AU Files Not Recognized by Repair Tools But Open in Audacity

[asloane]

city 2.0.5 was recording live from a mic connected to a USB Soundcard (Focusrite) when Win 7 froze necessitating a system reboot.

Audacity offered to recover the recording but could not and suggested Import Raw Data. The AU files are audible after importing as Raw Data and as Audio. Using Import Raw Data some files sound strange and have a wave form which does look nor sound like speech.

auinfo.exe shows the files as:
File type: AU (.snd)
Endianness: Little (naitive)
Header size: 12380 bytes
Audio data size: not specified
Sample format: 32-bit IEEE floating point (6)
Sample rate: 44100 hz
Channels: 1 (mono)

The files were renamed for use with aud_recover.exe but the resulting file had similar issues as Import Raw Data, i.e. the waveforms were not like speech.

audacity_recovery.exe was used but its error message was that it could not find any files to be recovered.

There are 777 files. Each file can be spliced in Audacity and/or converted in WAV files but this is laborious.

Can anyone suggest a less labour intensive method?

[kozikowski]

I would expect one or two tiny files to be damaged at the end of the capture when the machine went down, but if you have more than that, then the capture was being damaged during the show.

If the normal recovery processes failed then there be no convenient way to put the show back together.

I assume you followed this document.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/recovery.html

Koz

[Gale Andrews]

city 2.0.5 was recording live from a mic connected to a USB Soundcard (Focusrite) when Win 7 froze necessitating a system reboot.

Why did it freeze? Did you run out of power? If Windows is freezing you need to find out why.

Do you have the correct drivers and firmware for the Focusrite?

Audacity offered to recover the recording but could not

What exactly happened? Was the recording silenced? If there were errors, exactly what did they say? Did you look at Help > Show Log... ?

and suggested Import Raw Data.

The Automatic Crash Recovery dialogue does not suggest Import Raw Data.

The AU files are audible after importing as Raw Data and as Audio. Using Import Raw Data some files sound strange and have a wave form which does look nor sound like speech.

If you mean they were too slow or fast, try setting the track rate to the rate the project was. You can do this at "Set Rate" in the Track Drop-Down Menu ( http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tr ... _menu.html ).

The files were renamed for use with aud_recover.exe but the resulting file had similar issues as Import Raw Data, i.e. the waveforms were not like speech.

audacity_recovery.exe was used but its error message was that it could not find any files to be recovered.

Then you did not rename the files correctly.

There are 777 files. Each file can be spliced in Audacity and/or converted in WAV files but this is laborious. Can anyone suggest a less labour intensive method?

Why do you need to do this? What is the problem with the autosave file at Users<your user name>AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSave ? If you can still launch Audacity and have it offer recovery, please try that, then attach the log from Help > Show Log... and attach the autosave file (as above).

To see the autosave file, you may need to set Windows to show hidden files and folders. See here for how to do that: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutoria ... dows/#win7 .

To attach files to your reply, please see: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 49&t=64936 .

You can regenerate a project file from the AU files using an experimental script, but you would have to install Python and be comfortable using a command prompt. It would be easier to use the autosave file.


Gale

[asloane]

I would expect one or two tiny files to be damaged at the end of the capture when the machine went down, but if you have more than that, then the capture was being damaged during the show.

Yes, the last few files sounded like chipmunk, speeded up speech.

If the normal recovery processes failed then there be no convenient way to put the show back together.

I assume you followed this document.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/recovery.html

Yes.
The Auto Recovery failed.
The log shows

Code: Select all

15:42:37: Audacity 2.0.5
15:42:41: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries...
15:42:41: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries from default path, 'C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavformat-52.dll'.
15:42:41: Looking up PATH environment variable...
15:42:41: PATH = 'C:Program Files (x86)NVIDIA CorporationPhysXCommon;C:Program FilesJavajre7bin;C:Windowssystem32;C:...............

