MuseScore crashed, can't access backup

• Jun 7, 2015 - 23:08

Before you tell me to rename the .mscz, file, let me say that I already tried.

I was using the d74469c build for Windows, and though it was completely stable and everything worked fine, I managed to accidentally unplug my laptop while working on MuseScore (with Autosave set to 1 minute, but I guess that just autosaves over the score file, and not the .mscz, backup), and, because my laptop's battery is dead, it completely died and as such the file while now no longer open.

The nightlies seem to create the .mscz, backup file in the same directory as the saved score, and, well, that's all fine, but, the newest .mscz, file I have is from 3 pm today because I most likely had MuseScore open all along since then and worked on it and the autosave just auto-saved the score file, and not the backup.

Speaking of which, if I am correct in all of this, this is the worst backup system ever because regardless of the fact that one turns autosave down to 1 minute, if the file becomes corrupt, one will only have an ancient useless version of their score from the last time they closed the score and reopened it (if I understand this correctly)

I think you guys should change this so that the autosave not only save the score file, but also the .mscz, backup file to prevent people just like me from losing a days work on a score and then hating the guts out of MuseScore.

In any case, I've uploaded my broken .mscz file in case anyone can somehow do some magic trick and open it.

I even hit save before the laptop became unplugged, so it was not in an unsaved state at all, which prompts me to think why on earth does it become corrupt since there was no new data waiting to be written to it, MuseScore just did not close properly.

Perhaps you guys could do something about that too in future versions of MuseScore?

Thanks!

(BTW, I'm running Windows 10 64x Technical Preview with build 10130)

(and yes, I've checked appdata and every other possible MuseScore location folder for a backup file and there are none. Speaking of which, it might be good to update information on where backup files lie when someone uses the nightlies. You do want people to test them, right? Well, in that case, bugs will only come out when people like me actually do real work on a nightly, because that will test the nightly the most as compared to just random clicking of buttons. Ironing out of bugs only occurs when a company "eats its own dog food" as in actually testing their product on a daily basis. And from what I understand, the stable builds are nothing but a glorified nightly, the latest nightlies incorportaing the code from the stable build but perhaps having newer code that causes problem. Today I have not had any hangs or crashes or slowness at all through the nightly I was using, and, were it not for my stupid dead battery, I would have had a perfect day with it. But then again, I wouldn't have started this thread and you guys wouldn't have improved the backup mechanism. :D)

Attachment Size
score.mscz 31.69 KB

Comments

You guys, something's wrong here.

I've just tested the backup mechanism a couple of times with new scores and sometimes when I close the file the backup that is created gets renewed but other times it does not even though I enter new information that I then have to hit save on.

Please double-check so that the backup mechanism works as expected at least, in terms of making a backup at the end of the session or whatever it was.

Thanks.

I've subsequently opened a score, added stuff, saved, closed, and the backup did not change absolutely at all, I am still stuck with a stupid old backup of the new score I'm working on even though Autosave is set to 1 minute, which I guess just autosaves over the main score file, but if my laptop loses power again, or something else causes MuseScore to crash, everything is friggin' lost!

That kinda stinks, doesn't it?

In reply to by musescorister

The auto save is not saved to your score - it's in a separate folder whose location is determined by the OS. The backup with the comma is unrelated; it is created on the first save for any given session and never touched again for the duration of the session.

Presumably your autosave version is still waiting for you. You just need to find the right folder for your OS. I have no idea if Windows 10 puts this somewhere new, but in other versions of Windows, it is under your AppData folder. Something like C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\MuseScore\MuseScore2. See https://musescore.org/en/node/52116 for more info on recovering from backup / autosave.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Again, you seem to be missing the point about that .mscz, backup not working properly unless by every session you mean every OS session, as in restarting the OS.

And since it's not a most recent backup like you'd have with Microsoft Office files where it keeps the spare in the same folder in case there is a crash, what's it doing in that folder anyways, since it's so useless. Why isn't it in some backup folder somewhere?

In reply to by musescorister

I am not missing the point, and no, I don't mean OS session - I mean editing session. I have read the entire thread, and tested the creation of backups before posting. It works exactly as I said. Let me try to rephrase:

When you first open an existing score in MuseScore, no backup is created/updated. When you first *save* changes to that score, a backup is created is it did not exist, or updated if it did exist. From then on, nothng you do will affect that backup unless you close the score and then reopen it. At that point, this process starts anew - the initial open does not affect the backup, but the first save does. This is coimpletely repeatable, has never not worked to my knowledge.

If you have a specific score and precise step by step instructions on how to reproduce a case where the backup file is *not* created / updated exactly as I have said, please post all the relevant details. But I am guessing you are simply misunderstanding something here.

