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Can’t Set File Permissions

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  Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-02 14:59 +0100
    Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-02 09:30 -0600
      Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-02 16:50 +0100
        Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-02 18:33 -0600
          Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-03 12:59 +0100
            Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-03 08:37 -0600
              Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-03 23:04 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-03 17:37 -0600
                  Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-04 22:02 +0100
                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-04 08:20 +0200
                  Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-04 21:52 +0100
                    Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-05 13:33 +0200
                      Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-05 07:10 -0600
                      Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-05 16:07 +0100
                        Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-05 10:41 -0600
                          Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-05 23:06 +0100
                          Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-05 23:22 +0100
                            Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-05 19:12 -0600
                              Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-06-06 08:40 +0100
                      Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-06-05 16:42 +0000
                        Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-05 10:54 -0600
                      Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-07 12:46 +0100
                        Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-07 14:32 +0200
                          Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-07 09:46 -0600
                            Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-07 20:09 +0200
                          Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-07 19:57 +0100
                            Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-07 23:09 +0200
                              Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-08 00:45 +0100
                                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-07 23:11 -0600
                                Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-08 09:47 +0200
                                Re: Can?t Set File Permissions Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-06-21 14:33 +0000
                          Doing a backup [Was: Can’t Set File Permissions] "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-08 13:11 +0200
                            Re: Doing a backup Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-08 10:51 -0600
                              Re: Doing a backup "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-08 21:19 +0200
                                Re: Doing a backup Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-08 20:40 -0600
                                  Re: Doing a backup "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-09 20:04 +0200
                                    Re: Doing a backup Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-09 12:41 -0600
                                      Re: Doing a backup "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-09 22:26 +0200
                                      Re: Doing a backup Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-06-09 21:57 +0100
                            Re: Doing a backup [Was: Can’t Set File Permissions] "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-08 21:33 +0200
                        Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-06-07 09:27 -0600
                    Re: Can?t Set File Permissions Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-06-21 14:16 +0000
                      Re: Can?t Set File Permissions "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-21 19:01 +0200
                        Re: Can?t Set File Permissions Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-06-22 14:44 +0000
    Re: Can’t Set File Permissions "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-06-02 18:06 +0200
      Re: Can’t Set File Permissions Alan Peeling <Alan@invalid.co.uk> - 2026-06-02 20:01 +0100

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#154029 — Can’t Set File Permissions

Hello,

I'm trying to run the GoodSync server app on a Samsung Galaxy A16 
Android version 16 One UI version 8.0 phone. GoodSync Support want me to 
check check that GoodSync Server on the phone has all available 
file/storage permissions enabled. They write:

/i Android, open Settings > Apps > Special app access > All files access 
and make sure GoodSync Server is allowed there. You can also check 
Settings > Apps > GoodSync Server > Permissions for any additional 
file/storage permissions. The exact menu names can vary depending on 
Android version and phone manufacturer/i

My problem is that none of these settings or anything like them exist on 
my phone. Searching on words like file, settings, storage, permissions, 
access all bring up nothing relevant.

Can anybody tell me how I can give GoodSync the permissions it needs?

-- 
Alan

[toc] | [next] | [standalone]

#154030

Alan Peeling wrote:
> Can anybody tell me how I can give GoodSync the permissions it needs?

I don't have goodsync but adb will do everything you ever needed to do.
 adb shell appops get com.goodsync.android MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

You should see something like one of these outputs
 MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: allow 
 MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: deny

If you want to see every app with that permission, run this
 adb shell appops query-op MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

As we discussed about Internet access with Andy, Android won't let you
grant MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE unless the app declares it in its manifest.

If it's in the manifest, this should work:
 adb shell appops set com.goodsync.android MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE allow

Using Muntashirakon, you will be able to find it if it's in the manifest.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#154031

On 02/06/2026 16:30, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Alan Peeling wrote:
>> Can anybody tell me how I can give GoodSync the permissions it needs?
> 
> I don't have goodsync but adb will do everything you ever needed to do.
>   adb shell appops get com.goodsync.android MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
> 
> You should see something like one of these outputs
>   MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: allow
>   MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: deny
> 
> If you want to see every app with that permission, run this
>   adb shell appops query-op MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
> 
> As we discussed about Internet access with Andy, Android won't let you
> grant MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE unless the app declares it in its manifest.
> 
> If it's in the manifest, this should work:
>   adb shell appops set com.goodsync.android MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE allow
> 
> Using Muntashirakon, you will be able to find it if it's in the manifest.

