Develop Bugs

Where Are Wallpapers Stored?

Hola.
Can someone tell me where the wallpapers are stored inside roms? Are they just in a folder somewhere, easily accessible via a file manager?
Thanks

Looks like the default wallpapers aren't stored in a directory as such, but within Launcher.apk. I was interested too, and I found http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f37/wallpaper-directory-11685/ which lead me to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2915198&postcount=4.
Hope that helps.

Ah i see, thanks.
Not as easy as i thought lol. I just wanted to grab the grid-like backgrounds in the drizy hero rom for our magics.. thought it might be easier to save those

I use "wallpaper set and save" from the market and have a folder in sd card with all my wallpapers save in there. Its simple and I use this app almost every week

crxtasi said:
I use "wallpaper set and save" from the market and have a folder in sd card with all my wallpapers save in there. Its simple and I use this app almost every week
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx... using it now. perfect.

How do you hide folders from HTC Album?

I tried making the folders hidden by adding a period, but it's still read by HTC Album. How do I get around this? Is there any tweak to change the read permission on folders?
Luckily I discovered this problem myself.

create a file named ".nomedia" and put it in the folders you don't want the media player to show.
Windows will not let you create such a file, so create an empty text file named "a.nomedia", copy in the folders, then using Astro rename it deleting the "a" and you're good to go

JapanLover said:
create a file named ".nomedia" and put it in the folders you don't want the media player to show.
Windows will not let you create such a file, so create an empty text file named "a.nomedia", copy in the folders, then using Astro rename it deleting the "a" and you're good to go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read elsewere that this method can erase the files in that particular folder. I'm not sure when or why it does it but watch out!!

Dodgy pics of the missus eh? Say no more.
I just moved a picture into a folder starting with a fullstop and it's not showing up in the gallery anymore. Are you running the HTC photo gallery or the Cooliris Gallery app?
[EDIT] I also just added a fullstop to the front of a folder on my SD card (/media/wallpapers became /media/.wallpapers) and it's no longer showing in the gallery.

Seems to work. Thanks!

I have read elsewere that this method can erase the files in that particular folder. I'm not sure when or why it does it but watch out!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not using it for sensitive documents
Are you running the HTC photo gallery or the Cooliris Gallery app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the HTC one. The widget doesn't display hidden folders, but when you list all media (where the app searches for pics and vids), it shows.

my (well, it's not mine of course ) method doesn't delete anything. Or at least I'm doing so in almost three cells and since... hmmmm let's say 6 months.
as for putting a dot in front of the folders... keep in mind that it can cause probs to the apps using that folder.
I.E. a GPS app will not find its icons and so on.
Just use the file methid, I'm pretty sure it's safe

JapanLover said:
my (well, it's not mine of course ) method doesn't delete anything. Or at least I'm doing so in almost three cells and since... hmmmm let's say 6 months.
as for putting a dot in front of the folders... keep in mind that it can cause probs to the apps using that folder.
I.E. a GPS app will not find its icons and so on.
Just use the file methid, I'm pretty sure it's safe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I created the wallpapers folder so no apps should be using it.

Adding a .nomedia file worked for me, but only after a reboot. No more album art showing up.

samsanchez88 said:
I have read elsewere that this method can erase the files in that particular folder. I'm not sure when or why it does it but watch out!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are right:
h_t_t_p://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3692

Forget what I said. It doesn't work. I rebooted the phone, effectively refreshing the album cache, and .nomedia is listed when it searches for photos and videos.

Aitese said:
Dodgy pics of the missus eh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first i read this as doggy pics, which sounded gnarly.
I also just added a fullstop to the front of a folder on my SD card (/media/wallpapers became /media/.wallpapers) and it's no longer showing in the gallery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does "adding a full stop" mean?
And why is windows referenced above, vs android OS?

I just downloaded Pandora which essentially does the job.

