Database Users

HOW TO - Hide Certain Media Files from Music Player and Gallery (5/30/2009)

Have you ever been listening to your Britney Spears, Daft Punk or Tupac and suddenly you start hearing files that aren't music (i.e ringtones, notification sounds, etc.)? I find it pretty annoying that there is no current method to hide these files from the music player, until now.
I would like to give credit to Scheff's Blend for this idea, and after tinkering with the the doom game folder on my memory card, I found a file called ".nomedia". Within that same folder was over 100 sound files for the game doom, BUT my music player was not reading that specific folder.
I figured it had to do something with that ".nomedia" file, and coincidentally it DID.
Instructions:
1) Download and unzip nomedia.zip somewhere onto your computer
2) Inside is a file called .nomedia, copy it into the directory of media files you want to hide
3) Reboot your phone
P.S. This also works for pictures and video files, BUT for newly taken pictures and videos, or music files added, a REBOOT is REQUIRED to hide them again.

Thanks. Works perfectly! I have just hidden all my MP3s

so now people with naughty pics can hide them.
nice

I've been hiding certain pics since I got the phone. You can also just make a new folder with a "." in front of it and it will make the folder hidden.
Example: /sdcard/.data/all your ringtones, naughty pics, etc. here

Yeah, I just make a folder name it to whatever, go into astro and rename the folder to .xxxxx or whatever. Windows wont allow you (at least me) to add a . in front of folder name. But astro will.
Either way it works, but its the period that does the trick.

Even quicker, if you're a terminal kind of a person CD to the directory you want and type:
touch .nomedia
should work

Is there any way to hide it JUST from the gallery? I have tons of folder art with my mp3s that I love having in the music player but would rather not have it shown in the gallery.

You can change a name to:
Naughty.jpg.HIDE
Or name a folder
Naughtypics.hide

My ? is how do you find all the files that are not suppose to be in the Music library to rename them or move them
Most of them are named just numbers. I don't know where they are at.

Is there a way to add notification ringtones?

I've been making ringtones ever since I had my first blackberry, but I want to change notification ringers.
Unfortunately, the cyanogen build only has one notification build and I need at least 3 I prefer separate sounds for sms, email and system.
p.s. I don't know how to use ADB.

Just make a directory on your sd card named media, make one in there called audio, and then you can make ringtones - alarms- and notifications, so it would be like this
/sdcard/media/audio/alarms
/sdcard/media/audio/notifications
/sdcard/media/audio/ringtones
put your audio in those, there is a link to the stock audio resources in Cyanogen's thread.

Create a folder in your SD card named "media",
inside media make a folder "audio",
inside audio make a folder for "alarms" "music" "notification" and "ringtones"
just put your tones and music and the following folders and you should be set.
Hope this helps!

Oh sweet, I thought notifications were locked down or something, this is awesome news. Thanks

Or just use ringdroid and it will do everything for you.

Ringtones

I have copied all my ringstones into the preset "\My Documents\My ringtones"-folder.
They only shove up when using Touchflow to set the ringtone. If I want to change alarm / SMS I can only chose the predfined ones. Am I just being retarded, or are is it not possible :S?

I've run into that same issue with mine. Cooked ROM came with no ringtones, so I transfered ringtones fine and they work. Depends on your ROM and registry/ folder location settings. Someone may beat me to it but here's my found solution:
1. Make sure the file is in .wav format.
2. When phone is synced to computer browse to Device\Windows folder
3. Drop the .wave file you want set as a sound notification into your Device's windows folder and voala, that should do it.

kols said:
I have copied all my ringstones into the preset "\My Documents\My ringtones"-folder.
They only shove up when using Touchflow to set the ringtone. If I want to change alarm / SMS I can only chose the predfined ones. Am I just being retarded, or are is it not possible :S?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I save my ring tones on \windows\rings and is working perfectly, try it.