15:42:41: Checking that 'C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacity' is in PATH...
15:42:41: Warning: FFmpeg directory is not in PATH.
15:42:41: Temporarily appending ';C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacity' to PATH...
15:42:41: Checking for monolithic avformat from 'C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavformat-52.dll'.
15:42:42: Error: Couldn't find symbol 'avutil_version' in a dynamic library (error 127: the specified procedure could not be found.)
15:42:42: avformat not monolithic
15:42:42: Loading avutil from 'C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavutil-50.dll'.
15:42:42: Loading avcodec from 'C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavcodec-52.dll'.
15:42:42: Loading avformat from 'C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavformat-52.dll'.
15:42:42: Returning PATH to previous setting...
15:42:42: Actual avutil path C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavutil-50.dll
15:42:42: Actual avcodec path C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavcodec-52.dll
15:42:42: Actual avformat path C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavformat-52.dll
15:42:42: Importing symbols...
15:42:42: All symbols loaded successfully. Initializing the library.
15:42:42: Retrieving FFmpeg library version numbers:
15:42:42:    AVCodec version 0x344802 - 52.72.2 (built against 0x344802 - 52.72.2)
15:42:42:    AVFormat version 0x344002 - 52.64.2 (built against 0x344002 - 52.64.2)
15:42:42:    AVUtil version 0x320f01 - 50.15.1 (built against 0x320f01 - 50.15.1)
15:42:42: FFmpeg libraries loaded successfully.
15:42:45: File name is C:Users---AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSaveNew Project - 2014-03-23 14-43-11 N-8.autosave
15:42:45: Mime type is *
15:42:45: Opening with libsndfile
15:42:45: Opening with liboggvorbis
15:42:45: Opening with libflac
15:42:45: Opening with lof
15:42:45: Opening with libav
15:42:45: Error: FFmpeg : av_find_stream_info() failed for file C:Users---AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSaveNew Project - 2014-03-23 14-43-11 N-8.autosave
15:42:45: Error: Importer::Import: Opening failed.

[Gale Andrews]

The Auto Recovery failed.
The log shows

15:42:37: Audacity 2.0.5
[...]
15:42:42: Actual avutil path C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavutil-50.dll
15:42:42: Actual avcodec path C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavcodec-52.dll
15:42:42: Actual avformat path C:Program Files (x86)Ffmpeg For Audacityavformat-52.dll
15:42:42: Importing symbols...
15:42:42: All symbols loaded successfully. Initializing the library.
[...]
15:42:42: FFmpeg libraries loaded successfully.
15:42:45: File name is C:Users---AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSaveNew Project - 2014-03-23 14-43-11 N-8.autosave
15:42:45: Mime type is *
15:42:45: Opening with libsndfile
15:42:45: Opening with liboggvorbis
15:42:45: Opening with libflac
15:42:45: Opening with lof
15:42:45: Opening with libav
15:42:45: Error: FFmpeg : av_find_stream_info() failed for file C:Users---AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSaveNew Project - 2014-03-23 14-43-11 N-8.autosave
15:42:45: Error: Importer::Import: Opening failed.

You can't recover a project by dragging the autosave file into Audacity.

Did you read my post ( http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 84#p240384 )? If Audacity is running, open Windows Task Manager (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC). Click the "Processes" tab. Right-click over audacity.exe and choose "End Process Tree".

Restart Audacity. If you see the Automatic Crash Recovery dialogue, please attach the autosave file and attach the new Log. Please see here for how to attach files: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 49&t=64936 .



Gale

[asloane]

Why did it freeze? Did you run out of power? If Windows is freezing you need to find out why.

It has not frozen much recently. There are several suspects:

- PerfectDisk which runs as a service - but it seems to have played well with the current configuration.
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB Soundcard because pulling USB cable out can cause freeze, however the cable was not touched.

I wondered today if Audacity's Real Time Conversion might have played a role? It had been set to Best Quality, but this has worked well on many occasions.

Do you have the correct drivers and firmware for the Focusrite?

Yes, the latest: Scarlett plug-in suite 1.5 (Windows)

What exactly happened? Was the recording silenced? If there were errors, exactly what did they say? Did you look at Help > Show Log... ?

The screen froze at the end of live spoken broadcast, about 80 minutes, whilst Audacity was recording off the Scarlett 2i2 on the same machine as the broadcast. As the music played after the speech, the computer froze. The computer had to be restarted. No error messages were seen. No investigation was made to look for an Audacity Help Log.

The Automatic Crash Recovery dialogue does not suggest Import Raw Data.