This looks very promising. adb is running and the phone is connected to 
the PC (scrcpy is running). Unfortunately I see the following:

C:\Program Files\SCRCPY>adb shell appops get com.goodsync.android 
MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Error: No UID for com.goodsync.android in user 0

I have the same response to adb shell appops set com.goodsync.android 
MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE allow

Unfortunately again I don't have a clue what the error messages mean. 
Could you steer me?

-- 
Alan

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#154037

Alan Peeling wrote:
> Unfortunately again I don't have a clue what the error messages mean.

This is a common error:
 No UID for com.goodsync.android,

The error can only mean one of two things, and likely only the first:
 a. Either I guessed at the package name wrongly (almost certainly)
 b. Or you have other user accounts on your device (not likely)

It's almost certainly that I didn't guess correctly on the package name. 

Muntashirakon App Manager will also find the correct package name for you.
 <https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager>

You can also use adb to find the package name if you're willing to grep:
 adb shell pm list packages | findstr /i goodsync

However, if it's the fact that it's installed in another profile, try this:
 adb shell pm list packages --user all | findstr /i goodsync

Once you have the correct package name, you can try to set permissions.
 adb shell appops set com.siber.gsserver MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE allow

If it showed up under a different user (e.g., user 150) use this:
 adb shell appops set --user 150 com.siber.gsserver MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE allow

Let us know how it works out as this is a general process for all apps.
-- 
On Usenet, we pass along the knowledge that once helped us.

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#154045

On 03/06/2026 01:33, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Alan Peeling wrote:
>> Unfortunately again I don't have a clue what the error messages mean.
> 
> This is a common error:
>   No UID for com.goodsync.android,
> 
> The error can only mean one of two things, and likely only the first:
>   a. Either I guessed at the package name wrongly (almost certainly)
>   b. Or you have other user accounts on your device (not likely)
> 
> It's almost certainly that I didn't guess correctly on the package name.
> 
> Muntashirakon App Manager will also find the correct package name for you.
>   <https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager>
> 
> You can also use adb to find the package name if you're willing to grep:
>   adb shell pm list packages | findstr /i goodsync
> 
> However, if it's the fact that it's installed in another profile, try this:
>   adb shell pm list packages --user all | findstr /i goodsync
> 
> Once you have the correct package name, you can try to set permissions.
>   adb shell appops set com.siber.gsserver MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE allow
> 
> If it showed up under a different user (e.g., user 150) use this:
>   adb shell appops set --user 150 com.siber.gsserver MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE allow
> 
> Let us know how it works out as this is a general process for all apps.
App Manager reveals that the package name is com.siber.gsserver .
The goalposts have moved. Everybody now agrees that GoodSync has all the 
file access permissions that Android can grant it. However GoodSync 
Support state the following:

_errors occur when GoodSync tries to read certain folders... On modern 
Android, those app-private folders may still be protected by the OS even 
when All files access is granted... Because of Android OS restrictions, 
access to those folders is not available to GoodSync_

The question now is not how to grant file access through Android's 
updated user interface, but is it possible to remove this extra layer of 
file protection using adb?

-- 
Alan

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#154048

Alan Peeling wrote:
>> Let us know how it works out as this is a general process for all apps.
> App Manager reveals that the package name is com.siber.gsserver .
> The goalposts have moved. Everybody now agrees that GoodSync has all the 
> file access permissions that Android can grant it. However GoodSync 
> Support state the following:
> 
> _errors occur when GoodSync tries to read certain folders... On modern 
> Android, those app-private folders may still be protected by the OS even 
> when All files access is granted... Because of Android OS restrictions, 
> access to those folders is not available to GoodSync_
> 
> The question now is not how to grant file access through Android's 
> updated user interface, but is it possible to remove this extra layer of 
> file protection using adb?

Thanks for letting us know the package name and the particulars, as I had
guessed wrongly on the original package name so I apologize for that error.

The problem seems to be, from what you've found out, that later Android
versions won't allow the Goodsync package access to protected folders.

This is an intentional, hard‑enforced security boundary in the OS. 
 <https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/manage-all-files>
The restriction is enforced by the OS, not by permissions you can toggle.

