VanguardLH wrote:

> The thread in the Android newsgroup mentioned how to enable Developer
> mode, and then go into Developer Options to enable USB debugging to use
> a USB cable between PC and Android phone.

I'm going to take interest in this thread because I've tried _every_
suggested (free) method (login free, ad free too) for cross platform
copying between Linux and/or Windows and or iOS and/or Android.

To wit, above is a valid point by VanguardLH where the only thing I'll
correct is that the thread by the OP in the Android ng didn't cover that
topic - but - Vanguard is 100% correct that there _is_ a thread that did
cover it there.

*Do you turn USB Debugging on the instant you get a new phone?*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/c8b0FRvALmo>

The option in question is called "Default USB configuration" on my phone.

It's in the last screen of the "devopt02" developer options image below:
<https://i.postimg.cc/28324Hdp/devopt01.jpg> Settings > Developer options
<https://i.postimg.cc/PrqFSfjR/devopt02.jpg> Useful devoptions switches
<https://i.postimg.cc/7LzRSBkP/devopt03.jpg> More devoptions switches
<https://i.postimg.cc/DZFxLn65/devopt04.jpg> Even more devoptions switches
<https://i.postimg.cc/3N8zZ1vt/devopt05.jpg> Turning Developer Options on
<https://i.postimg.cc/jSB0rypj/devopt06.jpg> Press Build number 7 times

The OP will also need the correct drivers which Google will point him to.

> You don't mention here doing
> those steps. Once USB debug mode is enabled on the phone, it appears as
> a USB mass storage device to Windows. You might have to check if your
> phone is configured to use its USB port in PTP or MTP mode.

I think the OP needs to tell us if he's installed the drivers for the
phone. Yes, I know they're normally automatically installed.

But then why isn't the device showing up?

It would be nice if the OP would spend ten seconds to snap a screenshot,
but I know how it is with this kind of OP (which is why I sensed a troll).

>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_Transfer_Protocol
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol
>
> I suspect you need to use MTP mode.
>
> I believe (without having to hunt for the other newsgroup thread)

I provided the links.
Plus I gave him the search terms.
He didn't even respond.

He simply lied by saying nobody responded, which is, again, why I suspect a
troll so I'm not going to spend more than the two hours I already did on
trying to help the guy until and unless he shows he's not a troll by using
some initiative.

> that
> web sync was available, like Google Drive, OneDrive, or other such
> services: you sync your devices to your online account, so the devices
> also sync to each other. There are both Windows and Android sync
> clients. Yes, since they use a web-based service to do the sync, you
> will need an account to which the local clients connect.

I've done _every_ method ever suggested on these newsgroups (Linux and
Windows and Android and iOS) and the simplest, by far, IMHO, is what you
said earlier, which is MTP:USB with the correct drivers.

If servers are involved, then that's useful for Wi-Fi where FTPUse works
for Frank Slootweg to mount Android as a read/write drive letter over Wi-Fi
or USB onto Windows but I find that WebDAV works better to mount Android as
a read/write drive letter on Windows over Wi-Fi.

Frank is the expert on FTPUse.
I use WebDAV all day, every day.

I also mirror the phone onto Windows so that you can just _slide_ an APK
from Windows over to the image on Android and it installs that APK.

It just works.

>
> By the way, did you intend to nearly forge Mayayana's nym with this one?

It doesn't sound like Mayayana, but it could be. Dunno.
Mayayana is a peculiar creature but this OP hasn't responded except once to
ask on Android and then once here to lie about it so I don't think that
there's any evidence that it's mayayana at this point in time.

Seems to me mostly just a troll, and in general, what you get are the Apple
trolls (usually Alan Baker nyms) who come up with a concocted problem that
they will give up on all too soon and claim it just works on the iPhone.

Or, it's micky who, for whatever reason, makes stuff up and then keeps
throwing in strange hurdles that nobody else ever has - but I can't say for
sure.

Hell, people claim almost everyone who posts is me, so I can't be doing the
same thing to them. :)

If the guy is serious, I'll help him - since I know this stuff inside and
out - but I haven't seen ANY evidence of that yet.

>
>> What am I missing?
>
> That if USB debug mode via USB cable doesn't work that you're stuck with
> online services which require an account to use them.

That's a lousy solution to a problem that none of us have which is he plugs
the phone into the PC and the PC recognizes it and installs generic
drivers.

If he wants to, he can install the manufacturer specific drivers.
Then the phone is recognized as long as the phone is set up for MTP, which
they are by default nowadays in my experience (but who knows tracfones?).

Not me.
I know motorola, samsung, lg and nexus, but not tracfone
(whatever that is).

> If you are
> paranoid about the service having a copy of your files whether online or
> during transit between endpoint hosts then you should be encrypting them
> on your hosts. You could encrypt them individually, or dump them into
> an encryption container, like use TrueCrypt.

There's no way this OP is gonna deal with encryption Vanguard if just
plugging in a USB cable is already too complicated for him.

He didn't even tell us if he has an sd card, which, if he uses that, solves
his problem immediately as he can get an adaptor that he can plug his phone
into that can allow him to display the phone on the monitor and manage the
phone with his mouse and keyboard, all of which are plugged into that same
USB-C adaptor (which is covered on the Android newsgroup over here I
think).
*Broken screen - interact with phone over USB-C to HDMI & get data off it?*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/hMgchU9ZvZM/m/grnpjsYwBgAJ>

Check it out. No PC needed at all. Just the monitor, keyboard, & mouse!

Who needs USB debugging after all! :)
--
Note that the Windows newsgroup is not archived - but the Android ng is.