How To Import DP Projects From v3 to v6?

[Russ Tanner]

Yes, I just made the jump from DP 3 on OS 9 to DP 6 on OS X.

Problem is that I'm having trouble opening the v3 files in v6. v6 simply does not recognize them as DP files. They are grayed out in the file-open window.

I transferred them from the old Beige G3 machine to the new silver Mac Pro using FTP in binary mode.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[James Steele]

Yes, I just made the jump from DP 3 on OS 9 to DP 6 on OS X.

Problem is that I'm having trouble opening the v3 files in v6. v6 simply does not recognize them as DP files. They are grayed out in the file-open window.

I transferred them from the old Beige G3 machine to the new silver Mac Pro using FTP in binary mode.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

I think you hosed yourself doing the FTP thing. Did you transfer them directly or put them on a server first? Try making a ZIP or Stuffit archive of the project first, then transfer to the new machine and then either Unzip or unstuff the archive. It sounds like basically you somehow trashed file meta data (type/creator) in the FTP process.

[Russ Tanner]

Yea, you could be right.

I'll do what you said. I'll make a zip and then transfer it and report back.

[Russ Tanner]

OK, I've tried several methods of moving the files to the new machine.

In my final attempt, I tarred/zipped the DP3 files (on the old G3 machine) into a single file (tar archive) and transported them via the network (via file-sharing) to the Mac Pro where I untarred/uncompressed them.

Unfortunately, the DP v3 files still will not open on DP6. When I click "File>Open", the DP3 project files are grayed out.

I have searched the manual and cannot find anything about this. Perhaps it can't be done?

So I guess I'm back to square 1.

Are there any other ideas about how to transfer DP3 files to DP6?

Thanks again in advance.

[James Steele]

I'm not familiar with whether or not tar could be destructive to that information. Have you tried simply zipping the file and not using the .tar archiving? If you're up for it, zip ONE project file and email it to me (use the link below my avatar) and I'll try and open it on my system and see if I can. I have some very old projects I've managed to open, so it should be possible.

[Russ Tanner]

Thanks for the offer. I may take you up on it.


I have been wrestling with this for a couple days and finally decided to attempt to open the old DP3 projects on the machine they've been on since they were created using the original copy of DP3.

Interestingly, DP3 grays them out as well. Obviously, something has changed because I know they worked fine before.

The old machine has been off for about a year and moved to my new location, but everything else on the machine works fine.

I'm baffled.

I guess I'm going to look at the ownership/creator issues with the files. Maybe I'll zip some up and send them to you as well.

Thanks!

[carrythebanner]

Try fixing the type/creator info:
What is the Mac file type and creator for Digital Performer files?

[Russ Tanner]

You hit the nail on the head. I had a breakthrough last night while researching this. I was actually able to recover a project completely.

It seems that I have two separate problems. First, I had to change the DP project file to:

TYPE: PERF
CREATOR: MOUP

This enabled DP6 to open the DP3 files without problem.

The second problem is that I got an error when trying to save the project, something like "Resource file was not found (-193)"

In order to solve this, I had to restore the headers on the audio files, one-by-one. I used SoundHack to load each file and change it to 16-bit 44.1 KHz. When I restored the header info in each audio file, the project saved perfectly.

So, it was about 5am when I did this, so I went to bed. I've got a number of projects so it looks like I've got my work cut out for me tonight.

Thanks for all of your help!

[James Steele]

Glad you figured it out. The fact that the headers were messed up on the audio files does suggest that basically the resource fork of the files got lost somehow in the transfer. It would be interesting if you could rather than FTP or whatever, copy an entire project to a Mac formatted USB thumb drive (most of them come formatted for Windows by default) from your computer with v3 on it, to the computer with v6.

[Russ Tanner]

I'll definitely keep that in mind. I'm just glad that the problem is solved. I could have lost a lot of work.

I've been building computers and programming in several languages for over 10 years, but I'm pretty new with a Mac, but my unix background really helped a lot. Thanks again for the help!

You know, learning that there is a problem with transferring these files to other file formats raises a question:

What is the best way to make backups?

What media should I use for the project and audio files?

[crduval]

Hi all;

I'm newly returned to recording and this forum after a loooong absence, and I am posting only to say that this will soon be my situation as well (DP3 to DP6) - so thanks, Russ and James, for your hard work to show me the way if I run into trouble. Its nice to see that yes, there is a way to carry my previous works of mind-bending compositional genius into the present day

Its a little daunting how DAW SW and plugs have proliferated since the kids were born... er, ... since I went into seclusion to get back in touch with my inner muse, that is... but the forum is still so lively and active that I already feel better informed after spending a few weeks just reading posts. THanks to all for sharing their knowledge.

Regards,

Chris

[corbo-billy]

Perhaps with this link ?

http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technot ... lay-in-dp4