[HowTo] Force Remove Album from Photos App

Jason Robitaille · 05:16 AM

I noticed a particularly bad issue, where empty albums wouldn't be stuck in the photos app.

Myself, I've had this happen 3 times, twice with facebook albums. So I did some digging and came up with this command-line based solution:

Enter this command:
Code:
```
luna-send -n 1 -a com.palm.app.photos luna://com.palm.db/find '{"query":{"from":"com.palm.media.image.album:1"}}'
```
That will list info on all albums found. It could be a LOT of data, depending on the amount of photos/videos on your TouchPad
In the returned data, look for an entry who's "name" value is the album you want to delete
Notice the "_id" value from that entry. Write that down somewhere; it's a critical piece of info you'll need.
Using that "_id" value, enter this command:
Code:
```
luna-send -n 1 palm://com.palm.service.photos/deleteAlbum '["putthevaluehere"]'
```
And naturally replace "putthevaluehere" with your "_id" value, though keep it in quotes. This command will force-remove the album.

Repeat steps 2-4 for additional albums you want to remove

tklr · 07/19/2011, 05:22 AM

Thx Jason!
Confirming to work as advertised!

T.

avnera · 07/19/2011, 05:33 AM

thanks Jason,
it's good to know. but i have too many of those phantom albums since my nephew logged into facebook using my TouchPad and i can't go one-by-one.

those teenagers have too many albums.

I guess i'll have to wait for the OTA...

catallah · 07/19/2011, 12:30 PM

I also was going to try this...but there is way too many of them. Thanks for the info though Jason!!

miles4000 · 07/19/2011, 02:09 PM

I have this issue with only one album I created. So I assume I would need to get into developer mode to do this?

Up until now I have very little experience with preware, but have a feeling it will be useful to know on the tablet.

Jason Robitaille · 07/19/2011, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miles4000

I have this issue with only one album I created. So I assume I would need to get into developer mode to do this?

Up until now I have very little experience with preware, but have a feeling it will be useful to know on the tablet.

you would need developer mode yes. Just use WebOS Quick Install, and choose the Linux Commandline option. That'll bring up the commandline window you can enter all the commands into

thedizzar · 07/19/2011, 06:31 PM

Wow! I was able to delete 20 FB garbage albums. Somebody logged into FaceBook with his account and left me those pain in the *** leftovers. I finally know how to run a query from ssh! Thx Jason!

rayraypre · 07/26/2011, 09:44 PM

Alternative - USB mode

Connect to computer - delete album (or just the photos, if the folder is a keeper)

If the folder was emptied via the TP, there are a few more steps...

http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touc...ml#post3016420

-rayray
until swiping-to-delete photos becomes a reality...

Jason Robitaille · 07/26/2011, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayraypre

Alternative - USB mode

Connect to computer - delete album (or just the photos, if the folder is a keeper)

If the folder was emptied via the TP, there are a few more steps...

http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touc...ml#post3016420

-rayray
until swiping-to-delete photos becomes a reality...

Unfortunately, that doesn't work with empty facebook albums afaik

fyzzixman · 07/27/2011, 02:39 PM

Not sure if this is the same issue you guys are talking about or not. I added about 8 gigs of music to my TP using USB and drag and drop. So each album (or maybe artist) had its own folder. When I got back on, my Photos/Videos app generated a separate folder, for each album cover. I had hundreds of folders, each containing a thumbnail and a larger image of each cover. It makes scrolling through photos/videos daunting. I tried every way I could think of to delete these files, and whenever I went back to the photos/videos app, they always regenerated. I even deleted all of the music, and all of the folders that contained the music (via usb), and then I deleted all of the images, and when I got back on the device, they all regenerated again!!! Help!!!

liamb · 02:41 PM

For the love of god, that has to be a simpler way to delete photo albums from Facebook on the TouchPad.

I might just wipe it completely at this point.

jtfolden · 08/28/2011, 04:40 PM

I had enabled Facebook photos and then later disabled this feature. It removed the albums from the Photos app but I noticed their was an entire folder structure under /media/internal/.photosapps devoted to thumbnails and resized versions of the facebook photos. I deleted that but then figured there would be db entries for these.

Thanks to the command in the OP, I see them. The command to delete them doesn't seem to work though. It reports back that they have been deleted but after a reboot they are still listed in the database. Has the 3.0.2 update changed this method somehow?

dadueler · 09/20/2011, 03:07 AM

I've got this problem too... Jason, if we backup our USB partition, could we then run a command to just delete all albums? Then wanted albums (like Camera, Downloads) could be restored to the USB partition from the backup...

jmichaelo · 10/22/2011, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fyzzixman

Not sure if this is the same issue you guys are talking about or not. I added about 8 gigs of music to my TP using USB and drag and drop. So each album (or maybe artist) had its own folder. When I got back on, my Photos/Videos app generated a separate folder, for each album cover. I had hundreds of folders, each containing a thumbnail and a larger image of each cover. It makes scrolling through photos/videos daunting. I tried every way I could think of to delete these files, and whenever I went back to the photos/videos app, they always regenerated. I even deleted all of the music, and all of the folders that contained the music (via usb), and then I deleted all of the images, and when I got back on the device, they all regenerated again!!! Help!!!

