Honeycomb and MTP

[Giles Orr]

I've never checked the version numbers on the Android OS that came
with the Asus Transformer tablet I own until now.  I assumed it was
v3.0 when I got it, and it's since got a couple upgrades pushed out by
Asus that give it features consistent with v3.2 (and that's how the
system settings read now).  I've been lazy about setting up syncing
the tablet data to my PC - a month ago or so I plugged the Transformer
into my PC via USB and promptly got a mass storage device.  I made
what I thought was a reasonable assumption: I could do that again.
But no: somewhere along the line, Google has converted from USB mass
storage to Media Transfer Protocol.  The aim is laudable (I understand
that this means the Transformer can perform as a storage device to the
PC while remaining usable as an Android tablet) but the results are
questionable: chatter online suggests that Xoom and Transformer owners
are having some trouble with the transition on Windows, and a lot of
trouble with it on Linux.  Technically, Linux has MTP support, but
I've never used it and it's pretty clear that it's uneven, varying
from device to device.

So I'm posting this as a heads-up to tablet owners and potential
tablet owners, and also as a plea for MTP-on-Linux information: a good
tutorial for Debian users without GNOME/KDE would be ideal, but tips
and tricks are more than welcome.  There's also a rsync client for
Android ...
-- 
Giles
http://www.gilesorr.com/
gilesorr-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
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