I looked up whether Shizuku would help, since it runs a privileged service.
But even Shizuku can't turn a normal app into a privileged system app.

I'm just guessing, but you might be able to access other apps' storage
areas from those other apps (note the distinction) using this tool.
 <https://f-droid.org/packages/name.lmj001.savetodevice>
 <https://f-droid.org/repo/name.lmj001.savetodevice_5.apk>
 Name: name.lmj001.savetodevice_5.apk
 Size: 3567038 bytes (3483 KiB)
 SHA256: 9B7B5BAC62DEEF56F04C3877F7B705F7545C1C67B527C6357B05F2FE848BDD6E

It does amazing things for me, e.g., I can download any free package on the
google repository without installing it & without a mothership account.
 <https://xdaforums.com/t/tutorial-how-to-use-adb-scrcpy-save-on-device-aurora-store-to-archive-google-play-apk-bundles-without-needing-a-google-account-all-from-your-pc.4789145/>

Note that most people would say that's impossible, and yet, I do it.

Maybe you can use it to save the stuff you want to save, but this won't
use Goodsync directly. It will use each app directly & then use Goodsync.

It's a long shot, but you might come up with a flow that works for you.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#154051

On 03/06/2026 15:37, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Alan Peeling wrote:
>>> Let us know how it works out as this is a general process for all apps.
>> App Manager reveals that the package name is com.siber.gsserver .
>> The goalposts have moved. Everybody now agrees that GoodSync has all the
>> file access permissions that Android can grant it. However GoodSync
>> Support state the following:
>>
>> _errors occur when GoodSync tries to read certain folders... On modern
>> Android, those app-private folders may still be protected by the OS even
>> when All files access is granted... Because of Android OS restrictions,
>> access to those folders is not available to GoodSync_
>>
>> The question now is not how to grant file access through Android's
>> updated user interface, but is it possible to remove this extra layer of
>> file protection using adb?
> 
> Thanks for letting us know the package name and the particulars, as I had
> guessed wrongly on the original package name so I apologize for that error.
> 
> The problem seems to be, from what you've found out, that later Android
> versions won't allow the Goodsync package access to protected folders.
> 
> This is an intentional, hard‑enforced security boundary in the OS.
>   <https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/manage-all-files>
> The restriction is enforced by the OS, not by permissions you can toggle.
> 
> I looked up whether Shizuku would help, since it runs a privileged service.
> But even Shizuku can't turn a normal app into a privileged system app.
> 
> I'm just guessing, but you might be able to access other apps' storage
> areas from those other apps (note the distinction) using this tool.
>   <https://f-droid.org/packages/name.lmj001.savetodevice>
>   <https://f-droid.org/repo/name.lmj001.savetodevice_5.apk>
>   Name: name.lmj001.savetodevice_5.apk
>   Size: 3567038 bytes (3483 KiB)
>   SHA256: 9B7B5BAC62DEEF56F04C3877F7B705F7545C1C67B527C6357B05F2FE848BDD6E
> 
> It does amazing things for me, e.g., I can download any free package on the
> google repository without installing it & without a mothership account.
>   <https://xdaforums.com/t/tutorial-how-to-use-adb-scrcpy-save-on-device-aurora-store-to-archive-google-play-apk-bundles-without-needing-a-google-account-all-from-your-pc.4789145/>
> 
> Note that most people would say that's impossible, and yet, I do it.
> 
> Maybe you can use it to save the stuff you want to save, but this won't
> use Goodsync directly. It will use each app directly & then use Goodsync.
> 
> It's a long shot, but you might come up with a flow that works for you.

> Thanks for letting us know the package name and the particulars, as I had guessed wrongly on the original package name so I apologize for that error.

I think you can be forgiven for that, thanks for your help, I think the 
end is in sight.

I'm grateful for the reference to Android file management, the nub is 
“Write access to all internal storage directories⁠ except 
/Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most subdirectories of 
/sdcard/Android”. Distressingly, it doesn’t document a workaround.

I’m a bit bewildered. I went to 
<https://f-droid.org/packages/name.lmj001.savetodevice> and installed 
Save. It appears not to be a stand-alone app but an adjunct to something 
called Android Sharesheet, which supports apps’ sending data to one 
another. Save is concerned with saving files on an Android device. I 
have no need for chatter between apps or for the saving of files on 
phones. Is the idea to use Save to access files from the Android storage 
and ‘save’ them somewhere else? That would be an ad-hoc backup strategy 
lacking the excellent and desirable synchronisation capabilities of 
GoodSync, so I don’t think I would go for it.

