pro tools recorded tracks that have no byte size? help!

[tanner robinson]

I have been recording with M-powered 7.4 for a month or two but the last session i did will not open again. I receive the error message "the application can not parse the file 'neck_01.wav'" and check it on my external hard drive and neck_01.wav's file size is 0 bytes! I checked the other sessions i did that day and 1 or two random audio files in each are zero bytes! some will not open and i receive a similar message. others open and the relink browser opens telling me i have a missing audio file.

any idea what the problem could be??

[dillon99999]

the symptoms you are experiencing / describing lead me to believe you are using a USB drive for recording?

please give more details about your system.


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a SANDRA report would be helpful as well.

taken from the General Troubleshooting Thread :

Note: To enable other users to help you, please include all of your system details when posting an issue to the DUC; Pro Tools hardware, Pro Tools software version, CPU, OS version, Motherboard make/model, chipset, amount of RAM, type of hard drives used, etc.


- SiSoftware's Sandra Lite application can be used to post your full system profile:
www.sisoftware.co.uk
Under SiSoftware Sandra, click on "Download & Buy" to download the free Sandra Lite version or purchase other versions. After installing Sandra, click on the 'Hardware' tab and run the 'Computer Overview', then copy and paste into your post here on the DUC.

[tanner robinson]

yeah i'm printing to a external hard drive. i'm using windows xp, pro tools m-powered and a firewire 1814.

[dillon99999]

you should consider getting / using an (internal) ATA / SATA or (external) Firewire drive.

digidesign does not support the use of USB drives.

if you get a Firewire Drive, DO NOT chain it from the 1814 - some users have reported hearing static noise and dropouts in this configuration.

some users on here have reported success with USB drives - however, the symptoms you describe are exactly what other users reported when using a USB drive.

so the recommendation is to switch.

good luck.

[tanner robinson]

thanks friend. I just had to rerecord some tracks and the problem was contained to that session only. haven't had a problem since. I have a high quality SATA hard drive internally but was told that an external hard drive would free up processing power but have since been told by Apple techs that external hard drives require more processing power. They are also slow because of the USB 2.0 connection is not as fast as firewire and especially no the SATA connection.

I think I'm going to start printing to my internal hard drive and, after mixing, move my session to the external for safe keeping.

Good idea?


thanks and God bless

[dillon99999]

do not attempt to use the system drive (c:) for recording.

you must use a separate drive for your audio.

do not attempt to "partition" the c: drive to make another drive - this is essentially using the same "drive".

i repeat: you must use a separate drive for your audio.

hard drives are cheap now-a-days.

go to pricewatch.com and look on there for one - they average anywhere from $20 to $50.

if you don't use a separate drive for audio - you will probably be coming back on here and asking people why the software is not working as intended - and reporting weird results that are not easily diagnosed.

good luck.