What do you use to copy text files from Windows XP to Android over WiFi?

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 17:28:08 +0000 (UTC), Jonas Schneider wrote:

... there's really no reason to install *anything* on Windows ...

That's what you say *here*. But elsewhere you indicate you've been using
FTPUSE on your Windows setup -- you had to install *that*, didn't you?

Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 00:49:42 -0000, Jonas Schneider
wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 18:36:16 -0400, Alek wrote:

I had thought that results would consist perhaps of how long it takes to
get to the point where files are transferred and then how long it took
to transfer them.

If you compared race cars or boats by how long it took to build them from
scratch to when they crossed the finish line, the cars and boats that end
up winning would likely turn out to be the worst and slowest.

A Volkswagen beetle would beat out a Ferrari Testarossa, and a Liberty
Ship
would beat out a fast destroyer.

It's the wrong metric.

This guy posts too much.


--
Bah, and indeed, Humbug

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 12:19:38 -0000, Kerr Mudd-John wrote:

This guy posts too much.

You're just not used to Usenet actually working the way it should.

The result is that, in a single step on Windows, the entire Android device
is mounted over WiFi as a drive letter on Windows.
https://s30.postimg.org/igy81jjsh/ftpuse_6.gif

1. The question was a valid question.
2. The question was posed to the correct newsgroups.
3. Many helpful suggestions were proposed.
4. Every suggestion was tested out and reported back on.
5. Research was done, and new ground was broken.
6. The new results were documented and provided to give back to the group.
7. A few technical hurdles had to be surmounted (or given up on).
8. And the results were provided back to the group.

If any of the readers already knew how to mount the entire Android device
as a drive letter on Windows in a single step before this thread was
opened, then I apologize.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 04:49:50 -0400, tlvp wrote:

That's what you say *here*. But elsewhere you indicate you've been using
FTPUSE on your Windows setup -- you had to install *that*, didn't you?

Yup. You caught me using software on Windows!

Somewhere I said that the best solutions would be the ones that work native
on Windows, which would (of course) be the CIFS and SMB solutions.

You do know that I tried to get them to work but gave up because there's
something wrong with my Windows XP machine (they will work fine on my
Windows 10 machine but that's not the one I use day in and day out).

So, as a second-best solution, I went to the FTP Drive solution, which also
requires nothing on Windows since it uses the native Windows "My Network
Places" feature.

The Windows "NET USE" command would have worked to assign a drive letter to
that FTP Drive, but the Windows NET USE command doesn't seem to be able to
handle arbitrary ports. So in researching that, I accidentally found the
FTP USE command, which does handle arbitrary ports.

So now we have described about two dozen tested ways to transfer files over
WiFi between Android and Windows, the best of which don't need to install
anything on Windows to work.

If you knew all of these ways ahead of time, that's great, but I didn't
know them, so I, for one, have many more viable options now than I did when
I first asked the question.

Thanks!

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 07:03:53 +0000 (UTC), Jonas Schneider wrote:

So I must ask: what version of windows is it, having this FTPUSE utility?

The URL to the software was in the screenshots,

Wait. Didn't you once declare you were

... trying to just use whatever is already on Windows

? Was FTPUSE already on windows? Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

Jonas Schneider wrote on 3/23/2017 8:49 PM:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 18:36:16 -0400, Alek wrote:

I had thought that results would consist perhaps of how long it takes to
get to the point where files are transferred and then how long it took
to transfer them.

If you compared race cars or boats by how long it took to build them from
scratch to when they crossed the finish line, the cars and boats that end
up winning would likely turn out to be the worst and slowest.

A Volkswagen beetle would beat out a Ferrari Testarossa, and a Liberty Ship
would beat out a fast destroyer.

It's the wrong metric.

You say.

When I want to transfer a file (not build a car, for crying out loud!),
I want to know which programs require the fewest number of steps to do
the transfer and then make the transfer in the least amount of time.

I'm not writing the program -- analogous to building from scratch, I'm
using it.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 15:50:43 +0000 (UTC), Jonas Schneider wrote:

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 04:49:50 -0400, tlvp wrote:

That's what you say *here*. But elsewhere you indicate you've been using
FTPUSE on your Windows setup -- you had to install *that*, didn't you?

Yup. You caught me using software on Windows!

Somewhere I said that the best solutions would be the ones that work native
on Windows, which would (of course) be the CIFS and SMB solutions.

