On Thu, Apr 23, 2026 at 04:34:49PM +0100, Peter Duffy wrote
> I believe some ultraparanoid manufacturers disable the "file transfer"
> option completely (that's hearsay - I've not personally encountered
> this, as yet).

On my Samsung Galaxy A17 5G there was no hint of file transfer. "I
asked Mr. Google" and got a Youtube video...
- go into developer mode
- enable mtp mode
- install a local mtp driver
- it works, as long as you connect while the screen is not locked

> >
> > 1. Install jmtpfs
> > 2. mkdir /mnt/phone
> > 3. simple-mptfs -o allow_other /mnt/phone
>
> As far as I can see, there's no executable called simple-mtpfs (I
> assume that's the correct spelling?) in the jmtpfs package - is it in
> another package? "apt search simple-mtpfs" didn't give any hits. When
> I tried jmtpfs, I just used "jmtpfs [mount_point_dir]" and it seemed to
> work (admittedly, I didn't try transferring any files).

I have a mountpoint directory ~/tablet, in my home directory, from way
back when I had a tablet. It appears that you need root permission for
full functionality. I have a couple of lines in /etc/sudoers.d/000 to
enable stuff. In $HOME/bin I have two executable scripts "tabon" and
"taboff".

tabon executes
#!/bin/bash
sudo /usr/bin/jmtpfs /home/waltdnes/tablet -o allow_other,auto_unmount

taboff executes
#!/bin/bash
sudo /bin/fusermount -u /home/waltdnes/tablet

***MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT IN THE MOUNTED SYSTEM WHEN YOU MOUNT OR UNMOUNT
IT***

As they say in the midnight infomercials... but wait there's more.

***DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR OLD 3.5mm HEADPHONES!***

Step 1) Buy a $10 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter, e.g.
https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/usb-adapters/226227/ican-type-c-to-3-5mm-audio-adapter-black-caica01499.html
https://www.canadacomputers.com/en/usb-adapters/226228/ican-type-c-to-3-5mm-audio-type-c-charging-adapter-caica01500.html

Step 2) Go into developer mode and enable "audio output via USB".

Just like "the good old days", when you plug in the headphones, the
external speaker goes silent, and audio goes via the headphones.

--
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@???>
There are 2 types of people in this world
1) Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data