I am using peppermint 8 64bit on a lap top… when I connect my Android smart phone the laptop dose not see the phone.
Do I need to install something so they can connect?
Does it appear at all in the left hand side of the file manager ?
Do Android phones prompt for permission to access when connected to a PC like iPhones do ? … if so, do you get that prompt on your phone ?
On my android phone (and using Mint 18), you connect via usb cable and a drop-down screen asks if you want to connect as usb storage, media device, camera etc.etc. If that screen doesn’t appear automatically, swipe down from the top of the home screen to show it. Tap on the relevant item to connect. 
I don’t know of any make of android phone that needs additional software - android is, after all, another version of Linux.
Hope this helps
Rich
Connected the phone to check these points and it started working.
All now working normally.
Thanks for your help.