Tracks are silent after Audacity froze

Hello,

I’m using a Macbook Pro version 10.15.7 with the Catalina operating system - Audacity 2.4.2.

I was editing an Audacity project and suddenly the program froze. I ended up having to force quit. I have been working on this project for days so it has been saved many times. I thought I might lose my recent changes, but when I re-opened the project all of my files are silenced. Please tell me there is a way to fix this.

Thank you,
Megan

You should still have your AUP project manager file and a _DATA folder of the same name with a bunch of sub folders with little AU files inside.

This is a Project.

OK so far? You should be able to open the aup file in Text Edit and read it (do not save anything).

This one is cleaned up a little, but it should look roughly like this.

The little AU files are all about six second sound snippets of your show. Can you open them up in Audacity and play them?

Koz

Put on your Producer’s hat and think about what to do if the show doesn’t come back. Do you have raw sound files of any of the work divorced from Audacity? WAV file backups of any interviews?

Koz

I am able to open the file in text edit, but not sure what to do next?

but not sure what to do next?

We are inspecting for damage. Do you have semi-English words roughly arranged as in my sample?

There are four damage variations. The file is blank, the file has nonsense characters, the file has black blocks, and the file is filled with “NULL” words.

If you have any of the damage variations, that may be the end of the show.

Koz

Do you have automatic Mac Time Machine turned on, or do you run Time Machine manually on occasion? If manually, what is the time between executions?

I do Time Machine backup to an external drive roughly every ten days to two weeks. If you have anything like that, it may be possible to run Time Machine and “step back” to an earlier show edit.

Screen Shot 2021-06-24 at 19.38.31.png
Koz

See:

Put on your Producer’s hat and think about what to do if the show doesn’t come back. Do you have raw sound files of any of the work divorced from Audacity? WAV file backups of any interviews?

Koz

The Text Edit doc is clean. Attached a screenshot.

Re. Time Machine - I haven’t backed up.

Re. Files - I have the original files, I have just spent hours editing them in Audacity.

Since the Text Edit is clean, what should I try next?

Thank you!
Screen Shot 2021-06-25 at 7.11.32 AM.png

You see about the fourth line down the project name is posted.
Screen Shot 2021-06-25 at 9.05.06 PM.png
Close the AUP file. Open up the Mandala Center for Change_data folder and see if the little AU files play.

If you’ve been editing for a while, there should be a large number of those little au sound files. They are all about six seconds long except possibly the first and last.

when I re-opened the project all of my files are silenced.

Did you get any error messages during your failure? Do you know why Audacity quit? Are you filling up your system?

Koz

I have those small files but they don’t play. Theyre also silenced. No idea why Audacity quit…

Actually! The 6 second tracks wouldn’t play when I clicked on them in the folder, but when I double clicked and they opened up in Audacity, the audio was there. That seems like a good sign… is there a way to get the project back based on this?

Thank you!

Close everything and restart the Mac.

Let it clean itself for a minute or two. Don’t jump right in.

Launch Audacity. Audacity > File > Open and point to your Project Manager AUP file > Open.

If the show doesn’t open, write down any error messages.

Koz

Sigh, I did this but the tracks are all silent still. Any other avenues to try?

Thank you,
Megan

Any other avenues to try?

No. We can sometimes rescue a raw, fresh recording from the AU files, but not an edit.

You’re stuck. The show is toast.

Koz