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So on other android devices to hide music and pics from the media players and gallery you would just set the folder to hidden.
I've tried this and it didn't work.
Also i've created a blank file named ".hidden" with the names of the folders i want hidden in the file and still no go.
The folders are hidden, i can see that when i connect my microSD to my PC (on ubuntu and XP) yet unwanted files still show up in the media player.
This is really annoying because i have a bunch of games and apps and all their little sound effects and pics are showing up in my gallery and music players. Theres nothing like going from one good song to sound effects of a game... :/
Anybody know how to do this right?
2.1 build 6941
Create a file called .nomedia in The directory you want to hide from the music player. Use astro.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
rodjordan said:
Create a file called .nomedia in The directory you want to hide from the music player. Use astro.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, worked perfectly!
Learn something new everyday!
I'm still adjusting to android after 7 years of windows mobile... i kind of miss registry edits though.
rodjordan said:
Create a file called .nomedia in The directory you want to hide from the music player. Use astro.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you creating a .nomedia file?
I've just renamed a folder to .nomedia with stuff within the folder that I wanted to hide via Astro and now my phone has decided to deleted all my media on my phone ( music, photoss and videos ) but the media within the renamed folder is fine, I've even tried returning the folder back to it's original name and I've plugged the card on a PC and they're all gone, just the folders remain......bugger...... take it that there's no way to recover the files?
Running Streak 1.6
He means create a file called ".nomedia"
Like a word document would be ".doc" but don't add any other name before the dot, just worked for me too, thanks!
I just copied a small file (eg adwsettings.xml) to the directory and renamed it to .nomedia. when you start the gallery it will rebuild the thumbnails minus the files in The tree where the .nomedia file lives.
I am using the 2.1 o2 build 8xxx.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
The Estrongs File Explorer allows you to create a new file with whatever name/type you want.
Keethos said:
How are you creating a .nomedia file?
I've just renamed a folder to .nomedia with stuff within the folder that I wanted to hide via Astro and now my phone has decided to deleted all my media on my phone ( music, photoss and videos ) but the media within the renamed folder is fine, I've even tried returning the folder back to it's original name and I've plugged the card on a PC and they're all gone, just the folders remain......bugger...... take it that there's no way to recover the files?
Running Streak 1.6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure there gone and not just hidden?
What I did to create the file in astro, I created a new zip archive, named it .nomedia and then selected the zip file and chose to rename it and just removed the .zip from the end.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
I know this is not really related, but it does change my album art to it's own default on some albums, which i find really annoying!!!!
fone_fanatic said:
Are you sure there gone and not just hidden?
What I did to create the file in astro, I created a new zip archive, named it .nomedia and then selected the zip file and chose to rename it and just removed the .zip from the end.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, I've plugged my card into a PC with show all hidden files and they weren't appearing and Astro has Show Hidden Files on too
Ah well, I'll know for next time, think I've only lost a couple of photo's but most of my media has been backup....I think
There are a couple of free apps in the market that can hide what every file you like one is called HIDEIT i think
Right, copied almost all my media back onto my SD Card, I have now created a New.txt file on my PC, copied that over to a folder with media I wish to hide, then on the phone, I used Astro again to rename the New.txt file to .nomedia file and this has worked fine. Gallery doesn't see it and the files are still there, however, I then decided to test copying the newly created .nomedia file to another folder to hide some other media. Once I backed out of Astro, then entered the native photo app, the media from that folder has disappeared, however, I then return to the folder with the media I just wanted to hide and they have now been deleted again Proper random. I'm guna leave the one I have created first time as for some reason they are still present, but I'm not guna bother with this method of hiding things.
So be warned, this method of creating a .nomedia file, if not done properly, may result in you losing your media!
Keethos said:
Right, copied almost all my media back onto my SD Card, I have now created a New.txt file on my PC, copied that over to a folder with media I wish to hide, then on the phone, I used Astro again to rename the New.txt file to .nomedia file and this has worked fine. Gallery doesn't see it and the files are still there, however, I then decided to test copying the newly created .nomedia file to another folder to hide some other media. Once I backed out of Astro, then entered the native photo app, the media from that folder has disappeared, however, I then return to the folder with the media I just wanted to hide and they have now been deleted again Proper random. I'm guna leave the one I have created first time as for some reason they are still present, but I'm not guna bother with this method of hiding things.
