"Disk may be full" error cost me months of work [VENT]

Sorry to hear that but with six months of work I'd have about 6 tons of backup media.

Relax, breathe, enable auto-save ... if the tunes are good they're still in your head

I've had this exact scenario happen twice recently with X2A.  If I remember right the autosave triggered the error. 

I couldn't save to anywhere, USB media included.

When I quit SONAR and tried to open the file all the changes were gone from the project file and the autosave file was "truncated". 

I didn't lose a lot of work, but still.....


John

It would be really great to understand how this problem comes about.  Obviously the disk isn't full. 

If it was really some sort of write error why can't we save the file to other disks or USB media?  Can't it recover more gracefully?

This has been an occasional problem for years now, it would be great if CW could take some time to see what the possible causes are. 

I think it's a Windows temp file problem. It can happen in Word and other Windows programs too.

1) It's worth backing up your work to a DVD or other potable storage at least once a day. I do it last thing before I go to bed

2) It's inexcusable that software even has the capability to screw up a project file to that extent. Truncated? So what? That doesn't mean "deleted." The Sonar team know the insides and outsides of these project files, and therefore they should know enough to write code to salvage a file that has been truncated. Every app should have a utility to repair files that have been corrupted in some way. I had a similar experience in Pro Tools with a file randomly becoming corrupted and apparently unsalvageable. I was just as p!ssed. Come on Cakewalk, people put their hearts and souls into these project files. 

CoteRotie

StepD


I think it's a Windows temp file problem. It can happen in Word and other Windows programs too.

I guess it could be, but I haven't seen anything like this outside of SONAR in Windows 7.  Win 7 seems pretty solid as far as data retention goes.
 
John

I don't buy that this is a Windows bug either. Only ever happened to me in Sonar, and that bug may have been there as far back as Pro Audio 9, or at least the very early versions of Sonar. It's annoying that Cakewalk has been unable to fix it in the decade + since this first started happening.


I think the issue with Autosaves being extra sensitive is something new. Prior to upgrading to X2, I don't think I ever had an Autosave fail. Now I have (happened last week). 


I'd consider the autosaving  bugs, though intermittent, critical. Corrupt projects are unacceptable. 

When this happened to me, I had to remember the tempo of the song, the drum patterns, track effects, etc., but I was at least able to recreate the project manually by importing the audio tracks and recreating all the other parts. This shouldn't be something any user should have to do. Also, maybe it's time Sonar start saving MIDI takes as MIDI files in the project folder same as it does for audio takes. You know...since they can't make saving work consistently.

And I'm sorry, the whole "oh corrupt projects happen, it's your fault for not making backups as you're working" or any other suggested workaround, is not an acceptable answer. Saving should simply work, and an error during save shouldn't corrupt a project. This is "pro" software we're supposed to be talking about, not freeware.

just keep in mind if your work is so important(I know you don't want to hear it) but back it up man.  :)
I have 3 back ups at all times on working projects.
not be of sonar, but windows, power failure, hard drive failure, all the above.
I cant afford to lose 6 months worth of work, I would be out of business.

the thing I hate is backing to disk, but I do it, usually at ends day, I have almost 300 dvd's worth of material that I will probably never, ever use but I will not succumb to what just happen to you.
sorry to hear man, but when you said F-to sonar, you should have replaced that with your own name.
I know your venting and its much easier to vent on a product rather than beat yourself up over it but really, think about it.... who' fault is this ?

I only wished you had learned your lesson on one song and not 6 months worth.
this is hard to swallow.
but you live and learn, look in to recovery software, I think its worth a shot, some freeware can do this, ive done it for customers recovering photos before, it works.
have you tried a system restore?
not sure if that would do it, but it might bring something back worth salvaging.

Funkybot

And I'm sorry, the whole "oh corrupt projects happen, it's your fault for not making backups as you're working" or any other suggested workaround, is not an acceptable answer. Saving should simply work, and an error during save shouldn't corrupt a project. This is "pro" software...
 

