I am using MacOS Sonoma 14.5, Audacity 3.6.1, and Mac Mini M2 2023
Ran into an issue this morning that has me perplexed. I started a new project (.aup3) and imported three audio files. I worked with those for a bit and then tried to add a fourth file. I was not able to. It got stuck on import audio. I canceled out of it and tried again. Same result. I then tried to open a different audio file thinking that the other one was corrupt. Same result. I thought that maybe it was that it was the file type. So I tried a wav file. Same result. I then tried to import a file that happened to be in the same directory as the aup3 project. It imported just fine. I then moved the file that I wanted to use to that directory and it imported fine.
The files I tried to import were on an external drive and the the project was on the internal drive. Also, I was able to duplicate the problem using a different set of audio files.
Has anyone else seen this?
Ron
UPDATE: Started a new project last night and expected to have to move the files to the same directory as the aup3 project. Didn’t happen. everything worked as it always has. Now I am more perplexed than before. Maybe it was a simple mounting issue all a long.
Audacity assumes any drive it can see can be used for any job no matter how delicate, difficult, or easily broken. For one example, say you set up for a carefully-timed multi-track musical overdubbing session and you find the cloud drive you chose for the work is in a warehouse outside of Schenectady. With network delays, collision detection, data errors, rerouting, and internet retries, chances of completing the show that way are zero.
Unstable conditions are less and less serious the closer you get until conditions are perfect on your local drive.
Best stay on the local drive.
Audacity 3.6.1 has provision for saving on audio.com cloud drive, but that’s been running into some entertaining problems, too.
The external drive is hard wired via USB and I have kept commonly used audio files there for years with out issue. This problem didn’t happen until 3.6.1, which is why I thought to post this.
I’ve been editing Audacity projects stored on an external USB drive for years and have not had any problems, except in the early days when external USB drives were slow. Lately this has not been an issue.
It is strange that the files import OK when moved to a different directory. What is the “fully qualified path name” of the files when they are on the external drive?
The 3.6.x Audacity versions have been giving the “I’ve been doing [XXX] for [YYY] years.” a run for its money.
I will point to the Audiobook Mastering Macro which is lying in pieces. We’re experiencing sound, show, and project damage nobody’s ever seen before.
No, I don’t know where that funny noise came from that permanently ruined your show.
My impression is that behavior and activities that used to be a little sketchy are now completely forbidden. This external drive thing is a prime example.
I had no problem last night creating a new project in 3.6.1, importing a bunch of MP3s from an external USB drive, then saving the project on said USB drive and editing it.