Since Android switch from mass storage to MTP, it’s being hard to connect an Android phone to Linux and use it to browse files. I had that problem every single day, having to resort to another choices.

I’ve tried this on Gentoo Linux and Ubuntu 12.04, but I guess it should work on any distribution.

Since using mass storage, two partitions cannot be mounted simultaneously, Android developers switch to MTP. Here’s a better explanation

Some parts of this tutorial have been borrowed from here: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/12/how-to-connect-your-android-ice-cream-sandwich-phone-to-ubuntu-for-file-access

Most credits should go to Bilal Akhtar (from http://www.omgubuntu.com).

What I’ve did was taken a step further. Since udev can execute scripts automatically, why not use udev to manage most of the operations?

Note: unless specified, all commands are to be run as the root user (or if you use sudo, just prepend sudo to the commands)

Install packages

For this to work, we’ll rely on fuse and libmtp

Ubuntu:

apt-get install mtp-tools mtpfs

Gentoo:

emerge -av sys-fs/fuse sys-fs/mtpfs media-libs/libmtp

Go to /media (or /mnt) and create a folder with a relevant name for the device

cd /media

mkdir AsusFT201

We’re doing this because udev only knows about the removed device when you actually remove it and that’s is not good to remove the device without first umount it. Here’re going with Bilal Akhtar solution (references in the bottom of the document) and have an alias to umount the device

Now, on the computer, run the following command:

tail -f /var/log/messages (or tail -f /var/logo/syslog on Ubuntu)

Now connect your device to the computer. In your device, make sure to select “Media device (MTP)”

The kernel messages after connecting the device:

Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.446971] usb 1-3: default language 0×0409
Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.447477] usb 1-3: udev 11, busnum 1, minor = 10
Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.447479] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=04e8, idProduct=6860
Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.447481] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=4
Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.447483] usb 1-3: Product: SAMSUNG_Android
Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.447484] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: SAMSUNG
Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.447486] usb 1-3: SerialNumber: 111X1111XY11111Z
Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.447552] usb 1-3: usb_probe_device
Oct 8 16:43:27 nightraider kernel: [ 5263.447555] usb 1-3: configuration #1 chosen from 2 choices

SerialNumber is the line we’re looking for.

With this value, let’s create the udev rules.

create the following file:

(I use vi, you can use emacs or gedit. Still, you don’t know what you’re missing by not trying vi)

vi /etc/udev/rules.d/81-android.rules

Read here why the file is called 81-android.rules

and add the following lines (replace 111X1111XY11111Z with the serial with your device):

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ATTRS{serial}==”111X1111XY11111Z”, MODE=”0666″, GROUP=”plugdev”, SYMLINK+=”AndroidPhone”, RUN+=”/usr/bin/mtpfs -o allow_other /media/ AsusFT201″

Notes:

The full path of the commands is necessary. Read the udev manual for more information

I went with serial because it is unique and I’ve seen the idDevice change in the same computer. – can someone confirm if this is possible ?

Now save and quit the editor.

Reload the udev rules:

udevadm control –reload-rules

Now, edit /etc/fuse.conf and remove the comment from the last line (just delete the ‘#’)

From:

#user_allow_other

to:

user_allow_other

Add yourself to the fuse group (if not already)

To find out, type:

id (as your user)

uid=1000(username) gid=1000(username) groups=1000(username),4(adm),24(cdrom),27(sudo),29(audio),30(dip),44(video),46(plugdev),60(games),105(fuse),109(scanner),111(lpadmin),115(netdev),124(sambashare),1012(sharing),1013(bumblebee)

If you don’t have the group in your list, just run the following command:

gpasswd -a <your_username> fuse
Adding user <your_username> to group fuse

On Gentoo you need to add your user to the group disk

The command is the same, just replace fuse with disk

You need to logout and login again for it to take effect (if not in the group)

After that, just plug your device and wait a bit. I’m saying wait a bit because for me, my phone (with ICS) and my tablet (with JB) take a while to mount. Don’t know why. This happens in both distributions.

Umounting

To unmount the device, just edit your .bashrc file (in your home) and add the following lines:

vi ~/.bashrc

Give it the name you want – replace android-disconnect

alias android-disconnect=”fusermount -u /media/AsusFT201″

Save and quit

Now, execute the command:

source ~/.bashrc

Now you can remove the device issuing the command android-disconnect

References:

http://hackaday.com/2009/09/18/how-to-write-udev-rules/

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/12/how-to-connect-your-android-ice-cream-sandwich-phone-to-ubuntu-for-file-access