+1.  Sonar file management should be robust enough to overcome file I/O issues with the OS without damaging project files.  Basic stuff.
 
I don't use the .CWP versioning feature but I believe that opens and writes a new .CWP with each auto-save?  That might be a strategy for damage control.

chuckebaby

s h

just keep in mind if your work is so important(I know you don't want to hear it) but back it up man.  :) 

Question: how do I backup a project I just started working on? How does one backup work they're in the middle of doing?


1. Create a new project
2. Get a good flow happening
3. Stop & Save
4. Burn DVD's
5. Launch my online backup, upload the file
6. Now, what was I doing? Oh yeah, I was working on a song at some point. 
7. Make a change
8. Repeat steps 3-7?

Backups will happen after I'm done working, not during.

And sorry, saving should NEVER corrupt files. I've never had it happen in any other software. I've had saves fail in other software for various reasons, but only Sonar has corrupted files during failed saves. 

I like Cakewalk too, but I refuse to apologize for their critical bugs nor do I try and pin the blame on the end-users.

Living in terror of such a catastrophe is not exactly conducive to the creative process...

I'm sorry you lost a great tracking session, it's a tough thing to accept.

One thing I didn't see mentioned is this: fill out a bug report (professionally - i.e. no swearing) and attach the corrupt project file for Cakewalk. They may or may not be able to recover it but it could lead them to understanding the problem. If they understand the problem they might be able to fix it and save some other poor soul the frustration you are experiencing.

Regards,

I've become over-sensitive about things I believe might jam the system somehow and cause project corruption, even though I've never experienced "catastrophies" except for one HDD crash. I have autosave off, and I Ctrl+S frequently, I don't try to edit MIDI/audio or save on the fly (=during playback), I never leave pitch-shifters (=Melodyne) active in the project, I never advance from a task to another before I can see the previous one is executed, I always save before I launch VSTs that often halt the project (Vocal Strip, Perfect Space) etc.

There's been too many posts recently about lost projects, it is alarming. Having MIDI saved in a folder of its own would be a step forward in project safety, I agree.

I searched on this error and found the following suggestions: 

• Delete your picture cache.
• A bad WAV file that was imported
• It just means an (unidentified) error was raised while attempting to write to disk. It could be a failing disk drive, a loose cable, or simply a bad spot on the disk. Run a disk diagnostic that can map out bad spots.
• Export an audio track as a wave file and then try the save again
• In your aud.ini file, change DiskRecBufferSize to 512. 

daveny5


You didn't have autosave on? I keep tellin' people.... Autosave is not perfect, but its better than nothing.

After you cool off, start back on your project. I find the second time around, it comes out better than the first. 

In my case, it was an autosave that corrupted the project. Had the autosave not failed, I would have had the prior save and the project would never have been corrupted.

The problem seems to be that Sonar saves things in a piecemeal manner, and if the save doesn't complete 100% successfully, instead of not applying those changes (so I'd at least have things as of my prior save), Sonar will end up creating a corrupt project file. 

Most programs will create a .tmp file while you're working and for the duration of the save process as not to overwrite existing files. This way if the save fails, you don't loose your old data. Sonar doesn't appear to handle saving this way. Not cool.

Funkybot

daveny5


You didn't have autosave on? I keep tellin' people.... Autosave is not perfect, but its better than nothing.

After you cool off, start back on your project. I find the second time around, it comes out better than the first. 

In my case, it was an autosave that corrupted the project. Had the autosave not failed, I would have had the prior save and the project would never have been corrupted.

The problem seems to be that Sonar saves things in a piecemeal manner, and if the save doesn't complete 100% successfully, instead of not applying those changes (so I'd at least have things as of my prior save), Sonar will end up creating a corrupt project file. 

Most programs will create a .tmp file while you're working and for the duration of the save process as not to overwrite existing files. This way if the save fails, you don't loose your old data. Sonar doesn't appear to handle saving this way. Not cool.

I don't know about that. Autosave saves to a different project file, not the one you're working on. I've had autosave cause problems though so I guess its possible.