“It will use each app directly & then use Goodsync.” I don't follow 
this, is the idea that we would visit each app on the phone and copy its 
private files, then somehow pass them over to GoodSync?

To recap: I am trying to back up a phone but the OS won’t let the backup 
app have access to all the files that need to be copied to a safe 
location. I want some way to give GoodSync permission to work with the 
forbidden files, or some way to configure the OS so it removes its 
protection from the currently-inaccessible files. It now seems that I am 
out of luck.

Samsung Smart Switch for Windows seems to back up every file on an 
Android phone, albeit in a crass fashion, does anybody know how it does 
it? Could it use what Maria Sophia calls ‘a privileged system app’?

-- 
Alan in the UK

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#154055

Alan Peeling wrote:
> I think you can be forgiven for that, thanks for your help, I think the 
> end is in sight.
> I'm grateful for the reference to Android file management, the nub is 
> Write access to all internal storage directories⁠ except 
> /Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most subdirectories of 
> /sdcard/Android. Distressingly, it doesn't document a workaround.

What you're fighting is Google made it very hard, and maybe impossible, in
the recent Android versions, for any app that isn't a system app, to access
the data of another app.

There are some tricks using Shizuku, but if you're unrooted, as I am,
Google designed it to be almost impossible, if not impossible.

One way I get around the limitation is the savetodevice trick, but I have
only used it for saving APKs off of the Google Play Store repository so
far.

1. I download the APK off the Google Play Store repository using one app
2. But while I'm in that app, I use savetodevice to put it somewhere else

What savetodevice lets you do is save anything somewhere else.
But the limitation is you have to be in the app that has the data.

Once you save it to somewhere else though, then any app can access it.
It's a trick I only recently found out about from the Aurora developers.

> I'm a bit bewildered. I went to 
> <https://f-droid.org/packages/name.lmj001.savetodevice> and installed 
> Save. It appears not to be a stand-alone app but an adjunct to something 
> called Android Sharesheet, which supports apps' sending data to one 
> another. 

Take a look at this screenshot I made while using the saveondevice app.
 <https://i.postimg.cc/SNZzqCQV/saveondevice.jpg>

If you're in any given app, you can save its "stuff" anywhere you like.
For example, let's say you're in a text editor which only saves its files
to its own storage, which no other app has any access to nowadays.

With this app, you can save that text file anywhere on your device.
Once you've saved that text file, any editor can edit it.

The point is that it's a trick to get data out of any given app.
The problem is you have to save the data manually from every app.

So I would only do it when I needed it (which, in my case, is when I use
Aurora to download the APK off of the Google Play repository, I use this
savetodevice app to save that APK so that I can access it outside of the
Aurora app.

Let's say I had a special database in a special app that I wanted another
app to access. I'd use saveondevice to save it OUTSIDE the app so that any
other app could access it.

> Save is concerned with saving files on an Android device. I 
> have no need for chatter between apps or for the saving of files on 
> phones. Is the idea to use Save to access files from the Android storage 
> and save them somewhere else? That would be an ad-hoc backup strategy 
> lacking the excellent and desirable synchronisation capabilities of 
> GoodSync, so I don't think I would go for it.

I think you understand it. It would only be useful for the most important
things that you have, since it's a manual save-as operation as I see it.

> “It will use each app directly & then use Goodsync.” I don't follow 
> this, is the idea that we would visit each app on the phone and copy its 
> private files, then somehow pass them over to GoodSync?

Once you've saved their data to non-privileged storage, then GoodSync can
access that data. But as you already noticed, you have to do it for every
app. That works for me because I only need to save APKs from Aurora.

But it may be too much effort for what you want to do.

> To recap: I am trying to back up a phone but the OS won’t let the backup 
> app have access to all the files that need to be copied to a safe 
> location. I want some way to give GoodSync permission to work with the 
> forbidden files, or some way to configure the OS so it removes its 
> protection from the currently-inaccessible files. It now seems that I am 
> out of luck.

Yup. If you root, it would be different. Thank Google for this.

