Definitive android's folder structure

[ZeeRaX]

Okey, so I'm curious if someone know what is exact folder structure, which should be used. My question is about phone memory and SD card as well.

So far I suppose, these work:
If you want phone to find new ringtones (and only, not have it listed in music player) you should use following:

/sdcard/media/alarms
/sdcard/media/notifications
/sdcard/media/ringtones

These are for ringtones, alarms and notifications.
I wonder about dcim/100ANDRO and rest of them. Anyone can explain please?

Thank you

Note: I know Android can use almost any folder, but I would like to know which were supposed to be used for specific files.

 

[justjimjpc]

Okey, so I'm curious if someone know what is exact folder structure, which should be used. My question is about phone memory and SD card as well.

So far I suppose, these work:
If you want phone to find new ringtones (and only, not have it listed in music player) you should use following:

/sdcard/media/alarms
/sdcard/media/notifications
/sdcard/media/ringtones

These are for ringtones, alarms and notifications.
I wonder about dcim/100ANDRO and rest of them. Anyone can explain please?

Thank you

Note: I know Android can use almost any folder, but I would like to know which were supposed to be used for specific files.

What I use is the following four folders .... It may depend on the Music Player you use ...but, the default player does not see these by default ...

However the OS will see these folders of Name.ogg files and make them available to used for settings sounds to your apps ..

/sdcard/Alarms
/sdcard/notifications
/sdcard/ringtones
/sdcard/ui

 

[ZeeRaX]

What I use is the following four folders .... It may depend on the Music Player you use ...but, the default player does not see these by default ...

However the OS will see these folders of Name.ogg files and make them available to used for settings sounds to your apps ..

/sdcard/Alarms
/sdcard/notifications
/sdcard/ringtones
/sdcard/ui

Yes, you are right. I've in mind default music player. It doesn't search every folder on sd card. But OS does these.
So audio structure is following:

/sdcard/media/alarms OR /sdcard/Alarms 
/sdcard/media/notifications OR /sdcard/notifications
/sdcard/media/ringtones OR /sdcard/ringtones
/sdcard/media/ui OR /sdcard/ui

What about 100ANDRO folder, it was created by system. However nothing seems stored here. And there are also some folders beginnig with com prefix. I guess this is from third party software. Do you know for what com stands for?

 

[justjimjpc]

Yes, you are right. I've in mind default music player. It doesn't search every folder on sd card. But OS does these.
So audio structure is following:

/sdcard/media/alarms OR /sdcard/Alarms 
/sdcard/media/notifications OR /sdcard/notifications
/sdcard/media/ringtones OR /sdcard/ringtones
/sdcard/media/ui OR /sdcard/ui

What about 100ANDRO folder, it was created by system. However nothing seems stored here. And there are also some folders beginnig with com prefix. I guess this is from third party software. Do you know for what com stands for?

I am not sure ... about >> com. but it might be a hold-over from windows com exectutable files ... that have beem compiled

 

[thebigmann]

The com.whatever comes from the naming convention for the Android apps (based on the Java convention) where you use your organization's domain in reverse. Something about making sure that 2 apps don't share the same one. I don't know about 100ANDRO...wondering about that myself.

 

[Slug]

I can help with the /DCIM folder....

This is part of the DCF (Design rule for Camera File system) specification. All digital cameras contain a DCIM (Digital Camera IMages) folder in their root directory. Inside this will be multiple folders named nnnABCDE, where nnn is a unique directory number between 100-999 and ABCDE is a five-character alphanumeric string often (but not required to be) related to the camera manufacturer. Image files stored within these folders will have a file name in the format ABCDnnnn, where ABCD is a four-character string (often DSC_ or IMG_) and nnnn is a unique sequential index number.

 

[Zoandroid]

FWIW, on the LG Ally (Android 2.1) these files are not in the SD card/media folder. There is no Media folder on the SD Card. I dug around until I found them here:

/system/media/audio

within that folder are

/alarms
/notifications
/ringtones
/ui

Each of the above folders is, by default, populated solely with *.ogg sound files.

