Access files on Samsung Galaxy S3 external sd card?

I have a Samsung Galaxy s3 running the stock Samsung ROM and I'm trying to transfer files - videos, photos, music and downloads, from my handset to my system via USB running Ubuntu 12.04.

I have followed to links suggested

• How to connect MTP devices via USB?

But it all goes over my head. Can anyone help me with a simple GUI program or a link so I can simply copy and paste selected files from my phone onto my system?

You can get file access to your phone's internal storage (/mnt/sdcard) or your external SD card (/mnt/extSdCard/) using gMTP as another replier @Easty noted (http://www.humans-enabled.com/2011/12/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-nexus-mtp.html).

You'll need to install libmtp (instruction are on that page and easily found elsewhere) and gMTP.

Once everything's installed do the following:

1. Plug in your phone to the USB cable connected to your computer
2. Swipe down from the top and verify it's connected as "a Media Device" (MTP), if not click on the notification to change from Camera mode (PTP) to Media Device (MTP)
3. launch gmtp from your launcher (windows key then type 'gmtp')
4. When your phone connects (it may take some time) you may be prompted to connect to Phone or Card (drop-down menu) - pick the one you want to access, in this case 'Card'
5. Voila! You can browse the card, select files and download them to your computer with the Download button.

If you want to switch from browsing the SD card to the phone's memory simply click disconnect and then connect in gmtp and select 'Phone' instead of 'Card'.

Hope this helps, it certainly did for me! Thanks @Easty!

Alternatively, just buy micro USB cable (OTG) from ebay , original Samsung or 3rd party brands are available. Using that cable you can connect external USB storage , external HDD and any external storage to your galaxy s3. S3 will detect and u can transfer files or any media between s3 to USB storage.

You don't need computer , just plug and play. Or if u need to connect PC to your s3, you can use this cable or install KIES ( samsung's sync software ).

NOTE: DO NOTE CONFUSE USB "otg" cable with micro USB cable comes with the Samsung device for charging and syncing .

Try the following. This was tested on Galaxy SII, i am assuming it will work for SIII as well

1. go to Menu -> Settings -> Wireless and network -> USB utilities
2. Click on Connect Storage to PC
3. Connect the USB cable to your pc.
4. Click on Connect USB storage
5. Use your file manager to install/copy/paste.
6. Once finished, click on Disconnect storage from PC to disconnect and unmount drive from Ubuntu.

Reference: http://www.tuxtrix.com/2011/07/how-to-access-samsung-galaxy-s-ii-usb.html

I am currently running Ubuntu 12.10 and have a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 running Cyanogenmod. I have yet to get MTP or PTP working successfully.

However, I am able to very easily download and upload data (pictures, music, videos, files). On my Android device, I simply run Dropbear SSH. And then from my Ubuntu desktop, I use rsync to send and receive data.

I had similar problem with my Galaxy S2. When I connected it to Ubuntu, it was never recognized. I use the following trick:

• On your android phone, go to Application->Settings
• In there, go to Wirelessand Network and select USB Utilities
• Click on Connect Storage to PC
• A message should pop up: Connect USB cable to use mass storage
• Now connect the USB cable to computer
• A green android robot should be on display with an option of “Connect USB storage“, click on it
• The green robot turns orange now and now you can access the files on the SD card of your phone

Source: After I fixed, I wrote this on my blog: http://www.computerandyou.net/2012/01/how-to-fix-android-samsung-galaxy-s2-not-recognized-on-linux/

Alternate:

Alternatively, you can use gMTP. A GUI tool to use with MTP protocol. You may have trouble with libmtp. So better to install it before hand like this:

• Download MTP library libmtp from Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/libmtp/files/libmtp/

• use the following commands one by one to install it:

  cd Downloads
  tar xvzf libmtp-1.1.5.tar.gz
  cd libmtp-1.1.5
  ./configure --prefix=/usr
  make
  sudo make install
  

• Now install gMTP:

  sudo apt-get install gmtp
  

• Launch gMTP and connect your phone.

Source: I wrote this detailed article with picture for my Kindle Fire connection problem with Ubuntu. It may come handy.