Android is a Linux based OS. A folder with a period in front of it means its hidden to any app that doesn't directly know its there

biemsy said:
Adding a .nomedia file worked for me, but only after a reboot. No more album art showing up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And then I realised the .nomedia meant music players ignore the folder too. Doh!

I just do the full stop method and use astro file manager to view the items.

DELETES PICTURES!! -possible bug?

Really strange bug....follow me on this:
take pictures, pictures are automatically stored on phone in directory /mnt/sdcard/dcim/100andro....
move pictures to hidden directory called /mnt/ext-card/.specialuse
pictures move just fine, and are readily availible in hidden directory....until I restart the phone, at which point, only the pictures from this phone (not other files or videos) are deleted from the .specialuse folder, no warnings, no pop up...just GONE.
The strangest thing is, it only deletes the files I have added to that directory recently....not the older video files already present.
I have created a .specialuse folder on the phones memory at /mnt/sdcard/.specialuse and it does the same thing....
When I remove the . in the folder name (making it visible) and copy the picture and reset the phone...nothing happens (meaning it keeps the pictures like it should).
WHY does having a .directoryname cause the phone to automatically clear pictures from said directories? My X10 did not do this, only my ION does this.
Anyone have any ideas? Has anyone else had this happen? Thanks.

lmbea4 said:
Really strange bug....follow me on this:
take pictures, pictures are automatically stored on phone in directory /mnt/sdcard/dcim/100andro....
move pictures to hidden directory called /mnt/ext-card/.specialuse
pictures move just fine, and are readily availible in hidden directory....until I restart the phone, at which point, only the pictures from this phone (not other files or videos) are deleted from the .specialuse folder, no warnings, no pop up...just GONE.
The strangest thing is, it only deletes the files I have added to that directory recently....not the older video files already present.
I have created a .specialuse folder on the phones memory at /mnt/sdcard/.specialuse and it does the same thing....
When I remove the . in the folder name (making it visible) and copy the picture and reset the phone...nothing happens (meaning it keeps the pictures like it should).
WHY does having a .directoryname cause the phone to automatically clear pictures from said directories? My X10 did not do this, only my ION does this.
Anyone have any ideas? Has anyone else had this happen? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's because of the "dot" at the beginning of the folder name. Android uses this method by default for it's own purposes. It's a possibility that this phone is seeing that and it "confuses" it so to speak. Try this...
Make your folder and name it whatever you like, with NO punctuation in the name..
Now... Inside that folder, add a ".nomedia" file, but without the quotes
The photos should remain hidden in the gallery, but only visible in a file manager of sorts.
Quickpic in the market is an alternative gallery, that has the ability to hide folders, using the nomedia method. Works great.
...And now I'm gonna go check if all of mine are still there....

yeah but BUG
I agree, and that's what I had been doing after I noticed the deletions....but my x10 didn't behave that way, and my tablet (running 4.0.3) doesn't behave that way.....so, yes, this is a bug.

lmbea4 said:
I agree, and that's what I had been doing after I noticed the deletions....but my x10 didn't behave that way, and my tablet (running 4.0.3) doesn't behave that way.....so, yes, this is a bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, not necessarily... Depending on how the overlay of Android is set up...The overlay from Sony I mean... It "could" be written to behave this way. Bear with me for a few days... I'm going to run some tests on my own phone with some pictures to see if I can reproduce the issue, and if so, try and find a solution.
If you like, I can use the same pictures you were, with the same folder names. That is completely up to you, as only you know what these are... But if you like, PM me, and I'll give you my email address, so we can resolve this.

