[Q] cancerous thumbnail file - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket SGH-I727

My .thumbnail file in .DCIM keeps expanding to fill all available space, preventing me from taking pictures and causing the system to become unstable. Today, ".thumbdata3--1967290299" was up to 3.5 gb. I delete it every time, but it grows back after the next reboot. Whether I delete the folder, the files itself, doesn't matter. I do have a lot of large pictures on the external SD card (not taken with the camera on the phone), which is perhaps the reason thumbnail is growing so large.
I used titanium backup pro to freeze gallery, but then I can't take pictures with the camera.
Judging from google search and a search across all XDA forums, this is not specific to the skyrocket, or the rom I'm running (cyanogenmod 10). I'm not coming across any specific solutions though other than delete them. There was one suggestion to setup a program to automatically delete the file, however that seems... inelegant.
I've also switched to using quickpic instead of the stock gallery option, but again that does nothing.
I tried naming a notepad document to .thumbnails to prevent android from making a .thumbnails file, but windows wouldn't let me.
Mediascanner seems to go nuts every time I turn on my phone after deleting the old file, the phone is warm to the touch, and BetterBatteryStats indicates it's running the cpu at 1.51 GHz for 15 to 20 minutes after boot. I'm going to try disabling media scanner to see if that prevents thumbnail from being built up, but I was wondering if anyone had any other fixes or suggestions. Like if there was any way to set a maximum file size on the thumbnail file, or if there was a way to disable the stock gallery without compromising camera functionality.

The solution I suggest will help with your media scanner issues but your photos will no longer be visible in the gallery.
Go to the folder you keep your photos in and use a file explorer app like root explorer to create an empty file named .nomedia
This tells the android media scanner to skip that folder. If you have folders inside folders, place a .nomedia file in each folder.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

rushi.1986 said:
The solution I suggest will help with your media scanner issues but your photos will no longer be visible in the gallery.
Go to the folder you keep your photos in and use a file explorer app like root explorer to create an empty file named .nomedia
This tells the android media scanner to skip that folder. If you have folders inside folders, place a .nomedia file in each folder.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If media scanner has already detected said files, will it still show up in either Gallery or Quickpik? And will new pictures I take be added to either without media scanner?

interkin3tic said:
If media scanner has already detected said files, will it still show up in either Gallery or Quickpik? And will new pictures I take be added to either without media scanner?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am pretty sure already scanned pics will be gone. As for new pics, I don't know. You just have to try it yourself.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

Update: rescan media root, preventing media scanner from going every time the phone reboots, seems to have fixed it. Camera function is not compromised, nor are pictures hidden from quickpik.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

I was just going to recommend that. It seems to have helped me keep boot times down and help with battery life.

Related

Photos keeps copying by itself

I transfered some pictures from my mac to the captivate... After a while when i go in the gallery app my pictures are getting duplicated many times... Far as 5x each... And when i try to delete them it takes ages and i have to close the app or else it eats my battery... Anyone is having the same problem?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using XDA App
Photo Dupes
Here is a post from cgm8 (10th December 2010). See if it resolves your problem.
Ok..here is the fix from other thread
With root explorer delete:
- /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.media/externalXXX.db
- /sdcard/Android/data/com.cooliris.media
reboot
Good luck
photos keep duplicating themselves.
I too had the same issue. I would have 5 copies of each picture in my gallery. I was hesitant to delete the files recommended below with Root Explorer so I just used Root Explorer to rename the files (removed the db on one and the word media on the other) rebooted and many of the dupls disappeared on their own, the originals were fine. We'll see if it lasts.. also, anything I really did want to delete manually deleted very quickly.
I found the easiest way to deal with this is to go into manage applications>all>media storage>clear data...then reboot
problem solved..
I just downloaded sgs tools for captivate then apply the script "clear_thumb_db.txt"
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Any idea as to what causes this?
well i fixed it using the manage apps option above.. just a few hours after it happened to me.. talk about timing!
This always happens to me if I root/unroot the phone with my sdcard in. If I take it out before hand its fine.
I just mount my phone and open all the massstorages and delete the thumbnail files in the DCIM folders and that works fine. You have to understand all the copies you see are thumbnails and deleting via the phone thru gallery can delete the real image...
i have never un-rooted..

