audio files not showing up in Google Play Music and File Manager (Android 9)

[Android Central Question]

I have a Nokia 5.1 running Android 9 and I can't seem to find a way to access my music through Google Play Music or File Manager. All the music is downloaded on the SD card. There is no .nomedia file in the root of my SD and I have tried both umounting it and restarting the phone with no results. All the songs are .mp3 and I had no trouble accessing them with my last phone Nokia 5 (Android 9)

 

[mustang7757]

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https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[mustang7757]

Can you see what's on your sd card ?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Open Google Play Music and go to its settings menu. Under Storage Location, what's selected?

 

[stella001]

I can see everything that's on my SD card except the audio files. When I go to Google Files > Audio it says "No Media Found" while normally listing my other media files (video,photos,docs,etc).

Google Play Music was set on Internal Storage but I had already thought of moving some songs there while trying to fix it and it didn't find those either.

 

[ManiacJoe]

Using your favorite file manager app, are the audio files still on the SD card?
Which folder are they in?

 

[B. Diddy]

You mentioned that a .nomedia file isn't present on the root directory of the SD, but what about the folder where the music files are saved to? Or are all the music files on the root directory?

 

[stella001]

There isn't any .nomedia file in my music directory and the File Manager I downloaded had the exact same problem.

Althought I tried moving everything from the SD card to the computer and then back to the SD and all the files appeared in both Files Manager. Then I restarted the phone, the music is still there but still no luck with Google Play Music.

Also, when I try to add a new Ringtone in settings I still can't see the audio files even though the music shows up normally in Files Manager.

Could it possibly be a defective device and not a software problem?
Is there a chance that the problem solves itself if I try Factory Data Reseting it?

 

[B. Diddy]

It should work. As far as I know, there's no separate SD Storage permission that you'd have to grant to Google Play Music. Go to Settings>Apps, select Google Play Music, and then Storage -- does it show any delineation between internal storage and SD card data there?

For ringtones, make sure the ringtone file is in the /Ringtone directory on Internal Storage -- that's where the system looks.

I'd hold off on a factory reset until we've tried some other things.

 

[stella001]

Well honestly I've tried everything I could think of. My sister has a Nokia 5 with Android 9 and she has no such problem.

When the Nokia 5 was in my possesion I could easily change the ringtones from settings. It showed all of my audio files and there was no need to transfer a song to the Ringtone directory.

I should mention that my phone runs Android One, if that's somehow relevant.

 

[B. Diddy]

So where is the ringtone file right now on your phone?

It might be worth testing a different SD card, in case the card is the issue.