[TIP] Hide unwanted images / music in Gallery / media player - Desire General

Hi folks,
Been trying for a while to figure out a way to exclude images from my Gallery3D app (the one taken from the Nexus One) as well as certain audio files from my media player. Things like application images, battery icons etc as well as audio from SatNav were being picked up by apps that I really didn't want to have 'seeing' them.
Anyway, the way to exclude a folder is to insert a .nomedia file. You can create this using any text editor on your PC. Open a new file and save it as '.nomedia' (making sure to save it as 'All files' rather than '.txt' if using Notepad). Then copy this file to your phone into the various folders you want excluding.
Et voila! You may need to restart your phone.
Sounds like you can also use a terminal application, although I've not tested this:
cd /sdcard/(dir you want to exclude)
touch .nomedia
I saw a similar thread relating to audio, I just thought it's worth mentioning it works for Gallery too - everytime I searched this forum I couldn't find anything.
Original info: http://androinica.com/2009/08/28
Hope this helps.
rich

Instead of txt file you can also create (empty)folder called .nomedia

Good knowledge Benko! Thanks.

Nice tip. Going to use it now.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Nice tip! Thanks!
I can now keep my "Private" videos on my phone

Related

SOLVED! make the HTC Music Player (TF3D music tab) library IGNORE specific folders?

Anybody know how to make the HTC music player (think it's called AudioManager) on the TF3D music tab completely IGNORE specific folders when its creating the library?
I have a folder into which I save recorded phone calls (yes, its legal here in Minnesota, I checked). But if I want to have the music player play ALL songs on random, I'll be driving along listening to music and all of a sudden the next song is a friggin phone call I saved. Kinda lame.
Anybody know how to fix this? I know there is a registry key to make the HTC Album ignore specific folders, so I tried copying that key into the Audio Manager area of the registry, but it didn't work (of course).
Greatly appreciate any help!
I save my ringtones on my SD card so that they're easier to recover after a hard reset or a new ROM flash. To prevent the music player from picking them up, I save them into a zip file. In your case, you'll have to manually move the file into the zip every time you finish recording a call. If that's sounds ok to you, then you can give this a shot.
Yeah, that'd be alot of work for me right now. I'm going through some crap which requires me to save at least a couple calls a day, so having to constantly re-zip stuff would get pretty cumbersome.
Actually though, I might try that. I think the player only refreshes the library when run for the first time, after which you have to delete the .vol file in the Application Data -> HTC -> AudioManager folder. So if that's true, I could zip what I currently have, force the library to refresh, and then unzip and leave them alone.
I'll see if that works, and the player doesn't automatically refresh the library and find those files again.
Thanks for the suggestion...
SOLVED!!!
Sweet!
While using Resco Explorer to try your suggestion, I stumbled upon the solution! I was looking to see if I could zip them directly with Rescoe, which you can't do, when I had another idea.
Using Rescoe, all I had to do was make the FOLDER with the audio files I did NOT want included in the library a HIDDEN FOLDER. Then went to the music tab in TF3D and bam! Those files were no longer in the library!
Sweet!!!
So thanks for your suggestion, it was that alone which made me figure out this unbelievably easy way to pull this off!
Oh, and sure enough, the call recorder still works and has no problem storing the recorded phone calls in the hidden folder. I'm using ACR - Automatic Call Recorder, in case anyone is wondering. It's FREE, and works great.
Thanks!
The Finish In Touch
I Know, double posting, but it's the real solution and i've been searching all over the forum, so to help others i've answered this thread as well.
Here's what i did and found:
EDIT REGISTRY
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\AudioManager_Eng\C onfig]
"device_scan_path_type_0"=dword:00000001
"device_scan_path_path_0"="\My Documents"
"device_scan_path_path"="\My Documents"
"music_player_time_mode"=dword:00000000
"music_player_mute"=dword:00000000
"music_player_shuffe"=dword:00000000
"music_player_loop"=dword:00000000
"music_player_index"=dword:00000000
"ring_tone_path"="\My Documents\\My Ringtones\"
"uid"=dword:000113E5
"drag_mute_timer"=dword:00000000
"Resume_play_delay_time"=dword:000007D0
"music_player_volumn"=dword:00000064
"Request_Memory"=dword:00300000
"Enable_ForcePrevious"=dword:00000001
"enter_suspend"=dword:00000001
"disable_mute_hotkey"=dword:00000001
ADD new STRING
"sd_exclude_path_path_0"="\My Ringtones"
ADD new DWORD
"sd_exclude_path_type_0"=dword:00000000
Each folder you want to exclude needs a STRING and a DWORD
The number in above example (_0) is the number of the "folder set" if there's already a number just add 1.
The DWORD 1 means device 0 for storage card
For example if i'll add another one:
folder on device "\My Documents\Recordings"
ADD new STRING
"sd_exclude_path_path_1"="\My Documents\Recordings"
ADD new DWORD
"sd_exclude_path_type_1"=dword:00000001
Restart device (soft reset), no need to hide any folders
Thanks for this
Hi Softappz,
Thanks for this solution just tried it on my HD2 and it's banished those pesky ringtones from the player
Doesn't work for me when I enter
"sd_exclude_path_path_0"="\Program Files"
"sd_exclude_path_type_0"=dword:00000000
It finds some ring tones in the sub-folders. Do I have to specify every single sub-folder?
This will serve me a lot! thanks
Didn't work for me. So I used the solution found here.
Quick note: Total Commander did not make sub-directories hidden as well. I had to mount my sd on my pc and manually set any folder I wanted as hidden. It all works flawlessly now
I still can't get the reg entries to work. I've looked into hiding folders and this doesn't work either.
The only way I can find to do this is to hide the actual audio files. This can be done in total-commander - but as akpidis found out if you want to hide sub-folders and files then you will need to do this from a PC. You can select multiple audio files from total commander (you can even do a search for all .mp3 files in sub-folders) and then set them as hidden, which may be better than hiding all files and folders from PC.
Hope this helps someone. (I'm using TouchFlo2.1)