The Music Album covers is exactly my problem! I would like to be able to specify which folders on my device have pictures that are included in Photos and Videos. Right now the device appears to simply add every image file it finds to an album. Even better yet, just include folders that are in a specific folder, e.g. Pictures in the device folder hierarchy.

BTW, I just had a lengthy chat with Live Chat on this subject and the individual had no clue what to do. At one point she told me to erase my device and start over. How can we get HP to provide better support?

J.Bond · 02/26/2012, 07:33 PM

This album art fiasco on the Touchpad is ridiculous. I am not going to use it as a music player.

DougReeder · 08/04/2012, 10:33 PM

I had a similar problem with albums the Media Indexer somehow created for the graphics files in apps stored on the /media volume.

I deleted the DB8 entries using Impostah, which is easier than doing it from the command line.

Thanks Jason!

maxmin · 10/16/2012, 02:45 PM

Actually, I was just reseaching this and came across this thread. There is an fairly easy fix.

The problem is that Windows Media Play makes extra files when discs are ripped. Several album art files that are downloaded for the album as well as a few system files. The issue is really in Windows Media Player and not the Pre.

After the album folders are copied to the Pre these additional files go with them. I think it's easiest to copy all the albums you want to the Pre. Go to Widows Control Panel and type "Folder" in the Search Control Panel box. Click Show Hidden Files and Folders. In the advanced settings window click the button that says "Show hidden files, folders and drives." Click OK

With the Pre still in USB mode open the folder where all the audio files are and in the search box type ".jpg" Select all (ctrl+A) and then delete all that are found. You can also delete the .ini, .ptn and ,db files if you want too.

You can reset the Folder Options back to not showing system items if you want.

Mokonabaka · 12/20/2012, 09:31 PM

my way to delete the folder album that have pictures:
1/ tap the PENCIL icon @ the lower right corner
2/ tap "Select All" @ top right >>> tap the TRASH CAN icon below >> tap "DELETE"
3/ (QUICK) tap another folder on the left column

That album will be deleted together with all of its contents.

If you don't do step 3 right, you will have to tap "delete the empty album" button.

GMMan · 12/21/2012, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokonabaka

my way to delete the folder album that have pictures:
1/ tap the PENCIL icon @ the lower right corner
2/ tap "Select All" @ top right >>> tap the TRASH CAN icon below >> tap "DELETE"
3/ (QUICK) tap another folder on the left column

That album will be deleted together with all of its contents.

If you don't do step 3 right, you will have to tap "delete the empty album" button.

I thought albums such as Facebook ones are stubbornly hard to remove?

07/19/2011, 05:11 AM	#1 (permalink)
Jason Robitaille Legend Posts: 3,881	[HowTo] Force Remove Album from Photos App I noticed a particularly bad issue, where empty albums wouldn't be stuck in the photos app. Myself, I've had this happen 3 times, twice with facebook albums. So I did some digging and came up with this command-line based solution: Enter this command: Code: luna-send -n 1 -a com.palm.app.photos luna://com.palm.db/find '{"query":{"from":"com.palm.media.image.album:1"}}' That will list info on all albums found. It could be a LOT of data, depending on the amount of photos/videos on your TouchPad In the returned data, look for an entry who's "name" value is the album you want to delete Notice the "_id" value from that entry. Write that down somewhere; it's a critical piece of info you'll need. Using that "_id" value, enter this command: Code: luna-send -n 1 palm://com.palm.service.photos/deleteAlbum '["putthevaluehere"]' And naturally replace "putthevaluehere" with your "_id" value, though keep it in quotes. This command will force-remove the album. Repeat steps 2-4 for additional albums you want to remove __________________ If you've liked my software, please consider to towards future development. Developer of many apps such as: WebOS Quick Install, WebOS Theme Builder, Ipk Packager, Unified Diff Creator, Internalz Pro, ComicShelf HD, LED Torch, over 70 patches and more. @JayCanuck @CanuckCoding Facebook Last edited by Jason Robitaille; 07/19/2011 at 05:16 AM.
	Liked by catallah likes this. Thanked by avnera, capt4chris, catallah, Daughain, dirtyfingers, hawt, Jakeeeee, martinspurr, TheDizzAR, tklr

07/19/2011, 05:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
tklr Member Posts: 87	Thx Jason! Confirming to work as advertised! T. __________________ 140
	Liked by

07/19/2011, 05:33 AM	#3 (permalink)
avnera Member Posts: 174 Global Posts: 185	thanks Jason, it's good to know. but i have too many of those phantom albums since my nephew logged into facebook using my TouchPad and i can't go one-by-one. those teenagers have too many albums. I guess i'll have to wait for the OTA... __________________ Avner. @avnerarbel WritePad HD - http://goo.gl/8RQmn Coloring Book HD - http://goo.gl/XgezU Animal Baby Piano - http://goo.gl/Y5UXg Four in a row - http://goo.gl/tHF63
	Liked by

