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I've always had issues with compatibility between my Android phone and Ubuntu, but now it's gotten to the point that I can't do anything with it over USB. It's always been that when I plug in my device, an error message appear:

"Unable to mount Android phone "Unable to open MTP device '[usb:001,035]'"

Regardless, I was able to manage my files as long as the phone was unlocked when I plugged it in. However, I now seem to get a new error message (or at least one that I don't recall getting before), which reads:

Unhandled error message:  No such interface 'org.gtk.vfs.Mount' on object at path/org/gtk/vfs/mount/1

I'm not sure if this is the root of my problem. I can view all of the files on my Android device, but when I try to do anything like creating/deleting files, I receive a message saying something like:

Error while creating directory Untitled Folder.
There was an error creating the directory in mtp://[usb001,037]/Internal%20storage.

Under "Show more details", I receive the error:

libmtp error:  Could not send object info.

I can do everything I need to over FTP, but it ridiculously slow for large files. Any help getting my Android and PC to talk to each other is greatly appreciated.

1
  • Make sure the device is connected in Mass storage mode (MSC) and not in Media transfer mode (MTP).
    – user457885
    Jun 14, 2016 at 3:50

9 Answers 9

13

The conflict is between Banshee and the file manager (Nautilus), both are trying to access the device. So if you want to copy the playlist to the device, you must deactivate all the extensions that access your device, in Banshee's Preferences.

Then open your device's music folder in Nautilus, and copy/paste your playlists from Banshee to the Nautilus' window.

This worked for me with Ubuntu 14.04 + Jolla phone with Sailfish OS.

2
  • I don't use Banshee but the problem still persists Dec 10, 2015 at 10:09
  • 1
    Just want to note that this solved my problem as well -- make sure Banshee is not running in the background
    – mb7744
    Apr 13, 2016 at 15:06
12

Try this

sudo apt-get install mtpfs

Then reconnect phone. This works for me. Samsung Note 2 Android 4.4.2

7
  • I have same problem as OP, and installing mtpfs did not solve the issue. I still get the same error when connecting my phone via USB, which worked perfectly fine in 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, and 13.10. Now with 14.04 upgrade, I cant seem to connect my phone at all.
    – Todd
    Oct 13, 2014 at 19:11
  • 1
    im passed the 5 min comment edit window... but apparently my phone (Samsung S5) will connect if i leave the usb plugged in for about 10 mins or so. I was browsing the web for bug reports/solutions on this, then all the sudden was able to click into the phone via nautilus and find my SD card and data i wanted...
    – Todd
    Oct 13, 2014 at 19:31
  • 1
    also wanted to note - i have a second 14.04 machine that had this same problem, and simply installing 'mtpfs' fixed this, though again it took about 10 minutes after the install for it to start working. i also noticed that if i turned banshee media player on, i couldnt access data in my phone, and turning banshee off immediately restored access to the SD card.
    – Todd
    Oct 13, 2014 at 23:54
  • From insane comments and "nothing will work, trust me Linux doesn't work that way" advices. I salute you :) 1 seconds job solved my 20 day problem. Jul 11, 2015 at 17:32
  • 1
    Doesnt work even after I rebooted my system... I'm using Galaxy Grand Dec 10, 2015 at 10:07
3

I had the same problem, but simply closing Banshee solved it. Make sure you don't have any other programs currently accessing the device.

1
  • I don't use Banshee but the problem still persists Dec 10, 2015 at 10:08
2

You could also use:

adb push /path/to/file /path/to/phonestorage 

you need the ADB drivers installed on your computer. You also have to enable USB debugging in developer options on your device.

To enable developer options, go to: Settings>About Phone> Tap Build-number 7 times. (Enabled)

Then go back to settings, you'll find developer options right above About Phone. In here you'll find USB debugging.

When you enable this and connect your device to your computer, it will ask you to give your computer permission with the RSA key (tick the box before accepting it to let the permission stick).

This is for me even quicker then just copying files over like we normally do.

1
  • Same problem over adb on Samsung S5 running cyanogenmod 13.1 Dec 4, 2016 at 19:41
2

I had the following error:

libmtp error:  Could not send object info.

error message due to a : in the file name. I renamed the file, and the problem was solved.

1
  • Similar issue due to either an emoji or an ampersand in the file name (or possibly some other weird zero-width character or something.) Jan 23, 2019 at 23:36
0

I had a similar problem, which was not fixed by the various answer given above. The directory would mount and I could see files, but after a few seconds it would not work anymore. The quick fix solution was: I noticed that the connection breaks everytime the phone goes into "screen lock" mode. So I started swiping the phone screen continuously with one hand while I copied files with the other hand, and that actually worked. I don't know the "correct" fix for this though.

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  • If the screen lock was the problem you can disable it or set its timer to a much longer period in the phone configuration. Dec 23, 2016 at 11:29
0

Same problem. Thousands of popups and file explorer windows would keep coming as soon as I connect my phone. I solved it by choosing "Camera (PTP)" in my phone instead of "Media device (MTP)" by clicking the usb notification.

enter image description here

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  • In this mode, I can't even see anything but photos.
    – tomasz
    May 21, 2019 at 17:03
-1

I had encounter the same problem after a period when the files transfer worked well. But, after some tries, I've got the cause; that the device's file system showed by the mtp protocol on the computer is not correctly synced by the real one: it not show a file/dir that is physically exist on the device, and a creation/renaming of the same entity on the file system occur this error. Solution: keep manually (explorer app) the file system to the same state of the presented one.

I don't know the cause of this mistake.

I hope that can be useful for someone.

-1

It might be weird, but I've just got the same problem with connecting via USB port in my computer with Linux Mint (20.x) and my mobile - smart phone with Android (now is November, 2021 and Android has actualization of system's core from 2019, still actual version).

Nothing above have solved that problem. Still I got a "window" - pop-alert with message: "No such interface 'org.gtk.vfs.Mount' on object at path /org/gtk/vfs/mount/1." After plug cable (USB in computer - charging slot in mobile) I was asked by mobile what kind of connection via USB I want to have. There was 3 options: transferring pictures, transferring files, and charging.

I went to settings of USB transfer and got 4. option: "Device is a source of MIDI signal". Pick 4th option, and back picked "transfer of files". It has helped.

If I could speculate what was the problem, I don't know without some developing tools and time for it. I think it was some not clear setting in my mobile, made by applications in Android which, in short, made some fault connection. If not - only things comes to my mind is that it was some sort of spy app by any app I had on my mobile, and I got rid of, just before to make such steps I just wrote. I hope it was not. Ah, then there were some settings I made while I was trying to figure this out (permissions for apps ect. I've changed and reduced), what shouldn't have any influence on USB settings, drivers or anything with copies files from mobile into computer, unless it was hidden (spy) app.

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