I need help selecting files to play in music player

I'm using DC 3.2.3, and using the music player with the blue speaker icon, not the default player.
when i open the player it seems to automatically look for music files to add; which is nice.
unfortunately, it selected 104 "music" files created by the free "Let's Golf"game I installed.
I can't find any way to remove these files from the playlist without actually deleting the files from the device.
I also can't find any way to select groups of music files and add just them to the playlist. I can play this list, but if I have a "rock" playlist and a "house" playlist, I'd like to play both of them, but not the "golf" files.
does anyone have any suggestions on how to facilitate this?
including using a different music player if possible.
Thanks.
try this...
use your file explorer to locate the folder containing the sounds. first, backup the folder, in case this doesn't work. now, rename the folder with a period in front of the name. this tells linux that it's a hidden folder. open up your music app. if it reloads the library, it shouldn't see the renamed folder. if you still see it, it's probably because the list is being read from a cache. long press on the 'album' (folder) and select 'delete'. just delete it. all you're really doing is removing from the cache anyway. you should find that you still have the folder (albeit with a period in front of it) whereever it was, but now it is no longer in your list. confirm your game can see it even though it's hidden. presto, done.
i just tried it. worked fine. like i said, backup the folder somewhere in case it doesn't work. just copy/rename/move it back if it fails.
timothydonohue said:
try this...
use your file explorer to locate the folder containing the sounds. first, backup the folder, in case this doesn't work. now, rename the folder with a period in front of the name. this tells linux that it's a hidden folder. open up your music app. if it reloads the library, it shouldn't see the renamed folder. if you still see it, it's probably because the list is being read from a cache. long press on the 'album' (folder) and select 'delete'. just delete it. all you're really doing is removing from the cache anyway. you should find that you still have the folder (albeit with a period in front of it) whereever it was, but now it is no longer in your list. confirm your game can see it even though it's hidden. presto, done.
i just tried it. worked fine. like i said, backup the folder somewhere in case it doesn't work. just copy/rename/move it back if it fails.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
letsgolf doesn't work after that. HTC music is the best music player on Android, sadly it doesn't have a remove from library option.
I too would love to know how to fix this. I downloaded the game and htc music player finds all the audio files. Now on the other hand it doesnt find any of the audio files for doom.
doom probably uses a hidden folder, lol
Try creating playlists, also go to settings, there should be an option of "Directories" over there.
---------- Post added at 07:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:44 PM ----------
Try creating playlists, also go to settings, there should be an option of "Directories" over there.
Else, send a message/mail to the developer of that app.
Some media players respect a .nomedia extention after the folder name. For instance MX player does. you could try that. Make sure you still have your backups of course.
You can create a new file in the directory that has the music you want to hide. Call it. .nomedia and then reboot your device. When the program scans for media it should bypass that folder
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
nrvlljr said:
Some media players respect a .nomedia extention after the folder name. For instance MX player does. you could try that. Make sure you still have your backups of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best option is to search the entire directory for ".nomedia" string.