Where do I find this folder?
Only got "Application Data", "ConnMgr", "Documents and Settings", "MUSIC", "My Documents", "Programfiler"
Can I manually create it, or should I connect in other ways? Using the USB-cabel and just browsing in explorer...
* Nm; found it on the phone explorer. Guess it's not accessible from the computer

About the Windows-folder..
It got thousand!! of files named *****-manila..
What are they..? They make the windows-folder kinda slow to load..

kols said:
Where do I find this folder?
Only got "Application Data", "ConnMgr", "Documents and Settings", "MUSIC", "My Documents", "Programfiler"
Can I manually create it, or should I connect in other ways? Using the USB-cabel and just browsing in explorer...
* Nm; found it on the phone explorer. Guess it's not accessible from the computer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the device "windows" folder is perfectly viewable in Windows Explorer. You just have to make sure to untick the box in "folder options" under the control panel that says "hid protected system windows folders and files" - after doing that you will be able to see the Windows folder on the device. Simple tweak really. Enjoy.

That's exactly it
Edit: Apologize for double post, but this is at two different forum members.
Kols,
That's exactly it, the "windows" folder in the device with A LOT of files which does take about a minute to load is where you drop the .wav files. So just sit back and let the Windows folder populate in windows explorer, then copy and paste or drag and drop your sounds for Notifications into the folder. You will then be able to see those files when, for example, changing your SMS tone. Cheers!
kols said:
Where do I find this folder?
Only got "Application Data", "ConnMgr", "Documents and Settings", "MUSIC", "My Documents", "Programfiler"
Can I manually create it, or should I connect in other ways? Using the USB-cabel and just browsing in explorer...
* Nm; found it on the phone explorer. Guess it's not accessible from the computer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kols said:
About the Windows-folder..
It got thousand!! of files named *****-manila..
What are they..? They make the windows-folder kinda slow to load..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Wow, so all this kinda sucks and everything.
My ****ing 10 year old t68i had easier options for adding sound and ****.
Ok, copying to the Windows-folder do work, but what when I one to delete any of them? All at once? Impossible. Since you can't delete the preset files, you have to delete them one by one.. THANK GOD! And I love the list of useless pisspoor preset tunes! They are great space-wasters!
Does anybody know of any programs to convert from mp3 to wav / wma? Tried a few, and they works occasionally, but if the file is longer than X-sec, it all get high-pitched and super-fast.
Why are you not able to use mp3s for alarm and sms? I KNOW IT KNOWS HOW, IT DOES WHENEVER MY PHONE RINGS!!
Sorry, but I was really expecting better... by far..

How it really works:
1. Copy mp3's (for use with ringtones, reminders, SMS, MMS, e-Mail, etc. EXCEPT alarmclock tones) to "application data\sounds".
2. Copy alarmclock sounds as .wav to windows (to convert mp3 > wav use lame encoder). MP3 files won't work.
3. If not used delete all sounds in "windows\rings" (to have a smaller list).

Ok well all your complaints reside in the downside list of owning a Windows Mobile phone. I mean sure everything doesn't work spic and spam as we users would like it to, but we can only do so much to force things to work and Microsoft not make it any easier.
Yes, you are right on having to delete YOUR tones one by one and watching out for tones that are preset and therefore write-protected as a system file. The preset SMS tones aren't too bad, of course opinion differs by person. My complaints don't exist with sounds though as all preset SMS tones take up less than 100kb each and with over 300mb onboard storage space not including a Micro SDHC card -I'd say I have plenty of space.
Program to convert to .wav? Sure, use Dbpoweramp Free. It's lightweight and easy. Program to trim .wav or .mp3 files? Audacity works great.
It's an OS quirk that calls for Notification (non-ringer) tones to be in .wav format. If there is a reg tweak to change that, I don't know of it as much as I've learned about WinMo.

