Finished Score Blank

sgcim

• May 16, 2023 - 01:34

I tried to open up a score today, and was told it had been moved to MuseScore 3.6 by MuseScore for notation updates. Since I only have MuseScore3.0 and 4.0 I clicked on Ignore.
When I tried to open the score again it was blank in both MuseScore 3.0 and 4.0.
Can you help me retrieve this score?

Comments

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 16, 2023 - 09:22

Not without you sharing it here...

Anyway: you should upgrade to 3.6.2, now. And possibly to 4.0.2 too.

sgcim

• May 16, 2023 - 20:10

How do I share it here?

sgcim

• May 16, 2023 - 20:13

I went on MuseScore.org and downloaded 3.6, the last one listed in a slew of versions of 3.6.

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 16, 2023 - 20:41

But if you try to open a 4.x score with 3.x, you'd indeed get an empty score

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 16, 2023 - 20:40

See How To attach a file

sgcim

• May 16, 2023 - 20:56

The title is "They Can't Take That Away" They Can't Take That Away.mscz They Can't Take That Away.mscz

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 16, 2023 - 21:49

That score really is empty, doesn't have any instruments or measures:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<museScore version="3.02">
  <programVersion>3.6.2</programVersion>
  <programRevision>3224f34</programRevision>
  <Score>
    <LayerTag id="0" tag="default"></LayerTag>
    <currentLayer>0</currentLayer>
    <Division>480</Division>
    <Style>
      <Spatium>1.74978</Spatium>
      </Style>
    <showInvisible>1</showInvisible>
    <showUnprintable>1</showUnprintable>
    <showFrames>1</showFrames>
    <showMargins>0</showMargins>
    <metaTag name="arranger"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="composer"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="copyright"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="creationDate">2023-05-15</metaTag>
    <metaTag name="lyricist"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="movementNumber"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="movementTitle"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="mscVersion">3.02</metaTag>
    <metaTag name="platform">Microsoft Windows</metaTag>
    <metaTag name="poet"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="source"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="translator"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="workNumber"></metaTag>
    <metaTag name="workTitle"></metaTag>
    </Score>
  </museScore>

That's all that is in there

sgcim

• May 16, 2023 - 21:51

Yeah, I'm freaking out!

sgcim

• May 16, 2023 - 21:54

It was a 20 page big band arrangement for16 instruments, and now it's nothing. I was trying to make a few chaanges after a performance of it, but now all I've got left are the printed out parts.

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 16, 2023 - 21:59

As said: look for a backup, see also How to recover a backup copy of a score

And never ever again open a 4.x score with 3.x and save it over the 4.x one! You should have noticed that it is blank before you saved it, so I don't quite understand how that could happen

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 16, 2023 - 21:52

Is this the result of opening a 4.x score with 3.6.2 and save it? Seems like it, as that's exactly what happens in those cases
If so: share the previous version, maybe search for a backup.

sgcim

• May 16, 2023 - 23:07

All I can find is that MuseScore saved the score on 3.6.2,, but I can't find a backup

Jm6stringer

• May 17, 2023 - 02:45

Earlier you wrote:
I...was told it had been moved to MuseScore 3.6 by MuseScore for notation updates.
and now:
MuseScore saved the score on 3.6.2

How exactly did MuseScore do all this?
When I use MuseScore, I'm the one who moves/saves files. I may on occasion be given prompts, or asked questions (e.g., 'Do you wish to overwrite...?'); but I'm the one who ultimately clicks on choices like 'OK', 'Accept', 'Cancel', 'Apply', ...etc.
MuseScore then complies with my wishes.

If you are running two different (major) versions of MuseScore (3 & 4), then you must be ever more attentive to keeping track of your files created from the different versions (even telling your OS which version to load when you double click to open a .mscz file).

I hope you can find a backup; or at least be able to use the printed parts to reconstruct your score. Perhaps scanning the printed parts into pdf and importing into MuseScore.

sgcim

• May 17, 2023 - 05:26

Yeah, this was the first time Musescore has moved a chart written in 3.0 to 3.6 and then saved it to 3.6, which I don't even have on my desktop. All I have is 3.0 and 4.0.
I've tried everything to I could to get it back, but all I get is a completely blank page with no staves. I've written 60 big band charts and this is the first time this has happened.

I did lose another chart when I was working on another piece that was saved on a flash drive. Now when I click on that piece, all I get is a first trombone part to another piece.

My process of saving my work is always "Save As", and then it prompts me "This piece already is saved, do you want to replace it with a new version with the changes you've made?"
That has worked out okay. Should I be doing it another way?

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 17, 2023 - 08:31

If you only have 3.0 (and 4.0) then that score you shared can't be from your computer, as it clearly had been last saved with 3.6.2, and prior to that with a pre 3.6 version.
Neither 3.0 nor 4.0 would ever migrate a score to 3.6.2. Never ever!
Using "Save as" and then overriding the warning that the piece exists already is a 100% sure way to destroy the prior version, from whatever MuseScore it originally came.

Have a 3.x and a 4.x folder and save your scores in those, work with Mu4 only inside the 4.x folder and with Mu3 only in the 3.x folder.
Never ever save a 4.x score with Mu3, that's a save way to empty it!
The other way round works though, you can open and save 3.x scores with Mu4

sgcim

• May 17, 2023 - 08:39

When it said it was transferred to 3.6 yesterday, I downloaded a version of 3.6 so I could get it back last night.
I don't know where it is now.

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 17, 2023 - 08:47

Ah, yes, there are traces of a pre-3.6 live in that score:
<metaTag name="mscVersion">3.02</metaTag>
But an empty 3.0 score won't magically have content after saving with 3.6, not would it loose any content. So it must have lost its contenet when having saved a 4.0 score with 3.0

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 17, 2023 - 08:52

And there's indeed one hint that it used to be a 4.x score:
<Spatium>1.74978</Spatium>
This is the Mu4 default and slightly smaller than the Mu3 default

So far for the forensics...

sgcim

• May 17, 2023 - 09:00

I wrote it a while ago in 3.0. Why would I move it to 4.0?
Musescore gave me a message that it moved it to 3.6
Maybe I made a mistake, because it's also listed in 4.0.
At least I have the parts copied out. Maybe when I wanted to correct something I somehow did it in 4.0.
I guess I should give up on finding the score.

Jojo-Schmitz

• May 17, 2023 - 09:03

I wrote it a while ago in 3.0. Why would I move it to 4.0?
How would I know why?
Musescore gave me a message that it moved it to 3.6
Sure not.
Maybe I made a mistake, because it's also listed in 4.0.
So at least you once opened it in Mu4.

There's enough evidence that you then saved it with Mu4 (using "Save as" and overwrtting the 3.0 version, ignoring the warning), then opened it with 3.0, ignored the warning that the score stems from a newer version, saw it empty (you really can't have missed that!) and again Saved As and overwrote it again, then opened it with 3.6.2 (and saw it still to be empty) and overwrite it again.

Unless you have a copy of the score elsewhere, like on OneDrive, it is lost now