couldn't find the project data folder BUT....

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

Receiving the above error. After researching the issue apparently the data folder should be the same name as the project name.

Sequence of events:

  • Created project, named it “Project A.aup” (pseudonym :wink: ) data folder named “Project A_data”. so far so good, right?


  • Days later resumed project. I thought I was smart saving it again with a different name (indicating a different stage). Named it “Project B.aup”.


  • Next day I attempt to open Project B.aup and I get the error “couldn’t find the project data folder”. When I open up Project B.aup with text editor the projname remained as “Project A_data”.

See the issue?
Project B worked fine until this, able to export mp3 fine, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

Audacity version 2.4.2. Windows 10.

2

See here for how to safely manage Audacity projects: https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/audacity_projects.html

3

Any other more tailored suggestions?

4

To save with a new name:

  1. Open the project in Audacity
  2. “File menu > Save Project > Save Project As…”

That should create a new “Project B.aup” and “Project B_data”.

This part of the page that I previously linked to: https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/audacity_projects.html#copies

5

2.4.2, right? I think there was a beta or a release a few years back with a “Save As” problem, but that was quickly withdrawn. I don’t believe anyone was affected…

So I tried your steps, and when I take the “A” project, then Save As to “B”, the .aup file definitely says “B_data”, so no cigar there.

So something else is going on here. You seem to be pretty aware, so I am not going to bore you with any suggestions that are intuitively obvious. steve knows what he is doing. If there was anything else, he would have let you know.

6

I did move the entire folder elsewhere for a few moments, but when I encountered the issued described I moved the entire thing back. No luck.

I wonder if the issues stems from that? Still the “Project B” folder would be there.

7

also, my PC went to sleep after I was done. I wonder if that contributed to the issue?

8

So your recent comments haven’t inspired any new thinking… :frowning: You have read steve’s links…?

On the bright side, the upcoming release of Audacity 3.0.0 addresses this and similar issues. :smiley:

9

I wonder if that contributed to the issue?

Last I checked, Windows had three or four different “sleep” levels. Snooze, nap, suspend, nod-off, sleep, and they all mean different things. I never allow production machines to do anything on their own, sleep, backup, update, anything. It’s too dangerous. The one exception is the laptop can go to sleep after an hour of no activity and only if it’s on batteries. If it’s plugged into the wall, it will stay up for days. Yes, the machine warns me about that, but if that’s what the production demands, that’s the way it is.

As Jademan above, there was an early version of Audacity, quickly removed from service, which caused show failure if anyone used Save As:.

This is an Audacity Project in current design. Also as above, this is going away.

They come in sets. They have to be in the same location or folder to succeed. You can’t put the AUP file inside the _DATA folder. They have to have the same name and they have to be the name you gave them inside Audacity.

The AUP file is a text file and will open in any text editor (do not save anything). They have English-like programming words and the header has the name of the show (red box).

This one has been cleaned up for the picture, but yours will have similar words.

Open up the _DATA folder and you should see nested folders with little AU sound files. Each AU file is six seconds long and will open and play in Audacity.

Everything has to match. If everything looks right and the show still won’t open, then the AUP file may be damaged even if it’s not missing, or the show has some other serious or fatal problem. These show files can have normal computer problems in addition to Audacity problems.

One of the other forum posters was able to rescue a damaged project by hiring a local city digital professional to come and put it all back together. Without real-world hands-on (Audacity doesn’t offer that), that may be the end of your show.

One of the Producer’s jobs nobody likes to talk about is to decide when to give up and shoot the production fresh and edit it again.

Koz