smartphone not recognized by linux mint 17
 

I have a samsung galaxy s4, and linux mint 17. When I plug the phone in via USB, the computer does recognize it, and the folders appear on the screen (SD card, phone), but none of the files open, whether it's pictures, videos, documents, etc. It shows an error message each time. Any fix for this?

What says /var/log/messages?

Sorry, I am really ignorant with computers; is that a command to paste into the terminal, just as is?
thanks

Use the file manager to navigate to /var/log/
Then open messages and search for messages containing "usb".

or

in terminal:

less /var/log/messages

.

Appears to be similar to the situation with my Galaxy Victory. I connect the phone to my computer, the file manager pops up showing me both the phone and its external microSD card. I can browse, but cannot open any of the files. To actually view the contents of the phone's files, I have to first unmount it (using gvfs-mount) then remount it using simple-mtpfs (Fedora) or jmtpfs (Ubuntu and derivatives). Code to do this for my phone is attached

Sorry, rockdoctor, I am really an ignoramus when it comes to computers, and those links you gave me are incomprehensible to me. Are those commands that I am supposed to enter into the terminal? Or?

The two files constitute one program that you can run from a terminal window. I'll try to lay out the process sequentially for you.
1. Open a terminal window and enter each line of code exactly as shown below in a terminal window

2. Install jmtpfs. I'd just do it in the terminal window with the following command:3. Plug in your phone. The computer should recognize the phone, but in the "wrong" mode (wrong in the sense that you can't view the files). We need to unmount the phone and then mount it in the proper mode.

4. We unmount the phone with the following command:5. Now we will mount the phone in such a way as to allow you to view the files. To do this, we need a place to mount the phone (a mount point). We can use an existing directory (which will hide the contents of that directory as long as the phone is mounted) or create a new mount point. I created a new subdirectory in my home directory as the mount point for my phone (I named it phone) as follows: 6. Now we mount the phone: 7. Your phone should now be properly mounted, and you should be able to view the contents of the phone's files.

Hello, well I tried. this is what I get from the terminal; I think the problem is I don't know how to create a mount point. I tried, as you can see, but the commands are probably wrong.

[sudo] password for paul:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
ktorrent-data libsyndication4
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
jmtpfs
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 50 not upgraded.
Need to get 39.0 kB of archives.
After this operation, 153 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe jmtpfs amd64 0.5-1 [39.0 kB]
Fetched 39.0 kB in 0s (61.3 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package jmtpfs.
(Reading database ... 192325 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../jmtpfs_0.5-1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking jmtpfs (0.5-1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.6.7.1-1ubuntu1) ...
Setting up jmtpfs (0.5-1) ...
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ gvfs-mount -u mtpfs
Error finding enclosing mount: Containing mount does not exist
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ sudo mkdir /home/phone
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ sudo mkdir /phone
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ gvfs-mount -u mtpfs
Error finding enclosing mount: Containing mount does not exist
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $

It's explained in the post by RockDoctor. When you open a terminal as a user you should be in the /home/username directory so just type the command shown above: mkdir phone

Your mistake was doing: mkdir /home/phone. Just do: mkdir phone If you want the full path and your username is actually zealbert, you would do: mkdir /home/zealbert/phone. You should then see a "phone" directory in your /home/username directory and go to the next step.

I've pasted what I get in the terminal as responses, doesn't seem to be working

paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ mkdir/home/user/phone
bash: mkdir/home/user/phone: No such file or directory
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ sudo apt-get /home/phone
E: Invalid operation /home/phone
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ mkdr/home
bash: mkdr/home: No such file or directory
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ sudo apt-get /home/user/paul/phone
E: Invalid operation /home/user/paul/phone
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ mkdr/phone
bash: mkdr/phone: No such file or directory
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ mkdr home
No command 'mkdr' found, did you mean:
Command 'mkdir' from package 'coreutils' (main)
mkdr: command not found
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ mkdr corutils/home
No command 'mkdr' found, did you mean:
Command 'mkdir' from package 'coreutils' (main)
mkdr: command not found
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ mkdr coreutils/home/phone
No command 'mkdr' found, did you mean:
Command 'mkdir' from package 'coreutils' (main)
mkdr: command not found
paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $

I found a folder "phone" under "files"; then I typed in "jmtpfs phone in the terminal, and this is what I got:

paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $ jmtpfs phone
Device 0 (VID=04e8 and PID=6860) is a Samsung Galaxy models (MTP).
ignoring libusb_claim_interface() = -6PTP_ERROR_IO: failed to open session, trying again after resetting USB interface
LIBMTP libusb: Attempt to reset device
fuse: bad mount point `phone': No such file or directory
Unable to open ~/.mtpz-data for reading, MTPZ disabled.paul@paul-System-Product-Name ~ $

I learned about a workaround for this at my LUG. Install AirDroid. It works very nicely.

It will prompt you to back up your stuff to the Airdroid servers (I wouldn't on a bet--I've expended a lot of effort to create my home cloud right here--I don't need anyone else's), but it also will enable you to connect to your computers over your wireless network. This article gives a good intro to it.

Thanks, but it didn't work. The article concerns version 1.0.4 beta, and what I downloaded is version 3 (what's available on google play); it looks completely different, and the instructions don't really apply for this new version. It looks nothing like what is shown in the article. Sounds like a great workaround, though. What about those other apps that are listed, like "wifi file transfer", or "droid over wifi"?

Note the space after "mkdir":

Thanks, I'll give it a shot. That's the only problem with Linux; people like me who are not computer savvy; no way I would have known about that space. Nevertheless, I will never go back to Windows. I'll just have to learn as I go, I guess.

I have Airborne 3.03. That was the best link I could find in an intensive five or six seconds of research.:) I admit I didn't read it critically.

The thumbnail is this: turn on Airdroid. It will connect to your local network, if you have wireless (you will need to enter credentials).

It will display two links on the phone's scree: one to the Airdroid servers and one showing its local IP address, like this: 192.168.1.111:8888. Enter the latter address, including the port number, in your browser.

Your browser will ask for permission to connect and Airdroid will ask you if you want to accept the connection. Accept in both, and your browser will display a file manager-type view of your Android (you may have to navigate around a nag-screen or two).

Do not leave Airdroid running when you are done with it. If you go to a public place, it will keep hitting available networks.