Excluding Folders from Gallery

I've tried the .nomedia method but that doesn't seem to work in ICS. Does anyone know how to prevent a folder from being shown in the Gallery app?
Thanks.
I'd be interested in a solution to this too, don't really want all my album art and images from games etc cluttering the gallery.
Either a method to exclude certain folders or one to only include certain ones would do.
Tried .nomedia as well for my icons folder... doesn't seem to work.
This is driving me nuts. I tried the .nomedia thing too before I found this post. This is such an oversight for the gallery app.. it's pulling all of the downloaded icons/images from my mail app..
i was having issues with gallery not displaying thumbs & even wouldn't open some files. i ended up looking for an alternative and found this:
QuickPic
it is working well and you can specify folders to include/exclude.
Thanks - just downloaded this as well. Should work until someone can find a fix to the .nomedia thing..
Does anyone know what the Scrapbook Photos folder is? I think it may have come from picasa or G+.. but mine is empty and cannot be deleted in the regular gallery.
after putting the .nomedia, try rebooting, or downloading "sdrescan" from the market (free). the android media scanner indexes your files, but its often slow and doesn't update unless the camera puts something there. chances are it just hadn't known there was a .nomedia sucks, they'll probably have a fix eventually
cancerouspete said:
after putting the .nomedia, try rebooting, or downloading "sdrescan" from the market (free). the android media scanner indexes your files, but its often slow and doesn't update unless the camera puts something there. chances are it just hadn't known there was a .nomedia sucks, they'll probably have a fix eventually
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately it seems that there are certain folders where .nomedia will never work. So far I've found this with the downloads folder. No amount of rescanning or rebooting will stop images in the downloads folder appearing in the gallery.
I found that creating a subfolder with a dot in front of it (ie, .stuff) inside the download folder, moving the images into this folder, then rescanning will work.
you guys are honestly just unlucky. .nomedia works perfect for me. i even have a .nomedia file in my music folder and it works.
neok44 said:
you guys are honestly just unlucky. .nomedia works perfect for me. i even have a .nomedia file in my music folder and it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which application did you use ?
Cheers~
The .nomedia method works for me too in the Gallery app.
no media does not work for me and its extremely frustrating...bump.
sluflyer06 said:
no media does not work for me and its extremely frustrating...bump.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After trying many solutions , finally this one is working for me : https://market.android.com/details?id=com.theronrogers.vaultyfree&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS50aGVyb25yb2dlcnMudmF1bHR5ZnJlZSJd
Good luck !
Cheers~
tossero said:
After trying many solutions , finally this one is working for me : https://market.android.com/details?id=com.theronrogers.vaultyfree&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS50aGVyb25yb2dlcnMudmF1bHR5ZnJlZSJd
Good luck !
Cheers~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looked to me like Vaulty physically moves the selected files to a folder and renames them so they're 'protected' because when i tried it out (it did work) but the location where the files were was not empty in root explorer.
voxigenboy said:
i was having issues with gallery not displaying thumbs & even wouldn't open some files. i ended up looking for an alternative and found this:
QuickPic
it is working well and you can specify folders to include/exclude.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been using this for a bit now. Seems to work really well.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
I second QuickPic. I used to use it on my HTC Magic because it was too slow for the 3D galley and I've used it ever since. Very efficient, fast, and allows you to zoom in to 100%.
Why don't you guys just put a dot in front of whatever filer its in? So like if the folder was "Pix" then make it ".Pix"....
nomedia is working for me too
It seems that Gallery mostly respects hidden (.foldername) folders and the .nomedia flag, but some process is alerting the Gallery to new folders and files as they are created, and that process does NOT respect hidden folders or .nomedia.
If you believe your problem is solved with the nomedia app, I suggest you move a photo into your hidden and/or .nomedia-ed folder and see if Gallery does not show it afterwards.
The only workaround that I have found is to Force Stop the system app called "Media Storage", clear it's cache and reboot. When media storage runs again at startup you'll find .nomedia and hidden folders are treated correctly (i.e. ignored) again. Beware though, my ringtone and notification tones were reset and I suspect it was a side-effect of doing this.

Block certain images from Gallery?

