Non-existent Files Paths after going from Windows to Mac, from V. 1 to V. 2

Hi ! (1st post) :wave: :slightly_smiling_face:

I created some Audacity projects ( ‘.aup’ + _DATA ) at the time :

  • on Version 1.2.6 of Audacity

  • on Windows XP (I know… :hourglass_flowing_sand: ) (NOT accessible anymore, HDD erased, PC broken)

Today, I’m on :

  • Mac ( 10.13.6 , High Sierra )
  • at least Version 2 of Audacity

I’d just like to :

  • open the file and have Tracks working
  • & convert it to the Version 2 of Audacity, with “Save As”.

~ OF COURSE … ~ : When I try to open the Audacity’s file, the .aup , but with Audacity 2, it tells me that some .WAV files are missing from their old file path, understandably.

I still have those .Wav files ! And I’d be more than happy to indicate the Software where they happen to be, or put them at their older location, to then “Save as” in a new project, etc.

Having more old projects, it would help me not restarting parts of those, esp since lots of those Tracks got their volume modified, lenght cut, etc.

:warning: EXCEPT :warning: : those pathfiles are from an old Windows XP format so they’re like :

'C:\Documents and Settings\Clément_Familial\[blablabla]\Cry écho 01.wav'

So it’s basically impossible for me to use this option ! :melting_face:

:question: I’d like to know, please, if there’s a method to point at the new emplacements of the files, in order to avoid re-putting everything myself & restarting modifications for all projects. :grey_question:

:arrow_right_hook: Audacity has been telling me to go the menu : " HELP / Diagnostic / ±~ Verify Associated Files " ,
and they indeed appear, just there (scoffing at :pleading_face:) but there’s no option to indicate their new path :thinking: , like in Final Cut Pro 7 by example …

  • Sorry for the :fr: Screenshot : Basically the only available option is “Do not copy” [the files into the project, since they’re missing].
  • If I right click on the file path, the only available option is “Copy path name”.

( PS : I’ve seen Topics about “going from Mac to Windows” in my researches, but not the reverse , and most subjects about missing files were saying : “try to put the files back in their original path”, which I unfortunately can’t. Couldn’t find more atm. )

I think that’s a little scrambled. The old Audacity Projects had an AUP file and a _DATA folder of the same name with a bunch of oddly-named directories and AU sound snippets. The AUP file had the instructions of what Audacity is to do with all those snippets to put the show back together.

No WAV files.

That’s not to say you can’t also have missing WAV files. Those are high-quality and self-contained, so if you do find those they should just work right out of the gate.

Koz

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Those were the days when Audacity projects could reference external WAV files. This saved disk space because the file did not need to be copied into the project. Later versions of Audacity (apparently your 2.x version has this feature) allowed one to copy these external files into the project.

Step 1 is to get those WAV files onto your Mac, in some logical location.

Step 2 is to edit the AUP file in TextEdit (make a copy first!), find the windows-style references and change them to point to the locations of the WAV files on your Mac. It may not be that simple, though.

I don’t have an old project that references external WAV files, so I don’t know what those references look like inside the AUP.

Those external WAV files were also referenced (somehow) inside the individual AU files inside the _data folder.

The oldest version of Audacity that I have is 2.4.2 which does not have the ability to create a project that references external files.

Maybe someone out there has one of those old projects kicking around, or has an old enough version of Audacity to create one.

The point is: we need to know what those references to external files look like inside the AUP file and (possibly) the AU files.

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  • Note : with all the necessary BackUps first, I’ve “Save(d) as” the Project in Audacity 2, after telling it not to delete files / sounds , so I’ve worked in TextEdit on an already converted .AUP file, in the Audacity 2 format (doesn’t seem to be much different in V.1, from I what I saw, tho…) .

:tada: :sparkler: Thanks for both your answers ! It seems to have worked !

It was indeed like @billw58 was saying, it could reference to individual various files from everywhere ,

and I opened the .AUP file in TextEdit , and it :sparkles:INDEED :sparkles: shows what we were searching for ! :

<waveblock start="262144">
					<pcmaliasblockfile summaryfile="b00350.auf" aliasfile="C:\Documents and Settings\Clément_Familial\Bureau\LA CHOSE\Cry écho 02.wav" aliasstart="262144" aliaslen="262144" aliaschannel="0" min="-0.000061" max="0.000061" rms="0.000026"/>
</waveblock>

where other parts of the same .AUP file, still opened in TextEdit, where indeed relying to those famous “bunch of oddly-named” files :wink: :

<waveblock start="524288">
					<simpleblockfile filename="b00402.au" len="262144" min="-0.146423" max="0.000061" rms="0.016383"/>
				</waveblock>
  • :arrow_right_hook: SO, I basically used the “Replace” option for each in TextEdit with a bunch of Cmd + FCmd + C / Cmd + V … and on the files the “Right Click → THEN Alt → THEN "Copy the element as a File Path Name” or so option

Basically it looked like this :arrow_heading_down: (thankfully, the inside of the .AUP file was manageable) ;

So after, I had something like that :

<waveblock start="0">
					<pcmaliasblockfile summaryfile="b00340.auf" aliasfile="/-AUDACITY_MISSING_NEW_FOLDER/Cry écho 01.wav" aliasstart="0" aliaslen="262144" aliaschannel="0" min="-0.000061" max="0.000061" rms="0.000026"/>
				</waveblock>
  • ( Jic : I had to restart cause I’ve edited the file WHILE it was opened :man_facepalming: , of course… So “Error opening sound device” when trying to Read or Record a track. But after a computer restart, everything went ok !

NOW, the Menu " HELP / Diagnostic / ±~ Verify Associated Files " was then giving me this list :

WITH ALL available options, once a file is selected.

  • Copied everything, seems to have worked !

I * THINK * everything is OK ! So thank you SO MUCH !
I’m gonna try a few last tests and then will “tick” that the case is solved.

Have a great night / day ! :wave: That was quite “archeological”, with success.

Bravo! Well done! :tada:

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