You do know that I tried to get them to work but gave up because there's
something wrong with my Windows XP machine (they will work fine on my
Windows 10 machine but that's not the one I use day in and day out).

So, as a second-best solution, I went to the FTP Drive solution, which also
requires nothing on Windows since it uses the native Windows "My Network
Places" feature.

The Windows "NET USE" command would have worked to assign a drive letter to
that FTP Drive, but the Windows NET USE command doesn't seem to be able to
handle arbitrary ports. So in researching that, I accidentally found the
FTP USE command, which does handle arbitrary ports.

So now we have described about two dozen tested ways to transfer files over
WiFi between Android and Windows, the best of which don't need to install
anything on Windows to work.

Noted. Thanks.

If you knew all of these ways ahead of time, that's great, but I didn't

Nor I.

know them, so I, for one, have many more viable options now than I did when
I first asked the question.

Thanks!

YvW. Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 17:22:19 -0400, tlvp wrote:


The URL to the software was in the screenshots,

Wait. Didn't you once declare you were

... trying to just use whatever is already on Windows

? Was FTPUSE already on windows? Cheers, -- tlvp

The only reason I used FTP USE is because I was trying to figure out how to
use NET USE which can't handle ports, and I accidentally ran into FTP USE
(which can handle ports).

So I tried it, and it worked.
But, turning the FTP Drive into a Local Disk Drive is really not needed.

The FTP Drive works just fine in My Network Places, and no Windows software
is needed, so it works on every Windows computer in the world.

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 17:30:11 -0400, Alek wrote:

When I want to transfer a file (not build a car, for crying out loud!),
I want to know which programs require the fewest number of steps to do
the transfer and then make the transfer in the least amount of time.

I'm not writing the program -- analogous to building from scratch, I'm
using it.

STEP 1. Tap to turn on an FTP Server on Android.
STEP 2. Doubleclick your saved "My Network Place.

That's it. Two taps.
One tap each on each platform.
Zero taps on Android if you leave the server running all the time.

How much *quicker* do you want it to be?

On 2017-03-24 01:49, Jonas Schneider wrote:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 22:49:49 +0100, "Carlos E. R."
wrote:

1. HTTP (eg Wifi Explorer or WiFi File Transfer)
2. FTP (eg primitive FTP or FTP Server)
3. Proprietary sync managers (eg MyPhone Explorer or AirDroid)

AirDroid uses http, does not require special software on the client, and
does not require registration.


Thanks for clarifying that AirDroid is HTTP based. I had removed it after
testing so I was working off of memory. Let me write up a corrected list in
the thread summary.

4. SMB (eg ES File Explorer or AndSMB)
5. CIFS (eg Folder Tag CIFS Service or Solid Explorer)

CIFS is the same as SMB. Different year, different name.

Are you sure CIFS and SMB are the same thing?

Some of the tested Android programs say that they're CIFS clients, while
others say both CIFS and SMB, and most just say SMB.


Yes, some of your links give info on that:

The Difference between CIFS and SMB
https://blog.varonis.com/the-differe...-cifs-and-smb/

CIFS vs SAMBA, What are the differences
http://unix.stackexchange.com/questi...he-differences

What is the difference between SMB, CIFS and Samba?
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/com..._smb_cifs_and/


The correct name is SAMBA, not SMB. One of those links reminds that. SMB
was already registered for something else.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On Mon, 20 Mar 2017 03:18:26 +0000 (UTC), Jonas Schneider
wrote:

Do any of you have a simple WiFi copy method from Windows XP to Android?

I just learned *another* neat method which, in the end, makes it one single
tap on Android to start the FTP server and one tap on Windows to access the
My Network Place (as long as the IP address of the phone is stable).

The ubiquitous ES File Explorer app on Android comes with an FTP Server
which itself creates its own desktop shortcut, which, when tapped, brings
up the FTP server in the background. So there's nothing to open or close or
edit. You just tap that ES File Explorer FTP Server desktop shortcut, and
then tap on the stored Windows My Network Place, and your entire Android
phone is "mounted" on Windows.