S-Line said:
How it really works:
1. Copy mp3's (for use with ringtones, reminders, SMS, MMS, e-Mail, etc. EXCEPT alarmclock tones) to "application data\sounds".
2. Copy alarmclock sounds as .wav to windows (to convert mp3 > wav use lame encoder). MP3 files won't work.
3. If not used delete all sounds in "windows\rings" (to have a smaller list).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much! "application data\sounds" did the trick!
As for the alarmclock, I guess I just need try a few more convertors :\
Is there a techincal reason why they won't let you delete predefined stuff?
I'f you have to get deep down and do some hacking any way, who are they to say "Maybe you don't know what you are doing, so we won't let you! You probably do, but we don't care.."

For sms you can use mp3 files, putting them in folder: My device\My documents (don't use other folder inside "My documents").

fighter7139 said:
For sms you can use mp3 files, putting them in folder: My device\My documents (don't use other folder inside "My documents").
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple use "application data\sounds" for all mp3-files, and "windows" for alarmclock-files (must be .wav). Mydocs and win\ringtones won't work with every ROM.
To have a better overview I always name ringtones files "R-<filename>" and alerts A-<filename>".

Add New Notification Sounds to My Incredible?

Like my new Incredible compared to my BB Storm, but I'm missing a few things.
While I can add MP3's as ring tones, I can't figure out

Create two folders on your SD card. One named ringtones and another named notifications (for text sounds). Once you copy files to those folders they will show up in the list.

KB Smoka said:
Create two folders on your SD card. One named ringtones and another named notifications (for text sounds). Once you copy files to those folders they will show up in the list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For whatever reason this never would work for me. So what I did was create a folder on the root of my SD called media. Inside media created folders called ringtones and notifications. I then converted the MP3 or whatever format the media was in to M4A using the latest beta of Audacity (awesome app). Tossed the converted media into the appropriate folder, and voila, I can has sounds.
This may seem a little convoluted to some people, but it works for me.

download ringdroid from the market, allows you to pick the portion of the mp3 you want, and you can set it as alarm, notification, or ringer

KB Smoka said:
Create two folders on your SD card. One named ringtones and another named notifications (for text sounds). Once you copy files to those folders they will show up in the list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, there should be three folders, and they should all be on the root of the SD card. The two you mentioned, plus one called alarms. These three folders will let the various sounds you load only show for the correct applications.
For instance, put a sound called alarm1 in the alarms folder and it will only be selectable as a alarm for various clock apps. However, put the same sound in notifications instead, and it will only be available to apps that use a notification alert, like calendars.
The other advantage to using these three folders is that it keeps the sounds from showing up in media player apps. I can't tell you how annoying it was to have my music playing randomly and then an alarm sound would play. Then I'm checking my phone to see what it is trying to remind me about only to discover that darned thing played in my media rotation.
StirCwazy said:
For whatever reason this never would work for me. So what I did was create a folder on the root of my SD called media. Inside media created folders called ringtones and notifications. I then converted the MP3 or whatever format the media was in to M4A using the latest beta of Audacity (awesome app). Tossed the converted media into the appropriate folder, and voila, I can has sounds.
This may seem a little convoluted to some people, but it works for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are the sounds showing up in the "songs" your media player lists?

I would recommend creating these folders under /emmc in place of /sdcard that way if the SD Card is removed your custom ring-tones/notifications will still work....
here is the folder structure that I am using:
/emmc/Media/Audio/Alarms
/emmc/Media/Audio/Notifications
/emmc/Media/Audio/Ringtones

Mixzing media player, if you use that, also allows you to set mp3's as ringtones.

rcicu said:
I would recommend creating these folders under /emmc in place of /sdcard that way if the SD Card is removed your custom ring-tones/notifications will still work....
here is the folder structure that I am using:
/emmc/Media/Audio/Alarms
/emmc/Media/Audio/Notifications
/emmc/Media/Audio/Ringtones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like this idea.....
Is there anything out there I can use to view these "system" folders on my PC? When I look at the phone on my computer I only see a couple folders.

