Help Where to put ringtones, alarms, and notifications

[OldProfessor]

I admit to being confused by all the advice about where to put ringtones, alarms, and notifications. It seems that the answers are different for different phones, which is why I'm asking in the DROID 4 forum.

By experiment I've come to the conclusion that these sound files should be put on the internal sdcard, not the external. They seem to disappear if put on the external card. Is that right so far?

I have loaded sounds, as mpg files, in several places. I think that most are wrong and/or redundant. Here's where they are now. Which are correct & which should I delete?
sdcard/Alarm
sdcard/Alarms
sdcard/Media/Audio/Notifications
sdcard/Media/Audio/Ringtones
sdcard/Notifications

I load all my sound using the USB cable. After loading the files onto the DROID, I power cycle the phone. One of the reasons I'm asking this question is that a sound file I recently loaded doesn't appear in the list of notification sounds when I try to change the default notification from the main settings sounds menu.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Doit2it]

Any of those locations would be correct. As long as the folder is called Alarms, Notifications, and Ringtones respectively. Note ALL are plural. It would make it easier to find (for yourself) if you put them in the root directory.

Yes, the internal memory is better than the external SDcard. I used to have them on my SDcard, but every time I unmounted/mounted the card I'd have to reset my personal ringtones and alarms. Not sure about the Droid4 but on my Galaxy S3 anything I put in the Ringtones folder will show up in my Alarm selections so there is no need for an Alarms folder.

Also, I use MP3 instead of MPG. Not sure if it makes a difference, but I've never had a problem with any of my Android phones recognizing MP3s.

 

[Thom]

I also assume you are not connected to a PC with a USB cable. Some connection protocol;s give exclusive control of files to the PC while connected and the phone will not find ringtones that you added. When you disconnect and reboot the phone they are then found.

This happened to me and was most noticeable because my notification would switch from the one I added to the default whenever I was connected to my PC.

... Thom