CONFIRMED!!! At least on my phone... There is no pattern to it, that I can determine... I used several folders in my experiment. Some with, and some without a .nomedia file. And some with and without a dot before the folder name. At random, 5 different folders, still have their folder names, but have no pictures. All 4 possible scenarios were effected, and the fifth actually goes to a standard folder name with a .nomedia file in it.
So basically, my experiment proves nothing more than this is still unsolved, and not specific to one person.
(Just for sh**s and giggles, I am attempting to recover the lost files using some software I have... Just to see if its do-able, should this effect someone else... I'll report back later tomorrow)

Quick question, which file manager are you guys using to move these files? There was some update to Astro a while back that made my files get deleted when I moved them, anywhere regardless of the folder name on my Aria. Same thing still occurred on my Ion when I got it. Ever since I switched to ES File Explorer, I have not encountered this issue of deletion. Astro deleted not only pictures when I moved them, but ring tones, pdf, etc.
Sent from my LT28at

BUG!
Astro moves the files over just fine...and they are there..and accessible... until you reset the phone. Then...BAM, gone. It is disturbing to think that it may delete pictures in regular directories....BUG BUG BUG. hopefully the ICS update will address this.

That's exactly what I am talking about. They didn't disappear on the spot when I moved them. Everything seemed fine. Just give es a try and thrnreboot to see if it's the app or if it's the phone deleting your media.
Sent from my LT28at

iJudgeMAN said:
Quick question, which file manager are you guys using to move these files? There was some update to Astro a while back that made my files get deleted when I moved them, anywhere regardless of the folder name on my Aria. Same thing still occurred on my Ion when I got it. Ever since I switched to ES File Explorer, I have not encountered this issue of deletion. Astro deleted not only pictures when I moved them, but ring tones, pdf, etc.
Sent from my LT28at
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My experiment with this was done via a PC. these files were moved from my PC, via the USB cable, on a freshly formatted medium. I'm not sure when the deletion of these files occured, but it was within the first hour or so. the phone was NOT restarted, nor did anything FC.
I will be running more tests on this issue over the weekend to see if I can find some sort of pattern to this madness. I will be using various Galleries and File Managers, as well as my PC to perform these tests. I'll also be checking this time around to see if videos are effected at all. I will report back my findings on Monday...
Sidenote: The files that the phone deleted are very easily recoverable. the program I used (which I legally own) is called Easy Recovery Professional. Took about an hour to recover the 300+ deleted pictures.

Pics in "Download" folder magically disappear?

Only happens on my wife's phone and not mine. She can download the pics from an email or text and after about 24 hours "poof" She just sees a black template for each one. Can't bring them up on PC and or QuikPic- You can see the templates in the Download Folder but no where else nor can you do anything with them other than delete. She is stock and its done this out of the box-
Thanks in advance for any help!

Anyone... thanks = )

Do the file sizes change?

Murasaki no Kaze said:
Do the file sizes change?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jut looked at her phone to verify and now the thumbnails are gone... I saved some more photos and will verify for you-
Also path is the typical... /storage/sdcard0/Download/NAME OF FILE.JPG
Thanks!

If she's plugging it into a mac (or any computer) it's probably set to auto copy then remove from phone.
Also check any apps that "sync" or auto-upload pics.

Just verified, she does not hook it up to any PC even the one at work... only charges off the wall.
Thanks

See if she's using any apps with her pics. Other than that just check to see if the file size is changing. It mostly sounds like something is moving/deleting the pics.

She was completely stock before last night putting the Quikpic on there to see if that program could still see them. Other than stock gallery and stock settings- I haven't found any setting within Gmail or Messaging or within Gallery or Settings that does anything weird to pictures unless I have missed something.
Thanks again for all of your help so far...

It won't be the gallery, you'd look to that for thumbnail problems.
Check if she uploads to facebook/instagram/etc.
If she does, HOW is she uploading? Web? App?

No uploading... she just keeps them in her Download Folder and eventually they turn into a black thumbnail template.
Whats funny is the ones that she moves to a folder (With a Category Name) no issue and they never dissapear... Only that folder...
I have removed everything and cleared up the directory and let the stock android file structure- re-create everything. its very weird...

