LG V20 not recognized by MTP apps when in MTP mode on Mac

Question

Problem Summary

Neither Android File Transfer nor OpenMTP will detect an LG V20, model LG-H910, over USB when it's in MTP mode. The phone is detected by them in other USB modes, there are no issues with connecting to the phone via adb and the phone will mount under Windows. Changing cables and computers makes no difference. MTP works fine with an LG V20 LG-LS997.

Details

I've got an (unrooted) AT&T branded LG V20, model LG-H910. I'm trying to transfer files over USB, but neither GUI MTP app I've tried for Macs (Android File Transfer 1.0.12; OpenMTP 3.1.10 & 3.1.15) will detect the phone when it's in MTP mode; they present "No Android device found" and "Android device is either busy or not connected" messages, respectively. When the phone is set to charge-only, each MTP app detects the phone but rightly can't connect (reporting "Can't access device storage" and "Your phone storage is inaccessible.", respectively). Image Capture connects to the phone when it's in PTP mode, though can't pull images (this also happens with another LG V20, so it's not surprising).

As a test, mtpfs (installed via MacPorts) will recognize the phone (though misidentifies it) and supposedly mount it, but all attempts to access the files via the mount result in a "Device not configured" error. Sample local shell session:

$ sudo -s

# mkdir /Volumes/phone

# mtpfs /Volumes/phone

Listing raw device(s)

Device 0 (VID=1004 and PID=633e) is a LG Electronics Inc. LG G Flex 2.


Found 1 device(s):


LG Electronics Inc.: LG G Flex 2 (1004:633e) @ bus 20, dev 29

Attempting to connect device

desired configuration different from current, trying to set configuration

libusb_set_configuration() failed, continuing anyway...: Operation timed out

Android device detected, assigning default bug flags

Listing File Information on Device with name: V20

# ls /Volumes/phone

ls: : Device not configured

mtpfs has other issues, such as taking about 1 minute to run (there's about
a 1 minute pause before the last line of output, beginning "Listing File Information [...]"). I'm not so much interested in mtpfs as a solution as I was using it to test MTP on the phone.

Whether USB Debugging is enabled or not makes no difference to MTP, though when enabled, the phone is accessible via adb, both from the command line and in Android Studio (I can run a shell on the phone, pull files, install & debug apps in Android Studio &c.).

AFT didn't log any messages to the system console when the phone was connected in MTP mode.

There were no file access issues with the LG-H910 when connected to a Windows computer (both internal & external storage mounted, and the files were accessible). AFT and OpenMTP detect and can access a different phone of the same type, an (unrooted) Sprint-branded LG V20, model LG-LS997.

I've tried rebooting phone & computer, ejecting the SD card in the phone & rebooting, different cables, different ports and different computers (both Macs, one with a clean install of OS X); nothing had any impact on the issue, and the only common factors are the LG-H910 and OS X. A factory reset of the LG-H910 made no difference.

Question

How can I get AFT (or even OpenMTP) working with the LG V20 LG-H910? What other troubleshooting steps can I take?

System Info

mid-2012 13" MacBook Pro

MacOS 10.14.6

Android 8.0.0 (both phones)

Android File Transfer 1.0.12

OpenMTP 3.1.10, 3.1.15

mtpfs 1.1

— outis | Sources

Answer

The Answer

The LG Mobile Drivers, installed by LG Bridge, interfered with MTP operation on the LG V20 LG-H910.

The Process

Going off of Robert's comment, I disabled all kernel extensions in /Library/Extensions (which were all 3rd party extensions) by moving them to "/Library/Extensions (disabled)" and restarted. Android File Transfer was then able to detect and connect to the LG-H910. Among the extensions were a number of extensions with names beginning "lgandroid_", which are the LG Mobile Drivers.

After re-enabling all but these extensions and restarting, AFT still worked with the LG-H910. After enabling the LG extensions and restarting, AFT stopped detecting the LG-H910. So, after a final round of disabling the LG extensions, AFT was working.

Originally, v 5.4 of the extensions were installed. I tried the newest, v 6.1, but they had the same issue (which has been reported to LG). LG Bridge, when run, asks to install extensions, which turn out to be the LG Mobile Drivers; with the drivers disabled, LG Bridge won't function (not a big concern to me, but for others with the same issue, you'll probably need to reinstate the drivers before using LG Bridge, and then disable them & restart afterwards).

— outis | Sources

LG V20 not recognized by MTP apps when in MTP mode on Mac

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