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ibvfteh
Asked: 2018-05-02 10:42:21 +0800 CST

Can't open photos stored on Android system from Ubuntu

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I can't load photos stored on the card of my Android device (Samsung Note 8).

When I try to open them the file manager freezes. I tried to copy paste but progress stays at 0 percent.

I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.

android files phone 18.04

4 Answers

  1. On the Phone side:

    Ensure device is unlocked

    Try changing usb connection options:

    1. Connect the Samsung Galaxy Note to the computer using the USB cable.
    2. Touch and drag the notification bar down.
    3. Touch Connected as a camera.
    4. Touch the required option (e.g. Media device (MTP)).

    On the Ubuntu side:

    You may need to install the libmtp packages:

    sudo apt install libmtp-common mtp-tools libmtp-dev libmtp-runtime libmtp9

    General Troubleshooting

    Try a different USB cable

    Try a different USB port

    Use a powered USB hub

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  2. Possible and very probable reason is the bug of libmtp.

    It seems that it is caused by file with name like 20180915_180351(0).jpg. Samsung phones for example like to create files with such names.

    There are several tickets (one, two and etc) and question about it.

    So possible workaround is to use different mtp options for such directories or somehow change file naming policy of your phone camera (or switch to another camera app like Open Camera for example).

    • 3

  3. I use Ubuntu 18.04. I have a Samsung 8, and I have the same problem. I tried all of the above, and it didn't work. I deleted about half of my files from my phone, and that solved the problem.

    I believe that the problem was too many files on the phone. The reason I believe this is that, over time, as the number of files on the phone increased, it took longer and longer to find them, and eventually it stopped working.

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  4. My Motorola G5 suddenly became visible on my Ubuntu 18.04 system after I moved the conection from a USB2 PC socket to a USB3 socket. Moving back to the USB2 socket: failure. To the USB3 socket: instant correct connection.

    Heaven knows where the issue actually is, but in my case avoiding USB2 ports works around the problem. If you have the option, you may want to try it.

    Bottom line: my hang may differ from yours. The PTP and MTP protocols are very finicky.

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