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Amanda
Asked: 2013-05-21 04:12:18 +0800 CST

How do I mount my Android phone?

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I'm puzzled because my phone used to just appear when I plugged it in. It doesn't anymore and The development options are definitely set to allow USB debugging. The phone is charging via USB but doesn't appear in lsusb

[0 amanda@luna android-sdk-linux_86]$ lsusb
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:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 17ef:4807 Lenovo UVC Camera
Bus 003 Device 012: ID 413c:1003 Dell Computer Corp. Keyboard Hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 08ff:2810 AuthenTec, Inc. AES2810
Bus 003 Device 013: ID 413c:2010 Dell Computer Corp. Keyboard
Bus 003 Device 014: ID 046d:c001 Logitech, Inc. N48/M-BB48 [FirstMouse Plus]

adb devices -l shows nothing.

In my Wireless and Network settings I changed the USB connection settings to "Mass storage" -- they were set to "Ask on connection" though I definitely wasn't getting asked. I don't get any Click here to connect via USB alert either.

I'm not even sure whether the issue is my phone or my computer. It seems odd that it isn't even appearing in lsusb

Not for nothing, the thumb drive on my keyring also does not appear in lsusb -- I've tried both in a bunch of different ports. I kind of assume the thumb drive is just borked, but it could be my OS.

usb

4 Answers

  1. Android doesn't support mounting your phone as a USB mass storage device anymore as of Android 4.x. It's all MTP now. Installing mtp-tools should make lsusb list your device. To mount your device as a drive you have to follow a few more steps. Check this site: http://www.mysolutions.it/mounting-your-mtp-androids-sd-card-on-ubuntu/

    ... but that doesn't solve the mystery of your thumb drive not appearing anymore...

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  2. Best Answer

    If this were me I would try:

    • Restarting the phone. Sometimes a power cycle is all it takes.

    • A different cable. They're surprisingly fragile things with no internal redundancy. Mass production has done nothing to enhance their longevity. Most people have about a thousand of these cluttering up their houses so it should be a simple swap.

    • A different port. They can break and internal connectors can fall out.

    • A different computer (assuming one is conveniently close by). I once had a problem with a USB chipset that refused to talk to a SGS2 in download mode. Everything else was fine but the SGS2 would just make the USB subsystem hang. Tried it in a laptop and it just worked.

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  3. Android 7.1.x onwards (I think, but could be from 6.x also), the USB-cable connected to the device is put into charging-mode-only. This is to avoid filesystems crashing when disconnected without proper unmounting. You must switch to file sharing mode on your phone to transfer files.

    After connecting your phone to your computer, go to your phone's settings and search for "usb" or "cable" and look for the option that says "Enable File Transfer" (or something to that effect). Then, the phone will declare itself as a USB device and lsusb in Linux will show the device. Then, you install the ADB Linux toolkit (using apt install <blah> on Ubuntu/Debian or dnf install <blah> on Fedora) and you can then use: adb shell your-linux-shell-cmd-here.

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  4. I've got a Motorola phone (Moto e) running Android 10. First thing I did was to become a 'developer' on the phone following the instructions from this site:

    https://wccftech.com/how-to/how-to-enable-developer-options-on-android-10-tutorial/
    Yes you actually have to tap keep tapping on 'Build Number' ~10 times. (odd interface IMHO)

    Once you become a 'Developer', on the phone, go to 'Default USB configuration' (in the Networking category)

      System->Advanced->Developer Options->Default USB configuration

    Set it to 'File Transfer'. Now, when you hook up your phone, you'll hopefully be able to see your files with the File Manager (I'm using Thunar).

    So, the MTP stuff seems to choke now:

    $ mtp-folders
    ...
    error returned by libusb_claim_interface() = -6LIBMTP PANIC: Unable to initialize device

    And it doesn't appear that anything gets mounted at all, so I haven't really answered the question, but at least you can get your files/pictures off.

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