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Vogue on Winmo 6.1
I keep(kept) helpful files in a folder I call(ed) "Device Memos".
It contains passwords, setup info, application guides, manuals, and other things to help me manage my device. It is mostly .txt, .doc., .pdf. and some saved web pages (.html).
The other day I thought I'd leave a memo in an audible format. I used Resco Recorder which saved it in a folder called "audio recordings". I then went into the folder and copied the mp3(hold stylus down, copy). Then, I went to "device memos" and pasted it(stylus down, paste).
As soon as I pasted I was taken to the root folder in Resco Explorer. Very strange I thought. I returned to "device memos" and ALL of my folders/files were missing...it was empty.
I searched the device but couldn't find them.
I've tried several restore programs such as Recuva, Easeus, Duplicate File Detective, and others without success.
Strangely, with the SD Card inserted in a reader I can double-click and find files and folders with strange gibberish for text. Right clicking on the folder for properties displays 116 files, 112 folders, and 215 Gigabytes on a 16GB Sandisk!
Can anyone explain what has happened and help me restore this data ?
Sorry to say this but it sounds like your file has been corrupted since the check sum is obviously bad. Your only hope is to find something that can reconstruct your file, and I don't know of any.
Edit: Then again I'm no developer, so maybe there is another explanation.
It's clear that filesystem on SD card got corrupted somehow.
There are many paid and free filesystem recovery/fixing utilities available on internet, starting with Windows built-in chkdsk. You have to mount your SD card on Window to use these.
For best results make a raw dump of your SD card first (using dd for Windows or search for something user-friendlier) - after unsuccessful recovery attempt, you can restore original SD contents and try another utility without messup made by previous one.
Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?
MarkAndroid said:
Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's probably the thumbnail data for your pictures. I'm assuming you have quite a few...?
I deleted all the images.
The folder .thumbnails no contains preview as I deleted everything.
There remains only the file to 711 MB
MarkAndroid said:
I deleted all the images.
The folder .thumbnails no contains preview as I deleted everything.
There remains only the file to 711 MB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the first reply already stated, this is a thumbnail file that is generated on the basis of all pictures on your device. Deleting all thumbnails doesn't really help, because the thumbnail cache will regenerate itself. If you want to diminish it in terms of size, you'll have to remove the actual pictures on your device (be it wallpapers, family pictures, Reddit downloads or porn). Only that will lessen the numbers of thumbnails generated and thus the size of this file.
As I said I deleted all the real pictures and not just the thumbnails!
When I open the gallery there is no picture or video!
I also raised the MicroSD to make sure there were no photographs or video to generate thumbnails.
Yes, I see what you mean. I have two, each about 600 Mb, one from 08/07/2012 and one from 19/10/2012. These appear to be the Thumbnail files from the media players.. So until you clear the librarycache from those, they'll keep reappearing.
I also had two files, then deleting all reappeared only one from 711MB!
You have lots of photos and videos?
MarkAndroid said:
I also had two files, then deleting all reappeared only one from 711MB!
You have lots of photos and videos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About 40gb internal, and another 40ish on SD's.
We are different!
My internal memory 45GB free!
MicroSD removed
Yes, quite obviously, you are different. Won't get you a Nobel Prize.
Did you clear the media player's data yet? I have device pretty chock full with all kinds of graphics and videos, and on the MicroSD, the thumbnails file is only slightly less than 12 MB.
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
It seems likely though that you just had a lot of material to be indexed previously, and those caches are never emptied, neither are they touched upon a reinstall. You'll need to empty them by hand yourself.
Yes, obviously we're different. :cyclops:
MartyHulskemper said:
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... I'm not paying for my Eweka payserver in the spirit of charity.
MartyHulskemper said:
Yes, quite obviously, you are different. Won't get you a Nobel Prize.
Did you clear the media player's data yet? I have device pretty chock full with all kinds of graphics and videos, and on the MicroSD, the thumbnails file is only slightly less than 12 MB.
