[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)
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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)
I'd like to change the wallpaper on the root u-tube home screen, but I don't see how one can access the internal folders. I'd like to be use adb push but I don't know the path for the 'Picture', or 'Wallpaper gallery Home' that are possible locations for adding the images.
You do mean the desktop wallpaper?
I'm boring. I just changed the default wallpaper to solid white.
In /system/framework/framework-res.apk
Replace /res/drawable-mdpi/default_wallpaper.png
To answer your original question: I don't know.
Thanks for the information; however being a complete beginner that does help me get a little bit closer to what I'd like to do but there is still much that I don't really understand. How do I access that location? And should I add my new image to the subfolder with a totally differently name, or should I rename the my image to that of the default.png and replace the old image?
If I adb push to the nook my image renamed to match the old wallpaper image, will that work?
still trying to replace home image in rooted Nook ST
I have a question for someone who knows more than I about android systems. Thanks to Thank Meter 78 who pointed out the file I need to change in order to replace the home image is in
/system/framework/framework-res.apk
and that I need to replace in that apk
/res/drawable-mdpi/default_wallpaper.png
Will the following procedure work properly without screwing up my newly rooted Nook?
Using Root Explorer I copied the 'framework-res.apk', and saved it to my Nook sd card. Then copied that apk file to my windows xp computer and changed the extension to 'zip' and unzipped it. The png file thus is available for replacement by another image of identical size and name.
Will it be correct for me to rename the modified .zip extenson file containing a new default_wallpaper.png file back to its original .apk extension, copy/paste it to the sd card, insert the sd card into the Nook, and the using Root Explorer to copy the apk file and paste it back to the drawable-mdpi folder where it will replace the nook apk (being sure that I change the r/o to r/w permission for the folder, and change it back after the replacement)?
Could there be adverse effects of the replacement?
My friends all call me Renate...
Yes, that procedure works, correcting for your typo.
Unzip, replace PNG, zip, copy back to /system/framework/framework-res.apk
You don't need to set it back to r/o. It's better/easier to just reboot, preferably with ADB.
You should always backup at reasonable intervals and before major changes.
Heck, I've bricked my Nook a dozen times.
Thanks Renate!
Ok, the actual answer is:
The gallery uses the mediastore images database.
The crawler can't find anything even if it's right under its nose.
The databases are stored in /data/data/com.android.providers.media/databases
There's internal.db and another db for each unique SD card inserted.
The crawler is equally lame finding MP3's also.
That's why both Music and Gallery say "no media".
Renate NST said:
Ok, the actual answer is:
The gallery uses the mediastore images database.
The crawler can't find anything even if it's right under its nose.
The databases are stored in /data/data/com.android.providers.media/databases
There's internal.db and another db for each unique SD card inserted.
The crawler is equally lame finding MP3's also.
That's why both Music and Gallery say "no media".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I thought the original question was about u-tube (I guess "Youtube" ;-))
2) ad gallery - I was always wondering how to make it see the JPGs I had as screensavers... Would you have any ideas how to fix this (i.e. make the crawler work)? Or maybe the other way round, how often is the crawler running? Would battery be improved if it was turned off/killed?
The Media Scanner service is what scans.
Normally it is activated on insertion of an SD card.
It does not run continuously.
It ignores directories with file in it called ".nomedia"
The MediaScannerConnection can be used to request scanning of a single file.
Level 8 API (we're 7) can request scanning of multiple files.
It seems to turn its nose up at files and not put them in its database.
ajislav said:
2) ad gallery - I was always wondering how to make it see the JPGs I had as screensavers... Would you have any ideas how to fix this (i.e. make the crawler work)? Or maybe the other way round, how often is the crawler running? Would battery be improved if it was turned off/killed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you asking about having your own pics as screensavers?
I did that by connecting my NST to the PC, and creating a folder (one word name) under screensavers/ and copying the pics into that folder. It then shows up in the screensavers menu, and you can select it. The location from within the nook is /media/screensavers
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The emulator's MediaScanner works fine, the Nook's appears broken.
You can manually enter images into the MediaStore:
(This requires sqlite3 installed or pull the database and do it on your desktop.)
Code:
sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.media/databases/internal.db
insert into images (_data, mime_type) values('/media/myphoto.png', 'image/png');
.q
Call up Gallery.
You will see a blank thumbnail because one has not been generated yet.
Click on that.
Renate NST said:
The emulator's MediaScanner works fine, the Nook's appears broken.
You can manually enter images into the MediaStore:
(This requires sqlite3 installed or pull the database and do it on your desktop.)
Code:
sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.media/databases/internal.db
insert into images (_data, mime_type) values('/media/myphoto.png', 'image/png');
.q
Call up Gallery.
You will see a blank thumbnail because one has not been generated yet.
Click on that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't their any way to repair the nooks MediaScanner? like, re-install it, clear the app data, copy another one in from another android 2.1 device? I don't understand why it isn't working, or why it can't be fixed. I've tried backing up the app and re-installing it, deleting the external db's, running media scan apps. Disabling it, re-enabling it...
Okay, before I delve in, I will say I did try to find an answer to my noob question, and did see some posts about similar stuff, but really didn't find an answer and much of it was too technical for me. So . . .
I've been downloading photos to my Nexus 7 using my OTG cable, and placing them in folders like:
(sdcard) /storage/emulated/0/pictures/my images/
I noticed when viewing in my file manager app, that these folders (with files) seem to get copied/emulated in a 'root' folder:
(Root) /storage/emulated/Legacy/pictures/my images/ (It looks like the same string, but '0' is replaced by 'legacy' and of course its in the 'root' directory, not 'sdcard'.)
Three questions about this:
I wonder, are these files and folders being copied, so they're taking up more storage on my device, or are these 'legacy' folders virtual, and only look like they've been duplicated?
When I go to view my images in the Gallery app supplied with my N7, it sometimes shows both 'versions' (including the 'legacy version in the 'root' directory) of the folder(s)/files, and sometimes it only shows one version--the one I created. I can't tell, why is it doing these two different things?
And, to remove this duplicate folder from the Gallery view, I have to temporarily copy over the files to another folder, delete the folders they were in and recreate a folder to copy the images back to. So, is there a way to not have this happen in the first place?
Thanks David.