Media Folders Creation - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello,
I have a Asus ROG Phone 3 and have a few questions.
Anytime I reboot my phone and go to check my internal storage, Android is automatically creating the following folders ASUS, Movies, Music, TwinApps, and Subtitles folder.
I assume this is just the default Behavior but does anyone know of a way to disable that or just to keep those folders deleted forever?
My phone is rooted, and I'm tech savvy as hell but I can't figure it out.
Anyone have a clue if the service/app that is remaking these folders is Android itself or somerhing from Asus?
I also recently switched to Android 12 and I noticed something strange, anytime I try to edit or access /sdcard/Android/OBB folder I can't edit anything in it, I can't copy or paste anything into that folder if I can even view it.
Mind you this is with root and using a file manager I've been using for years that I know works. Did something change in the background of A12?
Lastly does anyone know if there is a way to change the default save location for screenshots and/or DCIM camera folder?
Thanks
[
https://imgur.com/RuRm9hr

1) most of the folders are created by android Media scanner but at least one is Asus specific. in theory any app can create own folders, if allowed in permissions.
2) you need file explorer that is updated to support scoped storage so it can view media files from other apps, for example SD Maid.
3) in camera app itself one can switch storage location to MicroSD card. not sure about screenshots, though.

Related

Sd card organization

Hi everyone,
I have a question or maybe someone can give me some advice?
Is there an application that can do this or maybe a terminal app, and someone knows the commands to enter?
I am very anal and a complete neat freak, so my sd card on my xperia looks very unorganized. I have tried to create a folder called android and move all the dependent files to android there but the folders and files just get recreated.
I would love to have my sd card Folders look like:
Android (defualt for android),
Music,
Pictures,
Movies,
Temp,
and so on.
does anyone know how this type of organization could be done, I have an X10a rooted. So could i not open a terminal and change the default path to my sd card to a folder rather than the root of the card.
So this would make android put anything it wanted to write to the sd card into a folder called Android.
Hope someone is as anal as me and has figured out a way to do this.
I agree and would also like to know if there's an option to deal with this. I think it's absurd that Android defaults to dumping temp files an app folders all over the sdcard with no actual organization. I can't think think of a single reason why it can't just put all of these things in an "Android" folder and make a giant mess out of that, instead of doing it right in the sdcard root.
This was posted in July and this is the first response. Anyone have any ideas?
Root explorer paid app will allow to create folders and move stuff around
sent from my Commodore 64
BUMP
would also really like to know if it can be tidied up
what about dynamic links like the same way apps2sd works
Just an idea
Bump, still searching for a solution to this
I would think that with all the mods, this might be able to be done.
I'm going to ask if the moderators good move this thread to a more general forum like the android q&a?
would be nice to have all sym links go to an android folder, instead of the root of the sd card. or maybe the android files need to be on root?
still searching......
I am afraid this cant be done - every Android app has a ability to write wherever on sdcard. There is dierectory Android, which is default for every android app data.
Some developers respect it some not, many apps dont write do /sdcard/Android but creates their own dirs wherever on sdcard.
I think about one solution, because I am linux geek and hopefully many thinks could be done on Android similar way
Repartition the sdcard with two discs - one to be mounted as /mnt/sdcard - where all of the junk stuff and android configs will be stored as usual and second one partition (bigger) mounted eg. as /mnt/ext_sdcard
But there is one problem, because not all of apps are able to work with files on eternal storage....

[Q] How to make Archos Gallery not display .hidden items?

