Android phone access in Dolphin does not work

[Gary Dale]

I'm running stretch/AMD64 and I'm having extreme problems accessing my
Samsung S5 phone from my Plasma5 desktop.

When I plug the phone in, I get the notification with 2 suggested
actions. They both read "Open with File Manager" but the first one opens
Dolphin with "camera:..." while the second opens Dolphin with "mtp:..."
in the location bar. When I actually try to navigate to the folder with
my photos, I get a notification on the phone telling me a device is
attempting mtp access... When I click "Allow", I get another
notification pop-up on my desktop with the same two options...

When I actually try to access the photos, I frequently get "process
died" or "I/O error" messages, although sometimes I can actually see a
photo (not just the file names) - persistence pays off. Moreover the
phone will lock when connected, even if a file transfer is underway.
This kills the transfer.

To make matters worse, I have photos and videos that I have taken which
show up in the Gallery on the phone and which I can view on the phone
and see when I remove the SD card and read it directly but which don't
show up in Dolphin.

Clearly this is not the way the process is supposed to work. I can
understand the phone requesting a verification for the connection, but
everything on the desktop side seems wrong:
- the two actions should be distinguishable by their description,
- the process shouldn't die and if it does, it should relaunch,
- the connection should block the phone from locking if locking will
stop file transfers,
- there should be a record of the error in a log somewhere. As it is,
all I can find is a lot of systemd journal entries like "Jan 24 14:01:33
transponder kernel: usb 4-5: usbfs: process 20598 (mtp.so) did not claim
interface 0 before use" which seem to occur before the device is
actually recognized.
- all the photos should show up.

[ken]

It sounds like you want to offload files from your android. For a few
years now I've been using Software Data Cable to do this, free app, no
cable needed. Launch the app and it sets up an ftp server on the
phone. Then from my laptop I log in, navigate, up- and download files.
When done, I shut down the ftp server on the phone. Easy-squeezy.

[Tony Baldwin]

Just in case the above doesn't work out for you (and I'm going to look
into that one, myself), because, in my experience, this disaster called
MTP is simply a headache...
I'm going to suggest what I do to access storage on my Motorola Droid II.
Install Dropbox.
Alternatively, if you have access to any remote server running an ftpd,
AndFTP is an option. I've done both, and currently find the dropbox most
convenient.

Tony
--
http://tonybaldwin.me
all tony, all the time

[Gary Dale]

I'm going to hazard a guess that this problem is Linux specific since
the hordes of Android users would rebel if this was happening on
Windows. However I can't understand why it should be such an issue since
the MTP is an open specification that has been around since 2008 and
Google is heavily involved with it.

The Dropbox idea sounds reasonable if I don't mind putting massive
amounts of data onto the Internet. I think I'll try the software data
cable instead.

Thanks.

[deloptes]

Gary Dale wrote:

> the MTP is an open specification that has been around since 2008 and
> Google is heavily involved with it.

Have you tried jmtpfs?

regards

[RLewis]

Hello Ken and Gary --

Ken: Thanks for the tip -- I'm going to give it a try,

Gary: I'm using KDE Connect right now. Install the app[1] on your phone (I
have an S4) and the software[2] on your computer (I'm using jessie, but I
see that there is a newer version available for stretch). It works well and
is easy to use.

Robert

[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kde.kdeconnect_tp
[2] https://packages.debian.org/stretch/kdeconnect

[Gary Dale]

I went to install kdeconnect on my desktop but it was already installed.
I installed the app on my phone but it can't see anything to connect to.

I reinstalled kdeconnect on my desktop but still nothing, whether the
phone is connected to USB or just attached wirelessly. Any ideas on
what's going wrong?

[RLewis]

Hi Gary --

Have you tried "Refresh" on the phone? If not, then tap on either the
three-dot menu on the upper right or the menu on the lower right. If your
desktop still isn't listed under Available Devices, and it has its own IP
address, you can add it to KDE Connect on the phone -- press either menu,
then "Add devices by IP".

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Robert

[ken]

Just a quick tip for using Software Data Cable: When you fire it up on
your android, you'll get a screen helpfully telling you the ftp command
to run on the other end... but the command they give isn't right...
well, maybe it is for Windows, I don't know. What's worked on Linux for
me dozens of times is this:

$ ftp [phone's IP address] [port number]

Software Data Cable uses a non-standard port for its ftp service... a
good thing, since ftp isn't the most secure protocol in town. Note that
there's a space between the ip and port#... also the first arg is just
numbers.

I wish there was an ssh-based app for android... I've looked for such,
haven't found it. Is that a Windows thing?

[Darac Marjal]

On 02/02/17 20:38, ken wrote:
> Just a quick tip for using Software Data Cable: When you fire it up
> on your android, you'll get a screen helpfully telling you the ftp
> command to run on the other end... but the command they give isn't
> right... well, maybe it is for Windows, I don't know. What's worked on
> Linux for me dozens of times is this:
>
> $ ftp [phone's IP address] [port number]
>
> Software Data Cable uses a non-standard port for its ftp service... a
> good thing, since ftp isn't the most secure protocol in town. Note
> that there's a space between the ip and port#... also the first arg is
> just numbers.
>
> I wish there was an ssh-based app for android... I've looked for such,
> haven't found it. Is that a Windows thing?
>
>

SSH Client? I use JuiceSSH (com.sonelli.juicessh) for that.
SSH Server? I use SSHDroid (berserker.android.apps.sshdroid) for that.

[Gary Dale]

Verified my desktop's IP address and added it but when I go back to the
KDE Connect Devices panel, it still isn't there even after a refresh.

I don't see a menu on the lower right. What I've got is something on the
top left that when I press it, it shows me my phone and an option to
"Pair new device" that simply takes me back to the Devices panel.

My desktop's IP address remains in the Custom device list panel but
never shows up anywhere else.

I've verified that my phone is on my local network.

I found kdeconnect-cli on my desktop but it also shows no devices.

[RLewis]

Sorry, my mistake -- I meant lower left. It doesn't really matter since
it's the same menu as the upper right.

> What I've got is something on the
> top left that when I press it, it shows me my phone and an option to
> "Pair new device" that simply takes me back to the Devices panel.
>
> My desktop's IP address remains in the Custom device list panel but
> never shows up anywhere else.
>
> I've verified that my phone is on my local network.
>
> I found kdeconnect-cli on my desktop but it also shows no devices.

It sounds like you've done everything correctly. If both your phone and PC
are connected to the network, I think it should just work. The only other
suggestions I have are to add your hostname and/or your
<username>@<hostname> in the "Add devices by IP" screen.

The KDE Connect Community Wiki doesn't have much information, but does have
a troubleshooting tip if you're behind a firewall.

About your USB connection: Do you have kio-mtp installed? I can connect to
my phone that way, too. Just make sure that the phone's USB PC Connection
is set for MTP.

All the best,
Robert

[Gary Dale]

I don't see any menu on the lower part of the screen. Everything is at
the top. There's a 3-bar symbol top-left that bring out the "pair new
device" dialog and there is the 3-dotmenu top-right that allows me to
refresh, rename device or add devices by IP.

>
>> What I've got is something on the
>> top left that when I press it, it shows me my phone and an option to
>> "Pair new device" that simply takes me back to the Devices panel.
>>
>> My desktop's IP address remains in the Custom device list panel but
>> never shows up anywhere else.
>>
>> I've verified that my phone is on my local network.
>>
>> I found kdeconnect-cli on my desktop but it also shows no devices.
> It sounds like you've done everything correctly. If both your phone and PC
> are connected to the network, I think it should just work. The only other
> suggestions I have are to add your hostname and/or your
> <username>@<hostname> in the "Add devices by IP" screen.
>
> The KDE Connect Community Wiki doesn't have much information, but does have
> a troubleshooting tip if you're behind a firewall.
>
> About your USB connection: Do you have kio-mtp installed? I can connect to
> my phone that way, too. Just make sure that the phone's USB PC Connection
> is set for MTP.
>

Thanks Robert but even adding the username@ didn't help.
still
re. kio-mtp: I installed it and it seems to make the phone behave
better. However I'm still getting mtp protocol died messages. As for
setting the USB PC connection to MTP, how do I do that? I can't find
anything in the settings that looks like it controls that.

[RLewis]

The lower left menu I mentioned is the phones Menu key, left of the Home
key. It has the same dialogue as the top right.

>
>>
>>> What I've got is something on the
>>> top left that when I press it, it shows me my phone and an option to
>>> "Pair new device" that simply takes me back to the Devices panel.
>>>
>>> My desktop's IP address remains in the Custom device list panel but
>>> never shows up anywhere else.
>>>
>>> I've verified that my phone is on my local network.
>>>
>>> I found kdeconnect-cli on my desktop but it also shows no devices.
>> It sounds like you've done everything correctly. If both your phone and
>> PC
>> are connected to the network, I think it should just work. The only
>> other suggestions I have are to add your hostname and/or your
>> <username>@<hostname> in the "Add devices by IP" screen.
>>
>> The KDE Connect Community Wiki doesn't have much information, but does
>> have a troubleshooting tip if you're behind a firewall.
>>
>> About your USB connection: Do you have kio-mtp installed? I can connect
>> to
>> my phone that way, too. Just make sure that the phone's USB PC
>> Connection is set for MTP.
>>
> Thanks Robert but even adding the username@ didn't help.

I'm sorry to hear that you're still unable to get KDE Connect working. I
tried another jessie desktop, installed KDE Connect, connected to the
network, launched KDE Connect on the phone, and that desktop (displaying my
<username>@<hostname>) just showed up under Available Devices. I hope I
don't run into the same problem you're having when I upgrade to stretch.

I just checked the KDE Connect depends and see that sshfs is listed. Do you
have openssh-server and/or openssh-client installed? Just a thought.

> still
> re. kio-mtp: I installed it and it seems to make the phone behave
> better. However I'm still getting mtp protocol died messages. As for
> setting the USB PC connection to MTP, how do I do that? I can't find
> anything in the settings that looks like it controls that.

On my S4, with OS v. 5.01, after I connect the phone with the USB cable,
when I use the pull-down menu there is a notice that says: "Connected as a
media device. Touch for other USB options." Tapping that notice takes me
to the USB PC connection page where I can choose between MTP or PTP
connections.

All the best,
Robert