I lost all the files AGAIN!

[mcdeee]

I was working on a session yesterday.  And AGAIN, I closed it, opened it this morning and was greeted by this:

I've lost all the files.  They're there.  Just all closed.  This is happening SO often now.  Sure, I can go back and re-link them one at a time, but I don't have time (OR THE DESIRE) to do that. 

Am I the only one with this problem??  Am I cursed?

I'm on a Mac, 10.13.4, running Audition CC Build 11.1.0.184.

[Charles VW]

Can you post your *.sesx file somewhere for analysis?

[mcdeee]

Yes.  Temporarily.  Here:  Dropbox - 041118 Mix Customs.sesx

[MissHawkey]

Can you help me too? I just lost 30 hours worth of work. Audition crashed and I the file is DEFINITELY not the most recently saved file. I'm stunned. Needed to upload this project an hour ago.

[SuiteSpot]

You should check your backups and you can certainly post the sesx file here as well as reference this thread

Audition Crashed. Now what?

[MissHawkey]

I am so stunned right now, I don't even know where or what "backups" are. Can you explain? Is this like my Time-Machine" application or something else?

I'll post the sesx file in drop box, but it's not loading any of the files and it's a much older version than what I had most recently saved.

[MissHawkey]

Here's a dropbox link:

Dropbox - SpermCastEp2v1rough.sesx

Found the back ups folder. There is one from today - right after the crash and one from 5 days ago. 😞

I absolutely saved the file multiple times today.

[SuiteSpot]

looking at it now

[MissHawkey]

THANK YOU. Looking at Durin's post now.

[SuiteSpot · Accepted solution]

Have you tried opening this session?

The session looks fine - your files are in this location

/Volumes/TruTV Drive/Spermcast/Eps/SpermEp002/Conformed Files/

/Volumes/TruTV Drive/Spermcast/Eps/SpermEp002/Imported Files/

etc

[MissHawkey]

When you say it looks fine do you mean that it is my latest saved file? It should start with a song and end with the same song at about minute 45. Or are you seeing a version that is 5 days old? So sorry to ask all these simple questions on a public forum.

[MissHawkey]

Up - it just showed up. I'm so confused. THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME. I still have no idea what happened, but you helped me get through this. And hey - y'all should check out the podcast, SpermCast on iTunes. Hahaha. Fingers crossed this episode goes up tomorrow. WOW. That was a terrible hour.

[SuiteSpot]

As long as all is well now then that is great - good luck with your SpermCast - I assume it is something to do with the navy and seaman

[MissHawkey]

That's exactly what it's about. Honestly, I can't thank you enough. I need a class in file management.

[SuiteSpot]

If you refer to Durin's earlier post he refers to the 'cloud' and to a 'backup' subfolder

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

This will definitely happen if you close the clips in the browser before closing the session; they will be set to offline, and you'll get a warning. Other than that, they'll need relinking if anything about the path to them has changed, or it isn't available, and you haven't saved copies of them in the session folder (usually a good idea).

I don't know if you're the only person having the problem, or even if it's really a problem at all (I use a PC and don't have any issues with this). As to whether you're cursed - well who knows? I sometimes feel that I am, but usually whatever it was turns out to be self-inflicted - if you see what I mean...

[mcdeee]

But I don't close the clips before closing the session.  Once I've completed my work, I go to File, Close All and it asks me if I want to save any changes I've made to the session, and if I want to save changes I've made to particular files, and finally, if I want to save the mixdowns.  I wonder if I'm somehow doing it differently than you?

And yes, I'm perfectly willing to admit this may be a PEBKAC.  I am absolutely willing.  I've been editing for radio for twenty five years.  Doesn't mean I know it all.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Let's see what Charles makes of your .sesx... and where are the files stored? Locally on the machine, or in any sort of remote location?

[mcdeee]

Steve - I've been sitting here, thinking about your comment, and I wonder if perhaps you're onto something as far as "how" I close a session.  I wonder, do other people *just* close the multitrack session, and THEN close the audio?  Perhaps "some" of the time, the audio files close BEFORE the session does?  I think that may be a possibility.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

mcdeee  wrote

Steve - I've been sitting here, thinking about your comment, and I wonder if perhaps you're onto something as far as "how" I close a session.  I wonder, do other people *just* close the multitrack session, and THEN close the audio?  Perhaps "some" of the time, the audio files close BEFORE the session does?  I think that may be a possibility.

The normal way to close a session is to save it first, and then simply use 'Close Session and its Media', so that the files all remain in the file list during the close-down. If that's what you are doing, and the path to the files (which presumably starts with /Volumes/) is still intact, then it should work reliably.

FWIW (and this may not be a lot, as I'm not that familiar with the innards of session files) the file references in yours are a simple string of numbers - like 4294967295, for instance. No path attached to any of them. What that suggests to me (and I should emphasise that you really need this confirming from a greater authority, likes suitespot) is that it's expecting to find these files in the same folder as the session file...

[mcdeee]

... and to answer your question, the files are stored on external drives (within the session folder.)

[casosycosasenmiami]

My recomendation is very simply: Always save several times your job when working with some especial item.

Another thing: I used External Hard Drive, just in case.

Very truly yours,

Mario Del Varco

[ryclark]

Have the external drives got fixed drive letters? Very often if they are not fixed they will be given a different drive letter depending in what order the drives power up when you turn your computer on. Obviously if the external hard drives change their drive letter then Audition won't be able to find the assets when you open the session another day after the computer has been turned off.

[mcdeee]

ryclark - I'm on a Mac.  No drive letters here.

[johnn56215350]

I got Audition CC in February replacing Audition 1.5. I have had the exact same thing happen twice. I get the same warning and am left with a multitrack session full of empty rectangles that used to have waveforms on them and now have nothing...no waveform, no sound.  Thankfully it's only (so far) on the one session and not all of them.  I work in radio production and have a folder I call 'Daily'. It is my daily work session where I do my routine things like adding tags to pre-produced spots...the stuff that doesn't need to be saved. Lots of files are recorded into and then deleted out of this session each day so maybe that has something to do with it.

After the first time it happened I deleted all the files from the session and then deleted the session folder, shut down, rebooted and started over again from scratch. When it happened last week for the second time...'warning 27 of 27 files have no file asset'...I went into the session folder and, one by one, loaded each file back onto the track just below itself, then deleted each 'empty box'. I lost any edits I had made to the files but had the sound and waveforms back. That was a week ago and so far...knock on wood...the program has been stable since.

I do everything..open the session, do the work, save and close the session...the exact same way every time. I have started a new way of working--making a new session folder for each thing I do rather than use this 'Daily' folder for multiple projects. That way if/when it happens again it won't be such a pain to put it back together.

What's strange about this is that obviously the assets are still attached to the files since they are intact in the session folder but somehow the 'asset connection' between the session folder and multitrack screen has been severed. If there was a sort of 'reboot' procedure that would provide a way to re-attach the missing assets to the files in the multitrack production that have lost them then that would fix this problem. (Hope that made sense)

Yes it's possible that I pushed a wrong key or clicked on the wrong word or icon somewhere along the way but I can't imagine what cuz I do everything the same way every time I use Audition.