Use gftp to transfer files from puppy to android devices

[theru]

Usually files are transfered to android devices using mtp. For me that works easily enough for small files but when I want to transfer something large like a full length hd movie to my tablet it proves to be difficult because after a while I lose the connection and have to remount or replug the tablet.

So I looked for alternatives and realized that it's possible to enable usb tethering to make it act like an access point. It should be in settings under connections. If it's not there then you may need a third party app like this one:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ring&hl=nl

There are others but this one didn't give me full screen advertisements.

When usb tethering is enabled the android device acts as an access point with an address in the 192.168.42.x range. This access point will be available even when internet access is disabled on the android device. If the network wizard picks up this new interface then you can connect to it. Keep in mind that for as long as the connection is active all internet traffic will go through the android device.

Next we need a way to share folders. Puppy usually comes with smb and ftp servers but that would require using the touchscreen of the android device to transfer the files. I wasn't able to find a free or simple to use smb server for android so I decided to settle on ftp.

This program is free and fairly straightforward. The only drawback is that when it's active and on the foreground the username and password are displayed in plain sight by default. This can be changed in the program's settings. It can be found on:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... .ftpserver

There are only a few settings that need to be changed. These can all be accessed through the program's settings (wrench icon in the upper right corner). This only needs to be done once and will be remembered next time you use the program.

By default the ftp server only allows to connect through wifi. To remedy this go to Network interface and change the setting to "all".

Next you may want to change the Home directory. By default it points to the internal memory (sdcard). If you change that to external sdcard it points to the program's folder on the card. This is because starting with Android 4.3 programs were limited with what they could do on the external sd card. Some programs like Android's default file manager do have full access to the entire card.

The permissions were somewhat relaxed on later versions.

During my experiments when I tried to transfer files to or from the external sd card on my phone (4.4) gftp would claim that it lost the connection. It did work properly with my tablet (android 6.0). Both devices worked correctly when I transferred files to and from the program's own folder on the external sd card.

If you want to give ftp server access to the entire card then you need to change to Custom folder and point to it manually. The location is not the same on every device but it should be under /storage.

You can also change the username and password or enable anonymous access.

You can turn the ftp server on or off by pressing the button on the main screen.

Once the ftp server is started it will display the available connections as well as the login data and home directory. To connect to it from Puppy you need to open the menu and go to Internet -> gFTP ftp client and enter the data at the top row. Once that's done and you press enter you will be presented with the shared folder in the right column. Sharing

During my tests I was able to transfer over 30 GB of data to my android device (took about an hour) without interruptions. I hope this howto will be useful to others as well.

[mikeb]

Nice one.
As you have noticed MTP is pretty abysmal...presumably to put users off avoiding paying for bandwidth or similar.
My phone will plug in as a sdcard...cheers alcatel so easy peasy but my sons does not.
After trying various options he uses andSMB which basically talks to samba...so wifi speed, though your tethering method should work as well. So if anyone has samba server running on puppy then its a reliable option...also lets you see all those hidden files
Just search for andSMB and apk for sources...we never use google play ...though I wish it would stop moaning about the fact

This could become a very useful thread

mike

[frake]

First of all a big THANK YOU to this great community who helpt me so much.
Coming from windows puppylinux meanwhile is my only OS.

Totalcommander (apk is available at http://www.ghisler.com/android.htm) is a dualpane filemanager with LAN access (plugin). Beside other usefull plugins. I started it using unter precisepuppy and a SambaTNG server a few years ago. You have to tick a checkbox for old namingconventions under SambaTNG. Hope i remember right. Under Tahpup with Samba4 I share an empty folder in which i temporarely symlink other folders. From the androiddevice one can copy-move multiple files and-or folders and also create folders at the server if needed. e.g. to sort pictures.

regards

Sorry about my (poor) English.

[drunkjedi]

I didn't use total commander, but the open-source app store F-Droid I use has Ghost Commander app.
It has pluggins for Samba and SFTP access.
There's also Amaze file manager in F-Droid which looks more polished and claims to have samba and ftp capabilities. I have not tested these both apps though.