Score:4

Can't transfer files from Android to Ubuntu via USB cable

th flag
K D

I am using Ubuntu 21.10. I tried to transfer files from my Android phone (Redmi Note 4) to my laptop via USB cable by enabling the file transfer option on the phone. Ubuntu detects my phone, but when I tried to open files in my phone on the laptop, it shows:

Unhandled error message: The name :1.103 was not provided by any .service files

It doesn't open the contents on my phone. Please help.

walttheboss avatar
es flag
The variety of phones and other issues makes this a tough one. You are not alone. Have you enabled developer options? {do so by tapping build number 7 times or so.} Watch your phone when you connect and see if you need to allow something or choose what protocol to use. I have battled this for years. I gave up and just use MixPlorer and ftp. Slightly slower but very easy to navigate.
Score:3
ni flag

I just had almost exactly this same problem with Ubuntu 20.04 and an Umidigi Android phone. I've never had trouble connecting my phone to the same computer under Windows 10, so I surmised that there was no problem on the phone's end. I was also able to switch the phone's connection to PTP and have it work in Ubuntu, but of course the phone would only transfer photos in that mode.

After digging around I found that Ubuntu doesn't include MTP support by default, which is needed to do general file transfers with Android. I opened a terminal and typed:

sudo apt-get install gmtp

and after I shut down and restarted the machine, I was able to connect my phone and browse its files as I expected.

de flag
gmtp is just a utility. I think you want to install the mtp-tools package instead.
Hawkwind avatar
ni flag
@Berend de Boer Well, installing gmtp solved this issue for me. Perhaps mtp-tools is a dependency of gmtp.
MarsAndBack avatar
cn flag
This solution worked for me initially, then after a certain reboot (in the near-future) this no longer worked. I had to also do `nautilus -q` to get functionality returned. See: https://askubuntu.com/a/1360217/756587
bluepearlsky avatar
za flag
Installed 'gmtp' 22.04.1. Rebooted. Worked for me with Galaxy M31.
Score:2
fr flag

On many Android devices, you'll need to drop down the Notifications and select the USB connection, then tell it you want to enable storage or something like that. For security reasons Android defaults to Charging mode when you plug into a computer. Once you've done this, you should see a notification in Ubuntu that a new removable media device has been connected.

Score:0
tv flag

I solved my problems with transferring files from Android by plugging a thumb drive into my phone.

Score:0
dj flag

After editing /etc/udev/../rules/files setting my phone IDs (thru lsusb) I managed to workaround this only by selecting at the phone (when asked) to use it to "Transfer Images" not "USB transfer files", and that made the trick, any filetype I'm allowed to write/move/copy/paste from Nautilus...

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.