Photos in DCIM become unusable...

So I hand fed a few .jpg images to my DCIM/100MEDIA folder since I was having some issues with them becoming unreadable, They just seem to disappear, then I find them in File browser, but no longer exist in gallery, limiting editability for use as desktops and such... Using thunder and lightning 1.3
Im having the same issue but Im running VirusRom. Gallery doesnt work unless I manually find the image thru a file explorer and choose the gallery option. But just opening gallery from app tray does nothing, or opening gallery thru wallpaper does nothing.
There has been some talk that these MicroSD cards are crap. Mine started corrupting pictures and then failed completely, had it replaced by Verizon.
Weird. I haven't had that issue and I transferred some photo's from my OG Droid DCIM folder.
I was having this problem with all roms. I had to back up my SD, format it, and then put everything back. Haven't had a problem since.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
Now they're disappearing completely, even images taken with the phones cam/vid. Cheap SD cards make a little sense... I have formatted, almost every ROM... I'll check it out.
By chance, do you happen to have a .nomedia file in any of these directories that are "losing images" or making photos "unusable".
If so, this would be your issue. Remove that file and they will show up in Gallery again.

GALLERY - Howto Prevent Indexing Certain Directories

I have a folder on my SD card that I don't want images to appear from. Is there a means to exclude certain directories?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA Premium App
Put an empty file called .nomedia in the directory.
This one works well for me - makes the process easier:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.studiokuma.nomedia
What kind of images don't you want to show up in your gallery?
The .nomedia method should work for you, if not you can always rename the folder with a "." at the beginning to make it hidden
Folder name examples:
.pr0n / .dontlookhere / .ignore
kyouko said:
What kind of images don't you want to show up in your gallery?
The .nomedia method should work for you, if not you can always rename the folder with a "." at the beginning to make it hidden
Folder name examples:
.pr0n / .dontlookhere / .ignore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.nomedia works for me, as far as keeping stuff out of the gallery. Being all grown up in my computer usage, I choose to not let my computing devices hide stuff from me, so that .folder thingy doesn't work for me (and pictures in those .folders without a .nomedia file still seem to make their way into my gallery).
I do have a .stuff folder for my .porn though... Keeps it up near the top of the list...
how about the hideitpro app from the market? it's actually pretty cool. opens up as an audio manager, then you put in a password and there you have all the hidden files you want. not just pics...just an fyi
Install the app Just Pictures and ignore the folders you don't want to see.
The .nomedia "solution" prevents the album art to display in the media players.
I use the app QuickPic from the Market, and in the app you can choose which folders you want include and exclude. Pretty useful. You don't have the pretty 3-D effects from the default Gallery app but it's so much faster.
You can do the same thing with Fishbowl Gallery. You can set default albums, as well as hide albums. However, this still doesn't prevent someone from stumbling upon the default gallery app. The best solutions are either .nomedia, or do not have media on your phone that you do not want prying eyes to see. Alternatively, while cumbersome, you can use androzip or unrar pro to zip the material in question. Of course, by zipping your files, you can add the additional layer of security by encrypting it, if you're the paranoid sort.
Sent via Tapatalk on CM7.0.0-Vision Stable.
I remember this method. Any one know if the older file deletion ever got fixed with 2.2.1 or later?
If you don't know what I'm talking about here's a quick rundown.
You put the .nomedia file in a folder with pictures, upon reboot all those pictures are deleted. This had something to do with them already being scanned once and them being older than the .nomedia file so instead of ignoring them it deletes them. Something along those lines (anyone have the link to the original bug report from back in '08 or '09?).
Anyway, if it hasn't been fixed you've been warned, you stand a good chance of losing all media in those folders. So backup those files - but you knew that already
The easiest remedy to this is to remove the files, rename the folder to .whatever or insert the .nomedia file. Reboot. Then throw the files back onto the sdcard. That should eliminate any issues.
I've used the .nomedia solution awhile back to get icons, cover art, etc out of my gallery and it worked just fine... nothing was deleted (Droid X).
IIRC, I did have to clear the gallery app's cache to get it to "forget" about media that it had already found; on first lauch after clearing it's cache, expect it to be slow as it re-scans your device / sd card (..rebooting didn't work to clear the cach on my device... had to clear it via settings > application > manage apps..)
.nomedia file solution works
KCRic said:
I remember this method. Any one know if the older file deletion ever got fixed with 2.2.1 or later?
If you don't know what I'm talking about here's a quick rundown.
You put the .nomedia file in a folder with pictures, upon reboot all those pictures are deleted. This had something to do with them already being scanned once and them being older than the .nomedia file so instead of ignoring them it deletes them. Something along those lines (anyone have the link to the original bug report from back in '08 or '09?).
Anyway, if it hasn't been fixed you've been warned, you stand a good chance of losing all media in those folders. So backup those files - but you knew that already
The easiest remedy to this is to remove the files, rename the folder to .whatever or insert the file. Reboot. Then throw the files back onto the sdcard. That should eliminate any issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The .nomedia file solution works fine for me on Android 2.3.3.
The issue you mentioned is therefore fixed (nothing file was deleted unexpectedly).
Reboot was also necessary so that the native photo gallery app does not display the icons/pics any longer for the folders where I added the .nomedia file.
Furthermore, this works also for the music files.
(I use also TapeMachine app, and wanted to avoid that the sounds I recorded are listed in the Music Player).
If I place a .nomedia file in a directory, does that exclude all of its subdirectories from the gallery, as well?
Yes, it does. I just placed a .nomedia file in my /Music folder on my extsdcard and all the pictures in my albums are gone after a reboot.
UPDATE: I just tied this on my tablet (running 4.4.2) and it did not need a reboot. Gallery adjusted automatically. It was a folder on the extsdcard - and since 4.4.x restricts access to the sdcard, it stands to reason it saw the file placed and adjust the library automatically.
NiveusLuna said:
If I place a .nomedia file in a directory, does that exclude all of its subdirectories from the gallery, as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] Hiding media from gallery or music ("nomedia" trick not working)

