Connection with MTP to PC problems

[ambrown]

Okay all, this one has been driving me nuts! I've had problems connecting both my RAZR HD and my wife's Nexus 7 to my PC. In both cases after that brief "installing drivers" message that is ever so common upon plugging in a new peripheral or device, it says installation failed and the "USB device is not recognized". I'm on Windows Vista, so I'm not sure if that has special issues, but I also use Linux Mint and couldn't get Mint to read my Android devices either.

I did find a solution on Linux to connect the Nexus 7 called mtpfs-go, which is a custom script written by a Google employee, and it works for connecting the tablet. But it still won't recognize my RAZR HD at all, which is beyond frustrating.

It seems that I've never had any problem in the past connecting my Android devices to Windows or Linux. So the deduction I've made is that it's a problem with the MTP protocol, and there not being good drivers on both the OS end and on the driver end.

So has anyone found some good solutions? Most forum posts I've found around the web are unhelpful bordering on pointless. And the official Microsoft and Linux forums are equally clueless. There are some good tips for if you are already connected but missing folders if files. But nothing to work out how to connect.

Anyway, so far MTP has earned my ire, and right now my opinion of Google choosing to go with MTP on Android 4.0+ is about as low as it gets.

 

[leeshor]

I have read any number of threads where the problem could not be solved short of a fresh install, on Windows. Sometimes it's a registry corruption from multiple devices being connected, sometimes an anti virus app or driver mismatches. Frequently there is no solution other than try a different USB port as some are on different internal HUBs. I typically use apps like AirDroid, or the cloud so I don't even bother connecting directly to the PC any more. Wish I had a better answer.

Just an fyi - Samsung devices in particular are slightly less of a problem because Samsung supplies their own specific drivers. Most other companies don't.

 

[bweN diorD]

i have had this problem before, looked everywhere, and tried everything suggested to fix it for a couple weeks.
nothing worked until i re-installed windoze, as leeshor said.

 

[ambrown]

This has seriously been super annoying. I hope Google does something to fix it because as it is, it's completely unusable.

 

[leeshor]

This has seriously been super annoying. I hope Google does something to fix it because as it is, it's completely unusable.

I'm fairly certain the problem is not a Google problem and if you are awaiting a fix from them it won't happen. The problem is not ROM or device specific. The least problematic devices I've seen have been Samsung phones and only because Samsung provides their own drivers. Being that any given device will work on 99 of 100 computers with a direct connection, the problem can hardly be blamed on Google. Especially since a fresh install of Windows has solved the problem.

Those who are having problems have an issue with their computer, (OS/software/driver etc), not their Google device, whatever that may be.