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Hi guys,
I have just been playing around with the idea of hosting a webserver on my machine that my phone could connect to to download apk files after performing a wipe.
Iv been thinking about this as everytime i wipe my phone i connect back to the market and download appmanager to install apps direct from sd. So instead of having to do that im looking at having them all in a directory on my PC/Flashdrive (as this will be portable) using XAMPP.
Before any gets any wrong ideas this is not intended for any illegal doings. Its just to make my life easier. I thought i would share what i have started to see if this will help out anyone else.
So far i have it working (very rough). But i dont know any coding so this is a bit of a hack job.
I am using XAMPP as stated aswell as a PHP script that will automaticly populate the page will all files within a particular folder.
I have attached the index file i am using.
if you wish to use this please make sure you do a few things.
Install XAMPP
From where you installed XAMPP. In the HTDOCS folder create a "APK" Folder
Place the index.php in the HTDOCS folder
Edit the index.php file to change the path of the APK folder (currently set to D:\\Dream\\xampp\\htdocs\\APK) keep the double slashes "\\"
Start the Apache webserver from the XAMPP control panel
Now connect to Localhost, any files you place in that folder should now appear
Anyone wishing to use this, edit this, whatever you feel like. Go ahead
If you would like to help and change the look and feel of the page it would be greatly appreciated. If you do post the files back up here for all to use
Hope you guys like
Can I ask why you wouldn't just backup your apps to your sdcard (use something like MyBackup) and be done with it?
You can always copy them from your sdcard to your flash drive (and back from flash drive to sdcard temporarily if you need to re-install).
I'm all for experimenting, learning and even playing around a lot. But this seems like overkill. First off, your apps will surely get outdated quickly, and you'll end up upgrading lots of apps. You'll end up spending an enormous amount of time managing your own local library.
Personally, I think you're wasting your time unless your trying to learn how to do something in the process. Maybe you are, and in that case, go for it. Otherwise, enjoy your phone and let the Market do the management for you.
Or you can just have all your .apk's in a folder and use adb to install all of em at once. But like the above post you might have to get updates for alot of em.
So yes, Titanium Backup and the deletion of google talk are at it again. This time I actually knew I shouldn't delete then brain farted and did it anyway. So here lies my marketless and FC gapps everytime I pull the market app up.
For the record I searched as best as possible for a solution and the closest I got was a link for gtalk and the Evo 4G, and needless to say it still doesn't work, the market and the force close gapps.service still happens after re install
A solution without a flash and re-root is preferred, please educate the new guy! Thanks for the record I know I'm a jack wagon lol.
Search these forums (or Google) for Fascinate System Dump. It will have whatever files you deleted.
So dump files obtained. Is this is simple drag and drop to the OS or do I need a program on the computer to be able to interface with the filesystem on the Fascinate?
Bare with me guys, while I bring myself up to speed on tearing through the Andriod OS, hacking windows is one thing - tearing apart my phone for the first time - thats a whole nother ball game for me.
DeezNotes said:
Search these forums (or Google) for Fascinate System Dump. It will have whatever files you deleted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I did that, finally got the files onto my phone and reinstalled all the google.apks including ones that were already existing on the phone.
To no avail I still get the gapps Force close and I'm still unable to download from market after restoring Google Talk Service.
Any help or a simple suggestion would be appreciated - been trying this all day with no success.
I'm not sure if you "installed" the apps or if you placed them back in their proper folder(s), but my guess is that any app you had pre-installed which you deleted was previously in the /system/app folder. The dump has all the files in this folder. You don't need to re-install these files, you need to just copy them back to the /system/app folder.
When you download and install an app, it will install to /data/app. If you "installed" the files rather than copying them back to /system/app, that may be the problem.
On a side-note, this is why I like to move files from one folder to another rather than use Titanium Backup to delete apps/files.
Don't forget to reboot your phone after you copy the files back to /system/app.
Lastly, I'm not responsible for what you break.