Saving to a sdcard or internal?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Is the by chance a file in the directory called .nomedia I believe is what it's called? I get weird issues with pictures downloaded from time to time .I had the nomedia file deleted that and haven't had any issues with images since
Making the iPhone jealous one user at a time.

blaker13 said:
Saving to a sdcard or internal?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
internal. Default download directory.
mkfryan said:
Is the by chance a file in the directory called .nomedia I believe is what it's called? I get weird issues with pictures downloaded from time to time .I had the nomedia file deleted that and haven't had any issues with images since
Making the iPhone jealous one user at a time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.nomedia doesn't directly affect files. It's used to tell galleries/music players/etc not to bother reading the current folder. It will make stuff not appear in apps, but it doesn't touch files. There's no reason for that to be in a stock download folder, but never hurts to check.
Love the signature btw

Is she going into her "downloads" app in her app drawer and clearing that list out? I know I accidentally do that from time to time.
Try using File Manager to move them to external storage. Does she maybe have a cleaning app that clears out her downloads?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Alright so a little more info-
When she downloaded Quikpic to try and view the thumbnails the program actually removed them. So thats why the templates were deleted this time.
However, one thing is certain- The download is set to internal storage and the category folders are on the Micro SD.
So if she moves them to a category on the Micro SD they are fine and never turn into a black template/thumbnail. If she keeps them in the Download Folder however, they eventually turn to a black thumbnail ans stay there until maually deleted... its like the picture disapears and the thumbnail looses contact with the original file.
-Thanks again for everyones help so far... :good:

Will check this tonight... .nomedia thing-

Be sure to ask what thenewguy1 asked.
If all else fails, she can just install a download manager and have it intercept and save the pictures to a different folder.
Also, does this ONLY happen to pics? No other file types are affected?

Alright so some wild updates... may be onto something (She doesn't clear downloads and she doesn't have the no image file)
However... it happened again yesterday- Here is the scenario on how it occurs.
She has an email with a image in Gmail-
Saves the picture-
File is saved in Download Folder and visible within Gallery Download Folder-
She then takes the email within Gmail and moves it to a folder-
Several minutes later this happens to the image-
Blacked out thumbnail and the size and data or there but no image-
Unable to see it at all or explore for it-
It gets better, if she moves it back to the Inbox or where it was saved orig the image will reappear-
So in theory its like it saves the shortcut to the image and when the image is moved the shortcut defaults to blank template.
What causes this??? LOL Thanks = )

So she's saving from the gmail app? Or from gmail web?
She clicks on pic -> menu -> save ?
Is that how she's saving them?
In trying to simulate your problem, somehow my thumbnail cache got screwed lol, cleared through quickpic and it seems to be working fine, haven't seen it black out yet... for me it doesn't give me the save option, it shows me the picture, and if I check the folder or gallery, it's already been saved to disk.
Now gmails tripping lol
Try clearing data and see if this problem persists.

senfinger said:
Alright so some wild updates... may be onto something (She doesn't clear downloads and she doesn't have the no image file)
However... it happened again yesterday- Here is the scenario on how it occurs.
She has an email with a image in Gmail-
Saves the picture-
File is saved in Download Folder and visible within Gallery Download Folder-
She then takes the email within Gmail and moves it to a folder-
Several minutes later this happens to the image-
Blacked out thumbnail and the size and data or there but no image-
Unable to see it at all or explore for it-
It gets better, if she moves it back to the Inbox or where it was saved orig the image will reappear-
So in theory its like it saves the shortcut to the image and when the image is moved the shortcut defaults to blank template.
What causes this??? LOL Thanks = )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is she saving it? I am also trying to replicate the issue. I am opening the attachment, hitting menu and save. I have moved the email but the image is still working fine. If she uses file manager to move them to another folder does it also corrupt the file? Is she somehow saving a link or shortcut? I am about lost
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Help find a picture.