On my other Android devices I can simply put a . in front of folders that I don't want the gallery to display (such as avatar pics and shortcut icons and what not) and it wouldn't. Then I could use eStrongs file manager or similar to browse to them when I needed them. I popped a 2GB MicroSD card I had laying around that already had some files on it from another Android device and ALL of the folders with images are showing up in the gallery... even those with a . in front of them.
Is there any way on an Archos 101 to set the Gallery to NOT display items inside of a '.' folder? Seems this is default with other Android devices so I'm hoping it's at least an option on these.
Ideas?
Thanks for the help.
Moved to general as not android development.
OstrichSak said:
On my other Android devices I can simply put a . in front of folders that I don't want the gallery to display (such as avatar pics and shortcut icons and what not) and it wouldn't. Then I could use eStrongs file manager or similar to browse to them when I needed them. I popped a 2GB MicroSD card I had laying around that already had some files on it from another Android device and ALL of the folders with images are showing up in the gallery... even those with a . in front of them.
Is there any way on an Archos 101 to set the Gallery to NOT display items inside of a '.' folder? Seems this is default with other Android devices so I'm hoping it's at least an option on these.
Ideas?
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Create a 0kb file called .nomedia. Place it in the folder of items you don't want shown. That should work.
blazingwolf said:
Create a 0kb file called .nomedia. Place it in the folder of items you don't want shown. That should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't appear to work. I searched before posting this and found a few things about .nomedia and thought maybe you had to rename the actual folders w/the images within to .nomedia to hide them? Seems like this would be a PITA way to go about it.
Am I doing something wrong? Any other ideas?
OstrichSak said:
Doesn't appear to work. I searched before posting this and found a few things about .nomedia and thought maybe you had to rename the actual folders w/the images within to .nomedia to hide them? Seems like this would be a PITA way to go about it.
Am I doing something wrong? Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should work just fine. Did you name the file specifically .nomedia? No ext name. Did you reboot to see if that helps? Did you put the file in the folder of the items you don't want showing?
Here is some more specific instructions (I didn't write them):
1. On your computer, open Notepad or any other text editor
2. Save the blank file with the filename “.nomedia”, make sure that the Save as type is set as “All Files” instead of “Text documents”
3. Copy that file to the folder on your SD card containing picture files you don’t want to show up in the gallery. (Example: If you want to block aDyno image files from coming up, place the .nomedia file in the sdcard/aDyno folder)
4. Reboot your phone and hopefully the unwanted files should no longer be viewable.
blazingwolf said:
It should work just fine. Did you name the file specifically .nomedia? No ext name. Did you reboot to see if that helps? Did you put the file in the folder of the items you don't want showing?
Here is some more specific instructions (I didn't write them):
1. On your computer, open Notepad or any other text editor
2. Save the blank file with the filename “.nomedia”, make sure that the Save as type is set as “All Files” instead of “Text documents”
3. Copy that file to the folder on your SD card containing picture files you don’t want to show up in the gallery. (Example: If you want to block aDyno image files from coming up, place the .nomedia file in the sdcard/aDyno folder)
4. Reboot your phone and hopefully the unwanted files should no longer be viewable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, w/more information I tried it again. I created a file just using a file browser on the device. This time around I created a file in Notepad on my PC called .nomedia and made sure the filetype was set to 'all files' before saving and that there was no extension (deleted the .txt) and then copied that file to my Archos 101. I first tried in the folder on the SD card that contained all the folders in question. I rebooted and it didn't seem to help. I then copied the file into each folder and rebooted. Still no dice. Whenever I open Gallery all the folders and images are still there. What am I doing wrong? Do I need to clear a cache or something or delete any tumbnails or ?? I'm sure I'm just doing something wrong but for the life of me I can't figure it out. I keep searching and am coming up with nothing. This was SO easier on my other Android devices as I just put a period in front of the name of the folders I didn't want to display and it was done. Simple as that. This is a royal PITA and I feel I'm not making any progress.
In the market search Studiokum or .nomedia. whit this app is easy control. Nomedia files
ramso said:
In the market search Studiokum or .nomedia. whit this app is easy control. Nomedia files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do either of these allow you to simply hide w/o signing in or encryption? I found two other programs & both required this which I don't want to deal with. Just seems odd that others are saying this is working for them & I'm not having any luck. I don't mind installing an app as long as it works but I'm not sure why my Archos 101 would be different than the rest.
OstrichSak said:
Do either of these allow you to simply hide w/o signing in or encryption? I found two other programs & both required this which I don't want to deal with. Just seems odd that others are saying this is working for them & I'm not having any luck. I don't mind installing an app as long as it works but I'm not sure why my Archos 101 would be different than the rest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This app working rigth for me, only add the .nomedia in the folders. Now the pictures in the folders i marked don't displayed in thr gallery
OstrichSak said:
Do I need to clear a cache or something or delete any tumbnails or ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reset multimedia library in Settings - Repair & formatting.
lolo33 said:
Reset multimedia library in Settings - Repair & formatting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! This is EXACTLY what I needed. Thanks!

