Update: The GVFS-MTP module is included in the default installation since 13.04.
For troubleshooting see this anwser.

There have been several projects to bring MTP support to Linux during the recent months. Here is a quick overview:

GVFS

The best solution would be to use GVFS via the recently released GVFS-MTP-backend to mount your Android phone. There are two PPAs with a newer GVFS version.

1. 
   

   ppa:langdalepl/gvfs-mtp

   
   
   

       sudo add-apt-repository ppa:langdalepl/gvfs-mtp
   
       sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   ppa:webupd8team/gvfs-libmtp

   
   
   

       sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/gvfs-libmtp
   
       sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
   
   

   
   

Source:

• https://linuxundich.de/de/ubuntu/gvfs-update-ermoglicht-unter-ubuntulinux-endlich-den-bequemen-zugriff-auf-android-gerate-via-mtp/


• http://www.webupd8.org/2013/01/upgrade-to-gvfs-with-mtp-support-in.html

go-mtpfs

You could use go-mtpfs to mount your Android phone.

Install needed packages and get the source:

sudo apt-get install golang-go libmtp-dev

sudo go get github.com/hanwen/go-mtpfs

sudo ln /usr/lib/go/bin/go-mtpfs /usr/local/bin/

Add yourself to the group fuse (after that log out and log in again):

sudo adduser $USER fuse

Create a folder for your Android phone and mount it with go-mtpfs into that folder:

mkdir android

go-mtpfs android

Unmout your Android phone (wait for the end of file operations):

fusermount -u android

Source: https://linuxundich.de/de/android/mit-go-mtpfs-unter-linux-auf-android-handys-via-mtp-zugreifen/

jmtpfs

You could use jmtpfs to mount your Android phone.

Download jmtpfs, unpack and change into directory:

cd /tmp

wget http://research.jacquette.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/jmtpfs-0.4.tar.gz

tar -xzf jmtpfs-0.4.tar.gz

cd jmtpfs-0.4

Add yourself to the group fuse (after that log out and log in again):

sudo adduser $USER fuse

Install needed packages, compile and install (for checkinstall questions hit enter) jmtpfs:

sudo apt-get install libmtp-dev libfuse-dev libmagic-dev checkinstall build-essential

./configure

make

sudo checkinstall

Create a folder for your Android phone and mount it with jmtpfs into that folder:

mkdir ~/android

jmtpfs ~/android/

Unmout your Android phone (wait for the end of file operations):

fusermount -u ~/android

Source: https://linuxundich.de/de/ubuntu/mit-jmtpfs-mtp-gerate-wie-das-galaxy-nexus-oder-das-samsung-galaxy-siii-in-ubuntu-mounten/

It's not worth it. Use something like SSHDroid and then connect over ssh. There are also FTP servers and even Droid NAS that gives CIFS access. MTP does not work well, and likely will continue to not work well for the near future.

If you really want to get MTP working then make sure you set your Nexus to NEVER lock the screen or power off the screen. Locking the screen with "lock" the MTP protocol as well, causing all manor of data loss and connection issues. Powering off the screen in the stock kernel (might even be hardware) will turn the CPU down as much as it can and enable tons of other strong power saving features, that will result in horrid (but still working) transfers.

MTP is a Microsoft technology and is not officially supported on Linux. I've tried Mtp-Tools many times too, without success. If you consider an alternate method though, I've two recommendations:

• Using FTP, instantiating an FTP server on your tablet via Software Data Cable or other software.


• Using adb, which is a tool of Android SDK, to push and pull files from tablets and phones, through USB Debug Mode. To use adb, get it working and run adb push /source/path /destination/path. Better explanation : http://log.amitshah.net/2012/05/using-adb-to-copy-files-to-from-your-android-device/
  

This indicates that for Ice Cream Sandwich, Ubuntu file transfer is as simple as ticking the PTP checkbox. In a few seconds you are browsing the filesystem in Nautilus.

Pictures taken directly from: Source

As Dan mentioned, a wireless file transfer app like AirDroid is a good solution.

