Randomly stops recording-very frustrating!

[JoeA1970]

Please help me with this very frustrating problem. When I record long bits of music from cassette tapes, like a whole side at once, the audacity stops recording at ramdom intervals. Sometimes 7 min, or 16 mins or even 45 mins. The red record bar just hangs up and doesnt go any further. Its a pain after youve recorded 45 min of a 60 min tape just to find the recording is stuck again. Ive tried putting it on a timed record for like an hour and a half, and it will just randomly freeze somewhere again. How can I record a full 60 min cassette tape?

[kozikowski]

What kind of computer are you using? Can you see the hard drive light? If the drive light goes crazy at the exact time your capture crashes, then you are running out of drive space or the space you have is cluttered and unusable. We expect a drive light flicker every second or half-second on a healthy machine.

Audacity will not work into a full or fragmented hard drive.

Right Click Start > Explore > Right Click Local Drive C: > Properties (read Used and Free) > Tools > Error Checking & Defragmentation

Don't bother with the tools if you don't have at least 15% of the hard drive free. That's at minimum.

Koz

[steve]

If you are you using a USB audio interface it could be a USB problem. If so, try a different USB socket, avoid using USB hubs and avoid stressing the computer while recording (shut down all non-essential applications and processes).

[Ken Hammann]

I have the solution! Even the mildest static discharge in the area stops the recording. It took me a long time to figure this out. Test this yourself -- record and then scuff your feet or take off a sweater -- you will probably hear an audible pop, and simultaneously Audacity stops recording. I'm not quite done -- you will also need to disconnect and reconnect your USB cable after you get the message "USB not detected" or such. Really!