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
It seems likely though that you just had a lot of material to be indexed previously, and those caches are never emptied, neither are they touched upon a reinstall. You'll need to empty them by hand yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I manually clear the cache?
Usually through the settings in the apps themselves.
OK. So what application should I see? Gallery app or all photos and videos app? (Example QuickPic, Mxplayer)
All of them.
MarkAndroid said:
Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem...my files was 1.6GB. I believe it has to do with thumbnails database off all pictues that have been on your phone or gallery, and even if you delete it, they keep track of the all and then recreates the thumbnails file.
My solution was to create a empty folder with the exact same name of the file, in the same location (after deleting the big file first)...did not need to change permissions or anything, just an plain empty folder with the same name replacing the file. I´ve rebooted several times/took lots of pictures and seems to prevent the file to re-create. Has worked so far.
Hope that helps
It seems to work!
Since I created two folders with the name of the file .thumbdata are no longer created the two large files and does not create even the thumbnails!
THANKS
MarkAndroid said:
It seems to work!
Since I created two folders with the name of the file .thumbdata are no longer created the two large files and does not create even the thumbnails!
THANKS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any abnormalities with your device since? Like opening the camera app, taking photos, accessing Gallery, and FCs?
I noticed this type of behavior back with my Motorola DROID. I realized that when I performed Factory resets it would not delete these files off of the SDCard, an I had 4 or 5 of them (when I was trying every ROM under the sun before CM7 was released).
I finally figured out that just deleting them would allow the apps to recreate what they needed - but yeah, some photos that I had moved to a 'hidden' location still had thumbnails showing. I finally figured out what ShadowLea is saying - you have to clear the cache components of the applications themselves and then let them rebuild. From there it is a piece of cake.
solved for Galaxy S3
Hello,
I had the same problem on my Samsung S3. The file was allways created with 1,74 GB and growed. when i deleted it by hand it was created a few minutes later again.
Here the solution that worked for me
1) copy file name
2) delte the file
3) create a folder with the filename (not a file!) *
4) take away all possible permissions for this folder (with total commander for andriod for example)
After that my camera and my picture viewer still works fine. the only "problem" i have is that i dont see a preview of my old pictures in the down left corner of the camera app.
*I also tried to create a file with the name and took the permissions from it but it was overwriten by the camera anyway.
cheers!
I'm having a problem I think is due to MTP.
I have an app I am trying to backup the data for, stored in /sdcard0/ProgramData/Android/Language/.fr
Problem is, on the S3 all these files seem to be hidden.
In my older HTC phones I could still mount in Windows and view all my files, nothing was hidden.
But now nearly everything is hidden. I was able to find the files via ES File Explorer, and I copied the folder I wanted over the my sd card, still was hidden in windows. Seems like the "."prefix was why it was hidden, so I renamed it withou it.
Now the folder shows up in windows but all the subfolders (they don't have a "." prefix) and all the contents are still hidden.
Is there anyway to get around this behavior? Is there any way I can change the properties of the entire folder and subfolders via a file viewer or the like to not be hidden?
I know I can unhide everything from inside the app first, but that takes a ton of time to unhide just to backup and rehide it all.
Eh, nevermind.
A bit more time searching yielded:
http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...and-media-transfer-protocol-xda-developer-tv/
While doesn't fix the issue it explained it. Working on trying Easy UMS, just doing the backup the hard way for the moment though.
So I've used an app called File Hide Expert for a few years now on multiple devices. My S10e is the first one to give me troubles. I went to "unhide" (remove .nomedia files) on certain folders only to find my folders were empty. My first thought was that it wiped my files which bummed me out. But I was able to recover the thumbnail cache which helped for photos (yay low-res images). I still can't get to my videos or pdfs, which sucks because those were the important files. Anyway, I've been poking at the files for about 2 days now, and what I have found is that if I name a file the exact same name as one of my "deleted" files, it too vanishes, but a file under a new name stays. So I've come to the assumption that they are there, somewhere, just really really hidden. Possibly hid the .nomedia files with a .nomedia file?? Although when I plugged my SD card to my PC (Windows 10) and the folders showed up as empty, so I am kind of at a loss for what to do now. I've tried a slew of file explorers, data recovery apps, even considered rooting it briefly. I truly am at my wits end and need some help.