To start the ES File Explorer FTP server manually:
ES File Explorer: Hamburger Network Remote Manager Turn on

Then, in any version of Windows, just add the "network place"
http://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-w...ork-place.html

The URI to the network place is simply the URI from ES File Explorer:
ftp://192.168.1.5:3721/ (where your IP address will differ)

In ES File Explorer, once I started the FTP server, I looked at the
default settings, which were
a. It set the port to 3721 by default
b. It set the root directory to /sdcard
c. It set the account login to "Anonymous" (with no password)

What was nice was that in ES File Explorer "Settings" there was a button to
"Create a shortcut to launch FTP server".

Pressing this option made an "ESFTP" shortcut on my desktop, so that, in
the future, to launch the ESFTP server, all I had to do was tap that
shortcut.

If you do it right, there will be two shortcuts:
A. ESFTP shortcut on Android (to start the FTP Server)
B. My Network Places ftp shortcut on Windows (to access Android on Windows)

In just two clicks (one each on Android & Windows), your entire Android
file system is "mounted" on Windows.

Jonas Schneider wrote:
[...]
1. Download and install and run any FTP server on Android.
I used Primitive FTPd because I wanted something fast, small, & simple:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...d=org.primftpd

2. Download & install FTPUSE to map an FTP Drive to a local disk:
https://www.ferrobackup.com/map-ftp-as-disk.htm

NOTE: If you don't like FTPUSE, similar software is listed below:
Webdrive: https://southrivertech.com/products/webdrive/
DriveMaker: http://backupchain.com/en/drivemaker/
FDrive: http://www.killprog.com/fdrve.html
ExpanDrive: http://www.expandrive.com/

3. Running that FTP server on Android gives information like this:
a. IP address 192.168.1.5 == this is whatever it is on your subnet
b. Port 12345 == this is whatever you set it to
c. Username anonymous == this is whatever you set it to
d. Password anything or nothing == this is whatever you set
e. Start directory /mnt == this is whatever you set it to

4. Mount the entire Android FTP Drive as a local disk drive on Windows:
C:\ FTPUSE Z: 192.168.1.5 /PORT:12345 /USER:anonymous

NOTE: You don't have to add it to your PATH if you use Start Run:
Start Run FTPUSE Z: 192.168.1.5 /PORT:12345 /USER:anonymous

Now the Android file system is mounted as Drive Z: on Windows:
https://s30.postimg.org/igy81jjsh/ftpuse_6.gif

Thanks for the pointer to and your instructions for FTPUSE!

I was/am looking for a way to backup (the app-data of) my (Huawei)
smartphones with normal Windows backup software, because Huawei's
Windows companion program (HiSuite) backs up everything, *except* the
data which belongs to an app ('app-data').

Because Windows *itself* (*not* Windows/File Explorer) only
understands drives and Network Shares - not things like smartphones - I
want to access the phones as a drive or Network Share.

Using a Network *Share*, needs a SMB *server* on the Android device.
(For the moment) I abandoned that idea, because a SMB server on Android
needs root or/and non-standard ports which Windows can't handle.

So your Network *Drive* approach is - while second-best - a workable
solution.

That's the good news.

Now the not-so-good news.

I encountered this problem:

When the (ES File Explorer) FTP server on Android is setup and FTPUSE
has connected the (Z Network Drive to the FTP server, any *new*/extra
files on the Android side are not seen on the Windows side. Only if you
disconnect (FTPUSE Z: /DELETE) and reconnect, the Windows side will see
the added file(s).

For my case - backup - that is not too much of a problem, because the
connection will probably only be made for the duration of the backup and
during that backup, there will probably not be any files added on the
Android side.

But for 'your'/this_thread's case - general file copy - this problem
can lead to unpleasant surprises.

I would appreciate it if you could test/reproduce(/fix?) this.

Reproduction steps:

- ES File Explorer gives "ftp://192.168.0.124:3721/" as the URL to use.

- On Windows:
FTPUSE Z: 192.168.0.124 /PORT:3721 /USER:anonymous
Should say:
"Connecting...
Connected.
The operation completed successfully"

- On the Windows side, look at the contents of a folder on the Z: drive.
(In my case Z:\MyAPKs)

- On the Android side, add a file to the folder.
(In my case "SD card\MyAPKs")

- Now look again at the folder on the Windows side. If you can reproduce
the problem, the added file will not be shown on the Windows side.

- On Windows:
FTPUSE Z: /DELETE
(Should say: "The operation completed successfully")
FTPUSE Z: 192.168.0.124 /PORT:3721 /USER:anonymous
Now the added file *will* be shown on the Windows side.

Thanks in advance for your efforts.

[...]