error 2 msg

Mac 10.12.6
I think Audacity 2.1.2, but Audacity is locked and I can’t tell. (1.2.5 is also on my computer, it appears).
Did an oral history interview a bit ago and when I went to save (probably incorrectly), I got screen that says “Audacity Error:
Failed to get the file system statistics (error 2: No such file or directory”

If I force quit either Audacity or my MacBook, is there any chance the files can be recovered?
All the menu items are greyed out and only the error message is visible.
I very much do not want to lose this!

Thanks for any help.

Judy

Addendum to this error 2 msg problem and the lost files, in case it gives others ideas about how I might salvage this.

Appears I was using the old Audacity 1.2.5 when I was recording.
I think I tried to save to the Desktop, thinking I would more likely remember.

I have since tried to quit Audacity, hoping it would come up automatically and be restored. No luck.
Read more on your forums and tried to find temp files:
under http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/recovering_crashes_manually.html =>
Mac: /Users//Library/Application Support/audacity/SessionData
and that didn’t work.

I was not successful w If that does not work, try to make the Finder show its hidden files and folders by entering the following commands in the terminal:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
and have not yet tried the other suggestions on that page.
Thanks for any more suggestions.
js

Audacity 1.2.5 stores its temp files in /tmp/audacity1.2-.

In the Finder, click on Go > Go to Folder. Type “/tmp” (without the quotes) into the dialog then click the Go button.

Tell use what you see inside the audacity1.2 folder.

Do not restart your computer, as OS X clears the /tmp directory when it restarts.

– Bill

Thanks for the speedy response and suggestion–and warning not to restart!
That did the trick.c
See attached screen shot: =>
audacity-lock-Judy
b00000.au
ranges down to 241, all created today

Thanks, Bill!

judy
Screen Shot 2017-12-02 at 10.41.52 PM.png

Judy:
You should be able to recover the project, but it will be tedious. You will need to manually import all 241 files and string them end to end. Because this was recorded with Audacity 1.2.5, the files are named in sequential order (the order they were recorded in).

Arrange your Finder windows so the audacity1.2-Judy folder is visible, as shown in your screen shot.
Start Audacity 2.2.0. It may help to make the Audacity project window as large as possible while still being able to see the contents the audacity1.2-Judy folder on your screen.

  1. Select the first ten .au files in the the drag and drop them into the Audacity project window
  2. In Audacity, do: Edit > Select All (Cmd+A); View > Track Size > Fit to Height (Cmd+Shift+F); Tracks > Align Tracks > Align End to End
  3. Using the Time Shift tool, drag the clips from the lower tracks into the first track, in order, deleting the empty tracks as you go.
    Listen to the result. If you hear the first six seconds of your recording, then that first six seconds again, you have a stereo recording. The odd-numbered .au files are for the left channel and the even-numbered ones are for the right channel. If this is a stereo recording but with the exact same audio on both channels, then you can ignore the half the files.
    Once you have determined if you have a mono or stereo recording, and if you need all, or only half of, the .au files, return to step one (selecting the next ten files) and continue until you have imported and aligned all the .au files.
    As I said, this is tedious, but it should recover your recording.

When you are done and are satisfied with the result, save the project. Then export the entire project as an AIF file as a backup.

Good luck.

– Bill

Oy…I’ll try that, Bill, and let you know how it goes.
The only saving grace is that I took pretty good notes while I was doing this interview.
I greatly appreciate your help!

Judy

Hi, again, Bill…
Yes, I am able to recover files that way–thank you!
There were a couple of glitches, just as an fyi.

I was not able to drag the .au files over, so what I did is make a copy of them on an external hard drive, and then import the first 10 from there.
Similarly, for some reason I am not seeing the View > Track Size > Fit to Height in the tool or menu bar, so I used your alternative, (Cmd+Shift+F), which worked well.
The rest went ok. and I was successful w the first 10 files, so will trudge along with the rest.

Again, thank you so much! You are an excellent, patient tutor.

Judy

Glad to hear that the recovery will (apparently) work.

A few observations.
Fit to Height - in 2.1.2 that is under the View menu. Menus were re-organized in 2.2.0.
Doing 10 files at a time is merely a suggestion for convenience, but allows you to check your work at regular intervals.
We may want to consider saving the new project (the one you’re dragging .au files into) on a regular basis as you proceed with the recovery.
You really should upgrade to 2.2.1 when it comes out in a few days. The latest versions of Audacity have robust crash recovery.
Please, trash Audacity 1.2.5 from your hard drive!

– Bill