So be warned, this method of creating a .nomedia file, if not done properly, may result in you losing your media!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats really weird, and you scared me, i just went and checked and everything is still there for me...
In most of the places i put it was in the parent folder of images/sounds i wanted to hide, not the folder they were in. For example the sounds from Lets Golf game by gameloft were showing up in my music player which are in the folder /sdcard/gameloft/games/letsgolf/ but since i have more then one gameloft game installed i put the .nomedia file in /sdcard/gameloft/ Ofcourse this wouldn't work if the files you want the media apps to ignore were only in one folder on the sdcard because then you put the .nomedia in the root of the card it would ignore all the media on the card.
[TIP/TRICK] Stop Stock Gallery From Creating .thumbnails Folder! Save SD Card Space!
First off, I'll start by saying: "I am not responsible if you brick your phone! Always make a nandroid backup before using my steps/messing with Autostarts! (It's a very powerful application!)"
If you use a 3rd party gallery app (Like QuickPic, my personal favorite...) - You are probably tired of wasting over 100mb of space on your SD card... (And waiting a long time for booting up as well...) I had no need for the /sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails folder taking up space on my SD card, so this is how to disable the stock Gallery app from doing so!
I researched a little on how to accomplish this and came up with little information, so I thought I'd share:
What you'll need:
1.) Autostarts app (I used: Version 1.7.0)
---
Steps/Directions:
1.) Run Autostarts
2.) Look for these entries: Media ejecting/mounted
3.) Choose either entry (ONLY CHOOSE ONE, IT DOES NOT MATTER WHICH! Choosing one entry will disable both entries in Media ejecting AND Media mounted!)
4.) Click on BootReceiver
5.) Choose Disable (A popup will show saying "This is a system app, are you sure? etc.)
6.) Done! Reboot. On boot, go to /sdcard/DCIM/ and look inside for the usual .thumbnails folder, it should be contained with a few (SMALL) files now!
Note: (Make sure you disable the entry BootReceiver ONCE, it should "strikeout" (as in: draw a line through) the entry BootReceiver, to show it has been disabled on boot.) - zmag
Hmm, seems I just looked in my folder and I saw the darn .thumbnails file again... If anyone knows how to disable the stock Gallery app from wasting boot time & sd space; PLEASE TELL ME!!! - zmag
Well, it looks like this is not a big issue for anyone out there - but it still annoys me.
I have since "frozen" the stock Camera and Gallery apps with Titanium Backup Pro, and still; no luck.
Now, granted when I reboot my phone and look in my DCIM folder it doesn't seem to be creating the .thumbnails folder 100% of the time. But the folder is still being created somehow, and my only guess is from a third-party app (and I can't seem to pinpoint which one) but I'm gonna test to find out which and post my results...
I wish someone out there could give me some input, I've been talking to myself here for too long. - zmag
This isn't the same, but you can create a filetype named '.nomedia' and place it at the root of the folder where you want and it will stop displaying the thumbnails in the gallery app.
http://smartadopter.wordpress.com/2...mbnails-showing-in-the-android-photo-gallery/
OK I believe I may have found the possible solution to this problem.
I was searching around on how to fix this problem as well, and tried a few things myself and believe I have found a solution, so I had to sign up for xda to share with everyone else. So please be gentle as this is my first post, although im a long time lurker.
I also got rid of the stock gallery (uninstalled with Titanium Backup) and now use Quick Pic. although I have removed the stock gallery it still builds that 60mb+ thumbnails directory on my SDcard. I was using SD Maid to delete it but it gets annoying that it kept reappearing even after the uninstall of stock gallery.
Now to start fixing,
I realized it was actually a large single file itself named ".thumbdata3-1967290299" in "sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails/" that was taking up the 60mb+ , the smaller individual thumbnails Quick Pic created only added up to a 1mb or so.
So what I did was I just grabbed a random useless file from my SD card I didn't need anymore (an alarm clock plus backup .bak file, but I would assume the *new file" option in root explorer would do the same) and I renamed the unneeded file the same name as the file in /.thumbdata/ (the the .thumbdata3-19672902099).
