more frustrating audacity 2.1.1

[anon125]

we brought in an mp3 file.
edited it.
then wanted to save the audacity aup file for when we want to edit it again.
audacityssays no can do.
it says it is an audio file and has to be exported.
on windows 7 64bit
wot ave we forgot?
thanks all

[kozikowski]

There is no "AUP sound file." You are saving an Audacity Project. A Project makes an AUP file so Audacity will know what to do with all that stuff in the _DATA folder of the same name. The _DATA folder is where all the sound actually lives (in a special format).

Audacity may refuse to save a Project if the place you're trying to use is protected against writing or you put special or forbidden characters in the filename. Staying away from punctuation marks is always a good idea.

Another possibility is you have enough room to save the tiny AUP text file, but not enough for the much, much larger _DATA folder. Are you running out of space?

Koz

[kozikowski]

If you are operating on a highly compressed MP3 file, the Audacity Project could be huge compared to the size of the MP3. So that running out of room thing isn't as odd as it sounds.

Koz

[anon125]

it will NOT save the aup file.
I need to save the project file which is aup
I will just give up on the problem
thanks

[steve]

I'm trying to piece together what you are doing and exactly what is not working for you.

Stop me where I'm wrong, and fill in the missing details.

1) You have opened Audacity
2) You imported an MP3 file
3) You edited the file
4) The edited file plays correctly in Audacity
5) When you try to save the project, you select "File menu > Save"
6) When the file save dialog opens, you enter a valid file name - what file name are you using?
7) You navigate in the export dialog to a folder that is writeable - what folder are you trying to write to?
8) When you click the Save button, Audacity shows an error message - what exactly is the error message?