Topic: any way to recover corrupt compact flash wav file?

[dcaley]

i havent had this happen to me yet, so im not entirely sure if it is fixable. my recording from last night is stuck on my cf card. the 660 can play the file fine and it recognizes that over half the card is full. the problem is when i try and transfer the 1.4gb wav file to the computer. i get an error message saying it is corrupt and unreadable. i can see the file and even rename it, but cant copy it. any suggestions on how i can recover the file. i was googling around and have found a program and it is scanning the card right now. not sure if it will save the file though.

[flintstone]

Recovering data from a flash card is a problem that happens often enough that the manufacturers of the flash cards give away software to address the issue.  Use Google to search for "xxx data recovery" where "xxx" is the name of the flash card manufacturer (Lexar, Sandisk, Kingston, etc.) .

If the manufacturer's free software doesn't do the trick, you might try other free software, such as
http://www.z-a-recovery.com/digital-image-recovery.htm
http://www.aumha.org/a/recover.php
http://www.pcinspector.de/smart_media_recovery/uk/welcome.htm

If these programs don't work, you might purchase a data recovery program like Photo Rescue, $29.
http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/index.htm

Another inexpensive program is Recover Lost Data from Stompsoft, $39
http://www.stompsoft.com/recoverlostdata.html

All these programs are for the PC.  I'm sure a Mac user can contribute links to similar programs for the Mac.

And if you still can't recover the files, then consider employing the services of a data recovery company.  They have proprietary tools that can access the card independent of the operating system, and usually recover data that can't be reached by other means.  These services don't come cheap, but compared to losing the original recording, they can be a bargain.  I paid a company to recover 750 MB of recordings made in Venezuela, for example.  That's a lot cheaper than flying back to South America to re-create the original recordings.

Flintstone

[Brian Skalinder]

Have you tried copying the card data to a different PC, or used a card reader?  If you have one or both around, seems like an easy option to at least try.

[live2496]

i havent had this happen to me yet, so im not entirely sure if it is fixable. my recording from last night is stuck on my cf card. the 660 can play the file fine and it recognizes that over half the card is full. the problem is when i try and transfer the 1.4gb wav file to the computer. i get an error message saying it is corrupt and unreadable. i can see the file and even rename it, but cant copy it. any suggestions on how i can recover the file. i was googling around and have found a program and it is scanning the card right now. not sure if it will save the file though.

I would try using a card reader on a pc and running chkdsk with the /f parameter.
From the command line...
chkdsk /f <drive>

If it fixes up the file allocation table it will make it where you can read the entire file.

Another good utility (but not free) is BadCopyPro. It's good for CD's, floppies, and digital media.
http://www.jufsoft.com/badcopy/

[petur]

I would try using a card reader on a pc and running chkdsk with the /f parameter.
From the command line...
chkdsk /f <drive>

I would first try tools that don't write to the card....

[dcaley]

just got home after some holidays, but, thanks for the tips guys. i ran that ZAR program before i left but it didnt find anything. im running it again right now just to make sure.

i was thinking that if i cant recover whats on the card through one of these programs, shouldnt i be able to playback the file on the 660 and record it on my jb3? i dont think quality would be hurt, it would just add a step in the lineage, right?

// Update!

Problem Solved!! big thanks to flintstone for this recommendation: http://www.aumha.org/a/recover.php what a great little program! Going to track the recording right now and get it up on the LMA!

[batchain]

Just a heads up here. For the second time, this past week I recorded a show on the MT using a Kingston 4GB  card and got a corrupt file I could not open or transfer. The recording went fine, the shutdown after went fine, i could play back the file on the MT but could not transfer the file using either the MT or a card reader as the file was corrupt. I ran the CHKDSK /F utility on the card, but had no luck on the recovery. This has worked in the past, but not this time

After doing some research through previous posts about dealing with corrupt files I investigated BadCopyPro as mentioned by live2496 here earlier. It wasn't free, going for around $40, but it worked great. So here's a viable solution if anyone else who encounters this problem.

[ashevillain]

.

[dactylus]

Just a heads up here. For the second time, this past week I recorded a show on the MT using a Kingston 4GB  card and got a corrupt file I could not open or transfer. The recording went fine, the shutdown after went fine, i could play back the file on the MT but could not transfer the file using either the MT or a card reader as the file was corrupt. I ran the CHKDSK /F utility on the card, but had no luck on the recovery. This has worked in the past, but not this time

After doing some research through previous posts about dealing with corrupt files I investigated BadCopyPro as mentioned by live2496 here earlier. It wasn't free, going for around $40, but it worked great. So here's a viable solution if anyone else who encounters this problem.

What firmware version are you using with the MT?  I have been using the Kingston 4GB  card and have only had one problem that may have been a third party's blunder as my investigation revealed.  My Kingston 4GB  card has performed flawlessly in the MT except for that one incident...

Could it be a problem with the card??

