Q4OS Forum

Mazza

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2017-11-14

Posts: 4

Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Dear all,
I have very successfully resurrected a trusty old 2006 Dell Inspiron 1520 with Q4OS and it now absolutely kills my wife's new Windows 10 machine!

One problem I am having is the Q4OS/Konqueror is unable to detect my new Moto G5 Plus when connected via USB. I want to move files to its internal storage. When I plug in a regular USB flash drive Q4OS has no problem recognising it.

When connecting this phone to our Windows 10 machine it's immediately recognised and I can navigate to the internal storage via Explorer.

Any help would be appreciated.

JimW

Member

Registered: 2015-12-08

Posts: 400

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Welcome to the forum! And to Q4OS

I can't help with your problem, but I'm sure someone on here will be able to help. There are a few users that like fixing problems like this. Then there is also the Q4OSTeam who watch the forum pretty closely! So, be patient a bit and you will probably get your answer!

Mazza

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2017-11-14

Posts: 4

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Thanks Jim.
I am standing by!
Cheers.

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,333

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Hi Mazza - you're not alone! Different phones cause different problems. My old Nokia 5800 no probs, HTC 510 and Samsung A3 - nightmare!

When you plug in the phone it probably flashes up on the phone screen and may give you an option for Mass Storage or MPT or similar. If so go for Mass Storage - it may appear as a drive.

The other option I use is to install mtp-tools and gvfs-backends via synaptic and then install Shotwell.

Shotwell is a good picture viewer/organiser, but best of all, it will easily import pics from an Android phone. It takes  a little getting used to in how it imports into your Pictures folder, but once you've got them that's just organisation.

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Attachments:
shotwell.jpg, Size: 75.51 KiB, Downloads: 721

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 4,501

Website

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

@Mazza
Please see also Q4OS documentation http://www.q4os.org/dqa007.html#android

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Just to add my android phone (Samsung) shows instantly in system-tray and after I allow connection (from phone screen) it connects and I can browse both phone and external storage, although sometimes I have to wait a minute for it to connect fully, and also sometimes it takes two attempts (unplug and plug back in again).

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,333

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

What version of Android / Model of Samsung Dai?

Also I'm still working with Orion so MMMV

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

I'm using Android 6.0.1 on a Galaxy J5, also same Android Version on a J3 (or could be A3??? its not to hand at the moment to check) and they both are working fine.
And I am using Scorpion for all my installs now, but if I get a chance will test them in a VM to see if Orion handles them too.

Mazza

Member

From: Australia

Registered: 2017-11-14

Posts: 4

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Many thanks everyone for your inputs.
I will try all of the above and report back in due course.
For completeness my Moto G5 Plus has Android 7.0 installed.
Regards.

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,333

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Well I must admit this is driving me round the bend with the Samsung A3.
Konqueror crashes, jmtpfs cannot talk to it, gmtp likewise, nothing seems able to talk to it.
Shows up OK in lsusb but after that it just does not want to play either with ptp or mtp.
I've update the mtp tools and associated bits via jessie backports but no joy.
The HTC 510 is on Android 4.4.x and is OK, the Samsung is on 6.x and is just pants for file access.
It's quicker to eject the micro SD card and stick it in an adapter.......
Uploading via Google Photos works, but then downloads all have the same date - which makes sorting a mess.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

I'm going to install Orion on this machine to see if I can figure an easy solution for you, are you running 64 or 32 bit?

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

I just installed (from live-cd) a fresh Orion (64 bit) installation added language and used "Q4OS Pure" profile (nothing installed) and connected my J5 without any issues... I cant test the J3 (or A3) until a few days but will try it when it comes back.

tlmiller76

Member

From: AZ, USA

Registered: 2016-11-29

Posts: 455

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

I just tested with my Droid Turbo 2, and cannot see the phone at all when connected.  Tested with plasma 5, sees the phone as soon as I plug it in, but can't access until I change from "USB Charging" to "Transfer Files".

