Hey !
I've searched the web as well as the forum but i didn't find any solution and it seems i'm not the only one wanting to do that.
Is it possible to see hidden folders of internal sdcard through MTP ?
I really talk about hidden folder like ".android_secure", not the photos that aren't yet scanned by the media scanner service.
In my windows environment i already set the view all hidden files/folders as well as view system files.
If i have to change folders permissions through terminal what are the correct permissions i should put ?
Thanks for the help !!
Am i the only having that problem ?
Do you guys see the hidden folders through mtp connexion ?
If you'd bother reading a bit before asking questions, you might have the answer already.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol
MTP and PTP specifically overcome this issue by making the unit of managed storage a local file rather than an entire (possibly very large) unit of mass storage at the block level. In this way, MTP works like a transactional file system - either the entire file is written/read or nothing.
More or less, it is designed to keep hidden what should be hidden stick to USB storage or FTP/SCP.
PS: can't believe we're using a transfer protocol designed by Microsoft in a Linux-based system mastered by Google. The horror, the pain... no wonder it doesn't work on my Mac!
VAXXi said:
If you'd bother reading a bit before asking questions, you might have the answer already.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol
MTP and PTP specifically overcome this issue by making the unit of managed storage a local file rather than an entire (possibly very large) unit of mass storage at the block level. In this way, MTP works like a transactional file system - either the entire file is written/read or nothing.
More or less, it is designed to keep hidden what should be hidden stick to USB storage or FTP/SCP.
PS: can't believe we're using a transfer protocol designed by Microsoft in a Linux-based system mastered by Google. The horror, the pain... no wonder it doesn't work on my Mac!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx for the link ! I knew what mtp is but its always good to refresh things up
I read the whole article and unfortunately it doesn't answer my question.
I understood that its the same for all of us meaning that we are not able to see hidden folders.
But the main question is if there is a way to bypass this behavior ? Where is this defined exactly ?
It seems according to the article that its not on the file permission layer ? Should it be at partition level ? How can mtp know what to share with the host ?
It's not a "behaviour" per se, but more/less a database. Remember that media scanner program which wakes up every time you change something on your SD card, be it internal or external ? it simply keeps a "database" of files which are presented to the MTP client (your computer) and hides away the phone's internal folders which are not supposed to be seen by the end-user.
Theoretically, this is done in order to have the iPhone-like behaviour: seeing the entire device memory as one big unified storage which you can fill as you want (no more of those partition size limitations which brought us the app2sd hacks). In my opinion, it's more or less just a small step done in order to "secure" phones for DRM protected content.
Studios and media companies require devices to have such measures of protection in order to allow you to sell media content (like movies, books, etc) and since Google wants to push its business further with the Play Store, it needs to cave in to the studios' demands. In the future, it will probably even become illegal (DMCA-style) for me to give you the information below
Back to the technical part of our show now.
At the first boot in the life of the device, Media Scanner will look under /system/media and index everything there. After that, it will scan everything under /mnt/sdcard (hence your external SD card too, if you have one, as it's mounted under /mnt/sdcard/external_sd). On some devices, you have an "internal.db" file and one "external-123xyz.db" file; that's a unique ID of the SD card which was scanned. The idea here is you might have 2-3 SD cards which you swap often, and it's not nice to do a full rescan each time you change the SD card. These databases are in /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.media (on my phone, there is only one "external.db" for example).
So what you're looking for is a way to populate this database with all the files found by the Media Scanner. But Media Scanner doesn't want you to see the hidden folders you mentioned above. So, you get an application which doesn't ignore them, like Rescan SD Card! or SDrescan.
Happy now ?
Thank you very much i really enjoyed reading the explanation as it answers completely my questions and it makes sense !
Ill give a try to the apps but i'm also curious to investigate on those files
Cheers
PS. Is this a disguised way to support non open source protocols ?
Well, you could poke around inside the database with sqlite if you want. But don't really see what's so interesting about them.
It is just another protocol which is supported, which happens to be designed by Microsoft (and probably licensed/paid by Google to be used in Android). I understand the technical explanation behind this decision, but I'm also wary that someday UMS will be disabled by default and enabling it will disable content purchasing for that device (just like having a rooted phone now disables some "sensitive" apps, like banking and online TV).