I created a "Ringtones" folder on my SD card as has been suggested for using MP3 files for ringtones. In that folder I placed 2 files. One is a WAV file and the other is an MP3 file, both of the same sound.

Although the WAV version of the file does get included into the list of ringtones to select, the MP3 file does not. It apparently isn't recognized.

I tried to paste a copy of the MP3 into the system/media/audio/ringtones file using Explorer file utility, but was told this area contains system files so is read only.

I then tried creating the following folder tree:

sd card/media/audio/ringtones

and pasted a copy of the MP3 file there. But the Ally still doesn't find it in the menu of Ringtone sounds.

I would presume there must be some way to use MP3 files. Can someone help me figure out how?

Zoandroid.

 

[DrTomorrow]

[snip]


[snippity]
I would presume there must be some way to use MP3 files. Can someone help me figure out how?

Zoandroid.

I'm new to this - just got my HTC Evo activated 6/10/10 - but I've got it using MP3s. What I did - and I confess I found it elsewhere - is to create an /MP3 folder off of the root of my SD. Under it, I created the four folders *you* mentioned:

/alarms
/notifications
/ringtones
/ui

And when I drop MP3s in there, they show up in the various "Settings>Select [ring/notification/alarm/UI] sound" pick windows.

Hope this helps, and if I've violated any rules or been terribly clueless, apologies in advance.

Be well,
DrTomorrow

 

[ega278]

New Android user! I just picked up my EVO 4G from Best Buy yesterday and I'm trying to figure out everything.

Alright, I've got all my audio uploaded into my new "ringtones", "notifications" and "alarms" folders. My question is, what has access to the "ui" folder?

 

[DrTomorrow]

New Android user! I just picked up my EVO 4G from Best Buy yesterday and I'm trying to figure out everything.

Alright, I've got all my audio uploaded into my new "ringtones", "notifications" and "alarms" folders. My question is, what has access to the "ui" folder?

First, just to be safe, those folder are UNDER an /MP3 folder you probably will have to create.

So far, the only UI option I found is somewhere in the User Input (duh) settings that asks if/what sound you hear when you type, feedback, etc.

 

[sinebubble]

Straight from the horse's mouth:

Data Storage | Android Developers

• Music/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as user music.
• Podcasts/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a podcast.
• Ringtones/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a ringtone.
• Alarms/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as an alarm sound.
• Notifications/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a notification sound.
• Pictures/ - All photos (excluding those taken with the camera).
• Movies/ - All movies (excluding those taken with the camcorder).
• Download/ - Miscellaneous downloads.

 

[eckndu]

FWIW, on the LG Ally (Android 2.1) these files are not in the SD card/media folder. There is no Media folder on the SD Card. I dug around until I found them here:

/system/media/audio

within that folder are

/alarms
/notifications
/ringtones
/ui

Each of the above folders is, by default, populated solely with *.ogg sound files.

I created a "Ringtones" folder on my SD card as has been suggested for using MP3 files for ringtones. In that folder I placed 2 files. One is a WAV file and the other is an MP3 file, both of the same sound.

Although the WAV version of the file does get included into the list of ringtones to select, the MP3 file does not. It apparently isn't recognized.

I tried to paste a copy of the MP3 into the system/media/audio/ringtones file using Explorer file utility, but was told this area contains system files so is read only.

I then tried creating the following folder tree:

sd card/media/audio/ringtones

and pasted a copy of the MP3 file there. But the Ally still doesn't find it in the menu of Ringtone sounds.

I would presume there must be some way to use MP3 files. Can someone help me figure out how?

Zoandroid.

argh! why do we users have to do this? I dont think this is mod. Google should provide this info, their android.com is empty. we cant even browse the market in chrome.

 

[Frisco]

This thread is more related to the Android system in general than the updates which roll out; I've moved it to the Android Lounge for that reason.

 

[johnsoto85]

This worked for me

copy/paste to:

....../zedge/ringtones

Got what i needed

 

[takeshi]

why do we users have to do this?

You don't have to. In your particular case you do but many standard users probably aren't even aware of the folder structure. If you're an enthusiast who needs this info, you'll find it.

 

[reinbeau]

Yes, you'll find it after wandering the wilds of Android information for months (I've just found this thread, very informative).

