S3 has stopped connecting via MTP

[Grover810]

Dear Friends,
I have an old S3 that I use to store and play back music. Until recently I was able to connect it to my PC and move music files by MTP. Then it got balky and I had to baby it into connecting by switching between PTP and MTP until MTP finally kicked in. Now it won't connect via MTP at all. What's weird is that it still connects just fine via PTP; when I set it that way the SCH-I535 icon appears in my list of attached drives/devices. And when I try to connect via MTP my PC makes a "connected" sound, and the SCH-I535 icon is present if I pull up the "Printers and Devices" screen. But it refuses to appear on my list of drives/devices, so I still can't use it. I have switched cables, restarted both the PC and the phone, dug into "USB debugging" protocols, etc., but nothing works. Help!
Thanks,
Stuart C.
DEAR ALL -- I WANT TO REPLY TO MUSTANG 7757, BUT HOW DO I DO THAT? I'VE MOVED MY CURSOR ALL OVER THE SCREEN, AND SCROLLED DOWN, BUT NO REPLY BOX COMES UP. SORRY TO BE DUMB, BUT I'M STUMPED. GROVER810

 

[mustang7757]

You tried another USB port on the computer?

 

[Grover810]

Hi There... Ha! The minute I posted my edited question an entirely different frame came up with a reply option. Anyway, yes, I've tried more than one port. If it will help, the last time I was able to get MTP to work was only about two weeks ago. So this is a recent problem (although it was balky before). Thanks for your help. G.

 

[mustang7757]

Hi There... Ha! The minute I posted my edited question an entirely different frame came up with a reply option. Anyway, yes, I've tried more than one port. If it will help, the last time I was able to get MTP to work was only about two weeks ago. So this is a recent problem (although it was balky before). Thanks for your help. G.

You try cleaning out the bottom port on the phone ?

 

[Grover810]

Yes, and it didn't help. I think it's more software related, in that PTP connects with no problem, but connecting via MTP became harder and harder until now it's impossible. And as I wrote, when I open the "Printers and Devices" section of the control panel, the S3 is listed there as an outboard drive. But it doesn't appear in the folder structure.

 

[mustang7757]

Yes, and it didn't help. I think it's more software related, in that PTP connects with no problem, but connecting via MTP became harder and harder until now it's impossible. And as I wrote, when I open the "Printers and Devices" section of the control panel, the S3 is listed there as an outboard drive. But it doesn't appear in the folder structure.

Could be combination of old hardware and software

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Are you able to try connecting the phone to a different computer? Considering how old the phone is, it would be ideal to try connecting to a computer running an older version of Windows like Windows 7 -- if it connects there, then it might be some incompatibility with Windows 10 (or a bug that a recent Windows 10 update introduced).

 

[Grover810]

I tried it on my wife's fairly new HP laptop, which I think is running Windows 10, and had the same results as with our "main" PC: PTP worked, MTP didn't. So now I have it hooked into a 2006-era laptop that's running some very old version of Windows. It took a few tries, but I seem to be able to connect the S3 via MTP. Thanks for your helpful suggestions -- I appreciate them.

 

[mustang7757]

Welcome to Android Central! Are you able to try connecting the phone to a different computer? Considering how old the phone is, it would be ideal to try connecting to a computer running an older version of Windows like Windows 7 -- if it connects there, then it might be some incompatibility with Windows 10 (or a bug that a recent Windows 10 update introduced).

Good thinking