Develop Bugs

[Q] USB connection issue/Files and Folders Invisible

Hi everyone, I'm having a real problem when connecting my LTE GNexus to the computer. I wanted to copy the TitaniumBackup folder to my desktop then replace it with the one I copied over from my old Droid Incredible, but when I look at the TitaniumBackup folder on the internal storage of my Nexus, it shows as empty, containing zero files. This is impossible, as I've done a backup already and even checked with ES File Explorer that all of the backup files ARE in fact present within the folder. However, the folder appears as empty on my PC and when I copy it, only copies an empty folder.
Furthermore, I then deleted the ENTIRE TitaniumBackup folder via ES, and the computer then showed the folder was gone (so it it's not like it's not reacting to changes made). I then redid the backup, which recreated and populated a new TitaniumBackup folder, but when I plugged it back in to my PC, the new folder didn't even SHOW UP. So now I have an entire folder that for some reason is completely invisible to the PC.
I don't know if this an issue caused by the Nexus or ICS specifically, the MTP protocol it uses to connect (instead of USB mass storage), or maybe even Titanium Backup. All other folders appear to be visible and the files inside are present (to my knowledge). What in the world is going on?!
PS: Please don't just give me a workaround for the current situation like "just upload it to Dropbox". I need to know how to fix this bigger issue for future use. Though if someone could recommend to me a way to upload whole folders to the cloud somewhere (Dropbox, Gmail, anything that allows me to pull it down via a PC) that would obviously be appreciated, as every app seems to only want to upload individual files, even the new DB. THANK YOU!

Hi,
I just had the same issue with the TitaniumBackup folder not showing up in windows explorer after the first backup.
Restart of the phone helped!
Cheers
Simon

its MTP, this has been bugging me too, but for now i got a workaround (i know...)
get SDrescan, its free. it will force your phones media storage to rescan your files. once you do, you'll see your files appear in the explorer. rebooting your phone also triggers this

Thanks everyone! Man, MTP sucks...

cancerouspete said:
its MTP, this has been bugging me too, but for now i got a workaround (i know...)
get SDrescan, its free. it will force your phones media storage to rescan your files. once you do, you'll see your files appear in the explorer. rebooting your phone also triggers this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SDRescan did not work for me. Sits there forever saying "preparing" (I did let it sit for 30 min).

So, is there any solution for that?
Missing many files/folders on MTP.

This is really ****ting me up the [email protected] wall. I've trie everything, even sdrescan does **** all. Why does this issue exist and why the **** has't it been fixed

Using wifi, I've worked around it by using some of the features in AirDroid (sets up a web server on your GNex and you can login via a web interface on your PC). File Expert can also talk to windows shares on the same wifi network, I've used this to move around some large files as well.

I'm also having this issue, I've already tried fix permissions in recovery, did a symlink (not sure if I did it correct though) and now I'm trying sdrescan.
I'm thinking of going back to cyanogenmod backing up my entire sdcard to pc flash jelly bean and put back every file...
Cause pictures I've taken with Jelly bean are showing up in the gallery and via usb, so i'm guessing copying everything back to it will do the trick.
Most annoying thing is I can flash a new rom whenever and where ever I want and be able to fix my issues, but this sdcard thing is way out of my league...

I find a solution here :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28606823&postcount=21
Hope it fixed the problem, I had exactly the same one

Easy workaround : in the app X-plore file manager, long-press on your TitaniumBackup folder, choose "Create Zip", then Ok (doesnt matter where you put the zip, you will cancel/delete it soon)
Voilà! My files appeared instantly in Windows as soon as X-Plore started creating the zip file. So, cancel that dialog, and enjoy your titanium backup files.

vacuum007 said:
Hi,Restart of the phone helped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restart phone as previously stated. Worked for me too. :good:

Reboot didn't worked for me.
I tried through ES File Explorer to copy the Titanium folder in my computer via LAN.When it started copying files, then the folder magically showed its content.Then transferred via MTP as it's a lot faster than 802.11g.
Hope someone finds it helpful.

