Data Corruption

Support
1

PREFACE:

First off, mp3tag isn't closing gracefully and may actually be causing the problems discussed below. What I just discovered by trying to install 2.43C (and have seen before but forgot) is that there are multiple instances (processes) of mp3tag in the task manager. So the installation program is prompting me to close mp3tag (which I just had) but it's not closing entirely..

And, as the last post says, is that 2.43C has the same behavior.

END PREFACE:

Warning, the following problem was solved by the resident dumb guy. Only read if you use Windows AND other operating systems that actually work.

Ok, I searched under data lost and corruption and have been reading the posts.

I'm having an ongoing problem which I have not (as yet) classified in some step by step manner. But it has to due with working on a directory of files, or (even worse) a directory containing directories of files. I'm losing (corrupting) the files somehow. For example in a collection of about 700 files, I'll end up with 20 or so bad files (corrupted tags) that I'm "fairly" sure weren't corrupted before.

So, here are the steps I'm now taking and if anybody has something to add, please do!

  1. Back up all files before working on them. (It isn't really that easy if you are working on a lot of stuff at the same time.

  2. I saw in a post to use "RedTag" to test all the files. Is this still recommended?

  3. I'm downloading 243C now.

  4. Is there some limit on how many files you can "safely" work on at the same time?

  5. Once you get 1 or more corrupted files in a group, does that cause more issues later. Does that cause more files to get corrupted tags? (That would explain a lot.)

Is there some number of operations that you can do to all the files before the "undo" function has issues? This appears to be one of the suspected things. I'm making "itunescompilations" by using the move function a few times, the filename to tag, the tag to filename, the autonumber track system, the capitalization function etc. I'm using a lot of the functionality but when I do "a lot" of operations in one session I get in trouble somehow.

So I don't get in trouble when I'm editing a single album of 20 or so tracks. I'm only getting in trouble with compilations of 50-900 tracks. I'm usually trying to keep the directories I'm opening in mp3tag below 500 tracks, but this may still be too big...?

Does antivirus software have any effect? (Since we are opening for reading and writing a lot of files to add art (for example). I'm using and then the context command "extended tags" to edit multiple fields and add cover art to "ALL" the songs at the same time with the same command. Is this overextending the reach of the memory management in the program? (On 500-600 tracks for example). I've got 2GB of Ram.

Also, I'm trying not to run iTunes or foobar while I'm editing. Would that cause any problem if I did? (foobar just as a player right now, iTunes for the portables). I'm not tagged well enough to actually create a master library yet. That step is still a ways off.

Anyway, this is a really disjointed post, sorry. I'm so screwed up in the head for all the time I've lost by making a lot of progress and then all of a sudden, having it all go down the drain and have to start over again. If anybody wants to take a shot at any of this, please comment on whatever. I'm trying to make this as bullet proof as possible so please help me get out of "taggers hell" so I can get a life. I'll try to rationalize and track steps to reproduce any further problems.

:ph34r: <--that's what my wife sees when I'm working on this stuff for hours (days(weeks))...

Thanks,

Feedback greatly appreciated... :rolleyes:

2

UPDATE,

Ok, I'm working on a previously "good" directory with 609 tracks. I ran Red Chair. It is pretty worthless since it said that all the files were good.

When I loaded the directory in mp3tag, I have 181 files (now) that show something like 2954325TB in the size column. And I have 91 files of zero bytes.

Both of those types of files can no longer be "accessed".

And now when I try to access them with Windows Explorer, Explorer shuts down...

3

UPDATE 2

So if I take a "corrupted" directory of songs and copy them to another location, it fixes some of them (most but not all). So it appears that somehow the directory entry is getting damaged somehow that "locks" the file from opening. But you can copy it...? Weirder and weirder.

BTW, I had some audio "shell" programs that I uninstalled in case they were interfering with anything. AudioShell135.exe, MP3ext34b23.exe

4

UPDATE 3

You'll be happy to know that I've verified two things.

One: I'm an idiot. The "tags" weren't damaged. What was damaged was something about how the file was being handled that "locked" it (I'm was over my head).
So by copying the directories to another location, even on the same drive, the tags show up correct and the file is accessible. Gee, what would cause that? :unsure:

The next thing I'm going to try is to "count" the pathname length. If it is too long, this could be a source of problems. .....

What a jerk. How about a 320 character pathname. Jeez. Ok that's solved. Stupid windows.

The second thing is that 2.43C exhibits the same behavior as 2.43 in that it doesn't always completely shut down. So you can find multiple instances running in the task window at times.

5

I got the same question and i found a method.
You need to move Corrupted files (without folder and....) to another drive in your coumputer.

For more details click community link below :

6

Do not copy the folder (directory).
Copy the file inside.
The musics itself and nothing else.