Corrupted Score
One of my scores out of nowhere got corrupted, saying "score is corrupted and cannot be opened." I already tried to use my backup, but that was corrupted to for some reason. In the files, it shows that there is 1.05 MB of space for the score, so everything should still be there, however no matter what I do I cannot get it open, nor can I recover it myself. Can anybody help me get this score recovered? I was less than a month away from publishing it and I'm devistated about this, I've been trying to get it back all day but I've had no luck. Even when I renamed the file, it just says corrupted still.
Comments
We can't do anything to try to help without the score (.MSCZ file). If you don't know How To attach a file, click the link.
In reply to We can't do anything to try… by TheHutch
I should've replied to you, not the comment, my bad. Here is the link to the backup file of my score; this one is also corrupted unfortunately.
Oh yea that might be useful, here's my backup file that is also corrupted.
In reply to Oh yea that might be useful,… by Gloriful_Pigeon
This file consists only of about 1 MByte Null-Bytes. Help is not possible.
In reply to This file consists only of… by HildeK
That's how much the score originally had when it was complete, 1.05 MB; but I'm assuming when you say Null-Bytes, you are likely referring to a byte with no value, which would that mean my file is then full of zeros even though it shows it has memory?
In reply to That's how much the score… by Gloriful_Pigeon
Yes. See:
![ScreenShot 431 ~Dawning of the Light.mscz - Notepad++.png]( "ScreenShot 431 ~Dawning of the Light.mscz - Notepad++.png")
EDIT: Not "no value" but value = 0. Of course, these also take up 1 MByte of space...
In reply to Yes. See: [inline… by HildeK
Oh damn thats bad, very unfortunate to get this news but I'd like to thank you for trying to help. Do you know if there may be any other thing I can do? I do have an audio file of it that is perfectly fine, but I dont think that'd help too much.
In reply to Oh damn thats bad, very… by Gloriful_Pigeon
No, an audio file is not very helpful - unless you can hear it and transfer the notes :-)
Depending on what you have done before, you can check at these locations whether an older version is available:
(This applies for Windows)
In reply to Oh damn thats bad, very… by Gloriful_Pigeon
Did your computer hibernate / shut down unexpectedly / due to low battery or something before the corruption happened?
Can you attach diagnostic files for us to inspect - you can generate a zip file with them by going to menu Help -> Diagnostics -> Save diagnostics files.
In reply to Did your computer hibernate … by krasko78
Yes, I had my computer on, and my power short-circuited, which turned off my computer and the program. I'm 98% sure that is the reason for the corruption, and sure, I'll generate a diagnostic file. Do you want diagnostics of the score or my computer? I'd assume the score, but I just wanna be sure first.
In reply to Yes, I had my computer on,… by Gloriful_Pigeon
Ok, so you had a power failure. This indeed is very likely the culprit. Was the score corrupted immediately after you broght you computer back on and opened MuseScore? Or did it corrupt slightly after? Anything you can remember before and after the power outage can be valueable.
From inside MuseSore, simply go to menu Help -> Diagnostics -> Save Diagnostics files and follow the instructions. Then attach the generated zip file here.
In reply to Ok, so you had a power… by krasko78
From what I remember, the score corrupted immediately after going back onto MuseScore. Beforehand, I had a few issues with MuseScore freezing up, but I think that is just because the score was so big. After the power outage, I tried to open up the score, and it said "score is corrupted and cannot be opened." From which I tried to recover it, but all my backup files were also corrupted for that score.
In reply to Ok, so you had a power… by krasko78
Here is the diagnostic file. Let me know if you have any issues with it, I can convert it to open with Google Chrome or something if that is needed too. Thank you so much for trying to help, by the way.
In reply to Here is the diagnostic file… by Gloriful_Pigeon
Thanks. Unfortunately the diagnostic files don't reveal anything - they show the score is already corrupted.
In reply to Ok, so you had a power… by krasko78
I thought there was a new save system implemented some months ago especially to avoid corrupted file in the future? That was writing a temporary file, checking that one is correct on disk, and only then delete the other one and rename the temp one?