> 
> Samsung Smart Switch for Windows seems to back up every file on an 
> Android phone, albeit in a crass fashion, does anybody know how it does 
> it? Could it use what Maria Sophia calls ‘a privileged system app’?

I never used Samsung Smart Switch, but others might be able to help.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#154064

On 04/06/2026 00:37, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Alan Peeling wrote:
>> I think you can be forgiven for that, thanks for your help, I think the
>> end is in sight.
>> I'm grateful for the reference to Android file management, the nub is
>> Write access to all internal storage directories⁠ except
>> /Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most subdirectories of
>> /sdcard/Android. Distressingly, it doesn't document a workaround.
> 
> What you're fighting is Google made it very hard, and maybe impossible, in
> the recent Android versions, for any app that isn't a system app, to access
> the data of another app.
> 
> There are some tricks using Shizuku, but if you're unrooted, as I am,
> Google designed it to be almost impossible, if not impossible.
> 
> One way I get around the limitation is the savetodevice trick, but I have
> only used it for saving APKs off of the Google Play Store repository so
> far.
> 
> 1. I download the APK off the Google Play Store repository using one app
> 2. But while I'm in that app, I use savetodevice to put it somewhere else
> 
> What savetodevice lets you do is save anything somewhere else.
> But the limitation is you have to be in the app that has the data.
> 
> Once you save it to somewhere else though, then any app can access it.
> It's a trick I only recently found out about from the Aurora developers.
> 
>> I'm a bit bewildered. I went to
>> <https://f-droid.org/packages/name.lmj001.savetodevice> and installed
>> Save. It appears not to be a stand-alone app but an adjunct to something
>> called Android Sharesheet, which supports apps' sending data to one
>> another.
> 
> Take a look at this screenshot I made while using the saveondevice app.
>   <https://i.postimg.cc/SNZzqCQV/saveondevice.jpg>
> 
> If you're in any given app, you can save its "stuff" anywhere you like.
> For example, let's say you're in a text editor which only saves its files
> to its own storage, which no other app has any access to nowadays.
> 
> With this app, you can save that text file anywhere on your device.
> Once you've saved that text file, any editor can edit it.
> 
> The point is that it's a trick to get data out of any given app.
> The problem is you have to save the data manually from every app.
> 
> So I would only do it when I needed it (which, in my case, is when I use
> Aurora to download the APK off of the Google Play repository, I use this
> savetodevice app to save that APK so that I can access it outside of the
> Aurora app.
> 
> Let's say I had a special database in a special app that I wanted another
> app to access. I'd use saveondevice to save it OUTSIDE the app so that any
> other app could access it.
> 
>> Save is concerned with saving files on an Android device. I
>> have no need for chatter between apps or for the saving of files on
>> phones. Is the idea to use Save to access files from the Android storage
>> and save them somewhere else? That would be an ad-hoc backup strategy
>> lacking the excellent and desirable synchronisation capabilities of
>> GoodSync, so I don't think I would go for it.
> 
> I think you understand it. It would only be useful for the most important
> things that you have, since it's a manual save-as operation as I see it.
> 
>> “It will use each app directly & then use Goodsync.” I don't follow
>> this, is the idea that we would visit each app on the phone and copy its
>> private files, then somehow pass them over to GoodSync?
> 
> Once you've saved their data to non-privileged storage, then GoodSync can
> access that data. But as you already noticed, you have to do it for every
> app. That works for me because I only need to save APKs from Aurora.
> 
> But it may be too much effort for what you want to do.
> 
>> To recap: I am trying to back up a phone but the OS won’t let the backup
>> app have access to all the files that need to be copied to a safe
>> location. I want some way to give GoodSync permission to work with the
>> forbidden files, or some way to configure the OS so it removes its
>> protection from the currently-inaccessible files. It now seems that I am
>> out of luck.
> 
> Yup. If you root, it would be different. Thank Google for this.
> 
>>
>> Samsung Smart Switch for Windows seems to back up every file on an
>> Android phone, albeit in a crass fashion, does anybody know how it does
>> it? Could it use what Maria Sophia calls ‘a privileged system app’?
> 
> I never used Samsung Smart Switch, but others might be able to help.

This procedure looks very interesting, I’m glad you told me about it. I 
don't think visiting each app to export the files it controls is 
realistic for regular and routine backups, but I've put your post in my 
PIM so I can consult it if the need arises.

