If you miss or can't find the USB notification by swiping down:
- Swipe down from top of the device's screen
- Swipe down again to expand the system control widgets (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc...)
- Tap the Gear icon in the lower right to open Settings (OR just tap "Settings" icon from the device's homescreen)
- Tap "Connected Devices"
- Tap "USB"
- Under "Use USB for", tap "File Transfer"
Note: When trying to switch "USB controlled by" to "Connected device", it did not seem to work and just says "Couldn't switch".
After enabling File Transfer mode, the device was mounted under an unusual path (when compared to most standard USB mass storage devices):
The device's product ID and serial number should be listed in place of the X's.
After doing this, I opened up Calibre via the command line. It threw this exception error:
Device 0 (VID=1949 and PID=0581) is UNKNOWN in libmtp v1.1.17.
Please report this VID/PID and the device model to the libmtp development team
error returned by libusb_claim_interface() = -6LIBMTP PANIC: Unable to initialize device
Error while trying to open MTPDevice(busnum=1, devnum=35, vendor_id=6473, product_id=1409, bcd=547, serial='XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX', manufacturer='Amazon', product='XXXXXX') (Driver: <calibre.devices.mtp.driver.MTP_DEVICE object at 0x7f294280d880>)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/calibre/calibre/devices/mtp/unix/driver.py", line 218, in open
self.dev = self.create_device(connected_device)
File "/usr/lib/calibre/calibre/devices/mtp/base.py", line 25, in synchronizer
return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/calibre/calibre/devices/mtp/unix/driver.py", line 171, in create_device
return self.libmtp.Device(d.busnum, d.devnum, d.vendor_id,
libmtp.MTPError: Unable to open MTP device with busnum=1 and devnum=35, tried 1 such devices
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/calibre/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 297, in detect_device
dev.open(cd, self.current_library_uuid)
File "/usr/lib/calibre/calibre/devices/mtp/driver.py", line 125, in open
BASE.open(self, device, library_uuid)
File "/usr/lib/calibre/calibre/devices/mtp/base.py", line 25, in synchronizer
return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/calibre/calibre/devices/mtp/unix/driver.py", line 221, in open
raise OpenFailed('Failed to open %s: Error: %s'%(
calibre.devices.errors.OpenFailed: Failed to open MTPDevice(busnum=1, devnum=35, vendor_id=6473, product_id=1409, bcd=547, serial='XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX', manufacturer='Amazon', product='XXXXXX'): Error: Unable to open MTP device with busnum=1 and devnum=35, tried 1 such devices
So in this case it appears to be an error caused by an unrecognizable device in the current version of libmtp:
Device 0 (VID=1949 and PID=0581) is UNKNOWN in libmtp v1.1.17.
The packages in Ubuntu's official repository are probably due for an update. Updating libmtp would probably enable many new devices to work under Ubuntu.
Calibre is currently at version: 5.6.0
libmtp is currently at 1.1.18
Same issue observed in calibre 4.99.4+ dfsg+really4. 12.0-1build1
on Focal 20.04 LTS
with Kindle Fire HD 8 plus (10th generation)
Following the guide here seems to help: https:/ /manual. calibre- ebook.com/ faq.html# android- usb
If you miss or can't find the USB notification by swiping down:
- Swipe down from top of the device's screen
- Swipe down again to expand the system control widgets (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc...)
- Tap the Gear icon in the lower right to open Settings (OR just tap "Settings" icon from the device's homescreen)
- Tap "Connected Devices"
- Tap "USB"
- Under "Use USB for", tap "File Transfer"
Note: When trying to switch "USB controlled by" to "Connected device", it did not seem to work and just says "Couldn't switch".
After enabling File Transfer mode, the device was mounted under an unusual path (when compared to most standard USB mass storage devices):
/run/ user/1000/ gvfs/mtp: host=Amazon_ XXXXXX_ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X/Internal storage
The device's product ID and serial number should be listed in place of the X's.
After doing this, I opened up Calibre via the command line. It threw this exception error:
Device 0 (VID=1949 and PID=0581) is UNKNOWN in libmtp v1.1.17. claim_interface () = -6LIBMTP PANIC: Unable to initialize device 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX', manufacturer= 'Amazon' , product='XXXXXX') (Driver: <calibre. devices. mtp.driver. MTP_DEVICE object at 0x7f294280d880>) calibre/ calibre/ devices/ mtp/unix/ driver. py", line 218, in open device( connected_ device) calibre/ calibre/ devices/ mtp/base. py", line 25, in synchronizer calibre/ calibre/ devices/ mtp/unix/ driver. py", line 171, in create_device Device( d.busnum, d.devnum, d.vendor_id,
Please report this VID/PID and the device model to the libmtp development team
error returned by libusb_
Error while trying to open MTPDevice(busnum=1, devnum=35, vendor_id=6473, product_id=1409, bcd=547, serial=
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/
self.dev = self.create_
File "/usr/lib/
return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/
return self.libmtp.
libmtp.MTPError: Unable to open MTP device with busnum=1 and devnum=35, tried 1 such devices
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last): calibre/ calibre/ gui2/device. py", line 297, in detect_device library_ uuid) calibre/ calibre/ devices/ mtp/driver. py", line 125, in open calibre/ calibre/ devices/ mtp/base. py", line 25, in synchronizer calibre/ calibre/ devices/ mtp/unix/ driver. py", line 221, in open devices. errors. OpenFailed: Failed to open MTPDevice(busnum=1, devnum=35, vendor_id=6473, product_id=1409, bcd=547, serial= 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX', manufacturer= 'Amazon' , product='XXXXXX'): Error: Unable to open MTP device with busnum=1 and devnum=35, tried 1 such devices
File "/usr/lib/
dev.open(cd, self.current_
File "/usr/lib/
BASE.open(self, device, library_uuid)
File "/usr/lib/
return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/
raise OpenFailed('Failed to open %s: Error: %s'%(
calibre.
So in this case it appears to be an error caused by an unrecognizable device in the current version of libmtp:
Device 0 (VID=1949 and PID=0581) is UNKNOWN in libmtp v1.1.17.
The packages in Ubuntu's official repository are probably due for an update. Updating libmtp would probably enable many new devices to work under Ubuntu.
Calibre is currently at version: 5.6.0
libmtp is currently at 1.1.18