MTP access without root rights

Bad Blue Bull · 01-23-2018, 05:41 AM

Hi. I only can have access to my Sony Xperia Z3 as a root user which is inconvinient, there's a qoute from mtpfs' readme:

Quote:

Note that you may need to be root to do all this if permissions on the
MTP device are not correct

what does it mean "permissions on the MTP device" and how to fix them?
Slackware 14.2

Bad Blue Bull · 01-23-2018, 06:08 AM

Okay found it in arch-wiki:

Quote:

Note: The following is likely to not work and you might have to resort to gphoto2 or a file manager with gvfs support like PCManFM.
First edit your /etc/fuse.conf and uncomment the following line:
user_allow_other
Mount your device on ~/mnt:
$ mtpfs -o allow_other ~/mnt

but this time I just can't mount it:

Code:

# mtpfs /home/nr/mtp
Listing raw device(s)
Device 0 (VID=0fce and PID=01ba) is a SONY Xperia Z3 MTP.
   Found 1 device(s):
   SONY: Xperia Z3 MTP (0fce:01ba) @ bus 1, dev 17
Attempting to connect device
Android device detected, assigning default bug flags
Listing File Information on Device with name: Xperia™ Z3 Dual
fuse: bad mount point `/home/nr/mtp': Transport endpoint is not connected

Yes, I've allowed my phone to connect computer and chosen MTP
same with jmtpfs. phone displays menu to select how to use usb but jmtpfs is has exited already "Transport endpoint is not connected". Can't remember how did I made it work last time.
mtpfs now gives me this:

Quote:

# mtpfs /home/nr/mtp/
Listing raw device(s)
Device 0 (VID=0fce and PID=01ba) is a SONY Xperia Z3 MTP.
Found 1 device(s):
SONY: Xperia Z3 MTP (0fce:01ba) @ bus 1, dev 37
Attempting to connect device
Android device detected, assigning default bug flags
Error 7: Found a bad handle, trying to ignore it.
Error 7: Found a bad handle, trying to ignore it.
Listing File Information on Device with name: Xperia™ Z3 Dual
fuse: bad mount point `/home/nr/mtp/': Transport endpoint is not connecte

"Found a bad handle"... ofc phone is unlocked when I try to connect it

Rickkkk · 01-25-2018, 08:40 AM

Hi Bad_Blue_Bull,

Do you absolutely need to use MTP as a protocol or would simple file-based access be sufficient ?

MTP (media transfer protocol) treats the device as a "multimedia" device, essentially for purposes of "syncing" media libraries .. I personally never use this approach, preferring to manually copy media files and organize them the way I choose. For this type of usage, accessing the appliance as a simple removable storage device (similar to the way one would use a USB drive, for example) is all that's required.

Let us know !

Cheers.

Bad Blue Bull · 01-25-2018, 11:34 AM

Rickkkk: I've connected it as MSC this time but I can't find my media files there.

Rickkkk · 01-25-2018, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bad Blue Bull

Rickkkk: I've connected it as MSC this time but I can't find my media files there.

Hmmm. That's odd ... Couple more questions:

Do you see any directories/files at all ?
Is there a removable media card (SD ...) in the device ?
If yes, is it showing up as well as the device itself as a mass storage device ?

Thanks.

Bad Blue Bull · 01-25-2018, 12:00 PM

I can browse dirs but they all are empty. Yes, MSC is about SD card only.

Rickkkk · 01-25-2018, 12:23 PM

Bad_Blue_Bull,

I'm experimenting with this myself right now and having little success myself. I may have been too quick in recommending by-passing MTP.

Am currently troubleshooting using jmtpfs ... will update you with results.

Sorry this turned out being more finicky than I initially expected ...

Rickkkk · 01-25-2018, 12:45 PM

OK ... I had immediate success with MTP after all ... sorry for the confusion. I didn't even need jmtpfs. I just connected the phone (made sure it was unlocked first, which you have confirmed you've also done ...) and got a dialog on it asking me to allow access. Answered OK and it was available via my File Manager (I use PCManFM on Arch). Note that my system has libmtp, gvfs and gvfs-mtp installed.

An annoyance is that access disconnects when the phone automatically goes to its lock screen ... Since it's my office phone, I'm not sure I can modify that ...

