Strange characters suddenly appearing in mtp path to phone storage

[pdp11]

When I connect my phone to my laptop via USB, the drives on the phone are automounted.

Until a few days ago, I could access the internal storage and SD card on the phone using:

Code: Select all

ls /run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=OPPO_SM6375-QRD__SN%3AD5F9F680_d5f9f680/Internal\ shared\ storage

and

Code: Select all

ls /run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=OPPO_SM6375-QRD__SN%3AD5F9F680_d5f9f680/SD\ card

Now I can't. Entering the paths returns No such file or directory. Although interestingly, when I type

Code: Select all

ls /run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=OPPO_SM6375-QRD__SN%3AD5F9F680_d5f9f680/

zsh shows Internal shared storage and SD card as possible autocompletions. It just doesn't autocomplete.

If I type:

Code: Select all

ls /run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=OPPO_SM6375-QRD__SN%3AD5F9F680_d5f9f680/Internal\ <TAB>

This is what the path expands to:

Code: Select all

mtp://OPPO_SM6375-QRD__SN%3AD5F9F680_d5f9f680/%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8EInternal%20shared%20storage%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8E%E2%80%8F%E2%80%8E

This happens regardless of whether the drive is automounted or I manually mount using

Code: Select all

gio mount "mtp://OPPO_SM6375-QRD__SN%3AD5F9F680_d5f9f680/"

The above ls command with <TAB> is in zsh (my default shell). In Bash, the path to the 'Internal shared storage' folder expands correctly. However, in Bash the SD card path doesn't appear at all (no such directory) -- whether I type the path or let it autocomplete. In ZSH, the SD card path expands to

Code: Select all

ls /run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=OPPO_SM6375-QRD__SN%3AD5F9F680_d5f9f680/<200e><200f><200e><200e><200e><200e><200e><200f><200e><200f><200f><200f><200e><200e><200e><200e><200e><200e><200f><200e><200e><200f><200e><200e><200e><200e><200f><200f><200f><200f><200f><200f><200e><200f><200e><200f><200f><200f><200f><200e><200f><200e><200e><200e><200e><200e><200e><200e><200e><200e><200f><200e><200e><200e><200f><200e><200e><200f><200f><200f><200f><200f><200e><200e><200e><200f><200e><200f><200f><200f><200f><200f><200e><200e><200e><200f><200e><200f><200e><200e><200f><200e><200e><200f><200e><200f><200f><200e><200e><200f><200e><200f><200e><200e><200f><200e>SD\ card<200e><200f><200e><200e><200f><200e>

The file manager nemo has the extra characters in the path too -- I see them if I use the toolbar button to "toggle location entry".

As I said, this was all working until a few days. I'm not sure what has changed.

The upshot of all this is that I have a Python script that's called with paths on the phone and it is no longer seeing the paths.

I have another phone (different model) and it too has internal and SD card storage. Everything is working as expected on that phone with Linux Mint.

I feel I've done some basic change and can't see the wood for the trees.

Can anyone explain what is happening? What are those extra characters? And how do I correct the issue?!

Thanks
-----------------
CPU: dual core Intel Core i7-6500U (-MT MCP-)
speed/min/max: 1801/400/3100 MHz Kernel: 5.15.0-73-generic x86_64 Up: 2h 6m
Mem: 6540.6/15798.6 MiB (41.4%) Storage: 1.38 TiB (32.5% used) Procs: 311
Shell: Zsh inxi: 3.3.13