As a system admin its interesting to know whats happening on my system
As a hobby its interesting for my personal knowledge
And from a development point of view it gives me some ideas for maybe future apps
You say that its just another protocol which is supported but to my understanding there are not so many of them ! So i would say that Google was kind of forced to use the MTP method, first from a hardware point of view and second to be compliant with the rest of the world.
Is there any other protocol that could suite their needs ? Since USB mass storage is not usable on some devices and MTP is well spead.
.HiddenAndroid folders in Win - Here Yesterday, Gone Tomorrow
<Win 7 and GN2>
What's curious and a bit frustrating to me is that, yesterday, when I mounted my device ALL of the hidden (.folders and .files) were visible and searchable. Today, when I went to explore some more, all are gone. I understand that I can use a 3rd party app, just can't figure out why it was visible yesterday and not today.
Hmmph
Did you ever resolve this issue? I really hate MTP for several reasons but this is one of the reasons why! I need to back up all my directories on the SDCard because some apps store them as hidden files in hidden directories. Furthermore, I came across the Play Store bug that requires me to delete a "temp.asec" file in the ".android_secure" directory, but of course it is not visible.
In a post further up it was suggested to use a "Rescan" app to force the DB to include hidden files/directories, but I have tried no less than 4 of these apps, and all they do is trigger the built-in android media scan, which is the problem in the first place!
So has anyone ever been able to access hidden files and directories using MTP?
EDIT: I have an HTC phone that actually shows hidden files and directories, so they have obviously implemented their own media scan. The problem I am currently having is on a Samsung phone (Epic 4G touch)
It may depend on the implementation. For example, using stock rom for the phone doesn't show some files and folders, for example folders starting with dot. But if you use Neatrom Lite it will show all files and folders.
Flash forward about 6 years and Samsung still does not show hidden folders/files when viewing the phone contents in Windows File Explorer, but HTC does.
The reason this is still a problem for me, is that I want to backup the contents of a particular directory (WhatsApp) which contains some hidden folders, so I can restore it anytime on a new phone or the same phone.
I recently switched from HTC to Samsung and alas, it seems the problem with this implementation still exists. Anyone found a workaround to this to allow File Explorer to see the hidden folders?
Update: It appears that hidden .nomedia files (and probably others) appear under regular folders, so the problem is limited to hidden folders themselves
Related
I'm looking for an app that will allow me to encrypt folders (preferably without having to go through a third-party file manager) on my Galaxy Note 2 and Nexus 7, while possibly being able to also decrypt and view the folder/files on a Windows or Mac machine.
BoxCryptor is one that I've looked into but I'm not sure if it will allow me to encrypt folders within folders.
A little bit of background for what I need this for... I'm a medical health professional and there are times when I have sensitive data about some of my patients that I need to access via my phone/tablet/home/work computer. I don't necessarily need the folder of patient data to sync across all devices but if that could be done (say via DropBox or WebDAV, encrypted), that would be a bonus.
There are some apps on Google Play that seem like they might work:
Encryption Manager
Safe+
DroidCrypt
If anyone has any feedback on any of the above, or can recommend an app that I've missed (or a link to another xda post that I missed in my searches), that would be much appreciated. I'd rather not have to pay for each one to see if it fits my criteria.
Thanks in advance!
cdnmaplechick said:
I'm looking for an app that will allow me to encrypt folders (preferably without having to go through a third-party file manager) on my Galaxy Note 2 and Nexus 7, while possibly being able to also decrypt and view the folder/files on a Windows or Mac machine.
...
A little bit of background for what I need this for... I'm a medical health professional and there are times when I have sensitive data about some of my patients that I need to access via my phone/tablet/home/work computer. I don't necessarily need the folder of patient data to sync across all devices but if that could be done (say via DropBox or WebDAV, encrypted), that would be a bonus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@cdnmaplechick, did you have any luck with all this? EDS is another one you could try, but I'm not sure if it can do what you want without rooting your device. If you are comfortable rooting your device Cryptonite is an additional option.
If I understand you correctly I am also looking for something similar (which is how I ended up finding your post). I'd like an app that can encrypt specified folders such that other apps can interact with the contained encrypted files without any trouble (this would be very analogous to how TrueCrypt works for Windows computers). I know there is full device encryption available for Android, but that has its drawbacks. I think what you and I are both wanting is something like full device encryption, but being able to limit it to a few designated folders.