Is there a way to block certain folders from showing their images in the Gallery app? I love mClock and the skins for it have image files. So whenever I open the gallery app it shows all the images for mClock and just clutters up the gallery. Is there a way to block this?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
You can block a directory by putting a file called ".nomedia" in (without quotes obviously). May have to clear the gallery cache and have it rebuild its image file.
I tried it and no success
I went into the parent directory /sdcard/mClock/ and tried to make a filed named ".nomedia" minus the quotes and it said it cannot make a file named that...
So I already had the "Gallery Blocker" app from the market and it essentially does what you suggested. However even after "blocking" a directory the images in that same directory still show up. Even after clearing gallery data...
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
The .nomedia file should work fine. But you have to reboot after the file has been placed. I know that it is annoying but I had to learn that as well. Try it?
Try the app Loky. That's what I use. You can hide contacts, photos, messages, etc... lol
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Hi,
I might be missing something here but the easiest solution would be to put a "." (without the "") before the folder name. This would effectively hide the folder (can still be seen and accessed via astro or es file explorer provided you allow hidden files/folders to be visible) thus preventing the gallery app or any other image programme from accessing your images.
Hope that helps!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Andrewgrace said:
Hi,
I might be missing something here but the easiest solution would be to put a "." (without the "") before the folder name. This would effectively hide the folder (can still be seen and accessed via astro or es file explorer provided you allow hidden files/folders to be visible) thus preventing the gallery app or any other image programme from accessing your images.
Hope that helps!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't help when you can't change the folder name due to it being required by the program that created it.
You can try an app called Vaulty Stocks. I think its on sale right now so its cheap. It will hide images from your gallery. The app will act as an app for the stock exchange. When it tells you to enter the company name you wanna look up(really your password), it will take you to the hidden photos. If you enter something other than the password, it will take you to the Google stocks browser page. Its a pretty good app
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Quickpic (a vastly better free gallery app than stock) will do the no media thing for you, just long press and select hide folder
blazing through on my Nexus Prime via XDA app
I had the same problem with Beautiful Widgets creating a folder in my gallery with a lot of cache images but I easily solved it by going into the /sdcard/data/beautifulwidgets/cache folder and deleting everything. I don't know it that helps in your case but I hope so.
Speaking of hiding folders and pictures in the gallery...I was wondering if anyone knew how to permanently get rid of the picasa images. I'm running GummyNex 0.7.6 and I love it but I'm really picky about having only things I want/need on my phone. When I go to the gallery I always have a "Scapbook Photos" and "Profile Photos" folder with a little picasa logo on it. With that said, I've been playing around with things in attempt to finally get rid of them and they ALWAYS come back. I searched the entire phone with Root Explorer for any file with "picasa" in the name and all the files come from the google plus folders (in /data/data/ and /data/user/0/ and /sdcard/Android/data/). After deleting all the files and folders and still no luck, I deleted the entire app. Then the files started generating in the gallery folders (in the directories mentioned above). So, with my limited knowledge of coding and such, I then started trying to edit the .xml files that had anything with "picasa" in them and still no luck. The closest I can come is to delete all the picasa files and go to the gallery and hit the refresh button which then causes a force close, then go back into gallery and the folders are finally gone....but then if I hit the refresh button or take a picture.....they're back!!! arrrrgggghhh!!! It defeated me and I can't stand it! But if anyone knows how to change this, I'd be forever grateful!!!
OP, did you ever figure it out? I have tried both putting a '.' in front of the folder name ie: .dontlookinhere as well as putting a .nomedia file in the folder. I've rebooted and cleared cache yet the folder remains.
---------- Post added at 09:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 PM ----------
To add, quickpic won't show the folder but the stock gallery will

Can Anyone Confirm?

I've been working with hiding images with .nomedia files for years, but at this point, I feel I have tried everything and I can't find a solution to my problem.
I have a bunch of epubs that are displaying coverart showing up in the Samsung default gallery app. I've tried adding the .nomedia files to the offending folders and wiping data for both gallery and media storage, but they continue to return. I've found on some tablet forums that they had had significant trouble, and the only way it would work would to be to make a new folder, put the .nomedia file in first, and then put the items into that folder. This also had no result.
I know some apps will selectively choose to ignore the .nomedia files. Is this default gallery app one of them? This is my first time using a Samsung phone with Touchwiz. I'm not sure what to do at this point, but I installed Quickpic, and they aren't showing up there. Rather not have to pass on the default app.
Thoughts?

Categories

Resources