Now I had a .thumbdata file that was only 1.75kb and just simply moved it to the sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails/ folder and replaced the 60mb .thumbdata file with the smaller one.
After a few restarts of my phone, opening and browsing Quick Pic, checking my thumbnail size a few times with both SD Maid and Root Explore - I now have a much smaller 1.75kb file instead of the old 60mb file.
Hopefully this well help some of you out and solve your problem as well, as far as I can tell it is no longer making that thumbnail file expand so large on my phone.
Phone: HTC Hero CDMA
ROM: Cyanogenmod 7.1
Carrier: i-wireless/sprint
hewillmakehell said:
OK I believe I may have found the possible solution to this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've tried both your copied file trick and making a new file with root explorer, both to no avail. ".thumbdata3--1967290299" always reverts to its old size if any app associated with the gallery is opened.
has yours really stopped reappearing?
i can't figure out where the large thumbnail data is stored, but it must be in the system somewhere...
problem solved
hey i figured out how to fixed this on my atrix. should be the same for all android phones.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28447099#post28447099
There's no "external.db" inside my "com.android.providers.media" folder.
However, I didn't even understood what I was supposed to do with this file. What he meant with "trim the thumbnails table with an sql editor"?
I quoted the post you linked below:
i found the place where the thumbnail data is stored, which was making the huge thumbnail file and crashing Entertainment Center.
it isn't storing the entire ".thumbdata3--1967290299" file (which can be hundreds of mb for some people), rather a large (tens of mb) .db database file that is being used to recreate it on demand.
/data/data/com.android.providers.media/databases
external.db
with Root Explorer i could view the file, and Speed Software also sells an sql editor which you can use to trim the thumbnails table.
*be careful: deleting entries from this file also seems to delete it from the device! i deleted all records from the thumbnails and images tables..
learn from my mistake. i thought it would regenerate, but it deleted all images from /sd card. good thing i backed up all my photos first, but better to use the filter option and trim out only the records for files that are no longer on the device.
".thumbdata3--1967290299" now reappears, but a whole lot smaller.
Gallery opens so much faster now, and Entertainment Center works again!
hope it helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i bet it is hiding somewhere. maybe it's slightly different on other phones.
the issue was that i had an ever-expanding sdcard/dcim/.thumbnails/.thumbdata3--1967290299 file being recreated every time i accessed the gallery viewer, even after that thumbnails folder was erased.
my device was keeping track of ALL the media files that were ever on it, not just the ones presently on it. so the more files that passed through my device, the bigger the thumbdata file kept getting. the external.db file contains a table that lists all media files along with a bunch of attributes for each. apparently this db file is used to generate the thumbdata file. all the info for deleted files just leads to more padding inside the thumbdata file, so it keeps getting bigger.
by trimming the table i meant to delete the records in the external.db that correspond to thumbnails for media no longer on the device. that file is an SQLite file, so to open it you need a special viewer/editor. i first used the SQLite Viewer that comes with Root Explorer. with that, i could see the all the redundant thumbnail entries. to edit it, i got the SQLite Editor, though i'm sure there are other ways. then it's a matter of recognizing which files it lists that are no longer on your device, and getting rid of those rows from the table. in my case the external.db file went down from 8mb to 500kb after i did that.
screenshot 1 showing tables inside external.db, using SQLite Editor
screenshot 2 showing 'thumbnails' table
TBN FILE 2gb
hi
i have a huge thumbnail file in he sd card its almots 2GB
i have already came to opeing the list for thumbnails in the editor
but i dont know how to filter it that i can delete only the files which are not in the sd card (i.e already deleted ) plss guide me throught ,,, this and u will be a star:good:
whitebreadstyle said:
i bet it is hiding somewhere. maybe it's slightly different on other phones.
the issue was that i had an ever-expanding sdcard/dcim/.thumbnails/.thumbdata3--1967290299 file being recreated every time i accessed the gallery viewer, even after that thumbnails folder was erased.