DeezNotes said:
I'm not sure if you "installed" the apps or if you placed them back in their proper folder(s), but my guess is that any app you had pre-installed which you deleted was previously in the /system/app folder. The dump has all the files in this folder. You don't need to re-install these files, you need to just copy them back to the /system/app folder.
When you download and install an app, it will install to /data/app. If you "installed" the files rather than copying them back to /system/app, that may be the problem.
On a side-note, this is why I like to move files from one folder to another rather than use Titanium Backup to delete apps/files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Roger that side note - that will be my new policy when managing files.
As far as the clarification - I have been indeed installing the apps instead of moving them to the appropriate location - I guess the difference in installation location never occurred to me. Thank you in advance for the heads up and I'll report my success or failure, hopefully success after i get out of work this evening.
Don't worry if I brick I won't hold you accountable - after all I'm the one who deleted Google apps from the Andriod phone. LOL, In hindsight it was a terrible Idea.
hi, i deleted a file off my phone, and i would appreciate if someone can send me a copy,
the file is called packages.list in /data/system/
you can get it off the phone using,
adb pull /data/system/packages.list
it will be saved to your sdk tools folder unless you specify otherwise,
my email is ass.lovaratgmaildotcom
thanks
hmmm, i dont think so. Two reasons:
1) your gmail address is ass.lovar - yes im being srs lol
2) you don't need my list of installed apps
But what i will do is this, do a fresh flash of a rom and give you that..
that file doesn't get reinstalled with a fresh flash, but maybe it gets wiped, which i doubt it,
and thanks
Here ya go
I pulled it off of a fresh flash of CM6 with the Gapps installed as well.
But seeing as it is a list specific to your device I would recommend loading a recent nandroid if it messes anything up.
If I knew 'exactly' what the list did I'd be more help, but unfortunately I don't.
thanks a lot, i just cleared the file and put it on the phone, it doesn't look very important, but just in case,
[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)
Hey guys.
I'm a bit intrigued. There's an unknown folder in the root of my phone's internal memory. I delete it every few weeks when I check the storage and sweep all the junk I might find in there.
Here's the folder structure.
GT-I9505\Internal storage\.sp\.94\.743\.cache\LazyList.
Inside that last folder (LazyList), there's a 23 KB file named 663014360. It has no extension. Opening it with Notepad / WordPad reveals a lot of unreadable characters (of course...).
I am having a hard time tracing it back to any app (if it's an app that's creating it, or the ROM itsellf ).
Does anyone here know what this .sp sh*t is all about...?
For what it's worth, I am running the latest SlimKat ROM.
Formhault said:
Hey guys.
I'm a bit intrigued. There's an unknown folder in the root of my phone's internal memory. I delete it every few weeks when I check the storage and sweep all the junk I might find in there.
Here's the folder structure.
GT-I9505\Internal storage\.sp\.94\.743\.cache\LazyList.
Inside that last folder (LazyList), there's a 23 KB file named 663014360. It has no extension. Opening it with Notepad / WordPad reveals a lot of unreadable characters (of course...).
I am having a hard time tracing it back to any app (if it's an app that's creating it, or the ROM itsellf ).
Does anyone here know what this .sp sh*t is all about...?
For what it's worth, I am running the latest SlimKat ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try this app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kokanes.fileextensiondirectory
Sent from my GT-I9500
Formhault said:
Hey guys.
I'm a bit intrigued. There's an unknown folder in the root of my phone's internal memory. I delete it every few weeks when I check the storage and sweep all the junk I might find in there.
Here's the folder structure.
GT-I9505\Internal storage\.sp\.94\.743\.cache\LazyList.
Inside that last folder (LazyList), there's a 23 KB file named 663014360. It has no extension. Opening it with Notepad / WordPad reveals a lot of unreadable characters (of course...).
I am having a hard time tracing it back to any app (if it's an app that's creating it, or the ROM itsellf ).
Does anyone here know what this .sp sh*t is all about...?
For what it's worth, I am running the latest SlimKat ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is very good that although you are deleting the launcher's (or some other app) cache, it restores it.
