[Linux] Calibre on Linux isn't detecting any of my Android devices

[Amogh Harish]

I've been using Calibre for the past two years. I've watched it grow, been with it as many new features were added and enjoyed it like any tech enthusiast would. I started using it on Windo$e first. Back when Android devices weren't so popular, I mainly used it for my Kindle. I recently(around a month or so back) faced some "This version of Windows is not genuine" problems and switched over to Linux completely. I've been using it for a long time now, more than I've used a Windows computer at least.

So, I got a really excellent Android device recently, and while I enjoy reading on my Kindle, I just can't read during the night on my bed. I'd taken to reading with Kindle for PC under WINE 1.4 and while it was okay, it was still uncomfortable.

I just connect my Kindle to the Calibre and use the "Send to Device" option. But when I connected my Android device to the computer, I couldn't get Calibre to detect it and I was puzzled.

calibre 0.9.2 
Linux-3.2.0-31-generic-pae-i686-with-debian-wheezy-sid Linux
('Linux', '3.2.0-31-generic-pae', '#50-Ubuntu SMP Fri Sep 7 16:39:45 UTC 2012')
Python 2.7.3
Linux: ('debian', 'wheezy/sid', '')
USB devices on system:
[['0x18d1',
  '0x5',
  '0x400',
  u'Broadcom',
  u'BCM21553-Thunderbird',
  u'0123456789ABCDEF'],
 ['0xc45',
  '0x6409',
  '0x9c30',
  u'USB 2.0 Camera_FLV14',
  u'USB 2.0 Camera',
  u''],
 ['0x489',
  '0xe00f',
  '0x596',
  u'Broadcom Corp',
  u'Broadcom Bluetooth Device',
  u'C44619BB2BAD']]
Available plugins: ADAM ALEX ALURATEK_COLOR ARCHOS7O AVANT AZBOOKA BAMBOOK BLACKBERRY
BOEYE_BDX BOEYE_BEX BOOQ BOOX COBY COOL_ER CYBOOK DBOOK E52 E71X EB511
EB600 EBK52 ECLICTO EDGE EEEREADER ELONEX ESLICK EX124G
FOLDER_DEVICE_FOR_CONFIG GEMEI GER2 HANLINV3 HANLINV5 ILIAD INVESBOOK
IPAPYRUS IREXDR1000 IREXDR800 IRIVER_STORY ITALICA JETBOOK
JETBOOK_COLOR JETBOOK_MINI KINDLE KINDLE2 KINDLE_DX KINDLE_FIRE KOBO
KOBOTOUCH LIBREAIR LUMIREAD MENTOR MOOVYBOOK MTP_DEVICE N516 N770 N810
NEWSMY NEXTBOOK NOOK NOOK_COLOR NUUT2 ODYSSEY ORIZON PALMPRE PDNOVEL
PDNOVEL_KOBO PI2 PICO PLAYBOOK POCKETBOOK301 POCKETBOOK360
POCKETBOOK360P POCKETBOOK602 POCKETBOOK622 POCKETBOOK701 PRS505 PRST1
README S60 SHINEBOOK SMART_DEVICE_APP SNE SOVOS SPECTRA STASH
SUNSTECH_EB700 SWEEX TECLAST_K3 THEBOOK TREKSTOR USER_DEFINED
VELOCITYMICRO WEBOS WEXLER
 
Looking for devices of type: MTP_DEVICE
No known MTP devices connected to system
 
Looking for devices...
 
Devices possibly connected: None

I was puzzled. I know that the device is detected by the system, because when I run the

lsusb

command, I get this output.

scorpious@Scorpious-VPCEB24EN:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0c45:6409 Microdia Webcam
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0489:e00f Foxconn / Hon Hai Foxconn T77H114 BCM2070 [Single-Chip Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Adapter]
Bus 002 Device 007: ID 18d1:0005 Google Inc.

I configured the USER_DEVICE as mentioned in a few of the posts I did bother to look up. While that doesn't seem to affect anything, I'm wondering if I'm making a mistake or overlooking something obvious.

I tried with another Android device that I have, and it returned the same result. The first device runs on Android 2.3.6 and the second on 2.3.5. I know that the support for mounting MTP was removed in 3.0+ versions, but this should work fairly well. Am I going about this the wrong way? Any help would be certainly appreciated.

I posted the same in the wrong thread before I discovered this one. I hope people will be able to solve this problem here.

[NiLuJe]

That vaguely smells like a permission issue. If you have libmtp installed, check what mtp-detect says as your usual user, then as root.

If it works properly as root but not as an user, fix your permissions to be able to 'talk' to USB devices/your specific USB device as your user (udev rule?).

