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Custom Ringtones

mcadam

Well-Known Member
Where do I have to put my custom ringtones in order for them to show up in the ringtone menu?

I've put them in sdcard/Ringtones and sdcard/media/ringtones. I tried with .mp3 files, then renamed them to .ogg. Rebooted multiple times. No dice.

Any ideas?
 
I just copied the .mp3 to /storage/emulated/0/tlaNET/Ringtones

tlaNET is a folder I added of stuff I was introducing.


They immediately showed up in the list in Settings | Sound | Phone ringtone

I also have a /tlaNET/Notifications

In both cases they are .mp3 files and root-ing is not required (good thing since its a Maxx).

... Thom
 
They can be in any folder anywhere on storage called "ringtones" ( for ringtones) or "notifications" (for notifications.) I know that they can be in MP3 or ogg vorbis formats, and I think AAC works as well. I'm not sure about other formats.

(I just checked and I do have a few .m4a ringtones. .m4a is the extension for AAC files.)
 
Odd... I'll have to play around with this and figure out what the problem is. The tones play fine on the Galaxy Nexus. No idea what would be different.
 
Odd... I'll have to play around with this and figure out what the problem is. The tones play fine on the Galaxy Nexus. No idea what would be different.

It has been the same on Droid stuff through at least 4 models.

In the past each time you powered on it would scan looking for Ringtones and Notifications folders everywhere. It would look for files in the folders (I only used mp3) and add them to the lists.

If you had multiple folders with copies of the same sound files it would add them multiple times. If you did not reload they would not show up.

On the Maxx they show up as soon as the folder is created.

... Thom
 
Well, I'm stuck. I created 4 new ringtones just now (all 30 seconds, about 500kb each), put them in the Ringtones folder, restarted, and they still aren't showing.

Screenshot_2013-08-29-21-38-16.png

Would anyone mind sharing the mp3s that have worked for them? Also, would anyone mind using the mp3s I made to see if they work for you? Hopefully this link works:

Ringtones.zip
 
Even though /sdcard seems to be the same place, my phone's default storage location seems to be /storage/emulated/0

In there I have a folder called media

In media, I have a folder called notifications and ringtones. These files are seen by my phone. I also noticed that there are folders /storage/emulated/0/notifications (empty on my phone) and ringtones (there are two ogg vorbis files for Google Hangouts intones, based on the file names.)
 
I admit to being lost. I don't know where that folder is located. I was expecting something like these. Here you just copy the .mp3 file into the Notifications or Ringtones folder.

... Thom
 

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As doogald said, I believe /sdcard/ and /storage/emulated/0/ are mirror images of each other. Anything moved to one location is automatically copied to the other. Therefore, my mp3s do exist in /storage/emulated/0/Ringtones as well as storage/emulated/0/media/ringtones and storage/emulated/0/media/audio/ringtones. Still not showing up.

I honestly don't know what else to try.
 
Well, I'm stuck. I created 4 new ringtones just now (all 30 seconds, about 500kb each), put them in the Ringtones folder, restarted, and they still aren't showing.

View attachment 60510

Would anyone mind sharing the mp3s that have worked for them? Also, would anyone mind using the mp3s I made to see if they work for you? Hopefully this link works:

Ringtones.zip

I'll download yours and pop the into folders on my phone later today. I'll let you know if I see them.
 
I'll download yours and pop the into folders on my phone later today. I'll let you know if I see them.
Thanks. If they work for you, I may just have to factory reset and hope that fixes something on the internal storage. I'm out of ideas.
 
I played with it a little for you and it seems to be a little quirky.

I went to /storage/emulated/0/Notifications and pasted in the file I provided ... I went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it is in the list.

I deleted it and did a power off/power on and went to /sdcard/Notifications and pasted in the file I provided ... I went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it is NOT in the list. I powered off and powered on and went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it IS listed.

When you said "restarted" did that mean power off/power on?

The only "off the wall" suggestion I can make it try pasting it into /storage/emulated/0/Notifications and see if it is immediately provided in the list.

... Thom
 
I played with it a little for you and it seems to be a little quirky.

I went to /storage/emulated/0/Notifications and pasted in the file I provided ... I went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it is in the list.

I deleted it and did a power off/power on and went to /sdcard/Notifications and pasted in the file I provided ... I went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it is NOT in the list. I powered off and powered on and went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it IS listed.

When you said "restarted" did that mean power off/power on?

The only "off the wall" suggestion I can make it try pasting it into /storage/emulated/0/Notifications and see if it is immediately provided in the list.

... Thom

Well I think you solved the mystery. I just did the same and pasted the ringtones directly into /storage/emulated/0/Ringtones. They all showed up immediately. So even though /storage/emulated/0 and /sdcard/ are supposedly identical, they obviously aren't from a functional standpoint.

I think my issue stemmed from using ES File Explorer as my file manager, as it's default location is /sdcard/. I noticed "File Manager" defaults to /storage/emulated/0/. Looks like I'll be sticking with File Manager going forward.

Thanks for your help everyone.

**EDIT**

Scratch that last part. You can change the default location in ES File Explorer to /storage/emulated/0 in the settings. I'll stick with ES File Explorer for the style.
 
It is ODD. It is sort of like it is reflected in one direction.

It still should have worked the way you were doing it if you were doing a full power off/power on.

Weird.

Glad it is finally working.

(I wonder what other counter-intuitive oddities we will run into.)

... Thom
 
It is ODD. It is sort of like it is reflected in one direction.

It still should have worked the way you were doing it if you were doing a full power off/power on.

Weird.

Glad it is finally working.

(I wonder what other counter-intuitive oddities we will run into.)

... Thom

I've been following your conversation with interest. I have had this problem for quite a while. I have a folder listed as Ringtones. SOMETIMES when I have my phone hooked up to my computer, then afterward my ringtones and notifications have disappeared from the list where I can choose which I want. When I hook it back up to the computer it shows the folders are still there. In the past just deleting and repasting (while hooked on my computer) has solved my problem. But this time it hasn't. Everything I've tried hasn't fixed the problem. Any suggestions? I am flummoxed with all the referencing to "internal" "external" and yet another "internal" locations. I've read and read and can't make heads or tails of where to put my ringtones and notifications. Here is a screen shot:
 

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I played with it a little for you and it seems to be a little quirky.

I went to /storage/emulated/0/Notifications and pasted in the file I provided ... I went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it is in the list.

I deleted it and did a power off/power on and went to /sdcard/Notifications and pasted in the file I provided ... I went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it is NOT in the list. I powered off and powered on and went to Settings | Sound | Default notification sound it IS listed.

When you said "restarted" did that mean power off/power on?

The only "off the wall" suggestion I can make it try pasting it into /storage/emulated/0/Notifications and see if it is immediately provided in the list.

... Thom

To clarify, when you are "pasting" are you doing this thru windows explorer while hooked to your computer or thru a file manager on your phone? Thanks!!!!!!!
 
Sorry for the multiple replies.....I have done exactly like you said above, and it still doesn't appear in the list when choosing a ringtone or sms notification. I've lost my custom tones before but never had trouble reinstating them. I'm out of ideas. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!
 

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The folder can be anywhere on your phone.

The last level in the name must be Notifications.

If you are connected to a computer then you might not access them.

Try restarting (power off/power on) and see if they are then reported as present.

... Thom
 
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