I've written to the GoodSync people to suggest they approach Samsung 
about developing a back end to Smart Switch that does proper 
synchronisation. Then I would be backing up kilobytes instead of 
gigabytes and I could say farewell to two-hour cloud uploads. The 
GoodSync people haven’t answered me.

It seems I’m completely defeated, but I have learned a lot this week. 
Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

-- 
Alan in the UK

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#154057

On 2026-06-04 00:04, Alan Peeling wrote:
> To recap: I am trying to back up a phone but the OS won’t let the backup 
> app have access to all the files that need to be copied to a safe 
> location. I want some way to give GoodSync permission to work with the 
> forbidden files, or some way to configure the OS so it removes its 
> protection from the currently-inaccessible files. It now seems that I am 
> out of luck.

I am able to save most files to a computer, by using MTP protocol in 
Linux. Sometimes I had success by using an FTP server on the phone.

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;

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#154063

On 04/06/2026 07:20, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> I am able to save most files to a computer, by using MTP protocol in 
> Linux. Sometimes I had success by using an FTP server on the phone.

Are you able to save /Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most 
subdirectories of /sdcard/Android?

-- 
Alan in the UK

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#154065

On 2026-06-04 22:52, Alan Peeling wrote:
> On 04/06/2026 07:20, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> I am able to save most files to a computer, by using MTP protocol in 
>> Linux. Sometimes I had success by using an FTP server on the phone.
> 
> Are you able to save /Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most 
> subdirectories of /sdcard/Android?
> 

With FTP I have /Android/data/. I don't have an /sdcard/ directory on 
this phone.

With mtpfs I also have "/Android/data/", but I had to run the copy 
several times till no errors were reported.


There is a thread here where we commented about it.

Re: How do nonroot Android & nonjailbroken iOS run SMB servers to 
connect to each other & Windows?

From: Herbert Kleebauer <...>

Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2025 21:31:44 +0200



But the copies I made are dated July.

/2025-07-18-ftp                                             │ 23331M
/2025-07-18-mtpfs                                           │ 56257M
/2025-07-18-test                                            │ 56170M

So the latest directory was made with a method that accessed more files. 
I don't remember what method I used :-?

I will have to run tests again. I have a note that says to use FTP, but 
must be a different than the one used in the first directory.


My notes on the ftp method say:

+++------------
Use Cx File Explorer on phone to activate ftp. The app can be 
backgrounded, swipe from the bottom.

Copy over the files using mc to temporary directory. No, use FileZilla

Finally, use rsync to save space.
------------++-


Sigh, incomplete notes.


-- 
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;

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#154066

Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> Are you able to save /Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most 
>> subdirectories of /sdcard/Android?
>> 
> 
> With FTP I have /Android/data/. I don't have an /sdcard/ directory on 
> this phone.

Hi Carlos,
When someone says /sdcard, they usually mean the internal storage.
That's because, for whatever reason, Android calls it that.

When you look at your internal storage with a good file manager, you'll see
internal storage shown as /sdcard while external storage will appear under
/storage/ (e.g., /storage/XXXX-XXXX, where the letters are a formatting
result) although, just to confuse us, internal storage is also under
/storage but /storage/emulated/0 (just to make life miserable for us).
 <https://i.postimg.cc/KjrxmJY8/fv-file-explorer.jpg>

When we use crappy file managers, it hides the real filespec from us. 
 <https://i.postimg.cc/FKR56YX1/files01.jpg>

When we connect over USB to the PC, the names get munged even more. 
 <https://i.postimg.cc/13DwRbC7/media.jpg>

> So the latest directory was made with a method that accessed more files. 
> I don't remember what method I used :-?
> 
> I will have to run tests again. I have a note that says to use FTP, but 
> must be a different than the one used in the first directory.

I too have noticed that not only does each file manager "see" the Android
filespec different in that some can see deeper than others, and even more
so, some use Shizuku to access shell permissions that others don't access,
depending on how I mount the Android filesys to Windows, I see more stuff.