I'm hoping every recent distro out there has a mostly sane default setup, with a dedicated group for this kind of thing, so you might also want to check your distro's doc on that front, it might just be a case of your user not belonging to the right group.

[Amogh Harish]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

That vaguely smells like a permission issue. If you have libmtp installed, check what mtp-detect says as your usual user, then as root.

If it works properly as root but not as an user, fix your permissions to be able to 'talk' to USB devices/your specific USB device as your user (udev rule?).

I'm hoping every recent distro out there has a mostly sane default setup, with a dedicated group for this kind of thing, so you might also want to check your distro's doc on that front, it might just be a case of your user not belonging to the right group.

I don't think that my device is a MTP device. When I connect the device to my computer, I get the "USB Mass Storage" function on my device. I turn it on and I'm able to do all the usual functions like dragging and dropping files, deleting, moving and so on.

The only problem I seem to have is with Calibre not detecting it. I did some research and I've come to the following conclusion.

Either Calibre reads only MTP Android devices like the Galaxy Nexus, SGS2, and those newer ones. (JB devices aren't fully supported by Ubuntu at this point of time). Or there is something wrong with the version of Calibre on Linux.

Running the mtp-detect command, I get the following output:

scorpious@Scorpious-VPCEB24EN:~$ mtp-detect
libmtp version: 1.1.3

Listing raw device(s)
   No raw devices found.

MTP is officially supported by Ubuntu 12.04 LTS now, and there is no need for any manipulation. Many new popular Android devices, including the Symbian devices are supported.

Aside that though, is there anyway that I can save the books to a location that I predetrmine? As I can't seem to get the device to show up on Calibre, can I use some other way to save it to the two devices? Ubuntu does not assign drive names to the devices like Windows does, so even if I configure it to save to different locations for the two different devices, this could work, right?

[NiLuJe]

@Amogh Harish: My bad, completely missed the 'Android 2.3' comment, which, yeah, would point to USBMS, not MTP .

That said, if, with the exact same Calibre version, Calibre 'sees' it on Windows, and not on Linux, I'd still go with a permissions issue/a broken udisks setup.

EDIT: Barring that, you can also try to add your device's VID/PID/BCD tuple to Calibre's android driver (src/calibre/devices/android/driver.py), the device matching might in fact be slightly different on Linux than on Windows, so, maybe not a permission issue after all .

[kovidgoyal]

Go to preferences->plugins and re-enable the android device interface plugin that you disabled.

[Amogh Harish]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Go to preferences->plugins and re-enable the android device interface plugin that you disabled.

I've already re-enabled it; it doesn't change anything. The device still doesn't show up on Calibre.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Amogh Harish

I've already re-enabled it; it doesn't change anything. The device still doesn't show up on Calibre.

In the first post the android device interface plugin was disabled. Now that it is enabled (and you restarted calibre) do you have the device properly mounted so it has a drive letter assigned to it?

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

In the first post the android device interface plugin was disabled. Now that it is enabled (and you restarted calibre) do you have the device properly mounted so it has a drive letter assigned to it?

I think the OP was using Linux so this would not happen

I would have thought a new debug log with the device connected is likely to be to be most helpful thing for diagnosing the problem.

[Amogh Harish]

Originally Posted by itimpi

I think the OP was using Linux so this would not happen

I would have thought a new debug log with the device connected is likely to be to be most helpful thing for diagnosing the problem.

Okay, just a quick update. I reverted back to stock ROM on one of the Android devices and when I launched Calibre, Voila! It was detected. I was able to transfer books and do all the usual stuff. The thing is, I normally don't use this device for reading as it has a really very small screen.

I also noticed that this device showed up in the RhythmBox Player (which is default on Ubuntu) on the stock ROM. The other phone was always on stock; blame that on the lack of developers for it. Anyway, I can't seem to think of any plausible reason why Calibre detects one and doesn't the other. I'm going to take a look at the Udev rule shortly, as someone above suggested.

Meanwhile, I'm using the Calibre Companion app on the Play Store to transfer books to the other Android device.

[Amogh Harish]

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

In the first post the android device interface plugin was disabled. Now that it is enabled (and you restarted calibre) do you have the device properly mounted so it has a drive letter assigned to it?

Linux doesn't work with drives the way Windows does. It has a completely different approach. I don't want to go into the entire thing, as it would deviate us from the matter at hand, but I'm pretty sure you'll find links on the interwebs that would explain it better than me.

Anyway, Linux 'shows' each USB device with their name, rather than the drive letter as opposed to Windows. This is good in many cases, especially when you have to work through the terminal and can't afford to remember the drive letter that is dynamic on Windows. USB devices show up under /home/media on Ubuntu. I'm not sure about other distros.