[Q] Why do folders on /SDCARD appear empty through computer?

This is driving me crazy. I want to copy the TitaniumBackup folder from my GNEX to my Win7 PC.
Looking at the folder through Root Explorer on the GNEX all appears normal. When I look at the folder through my computer the folder is showing but the contents are backups that are almost a month older than are on the GNEX. If I delete everything in that folder FROM THE PC it still exists on the GNEX.
It is like it is looking at a different folder entirely however looking and searching through ROOT EXPLORER there are no other TITANIUM BACKUP folders.
This happens with a lot of apps. Example: I created a ZIP file using ROOT EXPLORER. The zip, viewing through ROOT EXPLORER is located in the /SDCARD/SPEEDSOFTWARE/ZIP folder however when I look at the SPEEDSOFTWARE folder via my PC the folder is empty.
I have tried both MTP and PHOTO mode. This happens with a lot of folders when trying to view them from my PC connection. Some stuff is there and a lot is not.

Hmmm, there is a /MNT/SDCARD and a /SDCARD folder (I don't know much about Linux) and the files I am NOT seeing on my PC are in /MNT/SDCARD and the files I am seeing are in /SDCARD. Why are there 2 different "SDCARD" folders? I changed the TitaniumBackup to save to /SDCARD instead of /MNT/SDCARD but the backups are still not viewable (or copyable) from my computer. I just don't get it.
So the question is, how do you "backup" the contents of the "SDCARD" directory if you can't see the files when plugged into the PC?
Well, after comparing all the "visible" files on my computer when I access the GNEX via MTP vs what I see using ROOT EXPLORER the ONLY 2 folders NOT visible from my PC are TITANIUMBACKUP and SPEEDSOFTWARE (thus is the ROOTEXPLORER app data). Why would they be hidden?

It's due to how the Android MTP service works. It hasn't scanned your internal storage for the new files/directory to present to your PC yet.
Download and run an app called SDrecan from the Market. This will force the media services on your phone to rescan the device.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Absolutely amazing! Thank you so much! I have been pulling out my hair for days!

thank you! I had the same problem!worked flawlessly!

silow said:
Download and run an app called SDrecan from the Market. This will force the media services on your phone to rescan the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! This was really driving me crazy...

is there one for phones on android kitkat 4.4 and up

silow said:
It's due to how the Android MTP service works. It hasn't scanned your internal storage for the new files/directory to present to your PC yet.
Download and run an app called SDrecan from the Market. This will force the media services on your phone to rescan the device.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this app is force closing. i cant even run it . do you have any idea? just today was working fine , i installed a custom rom and now when i try to put another roms on my sd card , i get this message that it's empty

trickster mod also has a media rescan option in bottom of tools section if this is helpful to you, I have to use it after using the "a better camera app" in order for pics to show in gallery without reboot

[Q] HOSED SDCard?

Can anybody tell me why I might be able to see folders when I go through a file explorer on my phone, but when I connect to it with my PC I don't see those folders?
Ex. I flashed a 4.2 ROM and it hosed my SDCard I believe. Lost ability to view files, backed up things to Titanium and didn't see anything when I did that but could see it when I looked through a file explorer on my phone.
Wiped my phone and set back to factory. Reflashed, transferred backedup files back to phone, same issue for some.
Did my appbackup using AppBackUp on my phone and changed the folder name, but that folder will not show when connected to my PC, but again when I look using a file explorer it shows just fine.
One other things I was getting was a "local folder" with the date 12/31/69 when viewing my SDCard on my PC. Nothing in it, but never showed before and had a windows drive logo next to it.
ANY IDEAS!?!?!?!

