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Author Topic: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility  (Read 103846 times)

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dorrcoq

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #75 on: August 10, 2010, 12:24:38 AM »
Well...I followed Jason's directions from page 2, and got as far as "ERROR:  Failed to read header from input file"

Now what? 

Offline live2496

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #76 on: September 02, 2010, 11:57:56 AM »
Do you still need help with this?
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Offline laptaper

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #77 on: October 20, 2010, 05:50:45 PM »
I haven't read through the entire thread to see if anyone's mentioned this, but since I've been struggling with this for a while with my 24 bit recordings I thought I'd say something (shy and retiring as I am  ::) ).  Also, I should preface this by saying that I tried fixwav.exe, but when I used it (modeling my answers to the prompts based on the first post) my rewritten file played back static.  Anyhow, this may prove simpler for some people.

1. Open the file with the corrupted header in Audacity. 
2. Trim off the first few samples (probably the first two will do, but I deleted the first seven or so to be safe).
3. Zoom back out to full range and use CTRL+A to select all of the remaining .wav - THIS IS KEY.
4. In the main menu select File > Export Selection... (NOT File > Export...).
5. In the dialogue box choose the format you want to save the file in.  If you're saving to 24 bit you'll have to select "Other uncompressed files" from the "Save as type:" dropdown box, click the "Options" button and select the format we want in the box that pops up.  For Windows users saving to 24 bit, e.g., you'd want to choose "Header: WAV (Microsoft)" and "Encoding: Signed 24 bit PCM".
6. Click out of the Options box if you're in there, then click Save in the Export File box.


The resulting file will load into CD Wave and split with no problems.  It will also compress to FLAC in FLAC Frontend, likewise with no error messages.

The key here is to export the WAV as a selection (even if you're selecting the entire file, minus the deleted samples at the beginning), rather than just to export the WAV without selecting anything.  My theory is that when exporting as a selection Audacity writes a brand new, canonical header, while when exporting without selecting Audacity simply uses the old, corrupted header you're trying to correct in the first place.  Also, deleting those first samples in the beginning IS necessary - when I tried selecting all and exporting without deleting the first samples, I got error messages both in CD Wave and Flac Frontend.  In any case, all I know is it works.  ;D
« Last Edit: October 20, 2010, 06:00:25 PM by laptaper »

Offline anonymous_user

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #78 on: October 23, 2010, 12:26:35 PM »
This wav repair utility does work with 24-bit files. I don't think that's what you were saying, but I thought I'd clarify that anyway. Good that you've found another solution that works for you though. Unless there's a chance you were inputting one of the options/answers incorrectly, then it probably just wasn't working right with your file. One or two people with full-sized files mentioned a similar problem, and someone said that it always still repairs the header anyway, just that if the offset is off then you might still get only static. I think this tool still works on the vast majority of corrupt files and I'd recommend it to anyone in need. Good work for posting another method for people to try when the utility won't fix it by itself.


dorrcoq

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #79 on: October 28, 2010, 01:37:49 AM »
Do you still need help with this?

Actually I had given up on it ;D  Maybe I'll give lapaper's method a try.

Offline Barry Shoop

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #80 on: February 13, 2011, 04:28:52 AM »
THANK YOU PIGIRON!!!! YOU SAVED MY BACON!!!!! Your utilty is awesomely easy to use and worked like a charm!  Saved my butt when the batteries died mid-concert on my Zoom H4 leaving me with no time codes and no easy fix. THANKS MAN!

Offline 612

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #81 on: February 22, 2011, 10:00:43 PM »
anyone have any luck running this with Vista?  Maybe I am just a complete moron?

The dos window flashes and then disappears.  :-[
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Offline it-goes-to-eleven

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #82 on: February 23, 2011, 09:42:10 AM »
anyone have any luck running this with Vista?  Maybe I am just a complete moron?

The dos window flashes and then disappears.  :-[

Maybe you can use it to recover XP and dump vista :P

I recently booted to dos from a flash drive in order to apply some bios updates to a SATA controller card.  Big fun.

You should be able to run this utility in a virtual environment, or in an emulator.  It should run under WINE.

Offline EarlyMorningRain

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #83 on: March 16, 2011, 09:47:12 PM »
anyone have any luck running this with Vista?  Maybe I am just a complete moron?

The dos window flashes and then disappears.  :-[

doesn't sound like you are running this utility the proper way. You need to run this from a Command prompt.

Start Button / Run  (or in Vista/7, there actually isn't a Run option, it's just that white box you can type in)
and type in "CMD" which will get you to a command prompt.

From there you will have to navigate to the folder that contains this utility AND your wav file needing to be repaired.
Now brush up on your DOS skills and report back

 ;D


edit to include a screenshot
« Last Edit: March 16, 2011, 10:07:59 PM by EarlyMorningRain »

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #84 on: March 27, 2011, 04:28:17 PM »
EarlyMorningRain just saved the day. Again.
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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #85 on: June 01, 2011, 01:45:39 AM »
I haven't read through the entire thread to see if anyone's mentioned this, but since I've been struggling with this for a while with my 24 bit recordings I thought I'd say something (shy and retiring as I am  ::) ).  Also, I should preface this by saying that I tried fixwav.exe, but when I used it (modeling my answers to the prompts based on the first post) my rewritten file played back static.  Anyhow, this may prove simpler for some people.