Hey guys. I need a little help. I lost a picture on my phone as it got corupt. I did use the picture as a background on the messages app and it still shows when I text. Does anybody know where this picture is stored so as I can get it and save it. I would love to get it for my new S5 before I do a restore on my S3. Is there any program that would scan my S3 for pictures.
Thanks .
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Anybody got any ideas? Please.

Satstalker said:
Anybody got any ideas? Please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it isn't showing up in the gallery, you'll need to know the name of it to find it. I would start with going to the My Files app and manually looking through the camera and downloads folders. The location will depend on how you put the picture on the phone originally. Did you take the picture with the camera on the phone? Did you download it from a website? Did it come from an app? Need to know that first.

jack man said:
If it isn't showing up in the gallery, you'll need to know the name of it to find it. I would start with going to the My Files app and manually looking through the camera and downloads folders. The location will depend on how you put the picture on the phone originally. Did you take the picture with the camera on the phone? Did you download it from a website? Did it come from an app? Need to know that first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Thanks for the reply jack man.
I don't know the name of the picture. When you add the picture as a background in messages you have to crop it and then it saves it and it shows up in the picture selection for back grounds in messages. Its that location that i am looking for.
On a good note i did use titanium backup and did a restore data for messages and got the picture back as a back ground option. So i can use it again. But i would still like to know where that picture is stored on the phone.
Thanks for your help.

Satstalker said:
Hey Thanks for the reply jack man.
I don't know the name of the picture. When you add the picture as a background in messages you have to crop it and then it saves it and it shows up in the picture selection for back grounds in messages. Its that location that i am looking for.
On a good note i did use titanium backup and did a restore data for messages and got the picture back as a back ground option. So i can use it again. But i would still like to know where that picture is stored on the phone.
Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That still doesn't say how the picture got on the phone in the first place. When you go to the setting to change the background in messaging, it either let's you take a picture or view the gallery to select a picture. Is this one you downloaded? or took with you camera? If it gave you the option to crop it, it was probably in your gallery.
Try opening the My Files app. then click All Files. Then Device Storage. It may be in one of these folders - DCIM (if you took the picture with your camera), Download (if you downloaded it from the web or email), or Pictures (if you moved it directly to your phone from a computer).
It could also be on your external SD card if you have one installed. To check it, just back up to where you chose Device storage, then just choose SD memory card and look in the files there. If it's not in any of these locations, I have no idea. Good luck!
Also, if you downloaded the picture from an app (like Zedge), it may be in another folder that the app itself created for storage.

jack man said:
That still doesn't say how the picture got on the phone in the first place. When you go to the setting to change the background in messaging, it either let's you take a picture or view the gallery to select a picture. Is this one you downloaded? or took with you camera? If it gave you the option to crop it, it was probably in your gallery.
Try opening the My Files app. then click All Files. Then Device Storage. It may be in one of these folders - DCIM (if you took the picture with your camera), Download (if you downloaded it from the web or email), or Pictures (if you moved it directly to your phone from a computer).
It could also be on your external SD card if you have one installed. To check it, just back up to where you chose Device storage, then just choose SD memory card and look in the files there. If it's not in any of these locations, I have no idea. Good luck!
Also, if you downloaded the picture from an app (like Zedge), it may be in another folder that the app itself created for storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it used to be in my gallery but it got corrupt and i cant view it any more. It shows up as a blank JPEG now and yes It was taken with the phone. However the picture can still be seen in messages. I would like to recover that picture in messages as it is the only picture remaining.

Satstalker said:
Yes it used to be in my gallery but it got corrupt and i cant view it any more. It shows up as a blank JPEG now and yes It was taken with the phone. However the picture can still be seen in messages. I would like to recover that picture in messages as it is the only picture remaining.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had that happen before. I think I fixed it by connecting to a computer and copy in it over then renaming it. Not sure if that was how... it's been a while. But it was something with renaming the file.
Hope it helps.

Open dcim and check the .thumbnail folder. Might still be in there.