Unable to export (wav, mp3, OGG) file from Audacity

I am unable to export an .aup file to any listenable file, and am also unable to Save As…
I have downloaded and directed Audacity towards the recent LAME encoder successfully. When I try to export, I get the error message “Audacity failed to read in /Users/[myname]/Desktop/.”
I have reinstalled Audacity to no avail. I’ve also tried to locate the audacity.cfg file as suggested here: https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/preferences.html#stored
I could not locate the .cfg file anywhere. I’ve included a screenshot of the Library/Application Support/audacity/ folder for reference. The second screenshot is of the configuration before saving, though I don’t think it has to do with that.

Thanks!
Screenshot 2018-02-09 20.46.11.png
Screenshot 2018-02-09 20.41.27.png

It looks to me from your screenshots that you are trying to store Audacity projects and exported files to the folders where the application lives

a) this is a bad idea
b) you probably don’t have the privileges for that (which is why you are blocked)

You should be storing in:

Documents/Audacity - or a sub-folder of that

WC

The audacity.cfg file is in your user Library folder, not the system Library folder.
In the Finder, click on the Go menu, choose Go to folder… and enter ~/Library/Application Support/audacity/ . Note the “~” character at the beginning.

Are you sure the error message was exactly this: Audacity failed to read in /Users/[myname]/Desktop/?

– Bill

Thanks, I found the .cfg file and deleted it, restarted the program and was met with the same issue.

Yes, I’ve included a screenshot for reference.
Screenshot 2018-02-11 22.19.31.png

Thanks for your reply. The top screenshot posted was meant to demonstrate that I couldn’t find the audacity.cfg file. I’m storing the original .aud file and its data folder on my desktop and attempting to export to the desktop as well. If I move the .aud and data folders to Documents/Audacity/ it fails to read and also corrupts the file.

I’d like to see a screen shot of a Finder window of your Desktop, showing an AUP file and its associated _data folder.
– Bill

Sure.

And another of the test_data folder.
Screenshot 2018-02-12 19.20.40.png

Hi, any information regarding my file storage?

I’m at a loss. The only thing I can see is that I’d expect a “d00” folder inside the “e00” folder. Your project may be toast.

Do you get a warning about “missing block files” when opening the project?

– Bill

I don’t. I was able to open the file from the desktop but now cannot play the track even in audacity - it seems to drop off certain tracks at seemingly random times.

That is a symptom of missing block files, although I don’t understand why you don’t get a warning.
Do you have a Time Machine backup? I think that’s the only way to salvage the project - go back to a state where all the AU files were there.
– Bill

Hi there - I just wanted to share that I was having this same issue (Audacity 2.2.1, Mac OS 10.13.3) and it was driving me crazy. This was the only thread I could find with the same error message I was receiving (the “File Error - Audacity failed to read from a file in /Users/location”, I actually moved the file around and it errored in multiple file locations) - but I did find a workaround that isn’t great but it saved my project, and depending on if anyone comes across this in the future maybe it’ll be something you can do.

As far as I can tell this error means that there’s some kind of corruption in one or a handful of individual .au files. I was actually able to isolate the area in my Audacity file where it would throw me the error - I used “Export Selected Audio” and found that I could export the first 10 minutes, and then everything after the 12 minute mark, but not the 10-12 minute span. The nature of my project was such that I could clip that out, save the file and then it would export normally. I actually recorded a new bit to insert in that gap and it’s been fine since.

I don’t know if that will help figure out the bug but at least it’s a strategy to try and salvage a project if anyone else runs into this!

A bug has been discovered in Audacity 2.2.1 which can cause data loss if you overwrite the project using “Save Project As…” (rather than the normal "“Save Project…”)
The bug has now been fixed.

It is highly recommended that all users update as soon as possible.
Audacity 2.2.2 is now available via the Audacity website: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

I had the same issue earlier but it was fixed. I know the workaround sounds weird, but it worked: I downloaded the LAME zip file (from here: https://lame.buanzo.org/#lameosxdl) instead of dmg, Audacity was then able to locate the file and extracted my files as MP3.

I have no idea why, not sure if it’ll work for you but it did for me, hope it helps.

LAME is required to export MP3. See here for more information: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/faq_installation_and_plug_ins.html#lame