TL;DR: .nomedia files are gone along with other files, but directory still hides files under certain name.
I was about to post a question about this, but I just figured this out myself. My phone recently updated to Android 11. I have an SD-Card which has music on it - along with a lot of album art. Since the update, all these album art photos have been cluttering up my gallery. Every time I add a .nomedia file in here (which also was there before the update), it seems to get automatically deleted (no, not hidden). I tried copying a .nomedia file from elsewhere on the phone. I even tried popping out the SD-Card and adding the file via PC. As soon as Android touches it, it deletes the file again.
So, here is the issue. With Android 11, it is creating some default folders (I wish it wouldn't clutter up things with these empty folders that I never need or use). Those default folders include: Music, Pictures, Movies. These are created at the top level on the SD-Card and on internal storage. So, if you are also using one of those folders for something, it's going to auto delete the .nomedia file. In my case, I just moved my music into a Musics folder instead(and ensured it has a .nomedia file, of course.
Hopefully this will save someone else from wasting their time trying to figure out why this is happening!
pacaveli420 said:
I was about to post a question about this, but I just figured this out myself. My phone recently updated to Android 11. I have an SD-Card which has music on it - along with a lot of album art. Since the update, all these album art photos have been cluttering up my gallery. Every time I add a .nomedia file in here (which also was there before the update), it seems to get automatically deleted (no, not hidden). I tried copying a .nomedia file from elsewhere on the phone. I even tried popping out the SD-Card and adding the file via PC. As soon as Android touches it, it deletes the file again.
So, here is the issue. With Android 11, it is creating some default folders (I wish it wouldn't clutter up things with these empty folders that I never need or use). Those default folders include: Music, Pictures, Movies. These are created at the top level on the SD-Card and on internal storage. So, if you are also using one of those folders for something, it's going to auto delete the .nomedia file. In my case, I just moved my music into a Musics folder instead(and ensured it has a .nomedia file, of course.
Hopefully this will save someone else from wasting their time trying to figure out why this is happening!
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Click to collapse
This makes no sense, please explain in more detail.
android1977 said:
This makes no sense, please explain in more detail.
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Click to collapse
If you're storing your music files in any of the default folders, Android is going to auto delete your .nomedia file if you try to put one there. Ergo, the solution is you need to store your music in a folder named something else.
pacaveli420 said:
If you're storing your music files in any of the default folders, Android is going to auto delete your .nomedia file if you try to put one there. Ergo, the solution is you need to store your music in a folder named something else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks that's what I did and got lucky, I was so desperate I signed up to XDA just to comment I gotta say XDA I love your site and been reading for a couple year's now, enjoy the information provided, thanks guy's for all your hard work
pacaveli420 said:
If you're storing your music files in any of the default folders, Android is going to auto delete your .nomedia file if you try to put one there. Ergo, the solution is you need to store your music in a folder named something else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for saving my media library! I've been tortured by this issue since using the new phone, finally!
hello, i just get Android 11 on my MI A3, and those folders ( music, pictures, movies )appears on my sd card, they are useless for me, is there a way to delete them?
before Android 11, i didn't have this problem because i choosed " use sd as external support " instead of "use sd as extended memory" when inserting the sd card, but now even if i make the same choice, the folders are there and i can't delete them.
Sort of off topic but not really:
How do I stop it from creating these default folders? It's extremely annoying. I don't have my SD card structured that way and never have. I've deleted the default music, movies, etc folders numerous times now as they just clutter up the root directory and they keep reappearing. Is there a solution to this?