As for the autosave, if the system crash happened *while* writing the autosave, I guess that could explain why it doesn't exist. I'd still expect the previous version to be there. Perhaps you are a vitctim of very bad timing - the crash might have happened while Windows was in the midst of updating the directory entry, flushing the cache, or something else outside of MuseScore's control. If you can come up with precise steps to reproduce this as well, then please post, but for now, my best guess is that this was a random fluke caused by bad timiing on a system crash.

If you would have read my thread in its entirety you would have noticed the fact that I already said I looked for other backup location folders and that there are none!

Yes, there is a folder in appdata and so on so forth under my user, but it contains no backups at all.

Unless backing up is turned off in nightlies which would sort of make sense.

I have already read the little documentation available on the backups and I tell you, there are no backup files. Not in appdata, not in My Documents, not in the nightly folder, not anywhere else.

Please read a thread entirely and test a problrm before posting otherwise you are just wasting people's time having to repeat things to you.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

I would not know how to turn that off, as I have previously stated my autosave was set to 1 minute.

I looked everywhere I could think of and found nothing.

If indeed there is yet an other location where the nightlies save backups, it would be very helpful if that would actually be in the documentation.

I will do a full search for musescore on my hard drive but being so big it will take for ever...

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

I thought you would say that.

Again, here I am repeating myself. I have already mentioned Appdata a couple of times and i did say i looked in there. There are no backups in there, u der the development folder. Perhaps backups are not working for this nightly, or maybe they are not working at all regardless of the nightly.

And, as I previously stated, if you guys want people to actually test your nightlies they will have to use them for real work and as such documentation is a must.

In my case I already knew about that location as I am familiar with nightlies, but, again, there is nothing there.

I don't know how to turn these backups off so they're probably broken or something.

In reply to by musescorister

you'd turn on and off backups the same way as in the released version, by setting the auto save to every 0 minutes. And it does work for nightlies, at least it does for me., and I'm not aware of any bug cauing a nightly to not svae. But it is well possible that your's does not, this is why nightlies are, citation:
... intended for testers and advanced users who want to experiment with new features, or need access to the latest bug fixes and are willing to risk the instability of an unfinished product. A file saved in these may not open in a future one. Use at your own risk.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

I never even knew about the 0 minutes thing, and, again, because I clearly stated a couple of times that mine was set to 1 minute you could have deduced that I did not turn it off.

Also, the nightly isn't mine, it belongs to this project.

Perhaps you are running it under a completely different OS and might even be running a different revision.

Could one of the developers please have a look at this and test?

In this revision that I am using (see initial post) backups seem to not be taken at all under Windows 10 x64 technical preview.

And yes, I am aware what nightlies are for, but unless people try them for real work problems will not crop up.

Who has time to poke around a nightly for nothing?

Right, well, I didn't know one can use self-built ones, I just used the latest nightly available on musescore.org at that time.

Anyways, I'll wait for a developer to have a look at this.

Thanks.

In reply to by musescorister

One thing not mentioned here...
A file created during a session backup is named alpha-numerically. That file will not appear as 'score name'.mscz -- therefore it will be unrecognizable until actually opened in MuseScore.
Here's an example of the naming convention:

test

You can try a search using a wildcard:
sc*.mscz
or
s*.mscz

Regards.

In reply to by Jm6stringer

I know what you mean.

I have two of those files in appdata... but they are very old. Very old.

From 12:27 yesterday noon and I finished working on the score at 10 pm.

Furthermore, backup files are not being created for newer scores at all.

Again, could someone please clarify, when you guys say per session, is that a cycle of opening MuseScore, editing a score and saving and closing it? Because if thar is what you guys mean, these backups SERIOUSLY don't work.

In reply to by musescorister

They do work, I've seen a autosave file being created. It got wiped when I cleanly exited, and that is what indeed should happen. Those autosave files should remain there inly on crashes and other unexpected shutdowns.
They are not meant to be backups, that's what the ".filename.mscz," files are about.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Well I'm sorry, but none of these work in this nightly.

There was no sch....mscz file created from which I could get my score back, and also, the .filename.mscz, files are ANCIENT and useless.

What's the point of having both these mechanisms if none of them work?

Again, could a dev please have a look at this nightly.

Thanks.

I am no misunderstanding absolutely anything.

Again, if you would have read all of my threads and comments you would have seen that in this build and on this OS these two back up mechanisms do not work absolutely at all.

Again, I am still waiting for a dev to see this thread, someone who really knows what they are talking about.

In reply to by musescorister

I am a developer, and I have read every word on this thread. I am happy to investigate further, but again, in order to do so so, I will need to post the specific score you are having problems with and precise step by step instructions to reproduce the problem. As I said, I tried it with my own score and my own steps, and it works perfectly, exactly as I have described. EDIT: for the record, I also tested the autosave mechanism, and with my score and my steps, it too works perfectly.

So presumably there is something unique about your score, or you are following different steps. Either way, I need the information I have requested in order to investigate further: the specific score and *precise* step by step instructions to reproduce the problem.

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