In q4os, cannot see phone at all, regardless of setting.

I have the following mtp packages installed:
go-mtpfs
jmtpfs
libmtp-common
libmtp-runtime
libmtp9
mtp-tools

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Q4OS Trinity machine - Crelander E160.  Intel Celeron N5105, 16GB LPDDR4, 512GB m.2 SATA SSD, Intel UHD graphics, Intel 7265 Wifi 5 + BT 4.x, 16" 3072x1920 LCD.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

I have a vodafone cheapo android (will post version later) phone and will test that tomorrow to see if it works, but cannot see why some phones work and others don't especially when they have the same OS???

tlmiller76

Member

From: AZ, USA

Registered: 2016-11-29

Posts: 455

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

I'm betting the version of Android.  I think 6.0 they remove the ability for Android to function as a Mass Storage Device (IE, USB drive), so they have to use MTP (media transfer protocol).  So anything running <6.0 probably works without issue, but 6.0 & 7.0 won't.  MTP is very poorly supported in most systems.  Plasma 5 is really the ONLY linux system that I've seen MTP work well in.  I know lxqt it doesn't even if it's the same machine as plasma5, because MTP is implemented through fuse, so userland drivers, not kernel-mode.

Last edited by tlmiller76 (2017-11-19 00:40)

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Q4OS Trinity machine - Crelander E160.  Intel Celeron N5105, 16GB LPDDR4, 512GB m.2 SATA SSD, Intel UHD graphics, Intel 7265 Wifi 5 + BT 4.x, 16" 3072x1920 LCD.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

My J5 is Android 6.0.1 and works flawlessly, I didn't have time to test the cheapo phone today but will definitely do it in the morning, I checked the version and it is 5.1 so will post results of that.

crosscourt

Member

From: Wash DC

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,872

Website

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Well that kind of kills tlmillers theory, interesting.

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Q4OS Aquarius 5.x KDE   Dell Inspiron 3670  i5 8600, GTX 1660 Super, 32gb, 2tb NVME SSD

tlmiller76

Member

From: AZ, USA

Registered: 2016-11-29

Posts: 455

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Be interesting if your phone tells you what mode it's using (mass storage or MTP).  Could still be that's the issue, and I'm just wrong about them having disabled mass storage, and it just so happens that the phone's I've had disabled it since 6.0 (all Motorola's).

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Q4OS Trinity machine - Crelander E160.  Intel Celeron N5105, 16GB LPDDR4, 512GB m.2 SATA SSD, Intel UHD graphics, Intel 7265 Wifi 5 + BT 4.x, 16" 3072x1920 LCD.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Well I tested this cheapo device and when connected it defaults to mtp as connection mode and does not show when plugged into my laptop, I can change the connection mode to ptp (it says camera mode) and then it is picked up as a device and offers to open a new window. However, when the window opened it was empty so I am guessing it is not reading the contents of the device...
On my J5 I get a permissions popup that asks if I want to allow connection to connected device, and when I click allow it gives access to the full storage, but the 5.1 cheapo phone offers nothing on the screen so this could be a simple permissions problem perhaps?

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Now that's interesting... I left the camera connected to usb (camera mode[ptp]) and when it restarted it was read and I now have access to the photo's, but tried it when connected as mtp and still nothing. I will try the Q4OS connection guide and see if that works with this device.

EDIT:
Well that was quick and easy, I just installed gmtp and opened it and clicked on connect and there were all my files WOOHOO!
Probably won't help with your (tlmiller) current problem though, as you have already tried this...