mrbigdrawsz said:
Can anybody tell me why I might be able to see folders when I go through a file explorer on my phone, but when I connect to it with my PC I don't see those folders?
Ex. I flashed a 4.2 ROM and it hosed my SDCard I believe. Lost ability to view files, backed up things to Titanium and didn't see anything when I did that but could see it when I looked through a file explorer on my phone.
Wiped my phone and set back to factory. Reflashed, transferred backedup files back to phone, same issue for some.
Did my appbackup using AppBackUp on my phone and changed the folder name, but that folder will not show when connected to my PC, but again when I look using a file explorer it shows just fine.
One other things I was getting was a "local folder" with the date 12/31/69 when viewing my SDCard on my PC. Nothing in it, but never showed before and had a windows drive logo next to it.
ANY IDEAS!?!?!?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
look in /data/media/0
really, you should read the forums, you cant miss all the threads about fs changes in 4.2.

simms22 said:
look in /data/media/0
really, you should read the forums, you cant miss all the threads about fs changes in 4.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do read them and have. Finding the files that were moved wasn't the issue...it's new stuff I was installing or changes I made weren't showing. So basically when I looked at them through Solid Explorer they were there, but when I looked on my PC through USB connection they wouldn't show. BUT, I think I figured it out.

mrbigdrawsz said:
I do read them and have. Finding the files that were moved wasn't the issue...it's new stuff I was installing or changes I made weren't showing. So basically when I looked at them through Solid Explorer they were there, but when I looked on my PC through USB connection they wouldn't show. BUT, I think I figured it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as in root fs? those wouldnt show up through usb connection.

simms22 said:
look in /data/media/0
really, you should read the forums, you cant miss all the threads about fs changes in 4.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
simms22 said:
as in root fs? those wouldnt show up through usb connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Naw, not root...just simply sdcard folders. But what I did was uninstall and reinstall the drivers for the Nexus and reboot both devices and it seems to be working fine now. Gotta do some other test to see, but if it's still acting funny I might be back. LOL
Thanks for the help.

mrbigdrawsz said:
Naw, not root...just simply sdcard folders. But what I did was uninstall and reinstall the drivers for the Nexus and reboot both devices and it seems to be working fine now. Gotta do some other test to see, but if it's still acting funny I might be back. LOL
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good luck

Limited access to file system?

I was side loading an app from my phone to my tablet, incompatible in market. Well when I tried to copy the obb into the obb folder on my tablet it said access restricted... can't get it to copy even with root explorer.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

whoamanwtf said:
I was side loading an app from my phone to my tablet, incompatible in market. Well when I tried to copy the obb into the obb folder on my tablet it said access restricted... can't get it to copy even with root explorer.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you rooted...?

I noticed something similar to this as well. I used TiBu to restore the SwiftKey app and settings from my 1st Gen N7. After restoring it, the English language pack wouldn't download. After Googling around, they recommended deleting languagepacks.json from the sdcard/Android/files/com.whatever directory and even with root access and Root Explorer I wasn't able to delete the file. I had to do it through TWRP and even that didn't solve the issue. I had to format internal storage to solve my issue. Needless to say, I've been much more careful about using TiBu since then.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

alicarbovader said:
Are you rooted...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, yes I am. But you should not need root for these folders anyways.
Sent from my Optimus G using xda premium

I got it working with a different file manager, but I am still unable to copy the Titanium backup folder to my computer via usb, or airdroid. Weird thing is I cannot even use a zip app to zip it up then move the zip.

