Norton causes project audio to disappear[SOLVED]

[Theophilus20]

Here is the Error Log for the above post.

[kozikowski]

I'm interested that the entire top third of that log is complaining bitterly about not being able to manage FFMpeg. Did you install new FFMpeg and Lame appropriate to Audacity 2.0.5? I don't think you can reuse old ones.

The middle illustration has no File Name entry. That's dangerous.

I'd be drilling down that directory pathway in Windows (or a DOS window if you know how to do that) to see if I could get there -- and then if I could copy some file -- any file -- into that location/folder.

No word on how well leaving the computer on through 4AM worked out? I'm personally interested in how well the Error Check worked. If a drive is causing this much damage, losing directories and files, it will not make it through an error test.

Koz

[Gale Andrews]

I'm interested that the entire top third of that log is complaining bitterly about not being able to manage FFMpeg.

The FFmpeg (lower case "m") part of the log is completely "normal" (although it may not look it) and shows that "FFmpeg libraries loaded successfully."

Did you install new FFMpeg and Lame appropriate to Audacity 2.0.5? I don't think you can reuse old ones.

Audacity 2.0.5 can accept FFmpeg 0.5 or 0.6.2.

You only need the most recent LAME if you upgrade from 1.3.6 or earlier.


Gale

[Gale Andrews]

What is your user name on the computer? Are you logged in as that user or as someone else? You need to log in as the user of the users folder you are saving to, else log in as administrator. If someone else is the administrator or your Church has an IT person, I suggest you get them involved in this.

Your first three images at about 25 minutes recorded time are just flat lines so anything you save or export will be flat lines even if you can save.

In your third image, where were you saving the compressed copy of project to? Was it the same folder you were trying to save the standard project to?

Do you have Explorer Windows open? If so please close them while you have Audacity open.

This is the third time we've asked you where your temporary directory is. Is it still "C:UsersCALVAR~1AppDataLocalTempaudacity_temp" as shown in the log? The easy way to check is to hold CTRL and press P on your keyboard, go down to "Directories" on the left, click in the Location box, right-click > Select All, then CTRL + C and paste it into your message.

If C:UsersCALVAR~1AppDataLocalTempaudacity_temp is your temporary directory, the shortened form of the user name (CALVAR~1) could be the problem - I assume there is no user actually called "CALVAR~1". I suggest you reinstall Audacity with reset preferences as suggested previously. To do this, quit Audacity. Download the 2.0.5 installer by clicking this link: http://audacity.googlecode.com/files/au ... -2.0.5.exe . Run the installer. In the "Select Additional Tasks" screen, put a check (tick mark)in the "Reset Preferences" box. Complete the installation. On launching Audacity, a dialog will appear where you can confirm if you want to reset preferences just this once, or not. Click YES.

Now record and please do so by zooming out while recording. Sing or speak into the mic or however you usually record. Let it record for a couple of minutes. Make sure you are recording tall blue waves. Now hold CTRL on your keyboard and press F. This shows you all the recording starting from time zero. Has all the recording become flat lines except the last bit currently recorded?

If the preferences reset does not help, please error check the C drive as a priority. To error check C, right-click over C in Explorer. Choose "Properties" then click the "Tools" tab. Click the "Check Now..." button.


Gale

[Theophilus20]

What is your user name on the computer? Are you logged in as that user or as someone else? You need to log in as the user of the users folder you are saving to, else log in as administrator. If someone else is the administrator or your Church has an IT person, I suggest you get them involved in this.

I am the system builder, and the administrator

Your first three images at about 25 minutes recorded time are just flat lines so anything you save or export will be flat lines even if you can save.

One was an accidental track that was later deleted, that is why there is no sound, the other is one of the tracks that was short, so, at that point there is no sound, but i hadnt clicked the stop button

In your third image, where were you saving the compressed copy of project to? Was it the same folder you were trying to save the standard project to?

Yes, It appeared to save it to the original folder destination, in compressed form, without any trouble, with the exception of missing audio. But, i think the audio goes missing at the first attempt to save that fails

Do you have Explorer Windows open? If so please close them while you have Audacity open.

No, as stated before, this machine is not on line.

This is the third time we've asked you where your temporary directory is. Is it still "C:UsersCALVAR~1AppDataLocalTempaudacity_temp" as shown in the log? The easy way to check is to hold CTRL and press P on your keyboard, go down to "Directories" on the left, click in the Location box, right-click > Select All, then CTRL + C and paste it into your message.

Ok. Is this something you want me to do when there is an error, or, any time?

If C:UsersCALVAR~1AppDataLocalTempaudacity_temp is your temporary directory, the shortened form of the user name (CALVAR~1) could be the problem - I assume there is no user actually called "CALVAR~1". I suggest you reinstall Audacity with reset preferences as suggested previously. To do this, quit Audacity. Download the 2.0.5 installer by clicking this link: http://audacity.googlecode.com/files/au ... -2.0.5.exe . Run the installer. In the "Select Additional Tasks" screen, put a check (tick mark)in the "Reset Preferences" box. Complete the installation. On launching Audacity, a dialog will appear where you can confirm if you want to reset preferences just this once, or not. Click YES.

