# MTP

Related articles

- USB storage devices

MTP, or the Media Transfer Protocol, is a USB device class which is used by many mobile phones (e.g. Samsung Galaxy S4) and media players (e.g. Creative Zen).

## Installation

### Functionality

Linux MTP support is provided by installing the libmtp package. It can be installed on its own and used to access devices. However, a number of packages are available that use it as a dependency and add additional convenience (e.g. filemanager) functionalities and compatibility with particular device types - which includes improving transfer access speeds.

These packages to choose from all implement a Wikipedia:Filesystem in Userspace:

- mtpfs
- jmtpfsAUR - is reported to work well for newer Android 4+ devices
- go-mtpfs-gitAUR - is reported to work well for newer Android 3+ devices
- simple-mtpfsAUR
- android-file-transferAUR - MTP client with minimalistic UI

All of them aim at better functionality and performance over `libmtp`. Since there are a lot of different USB devices, you might want to research first which one looks most suitable for yours.

Tip: It is recommended to reboot your computer after installing MTP related packages.

### Integration with file managers

To view the contents of your Android device's storage via MTP in your file manager, install the corresponding plugin:

- For file managers that use GVFS (GNOME Files), install gvfs-mtp for MTP or gvfs-gphoto2 for PTP support.
- For file managers that use KIO (KDE's Dolphin), install kio-mtp (PTP support is included by default).

After installing the required package, the device should show up in the file manager automatically and be accessible via an URL, for example `mtp://[usb:002,013]/`.

## Usage

It might be required to create a mount-point directory first. The directory `~/mnt` is used as an example below. Also do not forget to unlock your phone's screen before connecting it to the computer.

### libmtp

Detect your device:

    # mtp-detect

If an error is returned, see troubleshooting libmtp.

Note: Your regular user must be in the `uucp` group.

Connect to your device:

    # mtp-connect

If connection is successful, there are several switch options to use in conjunction with mtp-connect to access data on the device. You might want to use some stand alone commands:

     mtp-albumart        mtp-emptyfolders    mtp-getplaylist     mtp-reset           mtp-trexist
     mtp-albums          mtp-files           mtp-hotplug         mtp-sendfile
     mtp-connect         mtp-folders         mtp-newfolder       mtp-sendtr
     mtp-delfile         mtp-format          mtp-newplaylist     mtp-thumb
     mtp-detect          mtp-getfile         mtp-playlists       mtp-tracks

Warning: Some commands may be harmful to your MTP device!

### mtpfs

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

Unmount device mounted on `~/mnt`:

    $ fusermount -u ~/mnt

### jmtpfs

Mount device on `~/mnt`:

    $ jmtpfs ~/mnt

Unmount device mounted on `~/mnt`:

    $ fusermount -u ~/mnt

### go-mtpfs

Note: Mounting with `go-mtpfs` might fail if an external SD Card is present. If you try to access your device while having an SD card and go-mtpfs complains, try removing the SD card and mounting again.

Install android-udev, which will allow you to edit `/etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules` and apply to your `idVendor` and `idProduct`, which you can see after running mtp-detect. To the end of the line, add your user `OWNER="<user>"`. First, create the `fuse` group if it doesn't exist:

    # groupadd fuse

Add yourself to the `fuse` group:

    # gpasswd -a <user> fuse

Reboot might be required.

Mount device on `~/mnt`:

    $ go-mtpfs ~/mnt

Unmount device mounted on `~/mnt`:

    $ fusermount -u ~/mnt

### simple-mtpfs

List MTP devices:

    $ simple-mtpfs --list-devices

Mount your device on `~/mnt`:

    $ simple-mtpfs ~/mnt

Unmount device mounted on `~/mnt`:

    $ fusermount -u ~/mnt

### Android File Transfer

FUSE interface

    $ mkdir ~/my-device
    $ ./aft-mtp-mount ~/my-device

If you want album art to be displayed, it must be named `albumart.xxx` and placed first in the destination folder. Then copy other files. Also, note that fuse could be 7-8 times slower than ui/cli file transfer.

Qt user interface

Start the application, choose a destination folder and click any button on the toolbar. Available options are: Upload Album, Upload Directory and Upload Files. The latter two are self-explanatory. Upload album searches the source directory for album covers, and sets the best available cover.

### Media players

You can also use your MTP device in music players such as Amarok. To achieve this, you might have to edit `/etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules` (the MTP device used in the following example is a Galaxy Nexus). Run:

    $ lsusb

Search for your device. It should be something like that:

    Bus 003 Device 011: ID 04e8:6860 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd GT-I9100 Phone [Galaxy S II], GT-P7500 [Galaxy Tab 10.1]

And entry to `/etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules` will be this:

    SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="04e8", ATTR{idProduct}=="6860", MODE="0666", OWNER="[username]"

Also reload udev rules:

    # udevadm control --reload

## Troubleshooting

### libmtp

#### Unknown device

If you see a message like:

    Device 0 (VID=XXXX and PID=XXXX) is UNKNOWN.
    Please report this VID/PID and the device model to the libmtp development team

You should check whether your device is listed in the supported devices list. If it is not, you should report it to the developers team. If it is, your `libmtp` might be slightly outdated. To allow it to be properly used by `libmtp`, you can add your device to:

    /etc/udev/rules.d/69-libmtp.rules

#### Unable to enumerate USB device

This article or section is a candidate for merging with [[]].

Notes: Unrelated to MTP, perhaps suited for USB storage devices (Discuss in Talk:MTP#)

If you see a message like this in system log (`journalctl`)

     usb usb4-port2: unable to enumerate USB device

You can try following temporary workaround

     # modprobe -vr uhci_hcd
     # modprobe -va ohci_hcd
     # modprobe -va uhci_hcd

If it works you should create `/etc/modprobe.d/usb_hci_order.conf` with following content

     # create a dependency on ohci for uhci, which fixes problems
     # with external usb devices not showing up
     #
     softdep uhci_hcd pre: ohci_hcd

### gvfs-mtp

This article or section is a candidate for merging with udev.

Notes: please use the second argument of the template to provide more detailed indications. (Discuss in Talk:MTP#)

If you have installed the gvfs-mtp package, and your device doesn't show up in the file manager, you might need to reboot or write a udev rule in order to auto-mount the device.

Plug your device and get the vendor-id and product-id,respectively:

    $ lsusb
    Bus 001 Device 007: ID 0421:0661 Nokia Mobile Phones Lumia 920
    (...)

The two numbers after ID are vendorId : productID

Then make a udev rule, e.g.

    # nano /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

and type this rule:

    ATTR{idVendor}=="YOUR VENDOR ID HERE", ATTR{idProduct}=="YOUR PRODUCT ID HERE", SYMLINK+="libmtp",  MODE="660", ENV{ID_MTP_DEVICE}="1"

Reload the udev rules.

    # udevadm control --reload

And reboot the system. Now file managers (like Thunar) should be able to automount the MTP Device. [1]

### kio-mtp

If you are not able to use the action "Open with File Manager", you may work around this problem by editing the file `/usr/share/apps/solid/actions/solid_mtp.desktop`.

Change the line

    Exec=kioclient exec mtp:udi=%i/

To

    Exec=dolphin "mtp:/"

Categories:

- Storage
- Mobile devices