All MPC files broken after file restore

[deus62]

Hi,

I'll make this quick. About a year ago I encoded tons of my CDs using the musepack format. Now I noticed that I had accidentally deleted not only the MPC folder on my old PC, but also my MP3 folder.

Not a big deal really since a) I have the music on CDs still and b) I was able to restore all the files using a harddisk utility (nothing had been written to the disk in the meantime, so all the files were restorable.

The problem is now that whereas all the mp3 files play without any problems, every single mpc file is broken. If I scan the files I get the same error every time ... like this one: X:\mpc\disk07\cluster 91812\08 - Easilee.mpc: broken after frame 28/11293 (00:00) [Note: The cluster stands for a restored folder holding mpc files that are all correct in size ... but broken.] If I try to play any of the files in foobar, some run through to the bitter end (no sound) with foobar trying to resynch every second. Some are simply not started at all.

Now, after having searched the net thin I guess all the files are lost. What I'm really interested in is why? Is the format so fragile? BTW: I did zip the restored files, burned them on a disk and transferred them that way to my new PC. Again: mp3 survived, mpc didn't.

Any ideas?
Thanks for your input.

[Shy]

Maybe all your MPC files weren't restored properly, and maybe your MP3 files weren't either. This is the file restoration process's problem. The fact that you can play broken mp3 files with foobar2000 doesn't mean you can play them with all other players (especially hardware). Your broken MP3 files also may have audible glitches. If you don't mind having corrupted files, that's fine, but saying an audio format is "fragile" because you can't play corrupted files is strange. That's like saying an image format is fragile because you can't decode an image past the corrupted part so a partial image is shown. JPEG has a very little known feature that allows you to set restoration points in files, thus allowing you to decode the image further if a part is corrupted. You can imagine how "useful" that feature is 99.9% of the time...
A hack could probably be made to allow MPC playback beyond corrupted parts, but it would be full of issues just like with MP3.
In short: Corrupted files cause problems no matter what. Don't keep corrupted files.

[deus62]

Sorry, but none of the mp3s are corrupted in the slightest.
But every single mpc is.
Strange.

I was just wondering if the MPC format has any built in algorithms or whatever that might react allergic to being restored from one cluster on disc A to another cluster on disk B. Any sum checking upon play going on?
No need to get into armour over this and defend mpc (I know what the format can do and how good it is). It was merely a question in regard to future safekeeping of my other files.

BTW: the mp3s and mpcs were mixed in the same folders (together with ogg and shn), so this is purely an mpc issue.

I've tested 20 random restored mp3s and not a single one has any defect whatsoever. The same goes for the ogg and shn files. We're talking about 7000 files here of which only the mpcs are unplayable and messed up. I find that strange.

And yes, I know what I'm doing.

[Shy]

I was just wondering if the MPC format has any built in algorithms or whatever that might react allergic to being restored from one cluster on disc A to another cluster on disk B. Any sum checking upon play going on?

No. And you don't need to worry about people getting into armors, they're too heavy. You say it's "purely an mpc issue" without even checking things thoroughly or knowing that there are no file types that are more susceptible to corruption caused by unsuccessful file restoration than others. This is nothing's fault but the restoration software's. And the fault is not really on the software either, as file restoration is rarely reliable. You should be more careful when you delete files. Best tip: don't disable the Recycle Bin.
Topic closed.