 C:\> net use Z: \\102.168.1.2@8000\DavWWWRoot /USER:joe * /PERSISTENT:YES
 <https://i.postimg.cc/gcKXV6F7/webdav16.jpg> A third free WebDAV server
 <https://i.postimg.cc/JhjpnRgh/webdav14.jpg> Mirroring Android on Windows
 <https://i.postimg.cc/QtbR1GY0/webdav13.jpg> Over Wi-Fi on your home LAN
 <https://i.postimg.cc/yYWwgGmy/webdav12.jpg> As Windows drive letters
 <https://i.postimg.cc/BQyRxCN9/webdav11.jpg> Mount sdcards read & write
 <https://i.postimg.cc/wM4Z45pN/webdav10.jpg> Free Android WebDAV servers
 <https://i.postimg.cc/D0qMxTMB/webdav09.jpg> FOSS general purpose solution 
 <https://i.postimg.cc/qv6HJ7GN/webdav08.jpg> Each sdcard is a drive letter
 <https://i.postimg.cc/cJLK1wt0/webdav07.jpg> Mount the entire filesystem
 <https://i.postimg.cc/BvJdKWzt/webdav06.jpg> Both sdcards mounted
 <https://i.postimg.cc/Njm6ZXsc/webdav05.jpg> Permissions are the same
 <https://i.postimg.cc/3xCsd4HX/webdav04.jpg> My Files has permission 
 <https://i.postimg.cc/BvmRBrbt/webdav03.jpg> File Manager has permission
 <https://i.postimg.cc/X7FS61HD/webdav02.jpg> X-plore has no permission
 <https://i.postimg.cc/sxzR0Pg8/webdav01.jpg> WebDav has no sd permission
-- 
Knowledge is best shared, like a fresh pizza & beer, among your friends.

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#154068

On 05/06/2026 12:33, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2026-06-04 22:52, Alan Peeling wrote:
>> On 04/06/2026 07:20, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> I am able to save most files to a computer, by using MTP protocol in 
>>> Linux. Sometimes I had success by using an FTP server on the phone.
>>
>> Are you able to save /Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most 
>> subdirectories of /sdcard/Android?
>>
> 
> With FTP I have /Android/data/. I don't have an /sdcard/ directory on 
> this phone.
> 
> With mtpfs I also have "/Android/data/", but I had to run the copy 
> several times till no errors were reported.
> 
> 
> There is a thread here where we commented about it.
> 
> Re: How do nonroot Android & nonjailbroken iOS run SMB servers to 
> connect to each other & Windows?
> 
> From: Herbert Kleebauer <...>
> 
> Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2025 21:31:44 +0200
> 
> 
> 
> But the copies I made are dated July.
> 
> /2025-07-18-ftp                                             │ 23331M
> /2025-07-18-mtpfs                                           │ 56257M
> /2025-07-18-test                                            │ 56170M
> 
> So the latest directory was made with a method that accessed more files. 
> I don't remember what method I used :-?
> 
> I will have to run tests again. I have a note that says to use FTP, but 
> must be a different than the one used in the first directory.
> 
> 
> My notes on the ftp method say:
> 
> +++------------
> Use Cx File Explorer on phone to activate ftp. The app can be 
> backgrounded, swipe from the bottom.
> 
> Copy over the files using mc to temporary directory. No, use FileZilla
> 
> Finally, use rsync to save space.
> ------------++-
> 
> 
> Sigh, incomplete notes.
> 
> 

That’s Interesting. My stash of this newsgroup's posts doesn't go back 
as far as 2025. With the aid of ChatGPT I did tinker about with 
FileZilla and adb but we were defeated by Android’s file protection 
regime. I give up.

-- 
Alan in the UK

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#154070

Alan Peeling wrote:
> That¢s Interesting. My stash of this newsgroup's posts doesn't go back 
> as far as 2025. With the aid of ChatGPT I did tinker about with 
> FileZilla and adb but we were defeated by Android¢s file protection 
> regime. I give up.

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android
https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android

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#154077

On 05/06/2026 17:41, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Alan Peeling wrote:
>> That¢s Interesting. My stash of this newsgroup's posts doesn't go back
>> as far as 2025. With the aid of ChatGPT I did tinker about with
>> FileZilla and adb but we were defeated by Android¢s file protection
>> regime. I give up.
> 
> https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android
> https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android

> https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android

Did you have a particular thread in mind?

> https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android

"You appear to be connecting from an IP address in the United Kingdom. 
Unfortunately this site is no longer available to UK users."

