Hi,
I need to do a hard reset on my device and want to store all my contacts somewhere safe so I don't have to manually input them all again. The problem is I don't use outlook on my PC. Is there any way I can pull them off the Exec and store them on my PC for safe keeping?
I would normally throw them on the SIM but there appears to be no tool to add them all at once and I am not manually moving 150 contacts myself
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Sorry for the duplicate post, I didn't mean to put it in general
Does nobody know? There must be a quick way to save your contacts somewhere safe? What does everyone else do when they need to do a hard reset?
Is there a particular folder on the Exec that may contain all of my contents? I could then copy it onto my PC and replace later.
there is a way you can backup the contacts database, i cant find it tho, i dont think it was on this forum, but there was a deffinate way to backup the databases for this kind of work
soz cant give a proper solution
It was something about taking a backup of "pim.vol" from the My Documents folder, then fiddle around trying to overwrite the empty one after you've done your hard reset, but I can't find it either....
pim.vol is found the root directory of the device, copy to sd, reboot, copy back... supposedly, havent done it, but read it. you may have to show files in ROM.
simon_darley said:
pim.vol is found the root directory of the device, copy to sd, reboot, copy back... supposedly, havent done it, but read it. you may have to show files in ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I read this yesterday and tried it and it works a treat. I now keep a copy of pim.vol just incase. Good practice for those who don't know it exists
One tip - make sure you've set the 'Region' in settings back to your original one before you restore the file, otherwise it won't even let you start the contacts app! Had a moment of panic there myself last night...
What all in pim.vol Just contact or like SMS and MMS to?...
Coz I am trying to find a way to take a back up of my SMS, and I dont get any software working yet.
Sorry if this has been posted before...please be careful and don't blame me if you will brick your tab
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10605338&postcount=5
I haven't tried this method.
ok so we need to delete this "nv_data.bin.md5 and nv_data.bak.md5 "
do i need to delete that too : nv_data.bak
please let me know
This method just seem ridiculous to me. I just don't buy that you delete an important system file and pretend that all it does is sim unlock your tab. I would seriously think twice and make sure I have the /efs folder securely backed up in my PC b4 attempting to do that.
P_
p.s. nv.data.bak is a copy of nv.data.bin used by the system in case the original file gets corrupted. If you delete the .bin file there are good chances that it will be restored with the .bak one. But if you delete both ............. hmmm I am not quite sure in what kind of trouble you're putting yourself into. The .md5 files can be deleted with no problem, they will be regenerated on the next boot.
pakalrtb said:
This method just seem ridiculous to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And yet 100's of people, using caution have successfully done this.
As always, do your research, ask questions, then go forward.
I know this has been asked before but I am kind of stuck I need to access my old data.img as it became corrupt however I have tried unyaffs.exe but it crashes I want to find out what my other options are.
Thanks,
yonu
You could try this program....ext2explore
data.img is not a yaffs image, it's an ext image. You'll need a linux box to edit it reliably.
thanks ext2 worked great I thougt I was suppose to be using the other one.
dumb question I found the files I needed but I can't seem to find the proper location on the phone to put them back they can from the root data in the img files so where should i put them back?
I found it was looking in the wrong place
Edit I was wrong
Sorry to be a pain I fouond it I broke down and used droid explorer to upload the files
ok stupid question as I went to run the program I was putting the databases for and found out that when i deleted and copied the files back over in droidexplorer it really isn't deleting the files. Anyone know of a fix?
Thanks
[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)
Need some help here:
I need to delete some of the backups I made with CWM recovery. I already have them backed up onto my PC, but need to delete them to make some room. For some reason I cant.
Ive tried root explorer, es file explorer, and my PC. Im unable to change the permissions of the files, and if you look at the pics I attached youll see they have some strange permissions, but I cant change them.
I am able to move the files anywhere else in the sd card folder, rename them, but no matter what I cant delete them. And when I try from my PC it shows them disappear, but they are actually still there.
If there is a way to format the sd card folder I will, but thats not an option in the settings, or CWM. Can someone please help me out here? This is really frustrating me. Thanks
No issues here when I delete backups using ROM Toolbox.
UnknownFearNG said:
No issues here when I delete backups using ROM Toolbox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried through ROM Toolbox and still couldnt delete them.
Gam3r 4 Life said:
I tried through ROM Toolbox and still couldnt delete them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same, tried with multiple apps too.
I posted this in the other thread, but figured I would do so here in case other people needed the "fix".
Ok, so some good news and some bad news.
The good news is, I was able to put together a flashable zip that WILL DELETE the entire CWM backup directory from the sdcard. It is available here:
http://core.routed.com/CWM_Backup_Wipe.zip
You simply need to flash it via CWM. Easy peasy. I confirmed that the directory/files were all removed, AND the storage space is now available for other files (I checked df before and after).
The bad news is, before attempting to delete the directory, I first tried changing the permissions (recursively) to see if that was a better "fix" for this problem. Unfortunately, even with the directory 777 and the files 666, I still could not manually delete them through the system. Which means, whatever bug is causing this problem is much more severe than a file/directory permission thing.
In any case, until the CWM developer can figure out a way to fix this bug, at least we have a way to manually remove the backups and get our storage space back.
The script in the zip is very simple. It just does a recursive delete on /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup.
Enjoy!
phonic said:
I posted this in the other thread, but figured I would do so here in case other people needed the "fix".
Ok, so some good news and some bad news.
The good news is, I was able to put together a flashable zip that WILL DELETE the entire CWM backup directory from the sdcard. It is available here:
http://core.routed.com/CWM_Backup_Wipe.zip
You simply need to flash it via CWM. Easy peasy. I confirmed that the directory/files were all removed, AND the storage space is now available for other files (I checked df before and after).
The bad news is, before attempting to delete the directory, I first tried changing the permissions (recursively) to see if that was a better "fix" for this problem. Unfortunately, even with the directory 777 and the files 666, I still could not manually delete them through the system. Which means, whatever bug is causing this problem is much more severe than a file/directory permission thing.
In any case, until the CWM developer can figure out a way to fix this bug, at least we have a way to manually remove the backups and get our storage space back.
The script in the zip is very simple. It just does a recursive delete on /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup.
Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just saying thanks for this, I hope they figure a fix out soon. Flash worked perfectly, for some storage space back. :good: