Ubuntu
shotwell package

Unable to fetch previews from the camera: Could not claim the USB device (-53)

Asked by Irwin

I get error message "Unable to fetch previews from the camera:
Could not claim the USB device (-53)" when I try to connect my camera and download photos to the PC using Shotwell. I have also installed gThumb and still same message.

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Eric Gregory (eric-yorba) said : 		#1

By default, Ubuntu mounts the camera as a file system. This conflicts with camera imports in most applications, including Shotwell.

Shotwell is supposed to popup a dialog asking you to unmount, however there are cases where this doesn't work. You may have to unmount the camera in Nautilus before starting Shotwell.

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Bernard Decock (decockbernard) said : 		#2

I encounter the same problem on Ub untu14.04 (even Shotwell isn't launched at plugging in the camera), but Xubuntu 14.04 is doing this job well: Camera is automatically unmounted, Shotwel is launched automatically and the photos can be downloaded.

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Mark Preston (emarkpreston) said : 		#3

I have the same problem. Small window pops up and says:

Shotwell
Unable to fetch previews from the camera:
Could not claim the USB device (-53)

This is OS 14.04.1 and a Nikon L20 camera. USB 2.0 only.

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Tom (tom123online) said : 		#4

Has this been solved? I have the same problem.
Ubuntu 14.4
Samgsung Galaxy S

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Peggys Mouse (peggysmouse) said : 		#5

I can confirm I'm running into this problem. I get around it by unmounting my phone in the file manager.

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Jacques Malaprade (malapradej) said : 		#6

I have the same problem on my Sony Xperia L. I tried the unmounting before opening shotwell but now all it shows is "Starting importing, please wait..." and nothing happens.

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Jacques Malaprade (malapradej) said : 		#7

I noticed that my images were saved on the internal storage and not the SD card. I also saw that if I tried to import from a folder on the device it did not work, but then if I tried to umount and import it worked.

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TonyR (rooneyo) said : 		#8

I am having the same problem with my Lumia 640 XL phone which is recognised although two instances of the phone appear.

I do not understand the proposed resolution as I am unable to unmount. In Nautilus I right click the instances and choose unmount but they stay mounted.

What to do to access my images?

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gokhan (gokhan-mansuroglu) said : 		#9

I am facing the same problem with a Canon camera and unmounting from nautilus doesn't work. How can I find problem logs to be sure on the problem and is there an alternative to shotwell ?

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Peggys Mouse (peggysmouse) said : 		#10

I've written up a few more details of the work around I've been using here:
http://roncollins.ca/workaround-error-could-not-claim-usb-device-53

Can you help with this problem?

Provide an answer of your own, or ask Irwin for more information if necessary.

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