I'd love to hear anything you're willing to share about your experiences (positive or negative) with pursuing all this!
Edit: Forgot to mention a secure syncing service you might be interested in: SpiderOak. I have not yet used their Android app, but I use SpiderOak for Windows all the time to securely sync sensitive data between multiple Windows computers (the data is stored in TrueCrypt volumes on each computer).
Apparently this works with Truecrypt so it will work when you transfer it to a Mac or PC
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sovworks.eds.android
Droidcrypt should do entire folders, but has a lot of neg reviews. Personally I wouldn't use any closed source encryption app you have no idea if they're actually generating true random numbers or if it's junk software.
LUKS is free and open source, if your phone is rooted
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nemesis2.luksmanager you can just copy folders into the virtual encrypted folder it creates.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mrpdaemon.android.encdroid is open source, free and works with dropbox
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.backup Carbon now uses encrypted backup
There's also APG http://thialfihar.org/projects/apg/
You can use PGP to encrypt/decrypt files (perhaps folders?) for transferring to another computer. Or if both your Nexus and your PC/Mac is using full disc encryption then you can just transfer the folders to each other in the clear with USB.
derpsec said:
Droidcrypt should do entire folders, but has a lot of neg reviews. Personally I wouldn't use any closed source encryption app you have no idea if they're actually generating true random numbers or if it's junk software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've felt ambivalent about Droidcrypt. It should do what I want but they feel like such an unknown; they don't even have a website (not that that would make them automatically safer, but I'd at least be able to get a little more of sense of who I'm trusting my data to).
derpsec said:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mrpdaemon.android.encdroid is open source, free and works with dropbox
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for those additional links, and especially for Encdroid! I'm a fan of open source, and it looks like the author's on the XDA forums:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1917665
I definitely want to check that one out further.
How about Cryptonite? https://code.google.com/p/cryptonite/ It says it uses TrueCrypt.
Yes cryptonite seems to be a good solution.
Check-->
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=csh.cryptonite&hl=el
Hello friends
Is an application for Android that folders can be encrypted and password-access to that folder wherever necessary, same encryption on the kms 9(Kaspersky Mobile Security 9 v9.4.96 – S60v3)
Hi guys,
I'm trying to get a lil' privacy here
I know right now it's rather hard, but I'm trying to take my steps. So far setting Seacloud with https and encryption on a 2TB HDD wasn't too hard. Problem is, it doesn't upload the phone pictures to the server, at the moment. A second solution would be to have an app to sync those pictures to a network drive, which is already on Seafile, and would be then automatically backed up. This could be done via SMB or SCP/SFTP. Do you know of any apps doing this, copying any new detected file within an specifed folder to a network share?
PS: Yeah yeah, I know owncloud does this out of the box. Their apps are far better for this, but the way they store their filesystem isn't very clean IMHO, so I preferred seacloud instead (owncloud uses normal files for its storage, which can lead to issues implementing file history, while seacloud uses a database structure).
Hello XDA community!
I'm not quite sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I couldn't quite find a forum suited for this type of question. In any case here goes: is there any way to identify someone's email address or Google account from his/her Google Play Music ID?
Here is why I'm asking. Recently, my wife and I stayed in a hotel and at the end of our stay, my wife brought back a USB key which she assumed was mine. The USB key must have belonged to a prior patron as it was not mine. On the key, I saw that there were several family photos which seemed like they would be quite important to the owner. However, I could not find a single shred of identifying information on the key, with the exception of an "Android" folder with a "com.google.android.music" sub-folder containing a file named "._playmusicid" in it. This file contains a string of characters which appear to be a unique identifier for a Google Play Music account.
I would like to be able to identify the owner of the USB key so I can send him his data. From the photos on the card, I can only assume he is now quite far away from me (I am in Canada, he is likely in Asia somewhere), so I would send the information online. I've called the hotel, and they can't tell me who previous renters were (quite strange, given the nature of my request).
If anyone knows how to accomplish this, please let me know. Thank you!
