FreeFileSync Forum

Problem seems to be related to MTP issues in Linux.

But I found another solution. On the phone you can install an ftp program like “Cx File Explorer” and create an ftp share. In FFS, you can access that then if you are int he same network (which would normally be the case).

Ill look into these

There is an app in Google Play called wifi ftp.
No encryption is necessary if you're backing up your own phone in your own home on your own network. It's faster than using encryption.

Try using kdeconnect, install it on phone and computer and you get a mounted folder that you can file compare and sync with.

What I do instead of what you're trying is plug a 1 GB ethernet adapter into my phone giving me maximum throughput to my router and to my PC that I used to back up the phone and it can be either windows or Linux and I can mount the phone by the IP address and use ffs.

Suggestion:
Add an option that directly replaces a file instead of modifying it.

Reason:
To make the synchronization process possible for MTP file transfers that do not support file writing. (on LINUX)

Explanation (if you want to read):

For MTP file transfers, any sort of update or write to a ...

... although it has to processs almost 50.000 files. But Sync is then extremely slow with just 50 kb/s or even less. Using the newest version 14.6. Fail-safe copy on or off does not make a difference. More than one thread leads to "ERROR_BUSY" on the MTP side. Transfer with Windows Explorer is way faster.

: AudioWithoutThumb.png (61.37 KiB) Viewed 1500 times

我在复制录音时（没有任何缩略图），遇到了相同的缓慢情况，告诉我需要3小时，但最后阶段突然加速并于13分钟后完成
I encountered the same slow situation when copying the recording (without any thumbnails), which told me it would take 3 hours, but the final stage suddenly sped up and finished in 13 minutes.

Tested.
The feature works fine, no errors for me. I'm using a Samsung S23 Ultra and FFS 15.5
Classic MTP issues xCSxXenon, 05 Oct 2025, 01:31

Thank you for that. It does seem to be working better.

Tested.
The feature works fine, no errors for me. I'm using a Samsung S23 Ultra and FFS 15.5
Classic MTP issues

... on one side, it gets deleted and recopied on the other side, instead of a move being done directly. Impacts large files more, obviously, since it takes longer to transfer those. I'm skeptical that the option works on MTP devices, but I'm not using it currently. I will test and try it out in a bit.

I read a reply elsewhere.....

MTP supports only one read or one write operation at a time per device (folder traversals don't have this limitation).

for someone trying to synch folders within a mobile device - I've a closely related question. I'm trying to get consistency between files and ...

Thank you for the answer.
I didn't think MTP was that sensitive.
Setting up the smartphone as an FTP server is obviously more complicated; I was hoping there was a simple solution.
But I've read up on it now – it seems to be a working solution.

I've been using FFS for a long time to sync photos from smartphones — an mtp:\ source.
It always worked well until I switched to a Xiaomi 14T Pro. With it (and also with an Honor 400 Pro), the files are read quickly as usual, but when copying, FFS hangs for a very long time, sometimes over 15 minutes ...

... what is causing this, all I know is that everything was working before.

The log shows 7 of these E_WPD_DEVICE_IS_HUNG errors:

Cannot write file "mtp:\Slooby's A14\SD card\Pictures\sync.ffs_db.dff3.ffs_tmp".
E_WPD_DEVICE_IS_HUNG: The device will no longer respond to input. [outStream.Write(buffer ...

Hi, so a few observations:
The initial sync job did NOT have the database option checked for UPDATE.
The global option fail-safe copy is ENABLED.

For fun, I ran the sync job with the global option of fail-safe copy OFF. The result was pretty much the same.14 minutes to transfer 7.23MB of data, with ...

Thanks for the replies and thanks @therube for posting those links - I will look and see what those settings are configured to in the transfer job. I have been away from my workstation but I will have a look tomorrow at the discussed options. It's interesting to me that those other forums stated ...

Fail-safe file copy & VerifyCopiedFiles mentioned:
https://freefilesync.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10375

(Former default, latter not. Wouldn't expect an issue there, but...)

in conclusion: Some files will be more than 5 times slower when using FFS synchronization across disks.
https://freefilesync ...

... security update (internal storage formatted as F2FS with 4kB blocks) I'm flooded with get the dreaded warnings:
Cannot write modification time of "mtp:\\Galaxy A16\SD card\Music\........ .ffs_tmp"
whether I write to the SD card's EXFAT area or to its internal 256GB F2FS storage.

Now, my newly ...

Agreed.

I would as a test in the next step of this process exclude the folder on purpose and do a comparison find out what it wants to do and run a test backup minus that one folder and see if all of the other data backs up normally and the customer is satisfied with the results. If everything ...

While the backing up (or lack thereof) of a "thumbnail" directory may be a "trivial insignificant" problem, if the issue is more generalized, then it is no longer a trivial insignificant problem.

If there is a problem here, if it is more generalized, such that the backup of your data, of your ...

Here are my final thoughts on your predicament.

You're spending an awful lot of time and energy trying to back up a folder that is there merely for convenience purposes and it's not actually your real data.

If it were me I would skip or exclude the thumbnail folder from backups and in the event ...

That is correct, the scan stage actually completes rather quickly for the entire job, maybe around 60 seconds or so. The issue occurs during the sync stage.

I should double check my sync settings to see if that database is enabled... I have a feeling that it is enabled since I believe it is enabled ...

> we're talking about 10 kb/s and less

To be clear, we're at the Sync stage now, the scan itself has long finished & we're just copying (syncing) files.

db was mentioned (elsewhere).
Might that be playing in?
If db is recording 14K changes... & if the file sizes are so small that the actual copy ...