Last edited by Dai_trying (2017-11-20 09:40)

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 4,501

Website

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

@tlmiller76
We would recommend you to try the 'gmtp' application as suggested by Dai_trying, if you didn't already do. Please see documentation https://www.q4os.org/dqa007.html#android

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,333

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

On my Samsung A3 Android 6.01 with Orion:-
gmtp just gives No Raw Devices Found
It does show up in lsusb and dmesg as correct device
Try to open in Konq when plugin detects it and get SIGSEGV 11 crash

What is interesting is that if the phone is set to PTP I get this
robin@poppy:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 04e8:6865 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd GT-I9300 Phone [Galaxy S III] (PTP mode)
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 046d:c30e Logitech, Inc. UltraX Keyboard (Y-BL49)
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 045e:0040 Microsoft Corp. Wheel Mouse Optical
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Whereas MTP mode shows
robin@poppy:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 04e8:6860 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd GT-I9100 Phone [Galaxy S II], GT-I9300 Phone [Galaxy S III], GT-P7500 [Galaxy Tab 10.1]
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 046d:c30e Logitech, Inc. UltraX Keyboard (Y-BL49)
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 045e:0040 Microsoft Corp. Wheel Mouse Optical
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

dmesg shows:-
[ 9946.260093] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 4 using ehci-pci
[ 9946.393967] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=04e8, idProduct=6860
[ 9946.393980] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 9946.393987] usb 1-3: Product: SAMSUNG_Android
[ 9946.393993] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: SAMSUNG
[ 9946.393999] usb 1-3: SerialNumber: 5ebd57e5
[ 9953.115544] usb 1-3: USB disconnect, device number 4
[ 9953.388075] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 5 using ehci-pci
[ 9953.522048] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=04e8, idProduct=6860
[ 9953.522062] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 9953.522072] usb 1-3: Product: SAMSUNG_Android
[ 9953.522079] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: SAMSUNG
[ 9953.522085] usb 1-3: SerialNumber: 5ebd57e5
[10026.000544] usb 1-3: USB disconnect, device number 5
[10026.304076] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 6 using ehci-pci
[10026.437281] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=04e8, idProduct=6865
[10026.437296] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[10026.437303] usb 1-3: Product: SAMSUNG_Android
[10026.437310] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: SAMSUNG
[10026.437316] usb 1-3: SerialNumber: 5ebd57e5
[10267.017941] usb 1-3: USB disconnect, device number 6
[10267.320051] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 7 using ehci-pci
[10267.453809] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=04e8, idProduct=6860
[10267.453823] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[10267.453830] usb 1-3: Product: SAMSUNG_Android
[10267.453836] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: SAMSUNG
[10267.453842] usb 1-3: SerialNumber: 5ebd57e5

In essence it seems like it knows it is there but doesn't know what to do with it.

EDIT:-
Just fired up MX-16 on a usb key and it accesses the phone no problems - using Thunar or gmtp.
MX-16 is Jessie based but runs a later kernel.
Cannot install on my machine as it won't shutdown with that kernel installed.
Can install 3.16 kernel - but it will probably have the same problems as Orion - will see how it goes when I have a spare drive to fit in this machine.

Edit:-
Installed MX-16 - dropped back to kernel 3.16 - Samsung A3 opens up in Thunar nice as pie.
What IS different is that the phone is getting a request to allow access as you have to tap allow to get the connection to work.
So, something is different in Q4OS land.

Last edited by bin (2017-11-20 15:14)

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

I've been following a thread on Debian Forum and one user claims they solved the problem by updating udev to version 233, I noticed there is a version available in the stretch backports repo of 234 which might solve this problem (for Scorpion users at least). Jessie uses 215 and has 230 in backports so I'm not sure it will be any help for Orion users.

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,333

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Interesting. I just checked and Jessie based MX-16 uses 215-17 udev and talks quite happily to my Samsung A3
Right now I'm just using an old Ubuntu 14.04 based distro with udev 204-5 and that works OK with the Samsung as well.
I'll try running a package list and see if anything obvious stands out.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Unable to see Android phone internal storage

Sorry, "Head slap" moment, I went back and read the thread PROPERLY and it was a different issue!