Hurah for MTP but... Not all MTPs are created equal..

[rhandel]

All,

I just got the latest version of Beyond compare because MTP copy works unlike my previous version. I was really waiting for the magic of copying/backup/comparing all of my devices and my Windoze PC. I am developing some Android software.

Here is my short and interesting tale.

While backing up some files form Widoze to Android I found several files that will copy and work just fine but an "Unspecified error" is thrown.
Step 1) Isolate them by doing a copy between Windoze directories to see if there was an issue with the files themselves but they are fine.
Step 2) Look at the file names to see if there was something fishy. (I was copying MP3 files with a filename like " 21 .mp3" (quotes for correct spacing).
Step 3) Examine the name of the song title field in Windoze. It is "21".mp3. So Windoze ignores and translates the " character to SPACE while MLP does not.
Step 4) Remove all " from file names

Solved.

Interesting huh?

[Aaron]

Hello,

Indeed, I've seen a lot of odd issues with MTP over the years, varying greatly by the destination device and flavor of version of the software the device is running. As a strategy I've found, I'd suggest testing trials with both BC4 and Windows Explorer to see how if either behave the same, differently, or throw different error messages/warnings. Fully power cycling either the computer or android device can also have impact (and to a lesser extent also the cable, the port, the device is locked or unlocked when initially plugged in, random timing issues, etc.)

Nice work on finding the space character in the name.

[rhandel]

Hello,

Indeed, I've seen a lot of odd issues with MTP over the years, varying greatly by the destination device and flavor of version of the software the device is running. As a strategy I've found, I'd suggest testing trials with both BC4 and Windows Explorer to see how if either behave the same, differently, or throw different error messages/warnings. Fully power cycling either the computer or android device can also have impact (and to a lesser extent also the cable, the port, the device is locked or unlocked when initially plugged in, random timing issues, etc.)

Nice work on finding the space character in the name.

Thanks Aaron.

It's looking like "touch" to change directory dates does not work well with MTP no matter which Android devices I use. Is there something special to do to "touch" source directory when pushed to MTP device? I am looking to match something, (or ignore directory dates).

I am developing some android software so it's kind of important to know for sure software is versioned/date stamped/etc. properly between WIndoze and Android..

Thanks. again.

[Aaron]

Hello,

The touch command can attempt to update file or folder Last modified timestamps, but MTP doesn't define how to handle timestamps as a protocol so it can vary a lot device to device on if they support either or both allowing Touch, or even displaying a timestamp.

I'd also caution on the reliability of folder timestamps and that a lot of external factors can update a directory timestamp, such as copying a new item into it. It's part of why BC4 displays folder timestamps, but the comparison color is derived from the file content and otherwise ignores the timestamp on the folder itself.