Re: mount phone for file transfer?

On Sun, 19 Oct 2025 11:13:50 -0600, Gary Aitken wrote:
> How does one mount a phone (android) to transfer files?

One does not simply mount a phone. ;-)

The Android developers toolset can be used (adb_something).
Check your device settings, those "phones" often require you
to enable some "developer settings" in order to expose a
mountable device, and even then, it might be possible that
the directory containing the files you're interested in
is _not_ part of the exposed virtual root of the device
presented to the system. Sometimes it also seems to matter
that those settings are changed when the "phone" is connected
to the computer (not "offline" - they're not present), but
this all depends on many "moving parts" (different Android
versions, different manufacturer branding and different
Google intervention).

I got that stuff working once: Two device files were then
accessible to the system, one containing the SD card (there
was an actual micro-SD card in the "phone"), and the other
one contained a subtree of the system itself, so some stuff
could be read, others could not. The adb tools were helpful
for exploring what was going on.

Some "phones" also allow you to enable a PTP compatible
mode (or MTP mode). You can then use gphoto2 (and gtkam,
if you wish) to access photo and media files.



> I could not find anything that seemed relevant in the handbook,
> but may have missed it.

Maybe the handbook doesn't cover this... :-(




Good luck!

-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...