[Q] How to delete default files

I hate those default Pics, music etc ASUS or whoever have put them and now I can't delete them from Filemanager...
How to delete any of the files I want ?
use root explorer to delete them. don't go deleting system/stock apps or your future OTA updates will fail.
I tried but says on those 17 default pics, "delete failed"...
BTW, why in file manager there is so bunch of stuff listed there, not organized... and you have no idea what is for what...
I tried FileManager HD - much better look/organization, also reports same error, failed to delete. Now in this app you can see next to file this: -rw
Are those files protected or something? pics and mp3's by default which I can't delete have that.
Thanks!
PS - Android -ICS, has folders listed totally wrong, you have system files listed with normal other folders which confuses normal people what is what and finding what they need to find. They should put ALL system files under 1 folder and make a tree of folders there and not in root put all folders there and leave up to us to manage in that bush
is your device rooted? and did you put it in read/write mode? otherwise it wont be able to delete the files
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
You must set your file explorer to mount system files in read/write mode, by default they are set to read only. See in preferences menu.

[discussion] where does snapchat store photos/videos?

So I've went into the /data/data/com.snapchat.android/ folder, and it is only about 200KB, so the image/video files can't be stored there.
I also noticed if you have a new message, and you close and open the app, it will have to redownload it. So it seems that snapchat is storing the images in the RAM.
So I dumped the ram of my snapchat PID, using this method. I had to download a compiled gdb binary.
I then used photoRec to scan all the *.dump files [I concatenated them all first, the file was about 100MB]. For filesystem I said "Other."
All I got was one txt file. It seemed to be xml, and contained a lot of usernames of my friends, but that's all.
If anyone has any input on the subject, here is the thread for it!
Bump for interest
mvmacd said:
So I've went into the /data/data/com.snapchat.android/ folder, and it is only about 200KB, so the image/video files can't be stored there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Snapchat save picture under /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_image_snaps. You then have to copy and paste the file out of the folder, and rename the file extension from .jpgnomedia to .jpg
I can not find where the videos are stored. That's how I found this thread.
Like the previous poster said images are stored in /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_image_snaps. They are deleted when they are viewed though so you must copy them to your sdcard or wherever and change the file extension before viewing them. Videos are stored in /data/media/0/Android/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/tcs_pahn
Samsung Infuse
Where can I find these files on my Samsung Infuse? I go into /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache but the folder is empty.
JCBucks said:
Where can I find these files on my Samsung Infuse? I go into /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache but the folder is empty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not had time to check this location, however I have sort of discovered a workaround. [HTC Rezound CM10.1]
Ideally you should have a wifi toggle in the statusbar.
Open snapchat and then click on your snaps, after it loads the images [It will say "Loading image..", then "Tap to view"], turn off WiFi. Then you can view the snapchats [pic or video], and before enabling wifi, wipe Snapchat's data.
This way you can screenshot while offline and they will not know.
Alternatively you can use TitaniumBackup. Backup app while logged in, after viewing snapchat offline, restore data from backup so you do not constantly have to login.
JCBucks said:
Where can I find these files on my Samsung Infuse? I go into /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache but the folder is empty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here....
Galaxy Nexus CM 10.1
If you can't find the video folder, it's because it deletes it and the videos when they are not loaded. They are stored under /data/media/Android/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_video_snaps/ in mp4 format with a .nomedia file extension. As soon as you navigate away from the app, they are deleted, so I set up a tasker gesture to allow me to copy them while they are loaded.
