Audio files on one FW Drive render blank audio files when copied

[ridmik]

I have Pro Tools sessions on a Firewire Drive still running OS 9. Regardless, I found that whether I tried to copy these audio files by "saving session copy in" or by copying the audio files by drag and drop method, or by writing them to a DVD of the original session drive, I always receive a blank file where there should be audio. The sessions open but the audio is blank. No waveform and no sound. I checked Disk First Aid and it said the drive needs to be repaired. I'm afraid to do anything though in terms of repair for fear I'll lose the only copies of the sessions that actually display and play audio. I've been using Pro Tools many years for session work and have never seen this before. I don't see any such thing referenced on the internet. Any duplicate, made any way renders a blank file. I really need to solve this. Any suggestions.

[John_Toolbox]

So you're saying that the session loads up and plays back fine from the disk in its current state, but you can't copy the audio files... correct?


I would try cloning the disk ASAP with something like Superduper(I think "hard disk toolkit" was the os9 equivalent of this if you don't have a newer machine you can plug the drive into), if the drive is mechanically failing you want to get the data cloned somewhere else right away.

Not sure if this is the same issue, but you might want to look into Rail Jon Rogut's Wavsaver(sp?) app to see if that can fix your files... The issue sounds like file corruption of some kind. Shorty Emcee had a similar problem with some files a few years ago(iirc the system was unplugged while recording), and he was able to fix them, you might want to try contacting him.

[ridmik]

Yes, the files all open and play fine in the sessions. Any attempt by any means to copy the files renders a file the same exact length and data, but blank. I tried it again last night with a fresh install of Pro Tools. I don't think it's a Pro Tools thing, but I don't know. What I'm going to do is use the bounce function and send the files to a different hard drive. That will work because the audio is being played. I don't know what the difference is, but I can send the files to a different drive via bounce or by just looping audio from one interface to another bringing it back in to the session on different tracks with a different disk allocation and that sends the files in tact. Then I can import them into the sessions after copying the session files over. By the way, the session program file will copy. I do believe it's likely to do with the formatting of the drive which is a brand new FW drive. I formatted it under OS9. Next time I'll format under OSX if I ever get everything off the drives. The good news is though there are 17 songs on the man's project, they're only 3 tracks per song. Still tons of work, but I need to be able give him an archive at a point. I'm afraid to rebuild the disk for fear that I'll lose the data that actually is working. I'll do that after I go through the other process. Any other thoughts would be interesting. Of all the crazy things after all these years, this takes the cake.

[John_Toolbox]

Back in the day, I had a lot of problems with FireWire and os9, especially with western digital drives. I seem to remember having to take the disk out of the enclosure and format it inside the computer on one of them. Does this enclosure have the oxford 911 chipset? That was the only one that was supported, (and the only one that worked iirc).

[ridmik]

I had to bounce all audio to another drive and that worked. I cloned the drive but could never retrieve any audio from copies of these files recorded in Pro Tools. Bizarre is all I can say.