This seems to be a part of Android 11s default folder structure which no one ever bothered to do something about. I wouldn't be surprised if it's there for "security reasons" as well as a communist one. As in you only have the option to use these "secure" folders or else it won't show up in your apps at all.
This might be a way for Google to slowly faze out SDCards entirely while only giving you the option to use said folders for your "private" stuff akin to how IOS (kinda) works. In other words, they are doing it on purpose and no one ever bothered to read the fine print.
Obviously private music and other media collections is the root (see what I did there) cause of the problem. They don't want you to have those at all, And want you to use streaming services instead (tinfoil hat). Which is probably what these folders will probably end up being used for.
Netflix and Spotify allow you to store music on your device, but it's encrypted and will probably end up there at some point in Androids lifecycle. Obviously these files don't need .nomedia since the files are encrypted and will only show up in said app either way which makes the above meaningless.
Most of this is speculation obviously, but we've slowly been moving towards this trend if you look at how System apps were split into app and priv-app and so on. At some point in time only certain apps that has had the blessing of Google will be allowed to read anything off your storage. This happened with Chrome not to long ago where they blocked side-loaded extensions from running.
You will slowly see Android turning into IOS because they (Google) and big-tech in general wants 100% control of what you can and can't do. And everything based on AOSP or LOS is gonna follow suit because no one gives a flying fudge because that's too bothersome. The fragmentation of custom builds based on LOS/AOSP in general already shows that this has always been the case for the last 10 years. Linux in general is no different either as can be seen with wokeism. Except that was through decimation via woke people and not big-tech.
I was going crazy thinking this issue was specific to my samsung's stock rom. I started searching about this once I noticed it on LOS 18. Glad I'm not alone
I tend to be a little OCD about my folder structures but at this point I don't mind making a separate folder to avoid album arts in my gallery.
I believe I found a solution to this. It's been about a week or two with no further incident now. My solution was to delete the default folders from the root of the SD card because I don't use them, then create blank files that used those names. Haven't had a problem since.
I use the top level pictures folder because of a compatibility issue with programs that have small file path character limits that cause the program to hang. I don't use them anymore but I haven't had a reason to move it back where I had it previously and that would only make the default folder issue worse if I did. Or at least it would have until now with this discovery.
I do not use the movies and music folders, and if I move my pictures folder back where I had it I won't use that one either. Having them pop up on their own to clutter my root directory on both my SD card and my phone itself was very annoying. After deleting the movies and music folders off of the root of my SD card for the billionth time and getting rid of the empty default folders on my phone again, I created two blank files on my SD card root called Music and Movies. Ever since then the default folders haven't reappeared. On top of that, it hasn't created any ".thumbnails" folders all over the place like it always used to do either. That includes doing so on the internal phone storage. Creating those files on the SD card seems to have broken the whole process. I imagine the same would work vice versa for OP since it sounds like they use those default folders. Find an empty default folder on internal storage, delete it, create a file and name it the name of the folder you deleted (case sensitive), and that should disable the annoying default folder management process too. I can't vouch for that method, but I can vouch for it working when you do so on the SD card.
I just noticed this today on my tab s7+.
From what I can tell, the .nomedia file nolonger does anything on its own. However, if I add the .nomedia file to a folder, then rename the folder placing a . in front, of course it hides the entire folder. When I rename the folder again, removing the ., the .nomedia file now works. No matter how many times I rename the folder, the gallery does not see it until I remove the .nomedia file.
pool_shark said:
I just noticed this today on my tab s7+.
From what I can tell, the .nomedia file nolonger does anything on its own. However, if I add the .nomedia file to a folder, then rename the folder placing a . in front, of course it hides the entire folder. When I rename the folder again, removing the ., the .nomedia file now works. No matter how many times I rename the folder, the gallery does not see it until I remove the .nomedia file.
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Click to collapse
thank you pool shark.. i tried what you did/suggested and it worked. thanks.