whoamanwtf said:
I got it working with a different file manager, but I am still unable to copy the Titanium backup folder to my computer via usb, or airdroid. Weird thing is I cannot even use a zip app to zip it up then move the zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually ran into a similar issue on my N7v1 last night. I wanted to copy over all my apps and settings, so I attempted to copy the various files in my Titanium Backup backup folder. I tried using adb pull, but it failed to copy over any of the apks. The other files (properties, etc.) copied, but not the applications. This seemed very weird. Then things got weirder.
I looked at the ownership/permissions/etc. and they were all identical. I had read/write access to everything. So I tried tar'ing them all up on the device, as root, to copy over one big archive. No dice. Even tar couldn't read the files. I tried coping them to another directory, but that failed too. I could only move or delete them - not copy/read/etc.
I assumed maybe something was wrong with the backups, so I deleted them all and redid the TiBu backup. Problem persisted even on these new files I just made.
It reminded me of an issue I had with TWRP when Android changed around the file system location of the sdcard. When that happened, I couldn't access my nandroid backups either, or even delete them. I actually had to make a flashable zip to get rid of them.
So I had an idea. My current TiBu backup location was "/sdcard/TitaniumBackup". The /sdcard directory points to "/storage/emulated/0/". So I deleted all the backup files again, changed the TiBu backup location to the latter and ran the backup process again.
Voila. I could now read/copy/everything all the files in that same directory, albeit with a different path.
Anyway, I thought I would share this because it sounds like a similar issue. Try using the full path and not the /sdcard shortcut and see if that works.

See root files from pc

Am I the only one who can't figure out how to view and or copy some files from the phone to my pc? Example, I created two zip files on my phone to be copied off for backup. TWRP.zip and Titanium backup.zip but neither is visible when connected from my pc. Chmod and chown also fails through root explorer or terminal. I'm feeling retarded right now...

Where are those zip files located? Somewhere in your root storage or on your sdcard/internal storage?
If it's the latter, try using adb commands to transfer the files to your PC
Or you can use this app called "Handshaker" and see if the files are visible there

CyberpodS2 said:
Am I the only one who can't figure out how to view and or copy some files from the phone to my pc? Example, I created two zip files on my phone to be copied off for backup. TWRP.zip and Titanium backup.zip but neither is visible when connected from my pc. Chmod and chown also fails through root explorer or terminal. I'm feeling retarded right now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you created zip files in root explorer, did you look in...storage/emulated/0/SpeedSoftware/archives
If yes, then move them to a folder you've already created. Much easier to find that way ?

Yeah I can see the zip files fine on the phone, and I can see most all files from the PC. I created the zip files right in the root of sdcard which is the same as the root of internal shared storage from the PC. I can even browse both the folders TWRP and Titanium backup from Windows Explorer. I even copied the files to a different dir. I'm thinking they being owned by root is the issue. Going to keep plugging. And try the app suggested.

The issue was not here on the 6P. I just zipped up those two dirs and copied them to the pc. Can't copy twrp cause of file names that piss off Windows and tibu has way too may files. Anyway, going to look into the adb thing but if the files are not visible then ???
Also. Thought about otg but the phone insists on formatting the cards as fat32 which have a 2 gig limit lol

Badger50 said:
If you created zip files in root explorer, did you look in...storage/emulated/0/SpeedSoftware/archives
If yes, then move them to a folder you've already created. Much easier to find that way ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh one more thing, root explorer ain't working for me. Lol was using jrummy root browser. My bad for the initial problem statement.

CyberpodS2 said:
Heh one more thing, root explorer ain't working for me. Lol was using jrummy root browser. My bad for the initial problem statement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meh...no biggie bruh. Sorry RE doesn't work. Kinda strange though. It's worked great for me on any rom thus far. Unless it's a f2fs thing? ?

Badger50 said:
Meh...no biggie bruh. Sorry RE doesn't work. Kinda strange though. It's worked great for me on any rom thus far. Unless it's a f2fs thing? ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how do you back up for TWRP and tibu if you are doing a complete wipe?

CyberpodS2 said:
So how do you back up for TWRP and tibu if you are doing a complete wipe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Set lock screen to swipe. Uninstall all theme overlays. Do my TiBu backup, and save it to my pc. Go to twrp and backup boot, system, and data, and let it rip. Then I save that backup to the pc. Then if I'm installing a new rom, I just do the twrp factory reset thing. I don't wipe system anymore since that seems to foul things up. Which, I still don't quite understand since that was SOP on the 6p ??