The Error Importing message includes "try importing it using "Import Raw" ". Is that not "Import Raw Data"?

If you mean they were too slow or fast, try setting the track rate to the rate the project was. You can do this at "Set Rate" in the Track Drop-Down Menu ( http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tr ... _menu.html ).

It did not seem to be an issue of slow or fast. to test if speed was a factor the Playback Speed slider was moved across its spectrum.

Some .AU tracks looked like a rectangle from beginning to end. But other .AU tracks looked like normal speech. These AU Files were sampled from the first 250 files, long before the computer froze. Oddly, Audacity froze just now when after one AU and then view switching from waveform to spectrogram. On the second playback, the "needle" did not move over the timeline although the audio could be heard. On the third playback, nothing happened although Audacity's menu option could be selected. It seems that Playback had stopped. Note that Focusrite 2i2 was not used during this test. Audacity could not be closed. A Windows "ding" sound was heard when trying to close Audacity. Process Explorer showed Audacity as using 23% CPU and over 1000 KB.

Then you did not rename the files correctly.

The files were initially named with their time stamp. Later they were numbered in time sequence. Finally a sample of 3 files were combined by renaming the AU files using this format: b00NNN (where N = number)(but produced wrong sounds) and then using aud_recover.exe in "aud_recover-1.1.1.zip"

Why do you need to do this? What is the problem with the autosave file at Users<your user name>AppDataRoamingAudacityAutoSave ? If you can still launch Audacity and have it offer recovery, please try that, then attach the log from Help > Show Log... and attach the autosave file (as above).

The autosave files exists, the auto recovery failed. The log is pasted in the reply above to Koz.

You can regenerate a project file from the AU files using an experimental script, but you would have to install Python and be comfortable using a command prompt. It would be easier to use the autosave file.

Willing to try anything. including another audio editor especially if it has a drag and drop timeline like Adobe Premiere. I would then only have to drop 777 files on it!

Arv

[DVDdoug]

Yes, the last few files sounded like chipmunk, speeded up speech.

That would normally be a sample rate issue (kHz). Or, it could be a mono/stereo issue. When you import the raw data, you may have to guess at some of these things.

But if you entered 44,100Hz, I'd be surprised if that was too fast... I wouldn't expect anything less than 44.1kHz from the Alesis interface.

If the data is truly mono, and you import the raw data as stereo, it's going to play-back at twice the speed.

...when Win 7 froze necessitating a system reboot.

Computers are the least reliable things we own! If you are recording something critical and there's no possibility of "take-2", I always recommend a backup system recording in parallel.

...Same thing if you are using a computer for a live performance and the show can't continue if there's a computer failure... You need a backup system ready to go!

[asloane]

You can't recover a project by dragging the autosave file into Audacity.

The autosave file was not dragged into Audacity.
Audacity offered to recover the project upon start up.

Did you read my post ( http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 84#p240384 )?

Yes. I was replying to it and have now.

If Audacity is running, open Windows Task Manager (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC). Click the "Processes" tab. Right-click over audacity.exe and choose "End Process Tree".

I did that earlier and subsequently recovered the AU file with Import Raw Data as a test for my reply above. It could not be done when the computer crashed and that project so far cannot be recovered although there are AU files.

Restart Audacity. If you see the Automatic Crash Recovery dialogue, please attach the autosave file and attach the new Log. Please see here for how to attach files: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 49&t=64936 .

See attached.

[asloane]

But if you entered 44,100Hz, I'd be surprised if that was too fast... I wouldn't expect anything less than 44.1kHz from the Alesis interface.

If the data is truly mono, and you import the raw data as stereo, it's going to play-back at twice the speed.

Mono mic, recorded as a single track, imported as mono. Always working in 44,100Hz.

If you are recording something critical and there's no possibility of "take-2", I always recommend a backup system recording in parallel.

Good advice. I had a solid state recorder with its own mic as back up. Unfortunately it has some hiss despite being expensive which is why I want to recover the adacity project.

[asloane]

Taking a hint from Gale, I renamed a small sample of files using B0000[n].au format for Audacity Recovery Utility 1.1
http://www.mesw.de/audacity/recovery/

It worked!

I will try it on the remaining 770 files