1. Open the file with the corrupted header in Audacity. 
2. Trim off the first few samples (probably the first two will do, but I deleted the first seven or so to be safe).
3. Zoom back out to full range and use CTRL+A to select all of the remaining .wav - THIS IS KEY.
4. In the main menu select File > Export Selection... (NOT File > Export...).
5. In the dialogue box choose the format you want to save the file in.  If you're saving to 24 bit you'll have to select "Other uncompressed files" from the "Save as type:" dropdown box, click the "Options" button and select the format we want in the box that pops up.  For Windows users saving to 24 bit, e.g., you'd want to choose "Header: WAV (Microsoft)" and "Encoding: Signed 24 bit PCM".
6. Click out of the Options box if you're in there, then click Save in the Export File box.


The resulting file will load into CD Wave and split with no problems.  It will also compress to FLAC in FLAC Frontend, likewise with no error messages.

The key here is to export the WAV as a selection (even if you're selecting the entire file, minus the deleted samples at the beginning), rather than just to export the WAV without selecting anything.  My theory is that when exporting as a selection Audacity writes a brand new, canonical header, while when exporting without selecting Audacity simply uses the old, corrupted header you're trying to correct in the first place.  Also, deleting those first samples in the beginning IS necessary - when I tried selecting all and exporting without deleting the first samples, I got error messages both in CD Wave and Flac Frontend.  In any case, all I know is it works.  ;D

I tried both the fixwav utility and the laptaper method, and have had no luck so far recovering the actual music from my file - I can manage to get 93 minutes of thick static, but music would be better ;)

I started with a recording I made (with a MicroTrack II) that had files 0255 and 0257, but no file 0256...after using the SanDisk RescuePro software, I was able to recover what I think is the missing file 0256 from my CF card - oddly enough, the file was 1.5GB but only 25 seconds long! After running it through fixwave, it somewhat corrected the file, so it's now 93 minutes, but it's static...

As for the laptaper Audacity method, I can't get that to work as he described - I can export the selection, but where does it go? Do I need to import it somewhere, like maybe CD Wave Editor?

I'm thinking I only need to correct the offset to expose the music, but I have no idea how to do that - I'm amazed I could manage to get the file this close to being usable again :) It's kind of important for me to salvage this file, since it was the second set of my stage debut as a drummer/percussionist - I wanna be able to hear what I sounded like in the room!

I know I'm close, hopefully 'real' close - any help would be greatly appreciated! :)

Thanks - Zeb

Offline live2496

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #86 on: June 01, 2011, 11:57:25 AM »
Somewhere Brian posted a sticky regarding the offset. He used Audacity which is a free program.

I started doing this with samplitude. Perhaps you could try the 30 day demo of that. I believe that i posted details of that some time ago.

PM me if you want some help with this.
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Offline Brian Skalinder

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #87 on: June 01, 2011, 12:29:07 PM »
As for the laptaper Audacity method, I can't get that to work as he described - I can export the selection, but where does it go?

The selection exported by Audacity should reside in whatever directory/file you specify.  I can't recall if you specify the location at the time of export, or if you specify the location in the preferences.  I would guess the latter, since if it were the former you'd likely know where it went!

I know Adobe Audition supports opening files as raw data and specifying offsets.  Not sure about other editors.
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Offline zebweber

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #88 on: June 01, 2011, 01:40:19 PM »
Somewhere Brian posted a sticky regarding the offset. He used Audacity which is a free program.

I started doing this with samplitude. Perhaps you could try the 30 day demo of that. I believe that i posted details of that some time ago.

PM me if you want some help with this.

I'll look for the offset 'sticky' post, and I have Audacity, just not that familiar with it (but I'm learning) - thanks for pointing me in the right direction (if I get really lost, I'll PM you ;)

Offline it-goes-to-eleven

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Re: Homegrown WAVE header repair utility
« Reply #89 on: June 01, 2011, 01:54:22 PM »
Somewhere Brian posted a sticky regarding the offset. He used Audacity which is a free program.

I started doing this with samplitude. Perhaps you could try the 30 day demo of that. I believe that i posted details of that some time ago.

PM me if you want some help with this.

I'll look for the offset 'sticky' post, and I have Audacity, just not that familiar with it (but I'm learning) - thanks for pointing me in the right direction (if I get really lost, I'll PM you ;)

The critical thing is that you don't let anything write to the media.  ESPECIALLY windows.  Windows is very bad about that...  at least in linux you can mount things read-only, etc.  And with SD, you can flip the write-protect switch.

So as long as you preserve the media, you haven't lost anything.

 

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