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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: KIO-MTP development
From:       todd rme <toddrme2178 () gmail ! com>
Date:       2012-01-15 14:43:09
Message-ID: CADb7s=tDi0J+YpkNQTj1tUB3pcrwhYQgyMmQp-ffhdH0KsQE1g () mail ! gmail ! com
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On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 10:09 AM, Bart Cerneels <bart.cerneels@kde.org> wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 15:52, Philipp Schmidt <philschmidt@gmx.net> wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>>
>>
>> this week I started developing a KIO-Slave for MTP since I now have a Galaxy
>> Nexus and like accessing it via Dolphin and not having to use mtpfs. You can
>> find it on github:
>>
>>
>>
>> https://github.com/hefeweiz3n/kio-mtp
>>
>>
>>
>> So far it can do very little (Basically listing devices, storages and files
>> works, if the right kio-instance gets the cache), but I am working on that.
>>
>>
>>
>> Since concurrent access to the devices using libmtp is buggy at best I would
>> like to introduce a persistent cache that gets updated when changing
>> operations occur or devices get plugged in/removed. Is there any preferred
>> way in KDE to do that, or an infrastructure already in place?
>>
>>
>>
>> Also, if you have any other ideas or things to say (for example regarding
>> the coding style), please do ;). My long term goal is to get this integrated
>> into KDELibs, together with a Solid-Component that detects MTP-Devices and
>> shows them in Dolphin etc. Help is also appreciated :).
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Philipp Schmidt
>
> If your intention is to enable MTP solely in Amarok I recommend not
> making it a KIO slave but rather (re-)implementing the MTP plugin
> directly using libmtp. We've done a KIO slave with specialized
> functions to work in Amarok for upnp media-server. Coordinating the
> release in kdebase with amarok was problematic with the result that
> the feature is still not working for some users with older version of
> KDE or slightly different setups. And for achieving good MTP
> functionality in Amarok going the route of the KIO slave is
> objectively over-engineered, with issues like caching to enable
> concurrent access as a result.
>
> I would estimate that a new MTP plugin directly in Amarok would take <
> 10% of the time and effort of a KIO slave being used in Amarok. So
> please consider what your defined goal is. We've recently
> re-implemented the USB Mass Storage and iPod plugins in amarok in
> about 5 days work for each.
>
> Bart

The issue is that MTP is now the primary way to move files onto and
off of android devices starting with android 4.0, and on some phones
(such as the Galaxy Nexus) it is the only way.  That is why having
first-class MTP access built directly into the file manager would be a
huge benefit for KDE.

This would also be the case with iPhones, which normally use iTunes to
move files, but that would probably take someone with an iPhone who
wants to implement it.

-Todd

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