How do I make my Linux PC mount my Android 4.2.2 phone using MTP?

Question

I have just purchased a new TCL (S950) Idol x phone and I'm figuring out some issue to make it visible on my system.

This phone uses Android 4.2.2 and I guess this is the cause of the issue: my previous phone with android 4.1 was correctly displayed in nautilus/dolphin ( using mtpfs )

Now I have tried to install mtp-tools but nothing has changed.

lsusb gives me that list (T & A Mobile Phones should be my phone )

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 003 Device 002: ID 1bbb:0168 T & A Mobile Phones 
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 003: ID 1bcf:2b80 Sunplus Innovation Technology Inc. 
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 8086:0189 Intel Corp. 

dmesg gives me this output:

[15780.855333] usb 3-2: new high-speed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[15780.874336] usb 3-2: New USB device found, idVendor=1bbb, idProduct=0168
[15780.874348] usb 3-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=4
[15780.874354] usb 3-2: Product: TCL S950
[15780.874359] usb 3-2: Manufacturer: TCT
[15780.874364] usb 3-2: SerialNumber: FESKMRSOYLW8RKSK

Any idea what could be wrong here ?

UPDATE: I have added the following rules to udev (/etc/udev/rules.d/11-android.rules ) and now at least adb shell works fine:

## TLC
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1bbb", ATTRS{idProduct}==”0167″, MODE="0777", OWNER="fra"

( change OWNER user name with yours )

Answer 1

I've written a tutorial on how to get MTP devices recognized under Ubuntu. If you've already installed mtptools and added the udev rule, you still need to create a static mount point for your device and let mtp know that's where it lives. Make sure you've restarted either your computer or the udev service since you added the udev rule (sudo service udev restart), and then

1. sudo mkdir /media/MTPdevice (call the directory whatever you like)
2. sudo chmod 775 /media/MTPdevice
3. sudo mtpfs -o allow_other /media/MTPdevice

Attach your phone (make sure it's unlocked, if you have a pin or swipe pattern). You should then be able to see both the internal and external cards. Note that you won't be able to open files directly from the cards, you'll need to copy them locally first.

Answer 2

As suggested by @Logos this works (take care of using sudo):

sudo mtpfs -o allow_other /media/MTPdevice

However mtpfs is very unstable on this phone so I tried go-mtpfs and I found out it works better. You can install go-mtpfs using the info provided in their site

The command to mount the phone is very similar (change the bin path according to yours) :

sudo /usr/lib/go/bin/go-mtpfs /media/MTPdevice/

Automount
Once you are able to mount the device with the above command you can make the phone automount: You only have to add a couple of rules to udev.

You will need those info:

• ID_MODEL (mine is TCL_S950 )
• ID_MODEL_ID ( mine is 0167 )
• Installation path of go-mtpfs ( mine is /usr/lib/go/bin/go-mtpfs )

You can find those info running this command in a terminaludevadm monitor --environment --udev and plug/unplug your phone.

Now you can create/edit an udev rules /etc/udev/rules.d/99-android.rules and add these lines (change ID_MODEL and ID_MODEL_ID with yours):

 # Mount  
ENV{ID_MODEL}=="TCL_S950", ENV{ID_MODEL_ID}=="0167", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/usr/bin/sudo -b  /usr/lib/go/bin/go-mtpfs -allow-other=true /media/MTPdevice"
# Umount 
ENV{ID_MODEL}=="TCL_S950", ENV{ID_MODEL_ID}=="0167", ACTION=="remove", RUN+="/bin/umount /media/MTPdevice"

At this point everything should work, check this thread for more details: source

Answer 3

Assuming you're using a Ubuntu 12.04 or 12.10 based distro (v13 & up supports this natively) and that gvfs-mtp is already installed:

1. Add the backport repository for MTP support in GVFS:

   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:langdalepl/gvfs-mtp
   sudo apt-get update
   

2. Upgrade the system, you should see many gvfs packages in the list:

   sudo apt-get upgrade
   

3. Reboot.

Source: http://blog.sukria.net/2013/03/09/support-for-nexus-4-in-ubuntu-12-10/

Answer 4

Actually,the easiest way is to modify /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/69-libmtp.rules adding your product ID as it is likely that it already contains your vendor ID,so create a new line for your device with your VID and PID,restart udev and it works!