So now ... questions:

What file manager are you using ? Do you know if it is is gvfs-capable ? It it is, and you have the appropriate packages installed on your system, it should auto-mount the phone.
Rereading the output you provided, mtpfs and jmtpfs seem to be objecting to your mount point (/home/nr/mtp) ... I imagine you are certain this directory actually still exists ? Are the permissions on the directory sufficiently ... permissive .. ?
Also, although I realize you were advised that root access may be required, have you tried any of this while logged on as your regular user ? That is how it is working in my particular case ...
Lastly, what version of Android are you running on your phone ?

Bad Blue Bull · 01-25-2018, 02:14 PM

1. Dolphin automounts phone, I can browse its memory but I can't open any file.
2. well, well, well, I've managed to access it somehow. Changed mode of the mtp dir to drwxrwxrwx and now it works, but only when I run mtpfs as root. As I said before I could access it few days ago, so not sure if it lasts.
still can't access it as a regular user.

so back to the first msg of topic:

Quote:

Note that you may need to be root to do all this if permissions on the
MTP device are not correct

how to make it available for all users?

Bad Blue Bull · 01-25-2018, 02:27 PM

dddammmnne, unmounted it, mounted it again successfully but can't mount again neither with mtpfs nor with jmtpfs

Quote:

# jmtpfs mtp <<<<<<<<<<<<<< success
Device 0 (VID=0fce and PID=01ba) is a SONY Xperia Z3 MTP.
Android device detected, assigning default bug flags
# ls mtp
SD-карта Внутренний накопитель
# umount mtp
# mtpfs mtp <<<<<<<<<<<<<<< fail
Listing raw device(s)
Device 0 (VID=0fce and PID=01ba) is a SONY Xperia Z3 MTP.
Found 1 device(s):
SONY: Xperia Z3 MTP (0fce:01ba) @ bus 1, dev 24
Attempting to connect device
Android device detected, assigning default bug flags
Error 1: Get Storage information failed.
Error 2: PTP Layer error 02fe: get_handles_recursively(): could not get object handles.
Error 2: Error 02fe: PTP: Protocol error, data expected
Listing File Information on Device with name: Xperia™ Z3 Dual
LIBMTP_Get_Storage() failed:-1
# mtpfs mtp <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< fail again
Listing raw device(s)
Device 0 (VID=0fce and PID=01ba) is a SONY Xperia Z3 MTP.
Found 1 device(s):
SONY: Xperia Z3 MTP (0fce:01ba) @ bus 1, dev 26
Attempting to connect device
ignoring libusb_claim_interface() = -6PTP_ERROR_IO: failed to open session, trying again after resetting USB interface
LIBMTP libusb: Attempt to reset device
Android device detected, assigning default bug flags
Error 1: Get Storage information failed.
Error 2: PTP Layer error 02fe: get_handles_recursively(): could not get object handles.
Error 2: Error 02fe: PTP: Protocol error, data expected
Listing File Information on Device with name: Xperia™ Z3 Dual
LIBMTP_Get_Storage() failed:-1

Bad Blue Bull · 01-25-2018, 03:12 PM

It's weid but I've opened an image with through Dolphin. But can't open another one.

Rickkkk · 01-25-2018, 03:57 PM

While in the directory containing those images, could you run the following command and post the output ? It's beginning to sound more like a permissions issue now ...

Code:

ls -l

Thanks.

Rickkkk · 01-25-2018, 04:04 PM

... Sorry ... just read your 2 previous posts ... It is also sounding unreliable. This is one of the reasons I shy away from MTP when there is another alternative ... It is known to be finicky. Alot depends on the version of Android and how the device manufacturer has configured it.

Unfortunately, Android basically removed UMS mode a couple of versions back, so we are mostly stuck with MTP. On my Samsung Galaxy S7 running Android 7.0 - it seems to work well. Obviously, your experience is not the same.

There are other solutions out there : Airdroid, SCP over SSH, among others. I have no experience with them to share with you, unfortunately. I tend to store anything I'm likely to need on the SD card in the phone and just pop it out and into the computer when I want to transfer or access files. I rarely hook the phone up to the computer for data access.

Perhaps other members can chime in here with more experience ? Sadly ... I am running out of ideas ...

Bad Blue Bull · 01-25-2018, 04:29 PM

Quote:

While in the directory containing those images, could you run the following command and post the output ? It's beginning to sound more like a permissions issue now ...

mounted it again successfully (as root)

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2311802 Jan 21 21:44 DSC_0095.JPG

can't mount it as a normal user