Sounds: notifications, alarms and ringtones

samw5

Member
Jan 5, 2013
12
0
1
Visit site
Has anyone gotten these to work on kitkat.

Tried to place ogg files that I was previously using in the system/media folder to the sdcard/notifications, alarms, and ringtones but they will not show.

I don't want to move them back to the default system folder as I can't run the ota every time there is a new one if I add them there.

I just would like to understand if the other folders on the sdcard should be able to pick these up.
 

samw5

Member
Jan 5, 2013
12
0
1
Visit site
Man that's just lame.

The Notifications, Alarm and Ringtones folders are getting automatically created though on /sdcard/ so I was hoping that this could be a user accessible way to drop the files rather than having to rw the /system folder and messing things up.
I also did notice the Google Hangout notifications are indeed in the /sdcard/notifications folder and they seem to work.

what gives?
 

patruns

Well-known member
May 21, 2011
3,192
59
48
Visit site
Android is designed to look for ringtones, notification sounds etc in a specific location. As long as you add additional files to those locations they will get picked up as optional tones. There is nothing lame about it. That is just the way it works. My ringtones are all located in /storage/emulated/0. If I want an .mp3 file as a ringtone I have to put a copy there.
 

samw5

Member
Jan 5, 2013
12
0
1
Visit site
I'm confused I guess.

The default media folder is /system/media/audio/
Ringtones, alarms and notifications are all located there.

I don't want to add files to these folders since this would require me to write to system (and thus keep giving me ota update headaches).

Instead there are 3 similar folder on the device /sdcard/ folder which is user accessible (I believe that's a symlink that points to /storage/emulated...).
Files were placed in the appropriate folders but aren't showing under notifications or alarms or ringtones.

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong. These are ogg files that used to play fine when placed in the /system folder which I'd like to avoid doing for the reason mentioned above.
 

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
Would you be able to try switching them to mp3 and see if that works? Or wav. What format does the system use for stock sounds?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
 

samw5

Member
Jan 5, 2013
12
0
1
Visit site
lol... sorry. I have plenty of faith, I'm just having a hard time understand how something as simple as adding additional sounds seems to be so difficult.
 
Oct 24, 2012
16
0
0
Visit site
It can be picked up if you put them in your root folder in a folder called Ringtones. Or create a Notification folder in your root in KitKat, well at least in my Nexus 5. Try re-booting your phone, or connecting your phone to your PC and unplug it to jump start the media scanner on your phone. Usually i would place an mp3 on my phone from PC and disconnect, and that should do it.
 

JimSmith94

Well-known member
Oct 3, 2011
664
2
18
Visit site
Make sure you change the permissions to match the others sound files and reboot. They should be rw-r--r--. I had to do that for some that I added to my phone.
 

Tall Mike 2145

Well-known member
Feb 8, 2013
413
0
0
Visit site
/storage/emulated/0 functions as the "root level" for external access purposes. In that so-called "root" directory are by default Alarms, Notifications, and Ringtones, along with a number of other folders. I've put OGGs and MP3s in there under 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.4.1, and 4.4.2 on my Nexus 4 and they've ALWAYS been seen instantly by all interested parties (the OS itself in Settings) and various apps which have those sort of media-using capabilities. Putting them there has NEVER been impacted by an OTA. Now, of course, I usually wipe my phone when I do an OTA, but they would otherwise still be there.
 

samw5

Member
Jan 5, 2013
12
0
1
Visit site
That's the answer I was looking for. TY sir!!

Now on my nexus 7 running 4.4.2 (actually I had the same issue on 4.4), the sounds just don't seem to show under notifications as they should.

/storage/emulated/0 is symlinked to /sdcard on my device. I do see the files in the folders. Permission on them is -rw.
All of the files are .ogg. If placed in /system/media/audio with the proper permission they will play just fine but I'd like to avoid touching the system folder.

Any ideas what may be preventing them from properly populating??
 

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
That's the answer I was looking for. TY sir!!

Now on my nexus 7 running 4.4.2 (actually I had the same issue on 4.4), the sounds just don't seem to show under notifications as they should.

/storage/emulated/0 is symlinked to /sdcard on my device. I do see the files in the folders. Permission on them is -rw.
All of the files are .ogg. If placed in /system/media/audio with the proper permission they will play just fine but I'd like to avoid touching the system folder.

Any ideas what may be preventing them from properly populating??

Are you, or have you tried, using an app such as Ringdroid? I haven't tried it on the Nexus 5 yet since it's not on a carrier but on my other phone it automatically drops new files into the right folder.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
 

Jeff Allen1

Well-known member
May 28, 2013
74
0
6
Visit site
Why has this changed since the last version of Android? I used to simply be able to place mp3s in sdcard\ringtones and sdcard\notifications but, alas, these things do not work anymore. I should not have to learn how to make OGG files or root my phone or symlink or any of that crap. It should just STILL work as before. End of story.
 

zorak950

Well-known member
Feb 2, 2011
1,243
12
38
Visit site
It hasn't changed. I use custom ringtones and notifications that are mp3s which I've stored on my SD card partition. You don't need root access or OGG files.
 

Trending Posts

Forum statistics

Threads
942,376
Messages
6,913,742
Members
3,158,380
Latest member
knowledge is power