Problem Identified for Gallery Force Close Issues

**wildman** · 03-27-2011, 11:19 AM

I noticed that a number of users have reported that they usually have gallery force close issues after some apps updates from time to time so I attempted to duplicate and identify the issue for sure and was able to finally trace the problem down to a small .nomedia file that apps place into there program folders to stop the image files from the apps to show into the media gallery to avoid the images or audio files from being accidently deleted. Others thought that the nature of the problem has been because of a corrupt file but in the end it was the .nomedia files. Apparently this confuses the Gallery app because a number of files will be present in cache that this file hides from the system and this seems to cause the Gallery to act as if a corrupt file is present, this also seems to effect the camera app from time to time.

Also remember that the solution will clear the personal settings data from Swipe and sometimes clears alerts settings that can be restored from Titianium Backup easily.. So backup before doing solution to avoid headaches..

The fix this issue is to goto Settings/Applications/Manage Applications/All Tab/ Media Storage and then clear the Cache, then reboot and then open gallery and allow images to be scanned and added back to te gallery (This may take a little time depending on the number of files)

**androidcore** · 03-29-2011, 04:54 AM

awesome wildman.. thank you...

just wanna add that media cache clearing will also affect your music app, like stock, PwerAMP, and Winamp... you may need to got to the music app afterwards, hit settings, and do a simple "rescan folders".. :-)

list will also fix issues if songs are appearing twice (duplicates) in your playlists.. :-)

**Smitty_82** · 03-29-2011, 05:00 AM

Nice fix!

**wildman** · 03-29-2011, 02:44 PM

Glad to contribute... It was driving me crazy when this kept happening and there was a solution but no explanation of why this was happening.. After locating issue I figured it was worth sharing.

Glad it helped..

**fwdiva** · 04-21-2011, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by wildman

Glad to contribute... It was driving me crazy when this kept happening and there was a solution but no explanation of why this was happening.. After locating issue I figured it was worth sharing.

Glad it helped..

OMG, this was driving me crazy too. I just stumbled on this thread, but.....I thought that the rooting of my phone messed it up....yea, I'm a newbie. (Don't judge me!)Anyways, after I installed the leaked OTA of GB it started working again. So needless to say, I thought, um I'll never root again

. Guess I need to do a little more researching before I give up root. Thanks!!

**EpicInUtah** · 04-21-2011, 08:18 PM

Tried this and no solution for me. When I tap gallery it just starts to open then closes right away. If I go into the camera app then to the gallery from there it opens up just fine. What the heck? Any ideas???

**wildman** · 04-21-2011, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by UtahConcealer

Tried this and no solution for me. When I tap gallery it just starts to open then closes right away. If I go into the camera app then to the gallery from there it opens up just fine. What the heck? Any ideas???

You are the only one that this hasn't worked for.. The steps clears all media apps cache so if it didn't work you are having different issues. Did you reboot after clearing cache?

**EpicInUtah** · 04-22-2011, 12:45 AM

Well, my cache was already cleared it was the data I needed to clear which I did and then restarted and it fixed the problem. Thanks

**wildman** · 04-22-2011, 02:19 AM

Originally Posted by UtahConcealer

Well, my cache was already cleared it was the data I needed to clear which I did and then restarted and it fixed the problem. Thanks

The instructions original stated to clear the data.... Glad to here you got it resolved..

**revwill** · 04-22-2011, 11:56 AM

I noticed I developed this problem after I removed some photos from the media card via the usb connection with my computer. The original instructions worked for me.

**LMO** · 04-23-2011, 04:45 PM

UtahConcealer - In addition to the above procedures, you ALSO need to clear the DATA (if you clear just Cache, it may not work).

THEN you must also clear both Data & Cache of the Media Container Service.

So you need to clear Data AND Cache for:
1. Gallery
2. Media Storage
3. Media Container Service

Reboot after that and you should be good to go.

Note that you will also lose any playlists (so make sure they are backed up if you want to keep them, and then you can later restore them). Plus you will have to re-setup any ringtones you had.

**LMO** · 04-23-2011, 04:46 PM

Wow, sorry for the late post.. did not see the latest responses. For some reason they are all out of chronological order on my screen. Strange!!

**lynter** · 05-01-2011, 02:31 PM

I tried removing the data as suggested but I am still having the problem. Any more solutions? I have a Thunderbolt if that makes any difference.

**LMO** · 05-01-2011, 04:17 PM

lynter,
Did you clear Data AND Cache for ALL THREE:
1. Gallery
2. Media Storage
3. Media Container Service

?

Also, make sure you reboot afterwards!

**Timdog** · 05-02-2011, 10:09 PM

Worked great for me...... Thanks Wildman

**nisxan** · 05-03-2011, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by UtahConcealer

Tried this and no solution for me. When I tap gallery it just starts to open then closes right away. If I go into the camera app then to the gallery from there it opens up just fine. What the heck? Any ideas???

I had the same problem and found a simple fix:

Some apps (especially Glu games...looking at you Gun Bros.) install a small .jpg image file as part of their install. All you have to do is delete this image and all will be well.

Do this:

Plug your X into your computer via USB and search your image folder. Look for an image that doesn't belong...it's usually the one with the different naming convention, and one that you know you didn't put there. Delete it, unhook from USB and launch your gallery!