As people said before, the images are stored in /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_image_snaps/ with the jpg.nomedia extension. If that folder doesn't exist, try making sure you've received and loaded a snapchat first. The images seem to stay until they're viewed.
shenkenstein said:
If you can't find the video folder, it's because it deletes it and the videos when they are not loaded. They are stored under /data/media/Android/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_video_snaps/ in mp4 format with a .nomedia file extension. As soon as you navigate away from the app, they are deleted, so I set up a tasker gesture to allow me to copy them while they are loaded.
As people said before, the images are stored in /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_image_snaps/ with the jpg.nomedia extension. If that folder doesn't exist, try making sure you've received and loaded a snapchat first. The images seem to stay until they're viewed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That location you name for videos doesn't exist on my phone.
- I have /data/media/ "0" and "obb" are the only 2 folders within there
- I have also read that the videos are stored in /Storage (SD CARD)/Android/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/... but there isn't anything further from here, my 'cache' folder is empty, there's never been a "received_video_snaps" folder, let alone any content within here.
- I am able to get the photos from /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_image_snaps/ but never been able to intercept videos
Note: this is all done BEFORE "viewing" the material and allowing it to "load" and show "tap to view" from within SC
I'm using the EVO 3D CDMA version
incarceration said:
That location you name for videos doesn't exist on my phone.
- I have /data/media/ "0" and "obb" are the only 2 folders within there
- I have also read that the videos are stored in /Storage (SD CARD)/Android/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/... but there isn't anything further from here, my 'cache' folder is empty, there's never been a "received_video_snaps" folder, let alone any content within here.
- I am able to get the photos from /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_image_snaps/ but never been able to intercept videos
Note: this is all done BEFORE "viewing" the material and allowing it to "load" and show "tap to view" from within SC
I'm using the EVO 3D CDMA version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running TouchWiz. I wonder if you are on a 4.2.2 ROM or something, cause I've experienced the sdcard being moved around before...
Does your "0" folder have any subdirectories? such as Android/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/
In any case, videos are special: You need to actually click "load" (but don't hold, or else you'll actually view it before saving) if it doesn't do that automatically. Unless I misinterpreted, you didn't do that step. I think they might load automatically on Wi-Fi or something, though. For a general rule: As soon as it says "Load", the video is no longer (or never was) on your device. Furthermore, the sneaky little application deletes the folder at the same time, which is why you're never seeing "received_video_snaps" within the cache folder you found (assuming that one actually stores the videos in your version) because in my experience, almost everytime you navigate away from Snapchat, it unloads the video.
If you want to test for whether a file exists in a particular directory using Tasker, mess around with different directories in a File Modified profile (and have the associated task flash something). It'll flash as soon as something is added to that folder (including another folder, it seems).
Otherwise, check out my thread for this here.
I'm not familiar with Tasker. is it possible to have it automagically copy and rename the files that show up in the picture cache folder upon receiving a snap?
-edit-
From reddit:
I've got one method working on doing this, albeit I dislike it because this is questionable practice as is.
you''ll need Tasker and the Secure Settings plugin (tasker's run shell didn't like playing nice most of the time, but the secure setting run command does).
so i have tasker wait for snapchat to be opened, then the opening tasks are to wait 7 seconds (gives you time to load any pictures, honestly, i tried doing this with a file closed but tasker doesn't seem to like using wildcards in that command. if you really want, you can make this an exit command and open snapchat then back out before viewing)
