Unable to navigate internal storage to export database

[ghost]

Checklist

• I am using the latest version - 0.21.3
• I checked, but didn't find any duplicates (open OR closed) of this issue in the repo.

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. Go to 'Settings, Content, Export database'
2. Allow permissions if necessary.
3. Navigate to external drive, and attempt to save. NOTE: The default save folder has now changed, locking you out of any ability to ever navigate to a viable folder, and effectively making the database unsavable.
4. After save fails (see Database export to removable storage fails on Android 10 #5198 ) attempt to navigate back to internal storage.
5. Many folders are not displayed, especially the folder(s) necessary to navigate back to a viable internal save folder.

Device info

• Android version/Custom ROM version: android 9 / lineage 16.
• Device model: xt1687

[triallax]

I'm not sure I understand the problem. I understand that you weren't able to export your database, but if you uninstalled NewPipe without exporting a backup, of course you're going to lose all your data. Could you clarify?

[ghost]

the bug is an inability to see folders to navigate back to internal storage

[ghost]

as you can see, this is at root, only showing the virtual .. folder. there is no place to go.

[triallax]

Then could you please edit the issue and its title to reflect this? Right now, the issue sounds like it complains about NewPipe losing its database after uninstalling, not of the inability to see folders in internal storage.

[triallax]

Nevermind, I edited both the issue and the title.

[ghost]

also, there are plenty of sloppy apps out there that would NOT delete user settings (database) upon uninstall. so it's not obvious that was going to happen. congrats, NewPipe isn't that kind of app. but right now it's worse because of this bug. but personally i'm against the whole philosophy of storing/hiding user-data in program files areas. i.e., i would prefer the database be a file in a user directory apart from installation files. that is how linux is supposed to operate.

[triallax]

also, there are plenty of sloppy apps out there that would NOT delete user settings (database) upon uninstall.

Can you clarify this part? NewPipe doesn't itself delete data when it's uninstalled; Android does that.

i would prefer the database be a file in a user directory apart from installation files. that is how linux is supposed to operate.

This is how Android works; each app has its own storage area where it's free to do as it pleases and that other apps are not allowed to access. Changing that would require getting permission to access the filesystem, which I imagine many would feel uncomfortable with. I'm not trying to side with any point of view here; this is just how Android works.

[opusforlife2]

If I understand this issue correctly, then this was an unintended consequence of the PR that implemented saving the backup location. If that backup location later becomes inaccessible for whatever reason (here it seems to be on an SD Card that is no longer inserted) then the folder picker behaves like in the screenshot shown above.

The simplest solution would be to implement a fallback, I think. If the app cannot find the backup folder, it should show the root directory of the internal storage.

@ATofighi Is this correct?

[ATofighi]

@opusforlife2 I did a simple check on #6319 for directory existence on https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/pull/6319/files#diff-1609dad9ee8508ad8521334fdcdf214ab32a8bc3c27a8a6e6f6b857695d48c3bR71 . But it seems that it not work for this situation.

[opusforlife2]

Oh. Okay. Then let's see if #6402 successfully fixes it.

[ghost]

i didn't remove my SD card. it just wouldn't save on SD, so i tried to navigate back to internal storage. the /storage/emulated/0 folder was missing, and then i navigated to the root, and then i was stuck.

so, the app CAN find the backup folder (SD card), but i can't navigate from there to internal storage.

[ghost]

i tested #6402 which, for now, successfully works around the issue. after attempting and failing to save on SD, when i try again to export the database it starts me in /storage/emulated/0 where i can save, instead of the SD card folder which leaves me unable to save or navigate back to internal storage.

however, the underlying issue remains: when i navigate to /storage/emulated it does not show the "0" folder... and, similarly, if i navigate to root i am stuck and can see nothing. this has not changed. i saw this same exact behavior with the same type of file browser screen in another app i was considering yesterday (Timbre v3.1.8), so it seems this underlying issue is not specific to newpipe. (fyi: in /storage i can see 3 folders: my SD card, emulated and self. navigating from storage/emulated/0 to SD card has never been a problem).

i say #6402 fixes it "for now" but i am still unable to save to SD, due to #5198, and i can't test that bug fix with this one because there is no such apk. if i can, in the future, save to SD, then i don't know what would happen if i save to SD successfully and then try to save to internal storage. if the default save folder is permanently locked to /storage/emulated/0 then i expect no issue. if the default can change to any SD location, then i expect this issue would resurface (as long as the underlying issue exists).

thanks!

[ghost]

The other app I found with the same underlying file browser navigation issue is Timbre v3.1.8

https://timbre.en.uptodown.com/android

[opusforlife2]

@cubetronic Could you open a new issue with the specific problem that was not solved by the linked PR? Thanks.