FTPServer 2.9.1 works great on old Android 5.1.1 tablet, but not on Android 7.1.1 tablet. Any Fix?

[Russel Future]

In reading over the old posts, I see that it looks like FTPServer does not work on Android 6 or 7.11 or later versions of Android.  Is this true??

I use the FTPServer on my old Huawei Android phone *all the time*.  It is a nice product, and works well.

I want to have the same functionality on a newer, Android 7.1.1 tablet.  But when I FTP

into the Android 7.1.1 tablet, I can see *MANY* Android files - but I cannot see the "/sdcard" directory.   This is really rather silly, and probably is the result of the /sdcard directory (which is actually a local directory where all my data files and mp3s and video files and APL programs and DOS programs are stored.) 

The /sdcard directory is just a local directory, and I can see it and navigate thru it on the Android Tablet - and I can see all the public Android files when I FTP into the tablet - so FTPServer 2.9.1 is working fine - it just cannot see the /sdcard directory -probably it's just a stupid permissions issue, or some silly thing that Samsung forced into the tablet operation with Knox or something like that.

  

I really like this FTPserver product (it works really well on my Android 5.1.1 phone),and I am sure it can be made to work on the Android 7.1.1 tablet (its a Tab-A, from Samsung - several years old, but it's also a daily-use machine ... except now I want to transfer files from and to it, and it seems for now, I simply cannot!

I can get out a cable, and use ADB to migrate files, but that is just silly, given that I've been using the wifi for years on the Android phone, and it works fine.

So - is there some way to tweak the /sdcard directory on Android 7.1.1, (or a later version of Android?) so that FTPserver 2.9.1 (66) can see it?

If there is not, I will just jailbreak the stupid Tab-A, and use SSH and SCP - but I just need to migrate some datafiles back and forth between my Linux boxes, and the Tab-A, which now runs Android 7.1.1, and should really be upgraded to a newer Android version - except that might break things even more, of course.

TL;DR:  On an Android 7.1.1 tablet - can FTPserver 2.9.1 be made to *see* the /sdcard local directory on the tablet, which already has a bunch of my local files in it?  (There is no actual SD card in the tablet.)   

Thanx for any info anyone can provide. If I can hack a solution to make FTPserver 2.9.1 work on the Android 7.1.1 Samsung Tab-A, I will post it here.

And a shout-out to Andreas Liebig!  Great software.  Really fine, and runs well - I can FTP from my Linux platforms into my older Android tablets, and it is fast, and easy.   Hope there is a solution to let it work on later Android versions!  (IF not, I will have to make one... !)  Thanx for making the FTPServer 2.9.1.   I use it regularly to migrate pictures and data from the Huawei, to the Linux boxes.  - Rus

[Russel Future]

Ok - found the fix.   FTPServer 2.9.1 (66) actually works fine on the Android 7.1.1 Samsung Tab-3.   I just transfered a 121 mb video file from my Linux box onto the tablet, and it transfered in binary, and can be viewed on the Tab-3 no problem.

There is just a little glitch in the way the server is handing back the default directory to the client FTP, I think.

FTPServer on the Tab-3 is configured to use /sdcard as its default directory.  "/sdcard" is a soft-link to "/storage/self/primary", which is where the user-files can be put.

You can start FTPServer 2.9.1 (66) on the Android 7.1.1 tablet, and just run an FTP session from Linux command line in a terminal window, and send files that way.  The FTPserver running on the tablet works correctly, manages wake-locks, and accepts the file.  The protocol from my CentOS-7.4 Linux box is simply:

   

[me@my_machine] ftp   (run FTP, you might need to install it on your Linux box...)

ftp>  open aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd  pppp  (where aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd is Tablet IP#, and pppp is FTPserver port#)

    FTPserver makes the connection, but it sets the default directory as "/storage/emulated/0", which  is wrong

   (it should be "/sdcard".  You just have to change it with the local FTP command "cd /sdcard".  The

   FTPServer still reports the default remote directory as /Storage/emulated/0, but if you enter "ls" to see

  the remote files - you see the contents of /sdcard, which is /Storage/Self/Primary )

ftp>  Name:   (enter the USERID you setup in FTPserver)

ftp>  Password:  (the password for USERID, defined in FTPserver)

 (FTPserver on Tablet tells you it has connected... and reports it is sending in binary form, which is good..)

ftp> !ls   (to check your local files)

ftp> cd /sdcard/Movies   (FTPserver will report it is using /Storage/emulated/0/Movies)

ftp> prompt off   (Turn off the stupid FTP prompting...)

ftp> mput Yatta*    (send your files to /Storage/Self/Primary/Movies, softlink name of: /sdcard/Movies)

ftp> close   (close the connection, once the files are sent..)

So, from Linux command-line, the FTPServer can be run on the Android 7.1.1 Tablet, no problem.

If running from a file-window, it messes up, because as you click around on files and directories,

the fact that FTPserver is reporting the wrong directory string, messes up default directory

references.  But if you just explicitly run it at command line, FTPServer works fine.

Remember - there is plaintext transmission happening here - so don't use FTP for high

security or financial stuff.  But it's fine if you are remote, and only sending videos and text files

which you can verify have been sent to the Tablet correctly.

Hope this note is useful for someone...

- Rus