then run shell as root cp -r /data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/received_image_snaps/ /storage/emulated/0/snaps/ (you'll need to change the second directory, mine is for a gnex on 4.2.2 so that's why it's emulated/0)
next, you'll need to make a script in atext editor, and for sake of sanity, push it to /system/bin with chmod 755 (rwxr-xr-x)
the script then reads as CODE
!/system/bin/sh #there should be a hashtag in front of this but reddit's formatting is being wonky
cd /storage/emulated/0/snaps/ #wherever you copied them to
for file in *.nomedia
do
mv "$file" "${file/.nomedia}"
done
exit
then in tasker, as an exit action, run a secure settings run command with the command of whatever your script name is (include location if you do no push to bin).
it should work
You can play with the triggers and such, but i was having no luck including the scripted portion with the copy actions, it never seemed to run the script (secure settings has options to notify that it's running/completed).
Again, this is mean to be instructional on how to automate this with tasker, since I wanted to solve a puzzle. Not for anyone to be a creepy ass person saving snapchats that you shouldn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't post link =/
nannus said:
I'm not familiar with Tasker. is it possible to have it automagically copy and rename the files that show up in the picture cache folder upon receiving a snap?
Couldn't post link =/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible, yes. Will it work flawlessly, not really.
Once I move the file and remove the no media extension. I can open the image but it is blank. Any ideas? Anyone know how to retrieve deleted Images
kprz24 said:
Once I move the file and remove the no media extension. I can open the image but it is blank. Any ideas? Anyone know how to retrieve deleted Images
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Deleted images are deleted. That's the point of Snapchat. As for the file you moved (I'd recommend you copy it instead, cause Snapchat'll show a blank screen when you view it if you moved the file), make sure it ends in .jpg (for images) or .mp4 (for videos).
kprz24 said:
Once I move the file and remove the no media extension. I can open the image but it is blank. Any ideas? Anyone know how to retrieve deleted Images
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually there is a program called PhotoRec that scans a disk for files using the headers. So as long as the file is unfragmented and not been written over, you can retrieve it with the software. Of course you'll have to either plug in your phone to your PC with usb mass storage mode [if your phone supports it], or else put it in a card reader.
mvmacd said:
Actually there is a program called PhotoRec that scans a disk for files using the headers. So as long as the file is unfragmented and not been written over, you can retrieve it with the software. Of course you'll have to either plug in your phone to your PC with usb mass storage mode [if your phone supports it], or else put it in a card reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice! I didn't think that technology was available on phones at this point.
quantemplation said:
Nice! I didn't think that technology was available on phones at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well actually it's not run from the phone [as I mentioned in my previous post], you must plug your card into your PC with usb mode in order for it to work.
I have used PhotoRec in the past and it has worked pretty well. The only thing, and it's not PhotoRec's fault, your files will have a random number. There's no way to know what the old filename/path used to be, so you have to figure that part out on your own.
In short, always backup your sdcard unless you don't mind losing everything, and depending on the damage, might be able to recover the files, but only the ones not fragmented and they will be randomly named.
I developed an easy way to sync the received pictures and videos with your Dropbox account.
If it is interesting you can check my thread here
Using the Droid DNA and looking in com.snapchat.android and the cache folder is there, but that is empty. There is no received images folder. Anyone know why this is the case? I know I've gotten plenty of images from snapchat.
jaredkent said:
Using the Droid DNA and looking in com.snapchat.android and the cache folder is there, but that is empty. There is no received images folder. Anyone know why this is the case? I know I've gotten plenty of images from snapchat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same thing is happening with my Galaxy S3

