Kubuntu insists my Asus Transformer is a camera - won't transfer files to it

[Guest]

All excited with my new Transformer, plugged it into the USB expecting to copy a load of files to it for after-hours reading and watching, but NOOO!

Kubuntu (12.04 to be Precise) insists on mounting it as a Camera. The Transformer is in debug mode, configured to connect using MTP (Media device) and not PTP (Camera). The Kubuntu USB widget shows it as 3 devices, all cameras - evidently seeing the Tranformer's cameras as separate devices. But, on selecting the "Asus Transformer" it still mounts as a camera. The nett result is that KDE refuses to copy files to it (though why it would/should refuse to copy arbitrary files to a camera is beyond me - I've often in the past carted files around using my camera as a handy form of thumb-drive.)

Where/how do I tell KDE that this device is emphatically NOT a camera?

[SecretCode]

While waiting for someone who actually knows about such things to turn up ...

The first thought that occurs to me was a usb_modeswitch problem. Perhaps the Transformer is presenting both a camera and a mass storage device. But I don't think that's likely to be relevant.

Then I found this: How to Connect Asus EeePad Transformer via USB in Ubuntu - YouTube It's Ubuntu not Kubuntu but that shouldn't matter. It annoys me when you have to watch a video to learn something that could have been explained in a paragraph ... and it annoys me to have people expect me to run some random script instead of just saying what packages and/or commands you need ... but it looks like a solution. Definitely worth trying at least.

He's suggesting package mtpfs and a script:

#!/bin/bash
#Transformer Mount Script
#Created by QuidsUp
#Last Edited 27 Nov 2011
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MntDev() {
  #Check if the folder /media/Transformer already exists
  if [ -d /media/Transformer ]; then
    echo "Mount Point /media/Transformer exists, unmounting the device now..."
    sudo umount /media/Transformer
    sudo rm -r /media/Transformer
    echo "Asus Transformer Unmounted"
    echo "Re-run this script if you would like to mount the device again"
  else
    echo "Mounting Asus Transformer..."
    sudo mkdir /media/Transformer
    sudo chmod 775 /media/Transformer
    sudo mtpfs -o allow_other /media/Transformer
    echo ""
    echo "Asus Transformer Mounted at /media/Transformer"
    echo "Re-run this script to Unmount the device"
    echo ""
    echo "Please wait a Minute for Tablet to complete mounting..."    
  fi
}
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

echo "Asus Transformer Mount Script for Ubuntu"
echo "Created by QuidsUp"
echo ""

#Need to check of mtpfs exists
if which mount.mtpfs >/dev/null; then
  MntDev
else
  echo "Package MTPFS is not installed"
  echo "Installing Package now..."
  echo ""
  sudo apt-get install mtpfs
  echo ""
  #Has package actually installed? Check again
  if which mount.mtpfs >/dev/null; then
    echo "MTPFS Successfully Installed."
    MntDev
  else
    echo "Installation of MTPFS failed"
    echo "Please Install package MTPFS, and then re-run this script"
  fi  
fi

(No licence stated so I am assuming the author is happy with the code being reproduced here)

[dmeyer]

Custom rom or stock? If its custom then MTP will often be borked and require manually editing some rules otherwise its odd that it won't work painlessly.

[jlittle]

This is true for Android 4, Google removed the USB mass storage stuff. Nothing about Kubuntu.

I tried installing mtpfs for my Samsung, then eventually found I have to root the phone to get it to work.

[Edit] Well, wouldn't ya know it. I re-googled, and noticed that others had had success if they used the mtp tools within 3 seconds of plugging in the phone and it worked.

I had installed mtp-tools, mtpfs, and libmtp-dev, and I had built jmtpfs from
http://research.jacquette.com/jmtpfs...ces-and-linux/
a month ago, but no joy. (I expect some serious attention to mtp support in linux now.)

jmtpfs just gives one a fuse mount, with limitations, so one can, say, browse the phone with dolphin. I imagine a udev rule could do the mount automatically within the three seconds, but I doubt if I'll bother.

[dmeyer]

UMS was not removed entirely. It's just unavailable to devices without a removable SD card for some retarded reason.

[jlittle]

My Samsung Galaxy S 3 has a removable SD card, but only the camera, read-only, PTP, mount appears.

[dmeyer]

If you are running CM then its simple, connect it. System Settings > Storage (Click menu) > USB computer connection > Mass Storage. Done and dusted. Stock S3 also has it (I just checked.) That procedure works for most custom roms but some stock ones don't have UMS.