so that files can be transferred between them through dragging and dropping. Before someone suggests it, yes I know that there are wireless options for doing this, but I'm not interested in them seeing that all of them are a bit too slow for my liking.
Thanks in advance for any help and recommendations.
A quick Google turned up an app called SSHDroid. Looks promising. I've not tried it personally. All I do is use my phone as the client (AndFTP) and the desktop machine (Running openssh-server) as the server.
I know you pretty much dismissed wireless (i.e. over the network.) solutions but for me, losing a little speed is worth the convenience of not having to get off the sofa to physically plug into whichever PC I want to transfer to. I guess I'm just too used to transferring over the network using sftp as opposed to sneakernet.
Last edited by linuxrich; February 13th, 2012 at 04:38 PM.
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I'm confused. Is this more of a hardware thing? Because I'm running ICS on my Vibrant and I've had no problems accessing the filesystem with my linux laptop. Nothing has changed as far as I can tell.
I'm confused. Is this more of a hardware thing? Because I'm running ICS on my Vibrant and I've had no problems accessing the filesystem with my linux laptop. Nothing has changed as far as I can tell.
Yes it is a hardware issue, or more specifically a device issue that is thus far exclusive to the Galaxy nexus, since that device has no USB storage (it's all on-board). Here are a couple of explanations:
A quick Google turned up an app called SSHDroid. Looks promising. I've not tried it personally. All I do is use my phone as the client (AndFTP) and the desktop machine (Running openssh-server) as the server.
I know you pretty much dismissed wireless (i.e. over the network.) solutions but for me, losing a little speed is worth the convenience of not having to get off the sofa to physically plug into whichever PC I want to transfer to. I guess I'm just too used to transferring over the network using sftp as opposed to sneakernet.
I do the same. Have my ubuntu pc as an ftp server then connect using estrongs. Not only do I not need to be in the same room as the pc, I don't even need to be on the same continent
I do the same. Have my ubuntu pc as an ftp server then connect using estrongs. Not only do I not need to be in the same room as the pc, I don't even need to be on the same continent
FTP, Samba, SFTP, SSHFS,webdav are all nice for the occasional small jpegs.
Get back to me when you can copy 4-6 Gigabyte files in the morning before your commute? E.G. a TV show you just downloaded and want to want on your new device.
MTP is still a problem in Ubuntu 12.04.
And MTP is a problem with newer devices not including the Galaxy Nexus.
My new Galaxy Tab plays hissy fits.
You have to install libMTP, MTPFS, gMTP, probe the USB, create fstab entries, and manually mount the devices in the command line.
Even then, there is no guarantees the connection will not disconnect during file copies..
The whole MTP thing has been an exercise in frustration.
FTP, Samba, SFTP, SSHFS,webdav are all nice for the occasional small jpegs.
Get back to me when you can copy 4-6 Gigabyte files in the morning before your commute? E.G. a TV show you just downloaded and want to want on your new device.
MTP is still a problem in Ubuntu 12.04.
And MTP is a problem with newer devices not including the Galaxy Nexus.
My new Galaxy Tab plays hissy fits.
You have to install libMTP, MTPFS, gMTP, probe the USB, create fstab entries, and manually mount the devices in the command line.
Even then, there is no guarantees the connection will not disconnect during file copies..
The whole MTP thing has been an exercise in frustration.
This is me getting back to you. Love you, bye
Of course my tv shows aren't 6 GB though, because my resolution is 480 x 800 so even a movie at that resolution would need to be 8 hours long to be that size
Here's what you need to know to get basic MTP support on whatever linux flavour. Any GUI app you find is just going to be built on top of this so you might as well try it first:
1) FUSE filesystem support in the kernel. Chances are you use a pre-built distro kernel and there is already a module on your system that will autoload, so you don't need to worry about this. If you rolled your own, FUSE is a single option under "filesystems"; you can save some time and just add this to your config as a module, then make modules and make modules_install.
2) Packages for libmtp and mtpfs. Most distros should have these and install the former as a pre-req for the latter.
3) Create a directory to mount into, then:
mtpfs /whatever/mount/path
Done. To disconnect, use umount:
umount /the/path
As per usual, you can't have the directory open or umount will fail.