These apps fall into two subcategories:

1. ones where you access your files through the browser (AirDroid), and


2. ones where you FTP into your phone using a FTP client like FileZilla (and FTP Server).

Such an app is fine for small files but for transferring HD movies, you would need hours or days. Max transfer speed on Ubuntu is about up to 260KB/s (for some reason) while on Windows 7 it's about up to 1MB/s.

There's gMTP which is available in the app store, but chances are it won't work for your Galaxy S3 - it doesn't work on mine, most of the time. (You have to wait out the app hanging; it looks like it crashes whenever you interact with the app but if it recovers, then you know it works.)

If you need speed, the best solution is the one posted by BuZZ-dEE, although the original source is English:

http://research.jacquette.com/jmtpfs-exchanging-files-between-android-devices-and-linux/

You'll need to be comfortable with the terminal, compiling programs from source code and editing source code, though. If anyone needs a walkthrough, let me know.

gmtp provides a friendly UI to access new mobile devices and I've used it reliably for years.

http://gmtp.sourceforge.net/

I would recommend 'Go-mtpfs'. There are two ways to use this program that I should explain.

1. 
   

   First, install the program using the following commands:

   
   
   

   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/unstable
   
   sudo apt-get update
   
   sudo apt-get install go-mtpfs
   
   

   
   

Using the terminal

If you want to use the program via the terminal or if you simply hate unity.

2. 
   

   Mount your MTP device

   
   
   

   For mounting your device probably do the following command.

   
   
   

   go-mtpfs /media/MyAndroid`
   
   

   
   
   

   Leave your terminal open so long you use your device.

   
   


3. 
   

   For unmounting your MTP device

   
   
   

   Close the terminal or do Ctrl+C for terminate the program.

   
   
   

    fusermount -u /media/MyAndroid
   
   

   
   

Using the custom Unity Launcher

1. 
   

   First install the launcher:

   
   
   

   sudo apt-get install go-mtpfs-unity
   
   

   
   



2. Press the Ubuntu button on the unity launcher. Search for "Mount Android Device". And drag the icon to the unity bar.



3. 
   

   Then simply right-click the icon and you should get this:

   
   
   

   

   
   

Enjoy your android device that now works perfectly on Ubuntu :D.

source

This post is similar to the first one you linked, but the steps are a bit different. It might help to give it a try.

The steps are summarized below for convenience.

Disclaimer

I have not personally tried the following steps. I cannot guarantee their safety or usefulness. Use at your own risk.

Mounting

1. 
   

   Install the relevant packages:

   
   
   

   sudo apt-get install mtp-tools mtpfs
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   Create a new udev rule using the following command (requires password):

   
   
   

   gksu gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
   
   

   
   


3. 
   

   Here we will deviate from the posted steps a little based on a comment from the linked post. In a terminal, run lsusb with your Nexus 7 connected via USB. You should see output like the following:

   
   
   

   Bus 001 Device 010: ID 18d1:4e41 Google Inc.
   
   

   
   
   

   Keep the two colon-separated values after the ID part in mind for the next step. They are what you should set ATTR{idVendor} and ATTR{idProduct} to, respectively.

   
   


4. 
   

   Type the following text into the file, all in a single line (numerical values used are those from the original posted steps):

   
   
   

   SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="04e8", ATTR{idProduct}=="6860", MODE="0666", OWNER="your-username-in-ubuntu"
   
   

   
   
   

   As an example, using my username and the values from the comment, the line I would enter would be:

   
   
   

   SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="18d1", ATTR{idProduct}=="4e41", MODE="0666", OWNER="christopher"
   
   

   
   


5. 
   

   Create a mount point for your Nexus 7:

   
   
   

   sudo service udev restart
   
   sudo mkdir /media/Nexus7
   
   sudo chmod a+rwx /media/Nexus7
   
   

   
   


6. 
   

   If your Nexus 7 is not already plugged in, do so now. Then run the following command on Ubuntu in order to access it:

   
   
   

   sudo mtpfs -o allow_other /media/Nexus7
   
   

   
   
   

   This should allow you to use Nautilus in order to browse your Nexus 7 and transfer files.

