Hello, I need some help! My students’ podcast episode they have been editing for months suddenly won’t open. Audacity gives me an error when I try to open the .aup file.
The AUP file nor the Data file have been moved. No folder names have been changed. Other AUP files from the same folders open fine.
When I double click the project file, Audacity opens and then I get: "Error Importing. Audacity does not recognize the type of the file ‘C:\etc etc’ If it is uncompressed, try importing it using “Import Raw”. Then I can click OK or Help.
Help says: Audacity can import unprotected files in many other formats (such as M4A and WMA, compressed WAV files from portable recorders and audio from video files) if you download and install the optional FFmpeg library to your computer.
You can also read our help on importing MIDI files and tracks from audio CDs.
One of the times I tried to open it, I could see more details and saved the following log:
4:06:25 PM: File name is C:\Users\Jan\Desktop\LigerCast\LigerCast Episode 4 - Marine Conservation\Ep 4 Master Mix.aup
4:06:25 PM: Mime type is *
4:06:25 PM: Opening with libsndfile
4:06:25 PM: Opening with liboggvorbis
4:06:25 PM: Opening with libflac
4:06:25 PM: Opening with lof
4:06:25 PM: Opening with libav
4:06:25 PM: Importer::Import: Opening failed.
4:06:25 PM: File name is C:\Users\Jan\Desktop\LigerCast\LigerCast Episode 4 - Marine Conservation\Ep 4 Master Mix.aup
4:06:25 PM: Mime type is *
4:06:25 PM: Opening with libsndfile
4:06:25 PM: Opening with liboggvorbis
4:06:25 PM: Opening with libflac
4:06:25 PM: Opening with lof
4:06:25 PM: Opening with libav
4:06:25 PM: Importer::Import: Opening failed.
Not sure what to try. Can anyone help? Much appreciated. Thanks.
Also, if I go to the Help Menu and Show Log, here’s what I get:
4:33:52 PM: Audacity 2.1.0
4:33:52 PM: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries...
4:33:52 PM: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries from system paths. File name is 'avformat-55.dll'.
4:33:52 PM: Looking up PATH environment variable...
4:33:52 PM: PATH = 'C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Shared;C:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\Phone\'
4:33:52 PM: Checking that '' is in PATH...
4:33:52 PM: FFmpeg directory is in PATH.
4:33:52 PM: Checking for monolithic avformat from 'avformat-55.dll'.
4:33:52 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library 'avformat-55.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
4:33:52 PM: Loading avutil from ''.
4:33:52 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library '.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
4:33:52 PM: Loading avcodec from ''.
4:33:52 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library '.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
4:33:52 PM: Loading avformat from 'avformat-55.dll'.
4:33:52 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library 'avformat-55.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
4:33:52 PM: Error: Failed to load FFmpeg libraries.
4:33:52 PM: Error: Failed to find compatible FFmpeg libraries.
4:33:52 PM: File name is C:\Users\Jan\Desktop\LigerCast\LigerCast Episode 4 - Marine Conservation\Ep 4 Master Mix.aup
4:33:52 PM: Mime type is *
4:33:52 PM: Opening with libsndfile
4:33:52 PM: Opening with liboggvorbis
4:33:52 PM: Opening with libflac
4:33:52 PM: Opening with lof
4:33:52 PM: Opening with libav
4:33:52 PM: Error: Importer::Import: Opening failed.
It ‘looks’ like you are using “File > Import > Audio” rather than “File > Open”.
You need to use “File menu > Open” for Audacity projects.
(that’s the “File” menu at the top left of the main Audacity window)
Try installing the current version of Audacity (2.1.2). You can download it from here: http://www.audacity.audio/download/windows/
During the installation, look for the option to “Reset Preferences”. Select that option when you see it. On first run you will be asked to confirm resetting preferences - confirm that. Then try opening the AUP file again from the “Open” menu.
Thank you for taking a look, Gale. I’m uploading the AUP file. Did you also want me to share the data file? I’ll have to do that through another site (it’s 1.41GB).
And Steve, thanks but I did indeed update to the latest version of Audacity and it still wouldn’t open. All other Audacity files work fine, just not the important one.
I truly appreciate your continued help and advice. Is there any cure for a corrupted file? Ep 4 Master Mix.aup (238 KB)
This problem can happen if you shut down the computer before Audacity has finished saving the project, because the AUP file is saved last.
There is no sensible way to recover it from the data you have, because the naming of the files bears no relation to their order in the project. If it was an unedited recording, that can be recovered without the AUP file.
There is an almost zero possibility that Users<your user name>\AppData\Roaming\Audacity\AutoSave might contain a Temp file that Audacity could recover from. But I have never known that to be the case when the AUP file is all zeros.
There must be a reason it happened. Was the computer shut down before you the project save completed?
Was that the first save of the project? If not and you have System Restore enabled on the drive, there might be a “previous version” of the file if you right-click the AUP file, Properties, Previous Versions tab.
Otherwise, you are using file recovery software to look for old copies of the AUP file or AUTOSAVE file that have not been written over yet. That only works with spinning hard drives, not Solid State Drives.