my device was keeping track of ALL the media files that were ever on it, not just the ones presently on it. so the more files that passed through my device, the bigger the thumbdata file kept getting. the external.db file contains a table that lists all media files along with a bunch of attributes for each. apparently this db file is used to generate the thumbdata file. all the info for deleted files just leads to more padding inside the thumbdata file, so it keeps getting bigger.
by trimming the table i meant to delete the records in the external.db that correspond to thumbnails for media no longer on the device. that file is an SQLite file, so to open it you need a special viewer/editor. i first used the SQLite Viewer that comes with Root Explorer. with that, i could see the all the redundant thumbnail entries. to edit it, i got the SQLite Editor, though i'm sure there are other ways. then it's a matter of recognizing which files it lists that are no longer on your device, and getting rid of those rows from the table. in my case the external.db file went down from 8mb to 500kb after i did that.
screenshot 1 showing tables inside external.db, using SQLite Editor
screenshot 2 showing 'thumbnails' table
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the sam issue, but unfortunately your solution didn't help me. I have only a couple of pictures on my phone, but a lot of GBs of music on SDCard and I think this is he reason why .thumbdata3 file is so large on my phone.
I also tried using SDRescan as proposed here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28516079&postcount=6, but that didn't help either.
I've done some more research and found a solution here: http://www.mobilephonetalk.com/show...in-memory-card&p=311954&viewfull=1#post311954. After I deleted the .thumbdata3 file, created a blank one with Root Explorer and removed write permission to it, the file stays at 0 bytes and Camera and Gallery apps still work fine.
mihir880 said:
hi
i have a huge thumbnail file in he sd card its almots 2GB
i have already came to opeing the list for thumbnails in the editor
but i dont know how to filter it that i can delete only the files which are not in the sd card (i.e already deleted ) plss guide me throught ,,, this and u will be a star:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it sure would be nice if android did that automatically
i don't know how though, sorry.. maybe there is a way, but it is surely safer to backup the media files to another drive, trim the db, then move them back if necessary.
---------- Post added at 09:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 PM ----------
strom87 said:
I've done some more research and found a solution here: http://www.mobilephonetalk.com/show...in-memory-card&p=311954&viewfull=1#post311954. After I deleted the .thumbdata3 file, created a blank one with Root Explorer and removed write permission to it, the file stays at 0 bytes and Camera and Gallery apps still work fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i guess that's one way of doing it. it just means all the thumbnails have to be recreated every time you open the gallery or file browser.
strom87 said:
I had the sam issue, but unfortunately your solution didn't help me. I have only a couple of pictures on my phone, but a lot of GBs of music on SDCard and I think this is he reason why .thumbdata3 file is so large on my phone.
I also tried using SDRescan as proposed here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28516079&postcount=6, but that didn't help either.
I've done some more research and found a solution here: http://www.mobilephonetalk.com/show...in-memory-card&p=311954&viewfull=1#post311954. After I deleted the .thumbdata3 file, created a blank one with Root Explorer and removed write permission to it, the file stays at 0 bytes and Camera and Gallery apps still work fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you removed write permission from the thumbdata3 file with RootExplorer. If I try this, then I get a message, that that is not possible on the SD-Card and nothing happens!! The permissions stay !!!
Sunnymen1975 said:
How did you removed write permission from the thumbdata3 file with RootExplorer. If I try this, then I get a message, that that is not possible on the SD-Card and nothing happens!! The permissions stay !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try creating a folder instead of a file(no need to set permissions). So far, it's working
lbrfabio said:
You can try creating a folder instead of a file(no need to set permissions). So far, it's working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another quick way that seems to work:
Code:
rm -rf /mnt/sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails && touch /mnt/sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails
rm -rf /mnt/sdcard/external_sd/DCIM/.thumbnails && touch /mnt/sdcard/external_sd/DCIM/.thumbnails
Hello, I also have this problem. Now I put another file with that name and that seems to work.
However, I came on this because my device went suddenly very slow.
Is it possible that the application that writes these .thumbnail files is still searching through the complete device, even when it cannot update the file?
And, how can I inspect what app is causing this file or slow down?
Fixed!... deleted .thumbnails folder and then created a file called .thumbnails using root explorer....thats worked for me in my THL w1..saved 1.2 gb of space!