Sure. Ok ill re-install and reset. Do you think the solution you have mentioned is the answer to why it saves most everything, but not all? The reason im asking is it doesnt seem to make sense that it would save any audio at all if that were the case. could be. but just doesnt sound likely that only part of it would be lost in the saving process if it were a directory issue. But, could be.

Now record and please do so by zooming out while recording. Sing or speak into the mic or however you usually record. Let it record for a couple of minutes. Make sure you are recording tall blue waves. Now hold CTRL on your keyboard and press F. This shows you all the recording starting from time zero. Has all the recording become flat lines except the last bit currently recorded?

Done that. The audio IS there before saving

If the preferences reset does not help, please error check the C drive as a priority. To error check C, right-click over C in Explorer. Choose "Properties" then click the "Tools" tab. Click the "Check Now..." button.


Gale

[Theophilus20]

I'm interested that the entire top third of that log is complaining bitterly about not being able to manage FFMpeg.

The FFmpeg (lower case "m") part of the log is completely "normal" (although it may not look it) and shows that "FFmpeg libraries loaded successfully."

Did you install new FFMpeg and Lame appropriate to Audacity 2.0.5? I don't think you can reuse old ones.

Audacity 2.0.5 can accept FFmpeg 0.5 or 0.6.2.

You only need the most recent LAME if you upgrade from 1.3.6 or earlier.

This may be the answer. Ill have to version check the LAME that is installed. But, i thought LAME was just for MP3 encoding and didnt have anything to do with the inital Audacity recording process?


Gale

[kozikowski]

I don't think Lame is the problem. We're much, much more interested in you doing a drive check.

... please error check the C drive as a priority. To error check C, right-click over C in Explorer. Choose "Properties" then click the "Tools" tab. Click the "Check Now..." button.

Koz

[steve]

i thought LAME was just for MP3 encoding and didnt have anything to do with the inital Audacity recording process?

That is correct.

[Gale Andrews]

In your third image, where were you saving the compressed copy of project to? Was it the same folder you were trying to save the standard project to?

Yes, It appeared to save it to the original folder destination, in compressed form, without any trouble, with the exception of missing audio. But, i think the audio goes missing at the first attempt to save that fails

If this was the very occasional bug where Audacity won't save a standard project but will export to exactly the same folder, I've never known any data loss because of it.

Are you saying that when save as a standard project fails, the audio becomes silenced as you look at it on the screen? Or if not, does it become silenced if you select all of it and perform an edit like Amplify?

Or is the audio only silenced after closing and reopening the project?

Do you have Explorer Windows open? If so please close them while you have Audacity open.

No, as stated before, this machine is not on line.

I know - but I meant Windows Explorer windows (for example, choose "Computer" in the Windows Control Panel), not Internet Explorer windows.

There is a vanishingly rare bug that Audacity can misbehave by doing unwanted moves or deletions of some of the AU files in the project _data folder if Explorer is open at the drive in question.

This is the third time we've asked you where your temporary directory is. Is it still "C:UsersCALVAR~1AppDataLocalTempaudacity_temp" as shown in the log? The easy way to check is to hold CTRL and press P on your keyboard, go down to "Directories" on the left, click in the Location box, right-click > Select All, then CTRL + C and paste it into your message.

Ok. Is this something you want me to do when there is an error, or, any time?

I think you should do the suggested reinstall of Audacity with "Reset Preferences" checked (ticked) to rule out any possible bug where Audacity gets confused by the short form user name.

If C:UsersCALVAR~1AppDataLocalTempaudacity_temp is your temporary directory, the shortened form of the user name (CALVAR~1) could be the problem - I assume there is no user actually called "CALVAR~1". I suggest you reinstall Audacity with reset preferences as suggested previously. [...]

Sure. Ok ill re-install and reset. Do you think the solution you have mentioned is the answer to why it saves most everything, but not all?

As you suggest, it seems unlikely that Audacity would be partially confused by the temp directory path so that it reads the directory at some times and not others. But we know that in some cases the short form path can cause Audacity to not read the temp directory at all, so it is much better that you fix the path by reinstalling Audacity with reset preferences checked, then verify the path has the full user name by looking in the Audacity Directories preferences (as above).

The audio IS there before saving.

Thanks for confirming. If you can still reproduce the problem after reinstalling Audacity with reset preferences, it might be interesting to know (as above) if the audio is actually silenced after saving the project or only when you reopen the project.

But a failing drive (I'm afraid) is a much more likely cause.

Even if the Windows drive check finds no problems, I suggest you use a SMART utility to check the drive as well. The drive should pass the SMART test or it will very likely partially or completely fail in the not too distant future.

Do you have a known good USB 2.0 or 3.0 drive you can connect to the computer? You can set your Audacity temporary directory to that drive in the Audacity Directories Preferences.


Gale

[Edgar]

It looks to me like the filenames (with drive and folders) might be too long. Try saving to the root of the drive (save the project and its data folder but don't put them in a folder on the hard drive).