Lost access to media - ringtones, alarms, notifications and other media files

I have also posted this issue on another general forum, so apologies if this is deemed cross-posting!
My smartphone is running a stock Lollipop C6833_14.5.A.0.242_Customzied Germany.ftf ROM flashed using Flashtool, but is rooted with KingRoot and I have a dual recovery flashed and working properly.
Following that downgrade I found that my phone no longer had either a phone or alarm tone. When I try and change the alarm tone or ringtone or even notifications in settings I am presented with the file explorer. The sound selector shows nothing. File Commander is able to see and access the files, and they do not appear to be corrupted and I also tested them in my media player.
They were not in the SD card media folder, but were in tact in the system/media/audio folder in their respective folders. So I copied all the individual folders within the audio folder across to the corresponding media folder on the SD card. But that did not work either...
After searching various sites for help I managed to find instructions to download and flash Xperia Lollipop Media Sounds.zip, which I tried to do with TWRP recovery, but this failed with an error message I could not read.
I wondered whether if I were to just flash the system file from the same ROM it would restore the media file settings? Any help would be very much appreciated, as I have no way of hearing when I receive incoming calls, and my alarm does not work either. The audio seems to function fine in third party apps, so there is no physical issue as far as I know.
I also read a recommendation to copy the files across while connected to a PC, via USB, but my computer is a Mac and it does not seem to be able to access the SD cards as external drives in the same way as they appear in a PC.
Sony technical support basically told me that the only solution is to use repair within the Sony Bridge for Mac app, but I don't want to lose root, as the latest firmware upgrade is impossible to root. I really need help on this please!
Be aware that you have to set the correct file permissions after moving them to the /audio folder. The ringtones and alarm tones should be in the folder you just wrote, meaning they're on the system partition.
Just long-press or something on the audio-folder (depending on the file explorer you're using), tap "properties", and then set the permissions to 6-4-4, which is RW-R-R, or:
[x] [x] [ ]
[x] [ ] [ ]
[x] [ ] [ ]
Then reboot.
Hi Klaoss, many thanks for replying. However I have checked the permissions. The permissions for the actual files are RW-R-R, but in fact the folder permissions seem to be even more open: drwxr-xr-x, does that sound correct? I am talking about/system/media/audio/alarms, camera, notifications, ringtones and ui, which all have the same permissions.
Uh Oh! I just checked the permissions in the /storage/emulated/0/media/audio folder are non existent! Maybe this is why it is necessary to use the PC to copy the files, in order to retain the file and folder permissions? Is it also something to do with the actual formatting of the SD partition? Thanks for your patience
Just checked mine (on 5.1.1) and it does indeed look like the folders are drwxr-xr-x, while the files themselves are rw-r-r.
Also, yeah you could try that. That might actually work. Just remember to reboot after each change.
Thanks, but to be clear, do the files need to also be in /storage/emulated/0/media/ as well as in the /system/media/audio, or are they superfluous? Because if they are not needed, then I am not going to achieve anything by going to the trouble of copying the files within a PC environment.
Also, is there no way of copying files within Android without losing the permissions?
No idea, but I've always added and removed audio files from the system partition, but I know apps like Zedge and stuff adds them to the list when downloaded, so I'm guessing that 3rd party apps use the media folder on the internal memory, and not on the system partition, which requires root. So I would probably just let that folder alone, and concentrate on the system folder. Check the permissions and see what happens.
Change the permission on one or two files (incl. the folder), reboot and see if the file/files you just edited are showing up in the ringtone list. If yes, then change the permissions on the rest of them.
I have no idea what to change the system folder permissions to...remember that they were set to drwxr-xr-x. I think it is more important to be able to provide access to third party apps, that way I could temporarily choose ringtones etc using those. However I cannot access the permissions for the folder of the internal memory via my file explorer apps, even with full root access. That has to be a contributory factor to the problem. I wonder, would you mind having a look at the permissions for these folders on your device and telling me what they are compared to the system version?
Also, I would like someone else's take on this, would anyone else care to comment please?
OK, same problem, different tack: can anyone please tell me which partition I would need to reflash from a ROM or TWRP backup to restore the system media sounds and settings to original without losing my data or root? Also does it need to be the same ROM version, or can I flash a different ROM, but still a version of Lollipop? For example, could I simply extract the relevant partition from the recent 5.1.1. ROM, or would I then lose root too, or could it come from a 5.0.1 ROM, but slightly different from the one presently installed? I have several TWRP backups, but unfortunately for some reason they included the TA information (ta.mmc.win) which causes a bootloop when I try and reboot the system after flashing, and I have yet to find a way to exclude them from the restore process.

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