Erratic connection to Sansa Clip+ with mtpfs

Binary package hint: mtpfs

I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 11.04. I have mtpfs 0.9-3 installed. When I try to connect my Sansa Clip+ music player to my laptop using mtpfs, I usually get the message "Transport endpoint is not connected" -- but not always. This is the same message I get if the device is actually not connected (via a USB port). Under 10.10 the connection under these circumstances was quite reliable.

Sometimes when I get a connection, I lose it and get that same message. I'd say that I succeed in connecting about 10% of the time, with no obvious explanation of why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Since I didn't have the problem under 10.10, I doubt if it's really caused by bad hardware.