What is this file ? Little Off Topic but my Sprint Sammy Note 4, Stock ROM, v5.1 LoLPoP with No Root, puts this file on any media I attach to it to include Micro SD Cards, USB Thumb Drives and small portable Hard drives.I will rap it up with the path oh yea, if the end file leaves the path it is auto replaced so it stays with you, would be perfect way to spread something. Any way the file is a hidden one so most people wouldn't even notice unless your looking for anything.
This is on any removable media. Google Play Music File that replaces itself if moved, removed, or renamed from initial location. Can be removed once disconnected from phone, does not remove itself.
( REMOVABLE MEDIA NAME HERE ) > Android > data > com.google.android. music > files ( Hidden In Here ) > ._playmusicid ( Hidden File )
Is it saying You Were Here, here is your invisable ink stamp saying you bumped uglies with my phone?
That is all.
Sent from my SM-N910P
Hello all, I have received a TON of false positives in my search for whether this is even possible.
In windows, a shortcut to a file or folder can be stored in any folder.
So far in Android, a shortcut can only be placed on the home screen, and AFAIK does not have a corresponding file that can be found in the root browser.
I am trying to trick Handshaker into giving me access to my EXTERNAL SD, and the only way I can think of is to create a shortcut somewhere on the internal SD that zips on over to the card where all my media (100Gb+) is stored.
I'm on a OPX, so internal storage BARELY COVERS apps. No switcheroo action is reasonably doable.
As an aside, is this whole Mac incompatibility thing a vestigial grudge? It must take a lot of effort to KEEP usb from working as it should. Are there other apps besides the "works when it feels like it" Android File Transfer or "installs weird **** on your phone" HandShaker that allow you to move around YOUR OWN FILES without using the cloud? The amount of web silence and lack of development is stunning to me. Maybe I need to refine my search terms?? Unlikely. I've tried many tens of iterations.
The search for answers here results in a mountain of false-positives as well.
Thanks for taking the time to at least read this.
Cheers.
Good day!
Since version 4.x of the Android mobile phone operating system, Google has removed the USB Mass Storage mode and replaced it with Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) and Media Transfer Protocol (MTP). This means that the phone appears as a camera or scanner in Windows Explorer, without a drive letter, and that means that many file types cannot be copied to the phone, no new files created there, many PC based recovery and synchronization programs do not function properly, etc. The feature was removed to take control out of users' hands, because a lot of things would be a lot easier to achieve if one could access all directories and files on the phone from the PC -- a disk/hex editor is a powerful tool. Yes, some people bricked their devices by using them stupidly, but given all the locks and hurdles that manufacturers and carriers increasingly impose on customers who paid a huge sum of money for their little toys with every new version of the operating system, there is a clear tendency to see: milk consumers for all they are worth, but keep in control and decide what they are allowed to do.
To partially remedy the problem, most tutorials recommend to install a WebDAV server on the phone and map it as a network drive on the PC via Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, many of the more interesting operations need to be done before the phone is up and running, before software is installed and before a Wi-Fi network can be configured/established, and other operations can simply only be done via USB cable.
There is a company called Cranking Pixels that produces a PTP as well as an MTP driver for Windows, which bring back the drive letter for file-based (not sector based) operations. Unfortunately, there do not seem to be any recent versions floating around in the netherworld, and the price for the software is rather steep, especially when needing several copies. Therefore I would like to ask ...
a.) User experience
Does anybody have experience with the software and can say whether it offers sufficient bang for the buck to justify the expense? This means being able to access all folders & subfolders, create/copy/delete/edit/move all types of files from/to the phone and PC? Can system files be modified/patched so that certain flags that the phone system sets when detecting a rooted phone can be modified in a way that things like OTA updates, secure folders and banking applications still work?
b.) Similar programs
Is anyone aware of similar solutions that do the same or more but cost less?
c.) Alternative solutions
Are there other approaches that bring back Mass Storage USB mode to Android Oreo and Pie, be it flashed files for the phone, be it modified USB drivers for the computer or whatever?
Yes, phones can be rooted and so on, and so on, but it usually requires manual intervention to keep things running smoothly after every update and security patch. There are also many situations when being able to treat the phone like a mass storage device (external hard disk or USB stick) is simply more convenient and quicker or preferable for other reasons.
Any pointers and tips will be appreciated. Thank you for your attention and have a pleasant afternoon.