Hi all
I've installed some apps which have their folder on the sdcard with various images, sprites, sounds (one of these is a satnav app).
The problem is, these appear and clutter my gallery and music apps. I use both apps from motorola and not their google counterpart.
I already put a .nomedia file in the folders, rebooted the phone, cleared data on those apps, deleted thumbnail caches on the sdcard, and it doesn't work. They still show up.
So how can I do?
Thank you in advance
I've partially solved my problem with a media re-scan, triggered by renaming a folder containing media files (and then renaming it back)
The problem is that, if files into that folder change, because any app (or I) copies new stuff into them, all the hidden files pop up again in the gallery/media.
I wonder if it's an Android bug or a Motorola bug...
I've had the same problem and I solved it by placing .nomedia files in the unwanted folders and then force a media rescan with the app "Rescan Media" eek from the market
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.addz.mediascanner
or using quickpix to create that file
manojsuper said:
you have to create a new file called ".nomedia" not a folder >.>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did I say that?
I tried media scanner but it doesn't work. (fyi i'm not rooted)
When I move music around (ie from the download folderr to the music folder) it gets duplicated in the music app, both motorola's and google's. Once i unmount and remount the sd card it sorts the problem on itself.
Same thing when I move images, the thumbnails get duplicated and only one of the two loads correctly, but I can't get them to disappear unless i delete my gallery's data, and then i lose all the video thumbnails. My gallery is now full of old thumbnails, gray "unknown" thumbnails, and thumbnails that don't load.
thenext1 said:
I tried media scanner but it doesn't work. (fyi i'm not rooted)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, you don't have to be rooted to use the app I linked. There is a more extensive version of the app that specifically requires root which is what I base my assumption on...
The app only forces the android internal media-scanner service to re-index all files and it does so without giving any sort of feedback. Once the app is started the media-scanner is triggered and the app seemingly does nothing, so you wouldn't get a confimation or anything...
As I said I had the same problem, but using .nomedia-files and the app solved it... Be aware that if you place a .nomedia-file in a folder the contents of that folder and it's sub-directories are being skipped by the media-scanner.
I'd recommend cleaning up all the directories and systematically copy a .nomedia file in unwanted directories. After that launch the app ance more and you should be set...
Preggy said:
As far as I know, you don't have to be rooted to use the app I linked. There is a more extensive version of the app that specifically requires root which is what I base my assumption on...
The app only forces the android internal media-scanner service to re-index all files and it does so without giving any sort of feedback. Once the app is started the media-scanner is triggered and the app seemingly does nothing, so you wouldn't get a confimation or anything...
As I said I had the same problem, but using .nomedia-files and the app solved it... Be aware that if you place a .nomedia-file in a folder the contents of that folder and it's sub-directories are being skipped by the media-scanner.
I'd recommend cleaning up all the directories and systematically copy a .nomedia file in unwanted directories. After that launch the app ance more and you should be set...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that, even if I put nomedia files everywhere needed, when I move files in/out of these dirs, they all pop up in Gallery/Music, including those that were previously hidden. And to solve this (talking only of Gallery now) I have to clear its app data. It would be just easier to hide the "all images" section of Gallery...
I miss the good ol android 2.1 times where you could fiddle with everything with any app without worrying for refreshes, etc...
Give ".no_media" a try?
cogeary said:
Give ".no_media" a try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never heard of such a magic file name...
thenext1 said:
I never heard of such a magic file name...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither have I, but ROM Toolbox uses it when it puts previews of boot animations onto my SDCard and the gallery doesn't pick them up.
Just use QuickPic from the market, if it's available to you. I've been using it for quite some time, install that and freeze the gallery app. Ability to hide certain folders is built right in.
+1 to the QuickPic app...the stock Gallery SUCKS!!! I hide all the folders I do not want to be scanned and now I have a clean photo library. I also use PowerAmp for music since I hide my music folder so that I don't see album art and PowerAmp allows you to select folders to scan (regardless if there is a .nodedia file or not) instead of scanning everything. I believe Winamp will do the same thing, not sure.