I can understand that you're mad about it and you would like that your launcher (or app) shall not create any cache and consequently would work slower.
As well I appreciate your huge work with tracing it (5th link in google search provides the answer what is it).
If you really care what is, your work would be pretty simple. Factory reset your phone, start each built in ROM app and check the folder after. Then, install your apps one by one, starting each of it and each time after closure checking the folder. Easy.
anu.cool said:
try this app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kokanes.fileextensiondirectory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but that app is of no use to me since the file in question has no extension.
spamtrash said:
It is very good that although you are deleting the launcher's (or some other app) cache, it restores it.
I can understand that you're mad about it and you would like that your launcher (or app) shall not create any cache and consequently would work slower.
As well I appreciate your huge work with tracing it (5th link in google search provides the answer what is it).
If you really care what is, your work would be pretty simple. Factory reset your phone, start each built in ROM app and check the folder after. Then, install your apps one by one, starting each of it and each time after closure checking the folder. Easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly did you use as a search term on Google?
I know most apps create folders that are legible (com.android.thisgameproducer). Buth with this given specific folder's structure, I don't know what it could be.
For what it's worth, I have been trying to find an answer to this for some months. But only now I made a topic about it. I did my research, which turned out nothing... :/
Formhault said:
. I did my research, which turned out nothing... :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you:
wiped your phone, and then used titanium backup for freezing each app, restoring it, and verifying which one creates it? did you repeated the same for each installed by you app? Well, if this folder/file is NOT created by one application (or installed, or embedded into the ROM), then only one explanation is that your phone is used by E.T at night while he "phone home" and this is his encrypted message.:cyclops:
about extension/filetype:does the file have header?
spamtrash said:
Have you:
wiped your phone, and then used titanium backup for freezing each app, restoring it, and verifying which one creates it? did you repeated the same for each installed by you app? Well, if this folder/file is NOT created by one application (or installed, or embedded into the ROM), then only one explanation is that your phone is used by E.T at night while he "phone home" and this is his encrypted message.:cyclops:
about extension/filetype:does the file have header?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know where that .sp folder comes from? Perhaps you were able to find something on Google that I didn't all this time...
I don't know what that header is / should be...
I know I could wipe all and start over again and check each app... But that's too time consuming... Hence I am asking here.
Formhault said:
You know where that .sp folder comes from? Perhaps you were able to find something on Google that I didn't all this time...
I don't know what that header is / should be...
I know I could wipe all and start over again and check each app... But that's too time consuming... Hence I am asking here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. No idea which particular app makes the cache file, but it is clear that it is cach for one app you have installed, or one you have embedded in ROM.
2. Header is the two first bytes of file in the notepad viewer: for example, PK is characteristic for zip files and by changing the extension you could see what's inside.
3. No one who does not have your ROM AND your specific set of apps installed would be able to provide the answer, therefore without doing your homework, it is unlikely that you'd have information you want.
spamtrash said:
1. No idea which particular app makes the cache file, but it is clear that it is cach for one app you have installed, or one you have embedded in ROM.
2. Header is the two first bytes of file in the notepad viewer: for example, PK is characteristic for zip files and by changing the extension you could see what's inside.
3. No one who does not have your ROM AND your specific set of apps installed would be able to provide the answer, therefore without doing your homework, it is unlikely that you'd have information you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I don't really know what homework I should do here, as the folder structure is weird (come on, just numbers? ) and the file has no obvious meaning whatsoever. I'm usually a tech guy, but when all I see is numbers, I'm really not that wise... :silly:
Since I know for a fact that I don't have any rogue apps installed, guess I should leave it be and carry on.
But anyway, just for the heck of it, I opened the file in Notepad. Here's the first line (as seen in Notepad, lol).
Code:
ÿØÿà JFIF ÿÛ „
(1#%(:3=<[email protected]\[email protected]_bghg>Mqypdx
I'm sorry, but this is way out of my league. :/
Mod Edit
Thread closed at the request of the [OP]
malybru
Forum Moderator