Is there anyway to stop the stock camera from posting pics in the DCIM folder? I am somewhat ocd and would like them to be posted in a folder of my choosing.
estranged1977 said:
Fixed!... deleted .thumbnails folder and then created a file called .thumbnails using root explorer....thats worked for me in my THL w1..saved 1.2 gb of space!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Created a file or a folder?
petrsiri said:
Created a file or a folder?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try create folder (I do this and see no more thumbdata3-files yet two months)
Here the steps to hide the files in your Gallery.
Crate folder and move all the files into that folder which you want to hide. after moving files, create a new folder named as ".nomedia" inside the previously created Folder. Restart device and let it scan for media files. Thats it all done. Now files are in that folder wont appear in Gallery.
There are apps that automate this for you too - I use Gallery Excluder.
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Thanks for the advice, always wanted to know how to hide those old pictures
Sent from GT-N7000
I just put a fullstop in front of folder name and it hides it from gallery
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
tks for the tips
foxmeister said:
There are apps that automate this for you too - I use Gallery Excluder.
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats the one i use aswell
ranjan.alva said:
Here the steps to hide the files in your Gallery.
Crate folder and move all the files into that folder which you want to hide. after moving files, create a new folder named as ".nomedia" inside the previously created Folder. Restart device and let it scan for media files. Thats it all done. Now files are in that folder wont appear in Gallery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This works for the stock Gallery, but if you generally don't want the media to appear in similar apps, it's best to create a file called .nomedia rather than a folder. The reason is that the Gallery is coded to check for the existence of a folder or file called .nomedia, whereas other apps may simply check for a file.
Small point, coming from a programmer (most languages have different functions for checking if a file or folder exists).
good tip. thank you.
ranjan.alva said:
Here the steps to hide the files in your Gallery.
Crate folder and move all the files into that folder which you want to hide. after moving files, create a new folder named as ".nomedia" inside the previously created Folder. Restart device and let it scan for media files. Thats it all done. Now files are in that folder wont appear in Gallery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use media hidden.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Guys,
Is there a easier soloution for music album art? I added a .nomedia file to the music folder (of sdcard/media/music) - great all album art pictures no longer show in the Gallery - problem is my music also 'disappeared' as it is a literal no-media to be shown! .
Is there a work around as my album art is tagged to the music files?
Does the gallery not have a tracker? Thats what im used to with maemo
Thanks for the tip
It can also be used to hide audio and video files
Frndz.... In DCIM folder .thumbnail create atoumatically.... I dont use Gallery 3D. So i dont need this btw it eats upto 100+ mb in my sd card.. when i delete it,it creates atoumatically.. so i want to delete it parmanently... is there any way???
I'm guessing the Gallery3D app is made to do that upon start up. Only way I personally see around it is to modify it and change some actions it does.
Remove that folder n then create new file from root explorer with name .thumbnails (make a file not folder) I did it n it cannot create a folder thumbnail automatically
Sent from my GT-S5360 using xda premium
Okay, before I delve in, I will say I did try to find an answer to my noob question, and did see some posts about similar stuff, but really didn't find an answer and much of it was too technical for me. So . . .
I've been downloading photos to my Nexus 7 using my OTG cable, and placing them in folders like:
(sdcard) /storage/emulated/0/pictures/my images/
I noticed when viewing in my file manager app, that these folders (with files) seem to get copied/emulated in a 'root' folder:
(Root) /storage/emulated/Legacy/pictures/my images/ (It looks like the same string, but '0' is replaced by 'legacy' and of course its in the 'root' directory, not 'sdcard'.)
Three questions about this:
I wonder, are these files and folders being copied, so they're taking up more storage on my device, or are these 'legacy' folders virtual, and only look like they've been duplicated?
When I go to view my images in the Gallery app supplied with my N7, it sometimes shows both 'versions' (including the 'legacy version in the 'root' directory) of the folder(s)/files, and sometimes it only shows one version--the one I created. I can't tell, why is it doing these two different things?
And, to remove this duplicate folder from the Gallery view, I have to temporarily copy over the files to another folder, delete the folders they were in and recreate a folder to copy the images back to. So, is there a way to not have this happen in the first place?
Thanks David.