naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: software crash

Subject: Re: software crash
From: "Raimund Specht" <>
Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2003 14:36:31 -0000
Hi Klas,

It could be, that the problem was the large file size caused by your 
extremely long recording session. Generally, there is a limitation 
in the maximum file size that can be saved onto disk. This is a 
limitation of both the sound file format and the file system (FAT) 
of your harddisk. For example, common .wav files are limited to a 
maximum file size of 2 GB. But six hours of uncompressed stereo, 
sampled at 44.1 kHz would require 3.5 GB. Perhaps, your software was 
not prepared to handle that overrun condition properly. The FAT32 
file system allows maximum file sizes of 4 GB. Instead, the NTFS 
file system, which is available under Windows 2000 and XP does not 
have any file size limitations (except the harddisk size of course).

One way around this problem would be to configure the recording 
software in such a way, that new files are created (and saved) 
automatically at fixed time intervals (e.g. each hour a new one). 
Specific software would do that without any gaps between the 
successive files. However, I'm afraid, that WaveLab, CoolEdit and 
SoundForge do not support that mode of operation.

Another solution would be to use a software that supports a sound-
activated recording mode. A threshold comparison would then control 
the recording process. This would be appropriate if you want to 
record occasional sounds only. The advantage of this method would 
be, that the file sizes were much smaller (and locating the 
interesting events would be much easier). 

I have a very specific recording software, that supports both of 
these methods. However, it has been designed primarily for 
scientific monitoring purposes and has many other options as a real-
time spectrogram display and more advanced triggering options. It is 
therefore not extremely cheap.

Regards,
Raimund

Avisoft Bioacoustics



--- In  Klas Strandberg 
<> wrote:
> Tonight I recorded nearly 6 hours into my computer. It took some 
10-15
> minutes to save it. When the bar showed 99% saved, the software 
crashed. I
> lost it all, but it doesn't matter, it was nothing important.
> But how to avoid this? It could have been a valuable recording.
> 
> I usually use WaveLab, as it is so fast to work with. Perhaps i 
should
> download the recordings and save in CoolEdit instead?? Is that 
software
> stable? Which software is the most stable and reliable, recording 
and saving?
> 
> Klas.
> 
> Telinga Microphones, Botarbo,
> S-748 96 Tobo, Sweden.
> Phone & fax int + 295 310 01
> email: 
>        



________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU