"Error: Not well-formed" - Can't recover help!

I was recording the other day when a power surge in my area cause my computer to shut off. Now when I try to recover the audio it says 'Error: not well-formed (invalid token) at line 3661"

Idk what that means or how to fix this. Help?
New Project - 2014-08-03 04-13-56 N-1.autosave (208 KB)

When the line number of the error is very high it usually means the last line but one of the AUTOSAVE file is corrupted - it’s just NULL’s (empty spaces) and a duplicate tag.

The fix is to delete that entire line then you should have the correct syntax at the end - the last line but one is the final tag and the last line is the closing tag (there should be only one of those tags).

See if the attached fixes it for you.


Gale
New Project - 2014-08-03 04-13-56 N-1.autosave (204 KB)

I honestly don’t know what you’re telling me to do. I loaded the file you sent and the first time it crashed audacity and the second time it was just an empty recording. No sound at all.

08:07:07: Audacity 2.0.5
8:07:08 AM: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries…
8:07:08 AM: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries from system paths. File name is ‘avformat-52.dll’.
8:07:08 AM: Looking up PATH environment variable…
8:07:08 AM: PATH = ‘C:Program Files (x86)NVIDIA CorporationPhysXCommon;C:Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedWindows Live;C:Program Files (x86)Common FilesMicrosoft SharedWindows Live;C:Windowssystem32;C:Windows;C:WindowsSystem32Wbem;C:WindowsSystem32WindowsPowerShellv1.0;C:Program Files (x86)QuickTimeQTSystem;C:Program Files (x86)Windows LiveShared;C:Program FilesD3DGear;.;’
8:07:08 AM: Checking that ‘’ is in PATH…
8:07:08 AM: FFmpeg directory is in PATH.
8:07:08 AM: Checking for monolithic avformat from ‘avformat-52.dll’.
8:07:08 AM: Error: Failed to load shared library ‘avformat-52.dll’ (error 18: there are no more files.)
8:07:08 AM: Loading avutil from ‘avutil-50.dll’.
8:07:08 AM: Error: Failed to load shared library ‘avutil-50.dll’ (error 18: there are no more files.)
8:07:08 AM: Loading avcodec from ‘avcodec-52.dll’.
8:07:08 AM: Error: Failed to load shared library ‘avcodec-52.dll’ (error 18: there are no more files.)
8:07:08 AM: Loading avformat from ‘avformat-52.dll’.
8:07:08 AM: Error: Failed to load shared library ‘avformat-52.dll’ (error 18: there are no more files.)
8:07:08 AM: Error: Failed to load FFmpeg libraries.
8:07:08 AM: Error: Failed to find compatible FFmpeg libraries.
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004077.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004129.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e00041ae.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e000421b.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004273.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e000428a.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e00042e7.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e00043fc.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e000458c.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e00048a3.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e00048ed.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004921.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004aa3.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004ccd.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004d16.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004dee.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004e52.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004e65.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004eeb.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Orphan block file: ‘D:Tempaudacity_tempproject17231e00d04e0004f1f.au’
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Project check ignored orphan block file(s). They will be deleted when project is saved.
8:07:12 AM: Warning: Project check found file inconsistencies inspecting the loaded project data.

Figured out what you meant and this is what I got. Is it lost?

I “fixed” the file using the method I gave, which cures the “not well formed” error. I just intended you replace the AUTOSAVE file you had with the one I attached.


Gale

How long was this recording when it crashed?

The files listed as orphans in the log appear to be correctly detected in so far as they are not in the AUTOSAVE file. Those orphan data files look like the part of the recording that could not be written to the end of the AUTOSAVE file. If you want that data preserved you will need to use Windows Task Manager (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC) then force quit Audacity. Don’t answer any questions from Audacity about saving changes, just make Windows quit Audacity.

The rest of the project prior to those orphans “should” have recovered if those are the only orphans mentioned in the log.

If you are saying Audacity crashed the first time you loaded the repaired AUTOSAVE and now there is no audio at all, then I would definitely force quit Audacity in Windows Task Manger and post the latest AUTOSAVE file you have. It may have been corrupted by the crash you mention.

If the AUTOSAVE file cannot be repaired again or there is some problem with the data itself, then a manual recovery is possible as per Crash Recovery - Audacity Wiki .

But post the latest AUTOSAVE as the next step.


Gale

Here is the file attached below. When I open it in audacity there is no sound at all. I really dont know what i have to do could you explain it a little more simply? I am not at all familiar with this…
New Project - 2014-08-03 04-13-56 N-1.autosave (204 KB)

That file is identical to the one I repaired. There is nothing in the file that explains why the project opens silenced, and if the data was “missing” the log should show that.

Please try to recover again (unless you still have the window open) then choose View > Fit in Window. Is all the project really a flat line?

Clearly there is audio in the “project17231” folder that is not listed in the AUTOSAVE file. Do you need that extra audio (the orphan files listed in the log)?

It’s explained in the link I gave: Missing features - Audacity Support .

Try fitting the project and checking how much audio is missing before we get to “automatic recovery tools”. Do you know how long the total audio is supposed to be?


Gale

It’s supposed to be about an hour… and yea its just a flat line with no sound when I load it in audacity.

It says, “Project check found inconsistencies during automatic recovery.” Then it tells me to check the log…

60 minutes seems about right for the number of AU files referenced in the AUTOSAVE.

Are you sure you posted the entire log? If not, please do so.

Open the “project17231” folder in Explorer and drag 12 of the AU files into Audacity, three from each of the “d” folders to get a good spread. Are they audio or silence?

If they are silence then there is no point recovering anything manually. If you are not sure, attach a couple of the AU files here.


Gale