Works no problem for me with kernel 3.0.6 and Android 4.0.3.
Here's what you need to know to get basic MTP support on whatever linux flavour. Any GUI app you find is just going to be built on top of this so you might as well try it first:
1) FUSE filesystem support in the kernel. Chances are you use a pre-built distro kernel and there is already a module on your system that will autoload, so you don't need to worry about this. If you rolled your own, FUSE is a single option under "filesystems"; you can save some time and just add this to your config as a module, then make modules and make modules_install.
2) Packages for libmtp and mtpfs. Most distros should have these and install the former as a pre-req for the latter.
3) Create a directory to mount into, then:
mtpfs /whatever/mount/path
Done. To disconnect, use umount:
umount /the/path
As per usual, you can't have the directory open or umount will fail.
Works no problem for me with kernel 3.0.6 and Android 4.0.3.
I did that but found out there was a bug with 64bit according to Ubuntu's buglist website.
Also my main workstation running CentOS doesn't have the same accoutrments as my home ubuntu workstation.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Isthmus
Yes it is a hardware issue, or more specifically a device issue that is thus far exclusive to the Galaxy nexus, since that device has no USB storage (it's all on-board). Here are a couple of explanations:
That clears up something for me, from when I started reading this thread. I've got an Ampe A76 ICS 4.0 tablet, and have no problem transferring files on a PC, Windows or Linux. I just plug it in and it mounts automatically. Internal storage and SD-card appearing as two separate drives.
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Last edited by mikedt; September 6th, 2012 at 02:40 AM.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MK27
Here's what you need to know to get basic MTP support on whatever linux flavour. Any GUI app you find is just going to be built on top of this so you might as well try it first:
1) FUSE filesystem support in the kernel. Chances are you use a pre-built distro kernel and there is already a module on your system that will autoload, so you don't need to worry about this. If you rolled your own, FUSE is a single option under "filesystems"; you can save some time and just add this to your config as a module, then make modules and make modules_install.
2) Packages for libmtp and mtpfs. Most distros should have these and install the former as a pre-req for the latter.
3) Create a directory to mount into, then:
mtpfs /whatever/mount/path
Done. To disconnect, use umount:
umount /the/path
As per usual, you can't have the directory open or umount will fail.
Works no problem for me with kernel 3.0.6 and Android 4.0.3.
This is working pretty well for me. later, I'm going to try that adbfs someone mentioned, as well
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Aristide
Not much of a solution for those of us with nand-only devices (like my nexus7)
In the case of large files, I tend to just ftp the files back and forth... not pretty, but it works.
I've found that when I am able to get MTP working on linux, it'll fail if the files are too large (or maybe too numerous) - and that's when I resort to ftp.
I just w wish we had the old functionality back. Spent 3 hours the other day pulling a Rom, thinking I'd gone crazy. The drive mounted in Linux, but the files would not appear in the folder. I must have dd-ed over them like 6 times before I convinced myself I must not be the source of the problem.
Turns out, they didn't show because of the extension I used. Wtf? I'll select which files I don't want to see on my drives when I browse through them, thank you Google!
Aggravating. Ended up copying the files onto an external microsd from another phone, after putting it in my sgs3 and then taking it out and inserting it in my pc.
So much simpler, right Google? God forbid I'd have to unmount a drive after using it f from just conveniently connecting via usb and choosing mass storage. No, that's definitely not a good way to go at it... smh
It always amazes me how Linux gets functionality/support last... It's not like Android is based on it, or anything..
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Last edited by tiede; October 26th, 2012 at 10:17 AM.
this thread still alive? This is the very reason why I stop using my Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab for any media consumption.
cant get any large files without resorting to ftp, samba, webdav or a web server app.
funny thing, the iPhone 5 easily mounts on 6 different Ubuntu/Debian/Linux Mint machines I have. I can pull files, transfer 6GB 1080p bluray mkv videos with zero problems.
Hum ? Well it's still a problem, because so far, I can't find any way round this that I understand and can implement - with Ubuntu 12.10 and a Galaxy Note 2 that runs on 4.1.1 (can't recall the nickname for it - the number comes from the "about phone" facility).
I'll tell you what this does do, it leaves me thinking screw android, screw Samsung and probably EE/Tmobile as well.
