Dealing with files that go corrupt

[PoliticalBonobo]

It doesn't happen to me often, and this is probably only the second time (on a second computer) in the 2 years I've been using DP. But I appear to have a Chunk in a project that suddenly decided to throw a tantrum with almost every move I make. i.e. I can no longer open Omnisphere without crashing, opening sidebars or sequence editor causes display glitching, processor dropouts spiking, etc. etc. etc. I'm pretty certain the Chunk became corrupted somehow.

I think this is bound to happen once in a while with software, but how do you protect yourselves against it? I run hourly project backups, so I could backtrack to hopefully pick up on the file before it corrupted.

Anything else you guys do?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

One thing to try is start a new project and use the LOAD command to import data from the corrupted file. You might also try zipping and unzipping the file. If you can get a MIDI export and then reimport that to a new project, that might work. I haven't had to try it but an XML export/import to a new project is worth a try.

I've generally found that the culprits are either a plug in or a damaged audio file, but in the past 20 years I've only seen about 3 or 4 files become unsavable. Not too bad but 3 or 4 too many.

In the event of a completely destroyed file backups are your best and sometimes your only option. Be sure your drives are healthy with plenty of room (at least about 25% free when you start looking at replacements) and that your RAM is not going south.

[PoliticalBonobo]

One thing to try is start a new project and use the LOAD command to import data from the corrupted file.

I tried this, which lead me to believe the issue remains in the Chunk itself.

In the event of a completely destroyed file backups are your best and sometimes your only option. Be sure your drives are healthy with plenty of room (at least about 25% free when you start looking at replacements) and that your RAM is not going south.

To do this, are you using "health checker" software or something?

[FMiguelez]

+1 on what MLC said.

Try opening the system Console, type MOTU or DP, and see if you can figure out what is causing your crashes. It should be right there.

When this happens to me, the culprit is ALWAYS some cuemixconsole driver from the Library folder it insists on opening.

The Load command is your first line of defence. If it didn't work, try opening the project in Safe Mode (no plugins), or try moving your audio and analysis file elsewhere and see if it opens like that.
Also, try your recent auto-saved versions.

If none of that works, try zip/unzip, like Mike said.

When the Load command doesn't work for me, which is rare, and the project won't open because of the crashes of the above mentioned driver, I still can rescue it by opening it in a different computer (you could also try all the trouble-shooting suggestions with this 2nd computer if it fails).
You can also try opening it with a different version of DP (older or newer).

If none of that works and you have no recent backup of the project...
It is a problem if you didn't realize your file got corrupted waaaaaay back and most backups are corrupted as well

[PoliticalBonobo]

+1 on what MLC said.

If none of that works, try zip/unzip, like Mike said.

Interesting, didn't know that was a trick to use.

I've had this screwed up project issue once before about 2 years ago. I stripped EVERYTHING out of the project and was in safe mode, literally a completely blank project. I sent it to MOTU for them to test, and the project crashed, indicating a corrupted project.

In my current case, since loading the Chunk into another project didn't work, I tend to think something similar happened (corrupted audio file or project or something).

To avoid plugins being a potential cause, I'm thinking about routing all instrument plugins I use through Vienna Ensemble Pro, then I'll disable those plugins in DP. Not sure if anyone else works this way or not.