   
   

Unmounting

When you are finished with whatever you are transferring, run the following command to unmount your Nexus 7 before unplugging it:

sudo umount mtpfs

And in case that didn't work...

...you can take a look at a supposedly more reliable way to connect here.

If your computer and Nexus are on the same wifi network, you can use an app called AirDroid. It's free

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5zYW5kLmFpcmRyb2lkIl0.

1. Open app on device.




2. Go to web.airdroid.com on computer web browser.




3. Enter passcode generated on device into the web app.




4. Automatically connects. You can transfer files, view contacts and many other things. It's great. I use it all the time.

I hope this helps.

Add the raring repositories to sources.list and

sudo apt-get -t raring install gvfs

After this I can browse the filesystem on a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Android 4.1.2, using Nautilus.

Note that the apt-get pulls in quite a few packages from Raring including a new libc6.

this works great for getting the android 4.2.2 phones to show up in 12.04 Ubuntu.

Edit the /etc/apt/sources.list to add raring then install gvfs. It took a few attempts to get apt to install everything (apt-get -f install). I may have borked something else, but for now this particular problem is resolved.

Keith

I followed the steps mentioned on the post u link, and worked fine for me, but i mounted using sudo command before the mount.. another thing i pluged the device before doing all the steps. and now is working fine.. Also check that ur device have enable the option USB computer connection, there i selected Media device (MTP). That's all i have done.. hope u can make it work soon. Regards

I have an LG P880 and I have created a directory inside "Pictures" and named it "ptp"
then I connect my device as PTP, and copy files to pictures/ptp

There's one little problem though, I couldn't see a transfer dialog while copying files, so, I think you need to estimate time.. for me, I compress big files into little piece and wait for them to appear on the other side, then remove device after a while.

Then, of course, open any file manager and move/extract files to desired location. I use this method all the time..

Got it working with my Nexus 4 by installing the newest version of libmtp from launchpad. The version for Raring Ringtail works fine on my 12.04 system. The instructions stay the same as in your tutorial.

Edit: Although it works, it's painfully slow... I'm right now copying with 7 kb/s

Edit2: Nvm, it got up to 350 kb/s, which is acceptable I presume.

Is your Android device password protected and locked? I found I was getting the error:

Transport endpoint is not connected

because I hadn't entered the password. Once I authenticated on the device, I could connect.

Makes complete sense when you think about it. You shouldn't be able to just grab a device you don't have a password for and connect to it via computer.

SSHDroid step-by-step

This was mentioned by https://askubuntu.com/a/222851/52975 but newbs like me need more details:

1. Connect the phone and PC on a single LAN.

On Android:

1. Install https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=berserker.android.apps.sshdroid on the phone. Other SSH servers should also work.


2. Start SSHDroid on the phone. If you close the window, and it will keep running on the background.


3. Inside the app, note the Address: field. E.g.: root@192.168.0.3:2222.

In Ubuntu:

1. sudo apt-get install openssh-client


2. Open nautilus > File > Connect to server as mentioned at: nautilus connect to server via ssh no longer present in ubuntu 14.04
   


3. Use Server address: sftp://root@192.168.0.3:2222 and password admin. sftp is a type of FTP over SSH that already comes installed with SSH servers.


4. When Nautilus connects, you are left in a folder that contains just .bin and .ssh. The address bar is empty because we are actually in a folder called home, and Nautilus hides what comes before as that works well for regular Linux installs. Do Alt + up to go to the parent folder, and we see that we were actually inside: /data/data/berserker.android.apps.sshdroid.

Advantage of this method: you likely already need SSH to log into a shell in the android phone.

Downside: it is less powerful than mounting a network folder. E.g., if you browse to an audio file, and click it, the music player will see the sftp address, and might ask for the password again to open it (if it can handle sftp).

Tested on Ubuntu 15.10, Android 5.1.1.

I usually use file transfer app such as Xender 's browser app. It is easy to setup and even easier to use. Plus comes in handy when you do not have a USB cable lying around. You can get it on your phone from here.