If they don't sort something out that works for all, then I'll quite happily dump the lot.
I might know bog all about the sys administration side of things but I'm familiar enough to be able to find a phone that will run the "Ubuntu Phone" system I've read a bit about. As well as moving everything else away from google.......
Still very, very frustrated as it currently means I have a phone that's just that, little more than just a phone. If I can't use it to get to my files, music and other media stuff, it's just another piece of electronic debris.....
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I use a small app called Multi Mount for the External Card I have on my HTC EVO 4G LTE. I run an AOSP ROM which will give me access to my internal SDCARD in my Fedora setup. (I don't do windows) I have to use the native USB for SDCARD access for android to get the stuff of internal and then I can use the Multi Mount program set up to give me the external. It works great for my needs. I can access everything and can move files where I need then with my Desktop Filemanager. The only down side is Multi Mount needs ROOT so you must have a rooted phone. There are other mount programs though so I'm not sure if they need root or not. I use Multi Mount because it works for me.
I like to use Samba on my Linux boxes. Although Windows (and LANMAN before it) has a lot to be critical of, the SMB protocol has lots of advantages for use on home networks. It's interoperable with most operating systems, and because it's connectionless, it's efficient and more suitable for itinerant devices like phones.
I run one of the several SMB clients on my Android phone and tablets (which are all running Linux BTW) and it works great.
if you're using Ubuntu 13.04, the newly updated gvfs with mtp support is pre-packaged.
If you're on Ubuntu 12.04 or 12.10, you can install it from the dev's ppa with the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:langdalepl/gvfs-mtp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
This works for me on Linux Mint 14, with my Galaxy Nexus. It successfully appears as a device in Nemo (my file browser).
note: you may need to have a rooted phone to view and change the files.
Last edited by jameh; February 13th, 2013 at 04:23 PM.
Reason: not all phones are rooted
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Is it just the Google Nexus devices that have dumped USB disk mode in favour of the seemingly MS Windows centric MTP? I've got three ICS 4.0 phones and tablets here, and they all support USB disk mode, i.e. they mount as removable drives on any OS, no nonsense, no fuss.
Last edited by mikedt; February 13th, 2013 at 09:41 PM.
Re: Looking for Linux File Transfer Tool for Android 4.0 Devices...
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikedt
Is it just the Google Nexus devices that have dumped USB disk mode in favour of the seemingly MS Windows centric MTP? I've got three ICS 4.0 phones and tablets here, and they all support USB disk mode, i.e. they mount as removable drives on any OS, no nonsense, no fuss.
No, it's becoming quite common.
My present HTC phone has an /sdcard partition cut out from internal storage, and a physical sd card mounted as /sdcard2. (*)
Only the /sdcard2 is available in usb mass storage mode.
The /sdcard partition is only available via MTP (as is the /sdcard2).
This all began with Honeycomb and the Xoom.
(* Note - sdcard and sdcard2 are links to the actual mount points that vary depending on whether I'm running ics or jb, but the concept and rules I've mentioned are not affected by my shortcut in explaining.)
Is it just the Google Nexus devices that have dumped USB disk mode in favour of the seemingly MS Windows centric MTP? I've got three ICS 4.0 phones and tablets here, and they all support USB disk mode, i.e. they mount as removable drives on any OS, no nonsense, no fuss.
I have a camera or two that give you either option, buried deep in a maze of menus naturally. If you're willing to "dive to the bottom" you might find the same on your phone. BTW, the Linux implementation of Media Transfer Protocol works quite well. It seems like the FOSS community has a real talent for turning all things Microsoft (or Apple) into truly useful software.
I'd suggest using QtADB. It has a nice interface and incorporates other ADB stuff as well. It isn't hard to set up, but if you're looking for something a little easier, install Airdroid. Wifi is fine for small files, and if you connect your PC to your phone via USB tethering, you'll get very fast transfer speeds. This is actually faster than ADB--I've transferred a gigabyte over about 2 minutes using this method.
I won't argue that USB mass storage is easiest, but the read/write speeds of eMMC coupled with a modern FS like ext4 make even the fastest class-10 sdcards feel painfully slow.
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Looking for Linux File Transfer Tool for Android 4.0 Devices...
