Linux, Android, and MTP
 

Does anyone else find the lack of support for MTP bad?
I may be wrong here, and correct me if I am! I used to just use an SD card in my old android. Now, with the new phone I just got today (Droid Maxx), I am unable to connect it to my Debian laptop.

I have found this to be that my device isn't supported by libmtp. Although I am not certain of this. Has anyone had any problems/fixes for this?

I have had the same experience. My solution was to install and use AirDroid on my phone for a local wireless connection (not to use the AirDroid "cloud." And turn off AirDroid when you are done, or it will keep hitting any wireless networks in range.)

I sent a bug report and it looks like this device was added to the next release!

Same here, and using Jessie I still can't access phone. I used to use airdroid, but since they upgraded it and you have to sign up for an airdroid account to use it anymore, I switched to wifi file transfer. Works great, actually much better than Airdroid IMO.

That hasn't hit me. When it does, the app is gone from my phone.

Probably won't until you replace your phone (which I just did a few months ago, which is how I discovered it).

old android devices would connect as normal usb devices, new ones need mtp.
it is still possible to connect the phone directly, though (no wireless needed).
basically installing libmtp and some other stuff should suffice, but for convenience:
those are all git packages, search and you will find how to install them on your system.

i agree mtp sux. i use airdroid, sshdroid, vncdroid, andftp, kies-air, file expert, ... (but each of those rely on a wifi router).

I used to use Airdroid as well. I now have two other ways to transfer files to my android phone which is faster than using the wifi method. I am running kit kat 4.4.2.

I use PCManFM and android sdk using the adb command. PCManFM is a file manager and supports the MTP protocol.

There is no support for my device in libmtp.

@ Webtm

Give PCManFM a try.

sudo apt-get install pcmanfm

After installation, connect your device with a usb cable to the computer and when your device asks how to connect, select Media sync MTP.

Next, launch pcmanfm. If all goes well, you should see a one or more android icons representing your internal and external storage.

well it might be just a udev rule missing somewhere; try one of the utilities i suggested, or search github, or the web itself.

Had a similar issue with my Moto g. Turned out to be a bad cable. Bought a new premium cable from Monoprice and it works perfectly. May not be your issue, but it was mine and it costs next to nothing to try.

I used to use Airdroid as well. I now have two other ways to transfer files to my android phone which is faster than using the wifi method. I am running kit kat 4.4.2.

I use PCManFM and android sdk using the adb command. PCManFM is a file manager and supports the MTP protocol.
me too

Not all USB cables are created equally. Some are for charging only, and don't have data pins connected. They're actually rather common. You have to use a real data cable to connect a phone to a computer. This may or may not be the OP's problem (probaby not) but it's something to keep in mind if you're having problems connecting a phone to a computer. It's not that the cable is faulty, it's just the way it was built, with cost control being the overriding parameter.

I will keep that in mind. However that doesn't seem to be the issue since I am able to transfer with a Windows machine with the same cable. Just seems to be that there isn't support for my device.

I bought a Dragon Touch Y88X Android tablet from Amazon for $55.00. It runs Android 4.4.2, but somebody forgot to tell the makers that Android no longer supports USB mass storage. Mine works fine. The only problem is that you have to go into Developer Options and turn off USB Debugging. Otherwise Windows will insist that you install a driver that you will have a hard time finding.

I haven't had trouble getting libmtp installed and hooking my phone up to grab files, but I'm currently in the second or third hour of what seems to be a < 1GB/hr backup of about 3k various files, about 3GB in all. It is mostly image macros and bullshit, but I want to keep it anyway. Is there anything I can do to speed it up, or at least troubleshoot what is going on so the next time I want to backup my phone I don't have to basically leave it overnight?

I was also having a lot of troubles with the MTP suddenly shutting off, but I think that was probably from me jiggling the cable and wasn't really an issue on a software layer.

In a way I'm annoyed at Google for breaking a simple function but in a way it was a good thing. I find it easier now that I set up a sync server that I never have to plug in my devices.

I use Foldersync Lite to transfer files between my phone and desktop. It supports many cloud services as well as FTP, SFTP and SMB/CIFS.

If there are any problems with MTP on Android devices I recommend to try Android File Transfer for Linux.