Workaround Syncing Android with Banshee Media Player

In the Linux world, it's great to have the Windows equivalent of "Windows Media Player" to organize, sync and maintain your music, movies, videos, audiobooks and podcasts across your mobile and desktop devices. On Ubuntu and Linux Mint, the default media program that comes pre-installed with these two distros is "Banshee Media Player".

Using it is about as intuitive as using "Windows Media Player" so it works pretty well. However, you may run into situations where it may not work with some mobile devices as I found out recently with my Samsung Stellar smartphone. So to relieve the frustration of some users using Android devices, I came up with a workaround which will allow you to sync your Android device with Banshee Media Player.

1.  Install Android ADB File Manager. The instructions are here.

2.  Plug your Android smartphone into the USB slot of your PC.

3.  Create a new folder called "Android Music" on your Linux PC.

4.  Drag and drop the music files stored in your Android sdcard directory labeled "Music" to the "Android Music" folder on your Linux PC.  (To drag and drop more than one file simultaneously, select your first file and hold down the <CTRL> button.  Then select every file with your mouse that you want to move and let go of the <CTRL> button.  Drag one of the files to your new folder "Android Music".  All the other files you selected should transfer to "Android Music".)

5.  Open Banshee Media Player on your Linux PC.

6.  Select the "Music" section of the Banshee Library.

7.  Right click on "Music" and then select "Import Media" from the drop down menu that pops up.

8.  Click on the "Choose Folders..." button.

9.  Navigate to the "Android Music" folder you created.

10.  Click on the "Import" button.

You can then repeat the above steps for your other media folders such as Movies, Playlists, Podcasts, Audiobooks, Sound, etc.

Here's the video I made which accompanies the above instructions:

How to Transfer Files Between Android and a Linux Mint PC

1.  For USB connections, use Android ADB File Manager.  In order to use this method, you will have to clone a developer repository, download the Android SDK and set up a bash script that will be called by the Removable Devices on the Menu.  The detailed instructions can be found here.  Once you've finished installing and configuring the necessary programs for this method, you simply plug in your Android device to your Linux PC USB and Android ADB File Manager will display on the screen like it does below.  The window is split in half, with the left side displaying your PC files/directories and the right side displaying your Android device files/directories.  You can now drag and drop files between directories.



2.  For wireless transfers, use Cloud Storage Providers.  I've had direct experience using Google Drive and UbuntuOne to back up the files on my Android smartphone.  Any time you take a new picture from your Android phone, both providers will store those new photos on their remote servers.  Then when you log into your Linux PC, you will be able to access them by logging into either Google Drive or UbuntuOne.  All you need to do is find UbuntuOne in the GooglePlay store and download the app on your Android smartphone.  Then follow the instructions within the UbuntuOne app to choose which directories to back up on your Android smartphone.  When you're on your Linux PC, click on this link to download UbuntuOne to your PC.  If you have an Android phone, you automatically have Google Drive installed so all you have to do is set it up to select which directories within your phone to back up.