Fortunately VPN fooled it. I was intrigued that you were able to snaffle 
files from under WhatsApp's nose. I'll keep reading in this site, thanks.

-- 
Alan in the UK

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#154078

On 05/06/2026 17:41, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Alan Peeling wrote:
>> That¢s Interesting. My stash of this newsgroup's posts doesn't go back
>> as far as 2025. With the aid of ChatGPT I did tinker about with
>> FileZilla and adb but we were defeated by Android¢s file protection
>> regime. I give up.
> 
> https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android
> https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android

> https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android

Weyhey, made the search thing work!

-- 
Alan in the UK

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#154079

Alan Peeling wrote:
>> https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android
>> https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android
> 
>> https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android
> 
> Weyhey, made the search thing work!

There used to be more, but there's no money in it, so they die, one by one.
 <https://tinyurl.com/pug-comp-mobile-android>
 <https://i2pn2.pugleaf.net/groups/comp.mobile.android>
 <https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android>
 <https://comp.mobile.android.narkive.com/>
 <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.mobile.android
 <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android>
 <https://www.novabbs.com/tech/thread.php?group=comp.mobile.android>

If you have the message id, then there's another way.
 <https://newsgrouper.org/> (test this out)
 <https://tinyurl.com/message-id>
 <http://al.howardknight.net/>
 <http://news.chmurka.net/mid.php>
 <http://usenet.ovh/index.php?article=ual>
 <https://www.novabbs.com/SEARCH/search_nocem.php>

Disclaimer: I haven't tested these in a long while... 

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#154080

Maria Sophia wrote:

> If you have the message id, then there's another way.
>   <https://newsgrouper.org/> (test this out)
>   <https://tinyurl.com/message-id>
>   <http://al.howardknight.net/>

usually on its knees (hammered by AI scraping?)

>   <http://news.chmurka.net/mid.php>
>   <http://usenet.ovh/index.php?article=ual>
>   <https://www.novabbs.com/SEARCH/search_nocem.php>
There's a new one <https://usenet.id>

I wish there was one that would search recent body text ...

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#154071

On Fri, 5 Jun 2026 13:33:35 +0200, Carlos E.R. wrote:

> On 2026-06-04 22:52, Alan Peeling wrote:
>> On 04/06/2026 07:20, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> I am able to save most files to a computer, by using MTP protocol in
>>> Linux. Sometimes I had success by using an FTP server on the phone.
>> 
>> Are you able to save /Android/data/, /sdcard/Android, and most
>> subdirectories of /sdcard/Android?
>> 
>> 
> With FTP I have /Android/data/. I don't have an /sdcard/ directory on
> this phone.

/sdcard is a leftover from the early days of Android. For years it's been 
a symlink to /storage/emulated/0, there for backward compatibility- and 
because it was shorter to type.

On this Samsung tablet (Android 13) it's symlinked like this:
/sdcard -> /storage/self/primary
/storage/self/primary -> /storage/emulated/0
(I don't recall seeing '/storage/self' before.)

My Android file manager calls that 'Internal storage' and MTP calls it 
that too.

> With mtpfs I also have "/Android/data/", but I had to run the copy
> several times till no errors were reported.

Did it copy much?

I had a look using Linux (Debian, Thunar, MTP) and ADB shell at 'Internal 
storage/Android/data'. There are directories for lots of apps, most of 
them I think. But not all: some old apps (eg PiaoHong Newsreader, zxing 
barcode scanner) are not present. Many contain visible directories with 
standard names - eg 'files', 'cache' - and subdirectories of those - but 
they are mostly empty. However a few do have data there; for example 
osmand~ has maps and settings and my newspaper reader - based on 
pressreader - holds lots of stuff. I assume it's either developer choice, 
or it depends on the age of the app, whether Android/data is used.

So where does, for example, my email client K9 (com.fsck.k9) hold its 
data, in case I wanted to copy it? In the days when I used to jailbreak my 
devices ISTR it was in /data/data and my guess is that it still is. But I 
don't have permission to read that in ADB shell. 

I tried an adb pull:
adb pull /data/data/com.fsck.k9/*
adb: error: failed to stat remote object '/data/data/com.fsck.k9/*': 
Permission denied

So that directory exists. But might be empty and the data moved elsewhere!

> 
> [snip to end]

-- 
(Remove any numerics from my email address.)

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