 

[dwarven1]

Straight from the horse's mouth:

Data Storage | Android Developers

• Music/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as user music.
• Podcasts/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a podcast.
• Ringtones/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a ringtone.
• Alarms/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as an alarm sound.
• Notifications/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a notification sound.
• Pictures/ - All photos (excluding those taken with the camera).
• Movies/ - All movies (excluding those taken with the camcorder).
• Download/ - Miscellaneous downloads.

Pure gold - exactly what I was searching the net for. Just got my HTC Incredible 3-4 days ago and am still wondering what I've let myself in for after 12 years as a Palm user.

Is there a default directory for ebooks / document downloads, or would that be dependent on the reader software I'm using?

Thanks.

(Oh, and Hi, Ann!! Imagine my surprise to realize I recognized a name in this thread!)

 

[reinbeau]

Ross!!! How are you? This is where I hang around now, learning all I can - best Android forum, combined with XDA (have you found that one yet?).

 

[Essex]

Thanks for the info, sinebubble! You helped me resolve an issue I was having with my MP3 files. Androidforums, FTW!

 

[vikingarcher]

Straight from the horse's mouth:

Data Storage | Android Developers

• Music/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as user music.
• Podcasts/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a podcast.
• Ringtones/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a ringtone.
• Alarms/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as an alarm sound.
• Notifications/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a notification sound.
• Pictures/ - All photos (excluding those taken with the camera).
• Movies/ - All movies (excluding those taken with the camcorder).
• Download/ - Miscellaneous downloads.

Great info! I was about to ask if this applies only to the SD card or can this also be set up on internal storage, but decided to test it on my Moto Atrix first.

After creating a \ringtones folder on my internal storage (I tried upper case first, but it did NOT work on the non-rooted Atrix with Motoblur), copying a .wav and .mp3 file into the dir, and a reboot, the ringtones are listed!

I like to have a consistent ringtone regardless of the SD card in my phone.
Thanks for the great info!

 

[x2champa2x]

Straight from the horse's mouth:

Data Storage | Android Developers

• Music/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as user music.
• Podcasts/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a podcast.
• Ringtones/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a ringtone.
• Alarms/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as an alarm sound.
• Notifications/ - Media scanner classifies all media found here as a notification sound.
• Pictures/ - All photos (excluding those taken with the camera).
• Movies/ - All movies (excluding those taken with the camcorder).
• Download/ - Miscellaneous downloads.

This is awesome! Just added a ton of my music and it was instantly recognized on my phone.

Question though: if I were to add movies under such a folder, would I need an app to play it? If not, how would I go about opening them on the phone? Thanks in advance!

 

[xanok]

Noob question I know, but can someone lay out a step by step on how to do this for me?

 

[marctronixx]

Hi,

this is a good thread to get your feet wet on folder structure in the Android System.

grab a file manager such as ES file explorer, you can create folders to your hearts content. you can also connect up to a computer and explore form the computer.

 

[Zoandroid]

So why does the A500's internal storage memory show up as "sdcard"? Since I have rooted this tablet, I use Root Explorer, which I have run on 2 rooted Android phones before I got this tablet. In the A500, I see a folder in the root of the memory named 'sdcard', which is NOT my installed 16GB SD card.

By digging around and from a forum post somewhere, I learned the actual external SD card is in /mnt/external_sd. BUT..... in /mnt there is ALSO ANOTHER folder listed as "sdcard"?? It appears to actually 'mirror' the same content that /sdcard holds. Is it just some kind of link, like when Microsoft made the Windows 7 Users/Username/Application Data shortcut which is the only way to get into the actual AppData folder? I wouldn't think they would have dual copies of those folders within the internal memory.

This gets rather confusing when you have a file on your SD card and you are trying to access it from some application in the tablet.

 

[joeformerberry]

Samsung Galaxy SII. New ueser. Using the file manager I have the following. Nothing for alarms, or the other files listed. The notifications folder only shows one file and it is some facebook notification? Can't seem to access the other files mentioned. I have show hidden files enabled. Please advise.
/sdcard/media/notifications