So that file corruption are impossible in the future?
Worst case being computer shutdown after delete and before rename, which means nothing is lost but you still need a manual rename?
What did I miss?
In reply to I thought there was a new… by frfancha
Has that ever been merged?
In reply to Has that ever been merged? by Jojo-Schmitz
Yes. It is been around since December I think.
In reply to I thought there was a new… by frfancha
You are correct and not missing anything. With the save enhancements implemented and the corruptions still happening, the mystery is even bigger now. We have received confirmations that all the latest corruptions resulted from loss of power. But what happens and why we don't know yet. Nor why the new corruption check does not catch it.
In reply to You are correct and not… by krasko78
Does the O.P. use the latest version?
I suppose you already checked that from the diagnostic file, but just to be sure?
In reply to Does the O.P. use the latest… by frfancha
Yes, 4.5.2.
In reply to You are correct and not… by krasko78
Thinking about it, my score may have not been affected by these new save enhancements. I only think this because there could be a chance that these enhancements are only applied to scores created after December, and my score was created somewhere around June, 2024. However, if my score was affected and there is some type of file hidden somewhere in the depths, that'd be amazing. Unfortunately, my expectations are low though.
In reply to Thinking about it, my score… by Gloriful_Pigeon
Correct, they were implemented in 4.5 which was released in December if I remember correctly. However, it is not about when the score was created. It is important when the score was last opened successfully and modified/saved as well as when you updated to MuseScore 4.5+. If you never opened the score with MuseScore 4.5+ until now and it was corrupted the first time you tried to open it now, then yes, it must have become corrupted before the save enhancements. The save enhancements try to alert the user of a corruption the moment they save the score but they do not create any extra backups or something.
In reply to Correct, they were… by krasko78
Oh ok well in this case, I have been using MuseScore 4.5+ since December, as I always updated it as soon as an update came along. As to what I remember, the corruption occured after I had already been using MuseScore 4.5.2 for a while.
In reply to Correct, they were… by krasko78
Would it be possible for me to revert back to an older version such as MuseScore 3 and try loading the corrupted score into there? It's a pretty random solution but sometimes things like that work. I have a feeling my file is too corrupted though, considering it is 1.02 MB of Null-Bytes.
In reply to Would it be possible for me… by Gloriful_Pigeon
For a score file containing nothing but zeros using any version would fail the same way.
And generally older versions can't read scores from newer versions, my MuseScore 3.7 Evolution being the exception
In reply to For a score file containing… by Jojo-Schmitz
I feel like there has to be some type of file hidden somewhere still, one that may be inaccessible there's no way my computer which tracks everything, doesn't have an untouched file of this score somewhere. Unfortunately, my cloud also went inactive and stopped storing information so it isn't in the cloud either.
In reply to I feel like there has to be… by Gloriful_Pigeon
I'm just trying to avoid having to re-write everything, as it's hard for me to determine the notes when it comes to suspended or diminished chords (which I used a lot in the score).
In reply to I feel like there has to be… by Gloriful_Pigeon
You might be able to find backup files
In reply to You might be able to find… by Jojo-Schmitz
I could try, I actually just found one backup file from when my score was originally titled "Spark." However, this score is so old that there's basically nothing there. I don't know how there isn't anything in between the progress of 2 months ago and today, as it's either one or the other in my files. Anything past when I titled it "Dawning of the Light" is corrupted.
In reply to I could try, I actually just… by Gloriful_Pigeon
If you would like, I can send the file of that one to you, I just don't wanna mess up more while trying to get everything back.
In reply to If you would like, I can… by Gloriful_Pigeon
Depending on the folder, some backup files don't have the original name. They have a number instead. You have to open each and see what it is.
In reply to Depending on the folder,… by bobjp
Unfortunately, I've opened up as many files as I can now, there was only one backup file and it corrupted about 30 seconds after I opened it. Even though I saved it and made a copy and backup in that 30 seconds, the others didn't save. My luck really is just horrible lately. There were no numbered files as to what I found.