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Opening MTP Android device fails with "the location is not a folder" while gvfs mount is healthy

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#3,758 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
52/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
c
Domain
desktop

Research direction

Start by tracing Nemo's sidebar and Devices-view activation path for the reported mtp:// URI, then compare it with the working FUSE path shown in the issue. Reproduce with an MTP device and confirm that selecting the device opens its storage and lists top-level folders such as DCIM and Download instead of reporting that the location is not a folder.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Description

Clicking an Android phone (connected via USB in MTP / File Transfer mode) from Nemo's sidebar or "Devices" view produces the error "the location is not a folder". The device's mtp:// URI fails to open as a browsable folder in Nemo, even though the gvfs MTP backend has successfully mounted the device.

Environment
  • Linux Mint 22.3 (Cinnamon), Ubuntu 24.04 base
  • Nemo: 6.6.3
  • gvfs-backends: 1.54.4-0ubuntu1~24.04.2
  • gvfs-fuse: 1.54.4-0ubuntu1~24.04.2
  • libmtp9t64: 1.1.21-3.1ubuntu1
Device
  • Samsung Galaxy phone, Android 16, connected via USB, "File transfer (MTP)" mode selected
  • USB ID: 04e8:6860 (Samsung Galaxy series, MTP mode)
Steps to reproduce
  1. Connect Android phone via USB.
  2. On the phone, select "File transfer / Android Auto" USB mode.
  3. In Nemo, click the phone entry in the sidebar (or the "SAMSUNG Android" volume).
Expected behavior

Nemo opens the phone's storage and lists its top-level folders (DCIM, Download, etc.).

Actual behavior

Nemo shows: "the location is not a folder" and does not browse into the device.

Diagnostic evidence the mount is actually healthy

`gio mount -li` reports:
```
Volume(0): SAMSUNG Android
Type: GProxyVolume (GProxyVolumeMonitorMTP)
activation_root=mtp://SAMSUNG_SAMSUNG_Android_/
Mount: mtp -> mtp://SAMSUNG_SAMSUNG_Android_/
```

And the FUSE path is fully browsable:
```
$ ls "/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=SAMSUNG_SAMSUNG_Android_/"
Internal storage
```

Workaround

Opening the FUSE path directly works:
```
nemo "/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=/Internal storage"
```

So the gvfs MTP mount itself is fine — the issue appears to be in how Nemo navigates `mtp://` URIs from the sidebar/device entry.

Additional notes
  • Not covered by existing issues #2734, #2663, or #3474 (those describe mount failures or segfaults — here the mount succeeds).
  • Related but distinct from #3291 (preview with MTP).
Dominant language
C
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
8d 7h
Merged PRs (30d)
1

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  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

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