Files <-> Samsung Galaxy S4

[Greg Kettmann]

I have an S4, also for work.  I use ES File Explorer File Manager. It's 
a file browser to see all the files on my phone.  It also supports the 
network so, when I'm home, I can also look at the LAN, and my local file 
shares, and move or copy files around.  Not an automatic procedure but 
very effective.  Not dissimilar to Astro File Manager, also suggested, 
but I've had better luck with ES File Explorer.

Greg

On 3/25/2014 11:50 PM, Ben Scott wrote:
>    Work has provided me with a new handheld computer, a Galaxy S4, made
> by Samsung.  It runs Android 4.3 plus whatever unspeakable horrors
> Samsung and Verizon have inflicted upon it.  There's a microSD flash
> memory card mounted inside, and I'd like to be able to copy files to
> and from it, from my Linux home desktop.  This is proving unreasonably
> hard.
>
>    Aside from coping general documents, photos, etc., back and forth, I
> have a large collection of MP3 files on my desktop that I want to keep
> in sync on my handheld -- adds, changes, *and* deletes.  rsync does a
> fine job of this on a filesystem.  My previous handhelds let me plug
> in the USB cable and access the mem card as a USB Mass Storage Class
> (MSC) device.  In other words, like a disk drive.  Block device
> appeared, I mounted it, I did filesystem things, I unmounted it, done.
>   Apparently that's not an option for this device.
>
>    Difficulty: I can't root the device.  Corporate policy.  Whatever I
> do has to play by the rules.  Apps are generally OK, but not apps that
> attempt to circumvent security mechanisms.
>
>    It appears the Galaxy really wants to speak MTP (Media Transfer
> Protocol).  I've been playing with MTP stuff on Linux.  My desktop is
> running Debian 7.4 "wheezy", kernel 3.2.0-4 package version 3.2.54-2.
>
>    There's some issue that causes libmtp to hang for 20-30 seconds
> whenever it opens the device.  That's maddeningly irritating at best.
> If you're wanting to run a bunch of commands in sequence, it's
> basically a showstopper.
>
>    I've played around with the mtp-tools package from Debian (package
> version 1.1.3-35-g0ece104-5).  It lacks a command to create
> directories.  It can't transfer more than one file at a time (see
> "showstopper", above).  The commands lack any documentation or help.
> I think they're actually just example skeletons from the libmtp
> sources that were packaged up and passed off as utilities.  :-p
>
>    I tried the mtpfs FUSE filesystem (1.1, built from source).  I found
> it couldn't create directories.  That's a problem if I want to
> replicate a directory tree (see MP3 collection, above).
>
>    I tried gmtp (pkg ver 1.3.3-1).  It suffers from the libmtp hang
> issue, but at least once it's connects is responsive.  It can create
> directories.  But it can only transfer files in one directory at a
> time.  (Ibid.)
>
>    I could, of course, take the mem card out of the handheld, plug it
> into my desktop's card reader, and do the I/O that way.  Problem there
> is, I've got a fancy sealed protective case for the handheld.  Opening
> it repeatedly is bad for it.  And annoying.  And exposes the handheld
> to damage.
>
>     I've seen some suggestions of using "cloud" storage, like Dropbox
> or Google Music, etc.  It seems silly to have to send many gigabytes
> out my netfeed only to have to immediately download it again, on the
> same feed, just to copy between devices which are six inches apart and
> connected via USB cable.
>
>    Anyone got a better idea?  Bluetooth?  Wifi?  Floppy disk?
>
> -- Ben
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