Re: Does anyone here have experience with "photofs" fixing photo naming?

On Tue, 22 Apr 2025 22:34:03 +0200, Herbert Kleebauer wrote :

Hope that wasn't meant seriously. A smartphone is not a lifetime device,
it is replaced every few years. And if you are not happy with your
current device, choose a different type next time.
 
If an immigrant could decide every 3 years in which country he wants
to live, then nothing is wrong with the advice: try a different country
next time if you are not happy with the USA.

Hi Herbert,

I try to speak to each person at the level of that person, if possible.

I know you to be a purposefully helpful and knowledgeable individual, where
I can easily tell you don't wish to dig into photofs, which is just fine.

However, since I respect your knowledge, I do wish to say that I was
serious, but perhaps I chose a poorly framed example to make my point.

Bear in mind that I graduated with higher degrees and worked for decades in
the Silicon Valley solving problems that didn't have obvious solutions.

Along that vein, note that I have multiple iOS devices right beside me
doing nothing other than testing how long it will be before Apple
unilaterally bricks them, simply for me not logging into Cupertino.

How many people know that Apple bricks your devices, Herbert?
I'd wager only one in a billion. Right?

Why do I know that, Herbert?
Because I have Apple devices to test. And I test them.

Why do I know the Apple trolls lied when they said iTunes backed up their
IPAs, Herbert? Because I tested iTunes and it simply does not do that.

Why do I know Apple trolls lied when they claimed, many times, that iOS
could do something as simple as graphically debug Wi-Fi signal strength?

Because I have iOS devices.

Why do I know that iOS can't even run something as basic to anonymity as
the Tor browser, Herbert? Because I have iOS devices to test, that's why.

Also note that I volunteer multiple times a week at the local
assisted-living centers, helping the residents utilize their devices.

Many of them are on iOS.

All of that would be impossible were I to ditch iOS simply because Apple
designed iOS to be a (very) dumb terminal in terms of image naming.
 

[3 quoted lines suppressed]

 
Sorry, but I don't understand your problem. You don't like the file-naming
on your iPhone. There are two easy solutions:
 
- don't use an iPhone   or
- rename the file to names you like

Again, I understand that you are rather intelligent, and I've read almost
all (if not all) your posts on the a.c.o.w-10 newsgroup, so I know that
you're a very helpful guy when it comes to writing excellent batch
solutions (particularly those which avoid leaving command windows open).

I know you care about the English language even, as you post to a.u.e and
you wrote scripts that you posted to a.c.o.w-10 for spelling self
improvement.

 for /f "tokens=*" %%i in (%spelltxtfile%) do call echo %%random%% %%i>>%spellerrfile%
 sort /o %spelltmpfile% %spellerrfile%
 del %spellerrfile%
 set /a ok=0
 set /a not_ok=0

 for /f "tokens=1*" %%i in (%spelltmpfile%) do call :sub %%j
 :end
 del speak.vbs
 del %spelltmpfile%
 echo.
 echo %ok% words correct,  %not_ok% words incorrect
 echo.
 pause
 exit

That's only a snippet, but I know you can solve problems when you feel
those problems are worth solving - and so do I - so we're similar that way.

You do NOT feel solving the problem of iOS being a dumb terminal in terms
of file-naming conventions is worth it - and I completely understand you.

Maybe it's not worth it. But maybe it is.
You know, I suspect only one in a billion people (IMHO) know how to use
iFuse with AFC to *write* to the iOS file system from Linux, Herbert.

How did I learn?
I couldn't ever have learned how if I didn't have iOS devices, right?

Well, I think it's a similar thing here where it's obvious to everyone that
iOS is designed as a dumb terminal with grotesque image-naming conventions.

The main question in this thread, is whether photofs can solve that
hideously unnatural problem of iOS' being designed so poorly that it is
incapable of outputting image files with human-readable file names.

Maybe iOS can be forced to put out non-outlandish monstrous file names.
This ng has solved far more difficult problems than a simple file name.

I suppose you already transfer the pictures to a PC for a backup.
Rename the pictures on the PC (there are many renaming tools available
or use a simple batch to do it). Select the pictures you want/need on
your iPhone and copy them back with the new names.

Well, I'm hoping to find someone who knows more than I do about how to get
iOS to stop being a dumb terminal to get iOS to write normal file names.

Don't laugh. It may very well be possible.
Take for example how we were able to write to iOS over USB years ago.

We did something like this (from memory) by way of critical example:
Install Necessary Software:
sudo apt-get install libimobiledevice-dev ifuse
sudo apt-get install usbmuxd
sudo systemctl enable --now usbmuxd
Pair Your Device:
Connect your iOS device to your Linux computer via USB.
You might be prompted on your iOS device to "Trust This Computer."
Make sure to tap "Trust."
You can try to pair your device using idevicepair:

idevicepair pair
Create a Mount Point:
Create a directory on your Linux system where you want to mount the iOS
device's file system:

mkdir ~/iphone_mount
Mount the Device using iFuse:
Use the ifuse command to mount your device to the created directory:

ifuse ~/iphone_mount
If this is successful, you should now be able to see some of your device's
files and folders within the ~/iphone_mount directory.

By default, you'll likely have access to the media directories (DCIM, etc.)
and potentially application-specific "Documents" folders if the apps support
file sharing.

Writing Files:
You can now attempt to write files to the mounted directories
using standard Linux commands:

cp my_document.pdf ~/iphone_mount/Documents/MyAppName/ # If the app 'MyAppName' supports file sharing
or
cp my_image.jpg ~/iphone_mount/DCIM/ # Might not allow direct writing in all subdirectories

Important Considerations and Limitations:
Permissions: Due to the sandboxed nature of AFC, you cannot typically
write to arbitrary locations on the iOS file system using standard
iFuse and AFC on a non-jailbroken device. You are generally restricted
to specific directories designated for media or application file sharing.

Application Support:
Writing to an application's "Documents" folder will only work if the
iOS application explicitly supports file sharing via iTunes File Sharing
(which exposes these folders through AFC). You'll need to know the
specific bundle identifier or folder name used by the app.

The ifuse --list-apps command can sometimes help list applications
and their identifiers.
Jailbreaking (iFuse --root): If your iOS device is jailbroken
and has the necessary AFC2 service installed, you might be able
to mount the root file system with the --root option:

sudo ifuse --root ~/iphone_mount

gphoto2:
For accessing photos, you might also see your iPhone mounted
as a camera using the gphoto2:// protocol in some file managers.
This is a separate mechanism from AFC but also allows transferring photos.
Writing back to these locations might be limited.

Troubleshooting: If you encounter issues, make sure usbmuxd is running,
your device is trusted, and you have the necessary libimobiledevice
and ifuse versions installed.

Check the output of the ifuse command for any error messages.
In summary, while iFuse allows you to interact with your iOS
device's file system over USB using the AFC protocol on Linux,
writing is generally restricted to specific media directories
and application file-sharing folders on non-jailbroken devices.
For broader write access, a jailbroken device with additional
services might be required, but this comes with significant risks.
--
To understan an iOS device, is to understand why Apple designed
it as a (very) dumb terminal, devoid of even basic capability.

Like choosing the name of an image file out of the camera app.