What happened to my default ringtones?

[Douglasia]

I no longer have default (any) ring tones. May have lost something else, too.

One morning Notifications informed me my internal memory was full. Touch screen functions were intermittent. Settings, More, Storage, Applications showed an app had consumed several GB of storage. It was early and I was in a hurry so I don't remember but it seemed to be named something like (verizon?)media(storage?). I cleared (deleted?) it and the phone returned to normal functionality.

However, I do not have ring tone options. Settings, My Device, Sound, Ringtones. When I go to Ringtones, I have give the choice of File Explorer (my app) or Media Storage (Android system) Within Media Storage my only option is Silent. My default Clock Alarms show an Alarm Tones (5) but there is no sound. Interestingly, ring tones associated with phone calls seem to be working but cannot be changed. Am not in Airplane Mode, Volume is at max and Sound is on.

I only used the default ringtones and would like to get them back. SCH I545, Android 4.3

Thank you for your help.

[axel_2078]

Is there a way to restore it to default factory settings?

[Douglasia]

Seems like that would be a good last resort.

[vzw_customer_support]

We'll get this figured out Douglasia. Please boot your phone into safe mode http://vz.to/HtWicM and check ringtones again. Try also removing and re-inserting your SIM card. If still no change, a factory reset is recommended. http://vz.to/1cYQJ5d

MarquiaF_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

[Douglasia]

Thank you. This worked as long as I stayed in Safe Mode. Upon exiting Safe Mode I no longer had Ring Tone options, only choices to link to browser of file.

[Ann154 · Accepted solution]

Douglasia wrote:

Thank you. This worked as long as I stayed in Safe Mode. Upon exiting Safe Mode I no longer had Ring Tone options, only choices to link to browser of file.

If it worked in Safe Mode, says to me that there is a downloaded app that is conflicting with the normal operation. Start uninstalling recently installed applications and testing after each uninstall unless you figure out which application it was.

[Douglasia]

By uninstalling apps I discovered one I had downloaded, ES File Explorer Manager, that added an extra step of using it (shows file tree) or Media Storage (correct choice to directly access the default ringtones) from the Sound, Ringtones menus. Now, the ring tones are shown when Media Storage is used. These were missing before. This should resolve my problem.

Thank you everyone for your ideas and assistance.

[Ann154]

Douglasia wrote:

By uninstalling apps I discovered one I had downloaded, ES File Explorer Manager, that added an extra step of using it (shows file tree) or Media Storage (correct choice to directly access the default ringtones) from the Sound, Ringtones menus. Now, the ring tones are shown when Media Storage is used. These were missing before. This should resolve my problem.

Thank you everyone for your ideas and assistance.

I have used that file explorer app for years and it hasn't hidden the default ringtones from selecting them. You do have to reset the default way to select the ringtones back to the media storage option and to remove the dialog asking which way to complete the action.

[Douglasia]

I understand and agree with your comment.

Although it doesn't make any sense to me, the 'missing' ring tones only revealed themselves when the app was removed.

They remained visible when the app was re-installed, although I then had to take the extra step you described (even though the app had not activated by me -active in the background?)

Perhaps something entirely unrelated had occurred.

Thanks for your help.

[Wls1254]

I Had same problem with my Droid Ultra Maxx & ES File Explorer.  Ringtones present in Safe Mode, but not in normal mode. I Did not need to uninstall The app.  Just cleared its data and cache.  Then when I went to sound then phone ringtone, I was again given choice of opening with ES File Explorer or Media Explorer.  Picked the second and all the default ringtones back on the list.