Very Old Files won't open - RESOLVED

[NealF]

Hi,

I've got a lot of DP sequences from about 20 to 25 years ago saved on CDs. Some don't show the DP thumbnail but most do.
None of them will open in DP 9.5.2.
The audio files are Sound Designer II and are split stereo files.

When I double click the files where the thumbnail does show, I get the startup window but they don't open either.
I do get an error message: OS error by file i/o: Write Permissions error (-61).
Is there any way to get these old files to open again?

Thanks.

[bayswater]

Could DP 9 be trying to create a new project on the CD? If so, you could try using Load from a new project already set up on your system.

[James Steele]

There a probably several topics about this posted here over the years. You can try the Google Search box that's in the upper right corner if you access this site with a web browser.

One thing to look out for is whether or not your project was copied onto any media that was not specifically formatted for MacOS without being ZIPPED first. This is known to cause problems as it often strips certain info from files that MacOS applications often need to open them.

There used to be apps that would repair the header information of SD2 files, which as you know are sort of obsolete these days. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can help. A lot of these issues are probably more easily fixed if you had an old Mac with the same OS that you created them on, and capable of running some of those utilities we used when we accidentally forgot and copied Mac files onto Windows formatted media.

[NealF]

Not sure if that's the way DP works normally.
I did try to open it from the CD.

Tomorrow I'll transfer it to my hard drive and see if that helps.
Thanks.

[mikehalloran]

Not sure if that's the way DP works normally.
I did try to open it from the CD.

DP never opens from the CD—or any locked volume or one where you do not have Write privileges. It tries to write from to the directory as part of the process.

Tomorrow I'll transfer it to my hard drive and see if that helps.
Thanks.

If that doesn't work, try to note any error messages. Also, launch DP, then open the Studio/Background Processing window and see if any errors show up as you try to launch an old project..

[NealF]

Alright!

Yes, the problem was that it was trying to work off the CD.
I transfered the files to my hard drive and it all opens fine.

Most of the audio files got lost in my lack of organization years ago, but at least I have the tempo maps and MIDI files.

Thanks everyone.

[James Steele]

Alright!

Yes, the problem was that it was trying to work off the CD.
I transfered the files to my hard drive and it all opens fine.

Most of the audio files got lost in my lack of organization years ago, but at least I have the tempo maps and MIDI files.

Thanks everyone.

Woohoooo!!! Honestly, I was concerned it would be a bigger problem. I love a happy ending!!!

[NealF]

Yeah. I'm a happy camper.

[mikehalloran]

Great!

The last series of posts that dealt with this issue is how many years old?

Having a recent thread might make it easier for anyone else with a similar problem it find it in a Google search.

[NealF]

I love the way these forums work.
You can find out how to do almost anything. Haven't been to a library in decades.

[James Steele]

I love the way these forums work.
You can find out how to do almost anything. Haven't been to a library in decades.

Yeah... well I hate to issue a disclaimer, but "Results may vary."

Sometimes it's an easy solution... and sometimes answers elude us. Glad you got it sorted.

[James Steele]

Having a recent thread might make it easier for anyone else with a similar problem it find it in a Google search.

Yep... and if you access the site with a computer/web browser, there's now a Google Search box at the upper right that yields much better quality results than the search that's built into the board software (phpBB).

[NealF]

I saw that. Great addition.

[James Steele]

I saw that. Great addition.

Thanks. This is a labor of love and a non-commercial user-run site. So I don't always have lots of time to devote to it. However, I got to spend some time digging through third-party "extensions" (they add extra capabilities) to phpBB and found this one. There's also one I installed that lets users move the user profiles/avatars in topics over to the left side instead of the right which is the old school way of doing it. That setting can be changed in your user profile.

[NealF]

Very cool.
I've been a member for probably over 20 years. Great asset for us DP users.
And thanks for helping with my login problem.