Lost files....

Hi everyone...I'm in a complete panic.

I was working on a project not more than two hours ago and when I came back EVERYTHING associated with that live set has vanished. Not one single clip nor file remains to ever prove it was there. When I went into time machine to retrieve it, there was NOTHING.

Can someone please let me know what might have happened and if anyone else has experienced the same thing? The idea that there is NOTHING left even in my time machine makes me wonder if my machine was hacked from the outside. There isn't anything worth taking on it, but I was really getting somewhere really great with that work and it is the first time I've ever lost an entire project in Live.

Please help!

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

Sorry to hear this!!

Did you definitely save the project?

I'd contact Ableton Technical Support directly with as many details about your system as possible...
http://www.ableton.com/support

...and in the meantime try not to reboot your Mac - just put it in sleep mode...

Let me know how you get on.

Rounik

Thanks Rounik,

Yes I definitely saved, and not even Time Machine has any trace of it being backed up. I'm working with someone on the Apple boards to find out what to do, but the reboot has already occurred.

I wouldn't even know what details to tell the guys at Ableton. Quite honestly, I'm not sure it is an Ableton problem, and if it is, I'm not too terribly confident they'd be able to retrieve it for me.

I'll be back with updates...

Jamie

Hey Jamie,

Hope you find a solution to this! Might still be worth contacting Ableton, if just to let them know this has happened... nothing like this has happened to me using Logic or other Apps on OSX... Odd.

Good luck!
R

Thanks Rounik,

I was on phone support today for an hour, and the guy at apple actually thought it was very odd as well. It's just gone. So strange that not only the live set, but the associated clips and recorded audio are nowhere to be found, but the stems I downloaded from the net were intact!

I am known for being mildly paranoid, but it is almost as if someone either hacked my machine or literally came in my house when I Was gone and chose that specific file to erase.

We went through several steps in trying to retrieve the file, but to no avail. I even tried a couple of data recovery apps and they didn't find it either. The support tech thinks that ableton and/or the computer might have, in some strange universe, changed the name or directory status of the entire file and put it somewhere else.

I have an appointment with apple tech on Friday to get it checked because we also discovered that the drive can not boot from the snow leopard disc. My 24" can just fine, but not my 27". I was trying to perform a disc repair, but couldn't access the disc utility from the original disc itself, so...

Luckily I bought the AppleCare when I got the computer, so nothing will need to be paid for if something catastrophic happens to be the issue. I'm so bummed. That file was some of the best work I've done to date...I was really starting to "get it" with that project, and I can't quite remember what I did with all the elements to get to that point.

Jamie

Hey Jamie,

Well... I feel your pain! I've had stuff go wrong on me when I've been working on really complex Environments and... (shock) I haven't saved and Logic's crashed on me etc... but those times was down to me really!

This does sound like your Mac entered some kinda parallel universe and the permissions went squiffy.

Did you do a Search based on Date - to see all files on your system modified / created on a certain date/time?

But, really, I hope some of the ideas and creations you lost flow back into your future projects...

Good job on getting the AppleCare :)

Best
Rounik

Hey Rounik!

Yeah, I did every kind of search one could do. Date was one of them since I knew there was a two-hour window where whatever went wrong actually did go wrong. Nothing...

So, I've decided to take the rest of the week off from any kind of music making on the computer and just reset myself. I consider it to be a hint that I was on the right track, but need to practice it to become more fluid as a process. If I don't try to find the "good" results beyond this incident, I'll drive myself crazy. But I do need a break to sort of get over it...

If anything strange happens I'll be sure to post!

Jamie

Sure Jamie!

Recharging your batteries sounds like a cool way to go!

Take it easy and have a great day :)

R