Quickpic.

I'm having issues with quickpic and was wondering if anyone else had the problem or have a solution. The other day I spent a ton of time "excluding" all the files and folders oF my dropbox and other random files. I open up quickpic and bam! They are all showing again. I haven't flashed a new rom or done anything of the sorts. I just don't understand why it keeps doing it to me and its getting annoying :/ help anyone?
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Did you try to uninstall and install Quickpic back? I think that should help, however I`ve never had that problem.
Well it stayed the same after I deleted it so lets see in a few days if they stay excluded :/
Sent from my Apple pwner using xda premium
Just put a password on it so no one can accidentally see all you porn.
Sent from my R800at using Tapatalk 2
toxicpaulution said:
The other day I spent a ton of time "excluding" all the files and folders oF my dropbox and other random files. I open up quickpic and bam! They are all showing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In stead of excluding folders (sounds very time consuming), just set it to scan certain folders only. It'll be faster, and you do not run by this risk of something showing up by accident. If excluding and you just change a folder name or if a mount point changes, they will show again.
Mine's just watching camera folder, pics, downloads, and movies. Simple, fast, and I'm in control.
An other advice:
In those few "watched" folders, add folders with a .nomedia file inside. Then stick all the sensitive stuff in there. It'll be hidden in your gallery every time you open quickpic, but you can get them to show up with a few buttons press (settings, show hidden)
They will be hidden automatically next time you open quickpic.
Nice if you got sensitive shots of your missus that you wanna keep for your eyes only, or if you got lots of system png's for customising gui, but you don't want them to clutter your gallery..
Sent from my mind using telepathy..
Yeah I use hidden folders for a lot of my icons and such my phone card is unorganized and stuff so my folders are just confusing xD
Sent from my Apple pwner using xda premium
Somethings gone wrong on my quickpic and the way it handles dropbox photos.
I used to just have one dropbox folder showing, camera uploads, than last week or started showing loads of other folders from dropbox which I didn't want.
I deleted the cache on both apps and now it won't display anything at all from my dropbox account.
Does anyone know how to get quickpic to show dropbox files again?

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