Automatic Database Backup Failed

Hi there,

I just updated to Audacity 3.2.4, as well as OS- Ventura 13.2 When I cut and paste a segment of my recording, I get the following error message - Automatic Database Backup Failed (screenshot attached).

I’m also getting the spinning ball of death which happened with my last update. At that time, it was suggested (I think by Bill?) that I try “Generate - Tone” … and somehow that resolved the spinning ball problem! (I’m not sure if I’m recalling that exactly, but I tried that and it didn’t work this time). Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks, Kristen
automatic database backup failed.jpg

Hello again,

I have an update! When I initially searched for this issue, I noticed it showed up in the Windows section of the Audacity forum. Someone had suggested that it sometimes helps if you mix and render the tracks. At first I ignored that since it was a post in Windows. But I went ahead and tried it. I “mixed and rendered” my single, mono track into a new track. Suddenly, the “Automatic Database Backup Failed” error was fixed, and the spinning ball of death disappeared, and all appears to be working perfectly now!!! :slight_smile:

I’m glad you found this workaround. :smiley:

Yes, so this issue affects all Windows, MacOS, and Linux users who cut and paste between Audacity projects. This seems to be related to this issue: Performance and file size issues when copying and pasting a small portion of a very large clip · Issue #3820 · audacity/audacity · GitHub. And the Audacity developers are currently very close to a working solution here: Clip copy dialog by vsverchinsky · Pull Request #4033 · audacity/audacity · GitHub, which they hope to include in Audacity 3.3, hoped for in Q1.

I had exactly the same issue. The “mix and render” solution was too complex for me, so I thought about what happens when a project is exported as a wav file. Seemed to me that mix and render happens automatically. So I found my exported wav, opened in Audacity (3.3.2 on Mac) and the issue had disappeared – no spinning wheel of death and copy and paste works fine. As a check, I opened the Audacity file with earlier versions of Audacity and, again the problem does not arise. There is no discernable reduction in sound quality when listening to Wav file in Audacity. A simple and quick solution, the way I like them! :slight_smile: I hope this helps someone.

Thank you. BTW, in 3.3.x you can fix up your entire project by copy-pasting to a new Audacity project.

Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C to Copy, then File > New, then Ctrl-V to Paste. Be sure to select “Selected Audio Only”:
PasteScreen