> I just transferred the same thumbnail folder via the typical windows copy paste function and it completed the copy in about 25 minutes
> mostly just <files> around 10-100kb in size
> The ... folder is around 750 MB with around 14000 files

Maybe it is just that.
Small size (so maybe "disk" cluster ...

I understand and hear your frustration. There's nothing I can do to test or try and reproduce what you're having as a problem because I don't have a thumbnail folder like you do on my phone. I'm running Android 14 or now 15 I think and on a Samsung s23.

UPDATE:
Just found my hidden thumbnail folder ...

... answer like that and that is okay. This forum will still hopefully serve as a place to post workarounds for those that are encountering issues with mtp transfers.

It might be a new thing with android as well, I don't know. Android has been getting worse and worse for out of ecosystem file transfers ...

Hi,

I don't even have a folder called .thumbnails in that location and I have an s23. I used two file managers to display hidden files and found hidden files and folders but not that one.

I agree that these files don't need to be backed up they will be automatically created all over again if you ...

I would exclude the thumbnail folders in the filters, not any good reason to back them up

... in size. This transfer with FFS used to work flawlessly, but something must have changed either in FFS or in the way Android presents files via mtp.

The thumbnail folder is around 750 MB with around 14000 files.

Threads are set to "1".

Curious - I tried the job again and since the thumbnails ...

If you use some other method (other then FFS) to attempt similar, does the same slowness ensue?

(I suppose working on a subset of said data should give you an indication - cause, I'm probably going to be on vacation in 20 days ;-).)

Hi,I have an interesting issue where my typical transfer of images and data from my Samsung S20 FE device to my Win 11 Pro PC via the USB C cable is VERY slow - we're talking about 10 kb/s and less. Specifically, the issue seems to happen when my saved job tries to transfer the thumbnail folder (In ...

Hello,

I'm a long-time FFS user and donor. After updating to version 14.3, I encountered a serious issue when syncing from my Android smartphone (MTP) to a Cryptomator virtual drive (WinSFP or network is the same).

I created a new profile from scratch, and I'm using "Size" only as the comparison ...

I've experienced delays/pauses when transferring files in Windows using MTP, even without any error messages. It might be due to having other files open at the same time.

Switching to FTP on Linux has been a much better experience for me. Thanks for the suggestion! I find FTP more convenient and it ...

Speed for MTP devices, at least modern/quick ones, usually goes like this, top is fastest:
- MTP that works
- FTP
- MTP that doesn't work

MTP is going to be fastest, if it works correctly. Unfortunately, the options are basically 'none' if it doesn't just work on its own and you are trying to ...

I got the same error. I just it's not working?
Cannot rename "/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=Xiaomi_Xiaomi_11T_7t79tkjb5xljnr49/Internal shared storage/Phone2Laptop Sync-e356.ffs_tmp" to "Phone2Laptop Sync.ffs_gui".

EIO: Input/output error [rename]

I am using Linux Mint 22.1 and FFS v14.3 x86-64 ...

I got the same error. I just it's not working?
Cannot rename "/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=Xiaomi_Xiaomi_11T_7t79tkjb5xljnr49/Internal shared storage/Phone2Laptop Sync-e356.ffs_tmp" to "Phone2Laptop Sync.ffs_gui".

EIO: Input/output error [rename]

I am using Linux Mint 22.1 and FFS v14.3 x86-64 03 ...

This has worked all fine earlier but now suddenly there is a 2 min delay
before writing the first file to my phone using mtp (reading is ok).

After the first file is written all writes are as normal.

Phone is a Samsung A33.

PS! Have turned off use off trashcan and setting permissions but that didn ...

Maybe it was because I used the "portable apps platform version".
With the "zip donation portable version" it worked. Thanks.

There shouldn't be a difference in this regard.

... apps etc that I have.
Donation (not much but what I can afford) is incoming.
A last question. It is not a problem, but I like portable apps and with the portable version I can not use MTP. It does not "show" the Kindle. The installed version does? Why? I don't need it "fixed" but I am interessted.

Looks like Amazon bricked the file rename function. To workaround you can disable fail-safe file copy in menu->tools: options.

... tries it hardest to make it impossible to "get out of the closed kindle world".
But I am so glad the "compare function" worked (thanks for that). Before with my old Kindle I used FreecommanderXE and it does not work with MTP...
And yes I know calibre but I like to "controll" my Bookfiles "myself"...

Thanks for the suggestion. Indeed I managed to sync through SFTP no issues and I was surprised at how fast it is compared to MTP. I might just stick with this!

Hi,

My recommendation is to compare the results you're getting now with switching to SFTP.

MTP can have issues from time to time and it would be smart to compare and see if sft works better for you you won't need to use the cable.

I use this on the phone:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details ...

Hi! I just want to revive this issue; I have v.14 and I'm also having issues with this error. I haven't figured out the pattern as most files work fine, but some don't. Any help welcome! Thanks

Sync files to phone (s9+) fails with:

Cannot write file "/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=SAMSUNG_SAMSUNG_Android_2b9932590e027ece/Card/films/sync.ffs_lock".
ENOTSUP: Operation not supported [open]

NB:
- Compare works! (after ignoring complain about couldn't write sync.ffs_lock)
- I tried tools options ...

Now I have found that I have to turn off Fail safe copy in Tool Options. Now it takes few seconds to sync.

Yes, this helps.

I saw these hangs when trying to rename a file on some MTP devices. For whatever reason the smartphone gets freaked out and blocks for 30 seconds, apparently doing nothing.

To verify you could test disabling the DB file (which renames the file sync.ffs_tmp to sync.ffs_db).

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