I just use zedge app and let it do all the work.
Sent from Droid Incredible using TapaTalk

rcicu said:
here is the folder structure that I am using:
/emmc/Media/Audio/Alarms
/emmc/Media/Audio/Notifications
/emmc/Media/Audio/Ringtones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't the ringtones/notification sounds come up in the music player then?
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

dali137 said:
Wouldn't the ringtones/notification sounds come up in the music player then?
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I have noticed it that sound files in any of those 3 folders won't show up in my music player whether they are on the phone or the sdcard. If you put a sound file in the media folder it will show up, but nothing in the 3 sub folders will.
I haven't tried putting them anywhere else but I think it's safe to assume that folders named Alarms, Notifications, and Ringtones are ignored.
gadget!

Where to store ringtones/alarms/notifications etc

I got the Axon 7 4GB/64GB on B04 rom last weekend china version. All is set up except I cannot work out where sound files for ringtones/alarms/notifications should be stored for the Axon to recognize them and be usable.
I have tried on the phone storage, sdcard storage etc on various paths, media, audio, ringtones etc but nothing ever works.
Does anyone know what folder or path the Axon expects such files to be stored?
Any help would be much appreciated.

There are file explorers that support this. I think ES File explorer had this functionality.
I always use Zedge to configure a ringtone.

Thanks but it doesn't allow me to place my files so that the built in ringtones in setting can locate my own files or to set my own files. Anyone have any idea where the Axon 7 locates the ringtones apart from \system\media\audio etc? I have no root so cannot write to this location.

Have you even tried ES file Explorer? It gives you the option to browse to your own audio files when you want to select a ringtone.

I want to freely assign my own files for ringtones, message, notifications and alarms. Problem is this phone has 2 sim slots and requires me to assign to a specific ringtone 1/2 and message 1/2 etc which es file explorer won't support.

Okay if you say so. I don't have the device yet so I can't tell.
But what I mean is that you only have to install ES File Explorer, you don't have to open it. Just install it.
Then go to your phone settings > ringtones > choose your correct SIM and it will give you the "Complete action using" dialog.
ES File Explorer should be in that list and you should be able to browse to any audio file you want.

No joy after installing ES file explorer. Going to settings, sounds and vibrations, ringtones, it brings me to the default ZTE page for choosing which sim etc then opens the default app for selecting ringtones/notifications etc.

I found out that putting the mp3 file in the folder \Phone\Records then it appears in the "Recordings" tab when choosing the ringtone/alarm.

This took me a long time to figure out. I put the files where they are supposed to go (Notifications folder under /mnt/sdcard/Notifications, Ringtones in /mnt/sdcard/Ringtones). However they don't show up under the main "tone" section when changing tones, you need to swipe over to "music" and it's mixed in with all your MP3s, at least that's how i've been able to set custom sounds. Kind of annoying but it works. Not sure if there's a way to get them to ACTUALLY show up in the tones section.

i noticed for whatsapp, u can only set to the default ringtones that you set on your text message or call ringing tones. You can't custom your own preferred tones. This MiFavor got a lot of flaws.. and ZTE is too slow fixing it. Other than that, great hardwares

\Records on works once
padule said:
I found out that putting the mp3 file in the folder \Phone\Records then it appears in the "Recordings" tab when choosing the ringtone/alarm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That did work for me first time. I created the folder, added files and it all worked as you suggested. I tried to put in additional files in \Phone\Records and they don't appear. It looks like the system need to do a reread of some sort. Anybody have a clue how to force that reread.

I did a search up on the subject and I think the method that I did is relatively straight forward. What I did is I copy from my dual otg data that contains the ringtones that I want to folder of phone/zte music download folder, from there I Opened this download folder and select whichever ringtones then on the Bottom Right click Set Audio as 2 Choices, Ringtones or Notification.
Hopes it help.

With ES File Explorer Pro, I've placed additional ringtones and notifications in the following locations:
/storage/emulated/0/Ringtones
/storage/emulated/0/Notifications
Note that your phone may categorize the sound files under the header "music" when selecting them.