07/19/2011, 12:30 PM	#4 (permalink)
catallah Member Posts: 61 Global Posts: 69	I also was going to try this...but there is way too many of them. Thanks for the info though Jason!!
	Liked by

07/19/2011, 02:09 PM	#5 (permalink)
miles4000 Member Posts: 1,043 Global Posts: 1,051	I have this issue with only one album I created. So I assume I would need to get into developer mode to do this? Up until now I have very little experience with preware, but have a feeling it will be useful to know on the tablet.
	Liked by

Trending Now

Trending Now

Top 10 Forums

Member Shoutouts

07/19/2011, 06:31 PM	#7 (permalink)
thedizzar Member Posts: 114	Wow! I was able to delete 20 FB garbage albums. Somebody logged into FaceBook with his account and left me those pain in the *** leftovers. I finally know how to run a query from ssh! Thx Jason!
	Liked by

07/26/2011, 09:44 PM	#8 (permalink)
rayraypre Member Posts: 31	Alternative - USB mode Connect to computer - delete album (or just the photos, if the folder is a keeper) If the folder was emptied via the TP, there are a few more steps... http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touc...ml#post3016420 -rayray until swiping-to-delete photos becomes a reality...
	Liked by

07/27/2011, 02:39 PM	#10 (permalink)
fyzzixman Member Posts: 6	Not sure if this is the same issue you guys are talking about or not. I added about 8 gigs of music to my TP using USB and drag and drop. So each album (or maybe artist) had its own folder. When I got back on, my Photos/Videos app generated a separate folder, for each album cover. I had hundreds of folders, each containing a thumbnail and a larger image of each cover. It makes scrolling through photos/videos daunting. I tried every way I could think of to delete these files, and whenever I went back to the photos/videos app, they always regenerated. I even deleted all of the music, and all of the folders that contained the music (via usb), and then I deleted all of the images, and when I got back on the device, they all regenerated again!!! Help!!!
	Liked by

08/21/2011, 02:30 PM	#11 (permalink)
liamb Member Posts: 43 Global Posts: 45	For the love of god, that has to be a simpler way to delete photo albums from Facebook on the TouchPad. I might just wipe it completely at this point. Last edited by hawt; 08/21/2011 at 02:41 PM.
	Liked by

08/28/2011, 04:40 PM	#12 (permalink)
jtfolden Member Posts: 374 Global Posts: 432	I had enabled Facebook photos and then later disabled this feature. It removed the albums from the Photos app but I noticed their was an entire folder structure under /media/internal/.photosapps devoted to thumbnails and resized versions of the facebook photos. I deleted that but then figured there would be db entries for these. Thanks to the command in the OP, I see them. The command to delete them doesn't seem to work though. It reports back that they have been deleted but after a reboot they are still listed in the database. Has the 3.0.2 update changed this method somehow?
	Liked by

09/20/2011, 03:07 AM	#13 (permalink)
dadueler Member Posts: 162 Global Posts: 183	I've got this problem too... Jason, if we backup our USB partition, could we then run a command to just delete all albums? Then wanted albums (like Camera, Downloads) could be restored to the USB partition from the backup...
	Liked by

02/26/2012, 07:33 PM	#15 (permalink)
J.Bond Member Posts: 2	This album art fiasco on the Touchpad is ridiculous. I am not going to use it as a music player.
	Liked by

08/04/2012, 10:33 PM	#16 (permalink)
DougReeder Member Posts: 88	I had a similar problem with albums the Media Indexer somehow created for the graphics files in apps stored on the /media volume. I deleted the DB8 entries using Impostah, which is easier than doing it from the command line. Thanks Jason! __________________ developer of Outline Tracker, Zap Photoshare, PopupCalc and ExhibitionCalc
	Liked by

10/16/2012, 02:45 PM	#17 (permalink)
maxmin Member Posts: 38 Global Posts: 43	Actually, I was just reseaching this and came across this thread. There is an fairly easy fix. The problem is that Windows Media Play makes extra files when discs are ripped. Several album art files that are downloaded for the album as well as a few system files. The issue is really in Windows Media Player and not the Pre. After the album folders are copied to the Pre these additional files go with them. I think it's easiest to copy all the albums you want to the Pre. Go to Widows Control Panel and type "Folder" in the Search Control Panel box. Click Show Hidden Files and Folders. In the advanced settings window click the button that says "Show hidden files, folders and drives." Click OK With the Pre still in USB mode open the folder where all the audio files are and in the search box type ".jpg" Select all (ctrl+A) and then delete all that are found. You can also delete the .ini, .ptn and ,db files if you want too. You can reset the Folder Options back to not showing system items if you want.
	Liked by

12/20/2012, 09:31 PM	#18 (permalink)
Mokonabaka Member Posts: 1	my way to delete the folder album that have pictures: 1/ tap the PENCIL icon @ the lower right corner 2/ tap "Select All" @ top right >>> tap the TRASH CAN icon below >> tap "DELETE" 3/ (QUICK) tap another folder on the left column That album will be deleted together with all of its contents. If you don't do step 3 right, you will have to tap "delete the empty album" button.
	Liked by

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode