Connect Android Phone to Linux (Ubuntu)
 

I have a Sony Xperia S phone, running Android 2.3,
it has only internal memory 32GB.
When I plug the usb cable between the phone and my PC (ubuntu),
the file manager does not detect its memory.

In Windows, MTP driver is needed,
how about Linux?
What can I do?

Hi future_computer, Welcome to LQ. When you plug the phone into the pc it should ask you which mode, charge only, disk mode, or Sync. If it isn't asking you, goe into settings, Connect to PC, and change the default connection type there.

Good luck. ;-)

In the phone setting, I set it as "storage" under the option USB connection mode.
But it does not work.

In my Android (HTC T-Mobile MyTouch 3G), it connects by default as "charge only" and that message is reflected in the message in the notification panel.

I can touch the notification message and get options to mount it as a disk drive, to tether, and something else I forget. If I select, disk drive, it unmounts the SD card from the phone, making it available to the computer. When I'm done with it, I unmount the drive from my computer, then change the connection type on the phone.

My previous phone (HTC T-Mobile G-1) acted in a slightly different, but similar fashion.

I did look at the manual (http://www-support-downloads.sonymob...261-9418.1.pdf) and there is no mention of Linux.

If you continue to have trouble connecting via usb you can set up a samba share on your pc, install astro with the smb module or some similar file manager on the device and just manage it over the network. You can copy data from the device to the share that way.

Good luck. ;-)

In Windows, it does not work also,
I do not know why?
First time I installed Sony PC Companion in Windows,
connected the phone and it worked.
But later on, the windows trying to install MTP driver, prompted me that it failed,
and device not mounted.

Advise from somebody.

I'm not sure what you're trying to do here. Are you trying to connect to Linux or Windows or both?

Good luck. ;-)

I want to connect to Windows as well as Linux.
Usually Linux can auto detect the phone's internal memory, but this time it does not!

My problem is still unsolved.

I can't help with the Windows aspect; Sony might be your best source of assistance on that.

I do have an idea about the Linux side.

Connect up the phone, the run the dmesg command in a terminal. (you might have to run it as root to get adequate results). Then inspect the output for the part regarding the phone; there will be quite a bit of output, so it will take some looking, but it should be towards the end.

Post the relevant output here. It might help clarify the situation.

I would not suggest the lsusb command because it won't return enough information about whether and, if so, how the computer is seeing the phone's file system.

ok, will try to do it.

Some phones do not allow mounting of the phones storage as a USB mass storage device. You may need to root the phone and install a work around.

An alternative would be to use something like airdroid which allows access via a mini web server on your phone.

I do recall that the Sony website said that there was special Sony software for connecting to Windows.

Sony does not have the best record for openness in the software world. I would not be surprised to find that they have locked this phone down.

An Android phone that cannot mount to a Linux computer would be quite the crime against nature.

Looks like you'll need libmtp to get this working. There is more information here.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...t=mount+ubuntu

Good luck. ;-)

Thank you

yplim@yplim-Inspiron-N5110:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8086:0189 Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1bcf:2880 Sunplus Innovation Technology Inc.
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 1d57:32da
Bus 003 Device 005: ID 0fce:4169 Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB

Nautilus does not detect the phone internal memory.

Can you access the sd card? I'm not sure but, you may need the Android SDK which includes ADB to access the internal memory.

Good Luck. ;-)

AFAIR MTP is the new thing since ICS (?), and before that Linux was always detecting the device as a USB Mass Storage. However, since ICS the "default mode" is now always MTP, which Linux cannot understand without the drivers.

Whereas MTP worked flawlessly for me on Windows 7 (I use it for games only :P), on Linux you can use the old method of connecting as a mass storage, it's a little more tedious but still:

1. Before connecting your phone, go to (phone's) Settings -> More... -> USB Utilities -> Connect storage to PC
2. When a dialog "Connect USB cable to use mass storage" has appeared, connect your cable
3. The USB-Android will appear saying "USB connected", click "Turn on USB storage"
4. Next dialog warns you about some applications that may stop as a result, click "OK".

Note: I'm using Squeeze with SGS2

after doing Factory Reset,
it is ok now. Easy to connect to Windows 7.

Thanks for the update.

Disable USB debugging
 

Hi there
At the top of the phone, you'll hopefully see a bar with the USB symbol. Pull this bar down and disable USB debugging. Or alternatively, Settings | Applications | Development | then untick USB debugging.

When connected via the USB cable, Ubuntu will automatically mount the SDcard (or at least it does for me running Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop).

Good luck.

If your phone's like mine, the computer does not see it or recognize it until the device is put into sharing mode. Apparently it can emulate several different very-different device types, so it doesn't announce its presence on the bus at all until you put it into one of those modes. Doesn't matter what operating system you're using on the host.

@ future_computer

Install Airdroid from google play. It allows you to transfer files between phone and PC and vice versa via a web browser. You can access both internal and external storage. No need to worry about MTP, USB mass storage or operating systems issues.

Demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfNnQxpw7Uw

Cannot connect Android
 

I get this error msg when trying to connect Android 4.1.1 Samsung SGH-T999 (Galaxy S3):

Unable to mount SAMSUNG_Android_SGH_T999

Error initializing camera: -60: Could not lock the device

The 2 Nautilus windows come up, I can see the folders inside, but no files INSIDE those folders.

I also tried CTRL-H or view hidden files; and still, no files.

This is when the settings on the phone are in MTP.
When I change it to Camera (PTP), I can see the folders, I can see the pictures inside the DCIM folder, but no more files, no music, no text files, no anything.

I also get the same error msg as before.
I never had a problem with previuos Android phones, on Ubuntu, and the problem IS NOT only in Ubuntu...also tried Linux Mint 12, and Mandriva...same problem. No problem connecting to Windows & Mac, just Linux and this Galaxy SIII.

I also do not understand that the system asks me to Open Rythmbox Music Player. When I do this, the music player opens, but no music is found.

So, what am I doing wrong?

Thank You!!
Please see a screenshot @ http://mate.uprh.edu/~romici/Screenshot.png