[batchain]

Just a heads up here. For the second time, this past week I recorded a show on the MT using a Kingston 4GB  card and got a corrupt file I could not open or transfer. The recording went fine, the shutdown after went fine, i could play back the file on the MT but could not transfer the file using either the MT or a card reader as the file was corrupt. I ran the CHKDSK /F utility on the card, but had no luck on the recovery. This has worked in the past, but not this time

After doing some research through previous posts about dealing with corrupt files I investigated BadCopyPro as mentioned by live2496 here earlier. It wasn't free, going for around $40, but it worked great. So here's a viable solution if anyone else who encounters this problem.

What firmware version are you using with the MT?  I have been using the Kingston 4GB  card and have only had one problem that may have been a third party's blunder as my investigation revealed.  My Kingston 4GB  card has performed flawlessly in the MT except for that one incident...

Could it be a problem with the card??

It was a 45X Kingston Elite Pro. I'm running firmware version 1.4.5. I'm going to try my standard speed 4GB Kingston card the next time out and see if I still have problems. The Kingston cards have lifetime warranties I believe.

[dactylus]

Just a heads up here. For the second time, this past week I recorded a show on the MT using a Kingston 4GB  card and got a corrupt file I could not open or transfer. The recording went fine, the shutdown after went fine, i could play back the file on the MT but could not transfer the file using either the MT or a card reader as the file was corrupt. I ran the CHKDSK /F utility on the card, but had no luck on the recovery. This has worked in the past, but not this time

After doing some research through previous posts about dealing with corrupt files I investigated BadCopyPro as mentioned by live2496 here earlier. It wasn't free, going for around $40, but it worked great. So here's a viable solution if anyone else who encounters this problem.

What firmware version are you using with the MT?  I have been using the Kingston 4GB  card and have only had one problem that may have been a third party's blunder as my investigation revealed.  My Kingston 4GB  card has performed flawlessly in the MT except for that one incident...

Could it be a problem with the card??

It was a 45X Kingston Elite Pro. I'm running firmware version 1.4.5. I'm going to try my standard speed 4GB Kingston card the next time out and see if I still have problems. The Kingston cards have lifetime warranties I believe.

One more quick question - Do you format the card before each use?  I format my card in the MT before each taping session just as a precaution.  I have also been using the 4gb & 8gb 45X Kingston Elite Pro Cards in my MT without any issues - try formatting the card before each recording session and see if that helps, if it doesn't I think that I would contact Kingston...  Let us know what you turn up and good luck!!

[batchain]

Just a heads up here. For the second time, this past week I recorded a show on the MT using a Kingston 4GB  card and got a corrupt file I could not open or transfer. The recording went fine, the shutdown after went fine, i could play back the file on the MT but could not transfer the file using either the MT or a card reader as the file was corrupt. I ran the CHKDSK /F utility on the card, but had no luck on the recovery. This has worked in the past, but not this time

After doing some research through previous posts about dealing with corrupt files I investigated BadCopyPro as mentioned by live2496 here earlier. It wasn't free, going for around $40, but it worked great. So here's a viable solution if anyone else who encounters this problem.

What firmware version are you using with the MT?  I have been using the Kingston 4GB  card and have only had one problem that may have been a third party's blunder as my investigation revealed.  My Kingston 4GB  card has performed flawlessly in the MT except for that one incident...

Could it be a problem with the card??

It was a 45X Kingston Elite Pro. I'm running firmware version 1.4.5. I'm going to try my standard speed 4GB Kingston card the next time out and see if I still have problems. The Kingston cards have lifetime warranties I believe.

One more quick question - Do you format the card before each use?  I format my card in the MT before each taping session just as a precaution.  I have also been using the 4gb & 8gb 45X Kingston Elite Pro Cards in my MT without any issues - try formatting the card before each recording session and see if that helps, if it doesn't I think that I would contact Kingston...  Let us know what you turn up and good luck!!

I did format the card on the MT before recording. I have a suspicion though. I started the recorder way too early for the show and decided to stop and delete that recording. I didn't reformat before starting again, so maybe the MT really wants a newly formated card if you delete any existing files.

[Chris K]

hi

good luck recovering your file. i had a similar problem on this past friday nite. after the show, i turned off the V3 which was feeding a digital signal to the mt24/96. it was my error for sure. i dont recommend turning off the v3 while the mt is recording.

anyway, when i later tried to transfer the file from my mt to my cpu, it wouldnt transfer, citing a faulty file type. it suggested running checkdisk (chksk).

i ran checkdisk with the fix function. this allowed the file to be transferred to my cpu, but it wouldnt open in cd wave, wavelab or winamp. i opened up the file in a hex editor and found that there was no header information.

i made a copy of the original transferred file, and i tried running audiohack, but it didnt weem to do anything, and even came back with a message that the header was messed up and it was missing a data chunk.

i then tried the header repair program posted by 'pigiron' in this link 
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=72936.0i
and it repaired the header info, and made the file readable in cd wave, waveleb, and winamp.

it was then business as usual.

i hope this helps. and again...good luck retrieving your file...dont turn off your V3 before stopping your recorder.