DP 10.1 corrupting files on file save?

[Timeline]

The original poster has to edit to modify the first posting. That was not me.

[enpromike]

Big thanks to Timeline and Stringtheory for clearing this up. For everyone else the solution is:
The latest download on the MOTU website IS version 10.11 even though nowhere does it say this is an update or a new version. That's the fix. So far seems to be all good.

I also sent this to MOTU:

I’ve spent hours debugging a DP10 problem that many users have experienced with DP10 randomly corrupting files and rendering them unworkable. Check MOTUnation site this was a big issue.

Ultimately this was solved simply by your latest update (DP10.11), but NONE of us users even knew about it. It is not clear on the MOTU site that this is even an update at all.

This is very frustrating. I’m hoping this does not fall upon deaf ears and you guys can do something for the benefit of your loyal customers.

Can MOTU please inform us users when there are any updates available to the software. This problem could have been resolved quickly and efficiently by this simple information.

Instead, users have been scouring the internet and trying to call MOTU to get the answer to something that could have been remedied so much easier with a simple email.

That would do it. I speak for all of us DP users that have stuck with MOTU over the decades.

Thank you

[bayswater]

Can MOTU please inform us users when there are any updates available to the software. This problem could have been resolved quickly and efficiently by this simple information

You can have DP set to tell whether an update is available every time is starts up. This is an option you can set in the Help menu.

[unlined4string]

I am experiencing an issue running DP 10.13 on a 2009 Mac Pro under OSX 10.11.6, El Capitan. When I attempt to open some (not all) Performer docs created long ago (in the 90's) I get the "unexpected end of file -39" error. The problem is 100% repeatable and also occurs on my 2009 PowerBook.

The affected files are all MIDI sequences with no audio. After a first occurrence for a given file the problem persists and occurs with every attempt to access that file. I can't load the MIDI data from the affected files into a new sequence because the file is grayed out in the load dialogue box (indicating that apparently DP thinks the file is not compatible?). Since I can't get the files to open, saving the sequence into a new file is not doable.

I've tried the usual things, a clean reinstall of DP with all old preferences files deleted, setting the "open with" app in Get Info, etc. Nothing has resolved it. I'm keeping the affected files, in case there is some way to make them usable (e.g. a Terminal command, etc.).

In an earlier post on this thread someone said they had found a solution for the "unexpected end of file -39" error, but the solution wasn't posted here (that I can find). I'd very much appreciate any insight from others. Thanks for reading.

[mikehalloran]

-39 is an OS error and normally means that one or more resources cannot be found.

It can also mean that you no longer have permissions to read or write to these files. You can often fix this in Get Info by clicking on project folders, adding yourself as Administrator, changing the privileges of all users to Read and Write, then checking the box to apply to all files in the folder. This has to be done for each user.

I went through this in 2010 when I moved to my Intel iMac and updated to DP 7.24. Though I had moved the files from my G5 correctly, it was the files that had started life on my older Performa 6200 and G3 that had given me grief. Interestingly, MOTU Support told me that all my old files were corrupted and nothing could be done—even after I told them that everything still opened fine in DP 5.13 and 7.01. The performance window in DP 7.1 gave me the clue that it was a permissions issue. Anyway, it took a quite a few hours before I figured out the solution and brought everything back to life.

Hope this helps.

[unlined4string]

mikeohalloran Thank you so much for your kind reply. I just tried as you suggested (several files) but with no success. I tried it at both the individual project folder level, and also at the higher level folder where all of my DP projects are stored.

Since we're on a "permissions" track, I should mention that I occasionally run Onyx in automation mode (maintenance, rebuilding and cleaning). So far I've never seen any indication of a negative effect, in fact my system is exceptionally stable. Just thinking, could this be damaging permissions in a way that isn't obvious to me?

[James Steele]

I'm just shooting in the dark here. Mike would know more than I. At any time did you store your DP project files on Windows-formatted media without archiving (.zip) first? Years ago that used to create a lot of problems and file type and creator designations were lost. I'm not exactly sure if that went away in favor of just purely file extensions, but it my affect opening these older project files.

[unlined4string]

Update to my post on April 4. After several days reviewing every DP project I have, there is good news and bad. The good news is that most projects from the past 20 years are so is OK. The bad news is that older work from the 90's is probably lost to the "unexpected end of file" error.

Apparently this issue affects my files created under Mac OS 7/8/9 (in the versions of Performer and Mac platform that were current at the time) and not subsequently opened in newer versions and re-saved in newer formats.

So many transitions happened during that time that I can't identify a likely cause. From system 7 to El Capitan 10.11.6, from classic Mac hardware to multi-core Intel, from magnetic drives to SSD, and eventually to FileVault. The corruption could go back a very long time. But the good news is that the projects I consider most important survived.

For those with very old projects I recommend opening and re-saving in the newer file formats as they evolve.

At least it's not as bad as the 90's when Gibson bought Opcode and killed support. I lost a LOT of work then, gone forever.