get data directly from USB stick

bpbpbp

Commendable
Jun 30, 2016
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I recorded some audio on a USB stick (it's a voice recorder type one) and didn't turn it off before putting it in my Mac. The file, I think because of that, not turning it off first, is 0k in size.

I really, really need to get at this data somehow. The data must be on there, right? How can I get it. (I'm using Mac OS X 10.7.5)

It's stunningly important to me. Please help. Thanks.
 

bpbpbp

Commendable
Jun 30, 2016
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The recorder doesn't playback. Yes I've used it with a Mac in the past and it's been fine. I'm sure it's because I neglected to turn it off, which I assume ends it, finalises it, before putting into the computer.
 

bpbpbp

Commendable
Jun 30, 2016
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But it's hours of recording. It must save as it goes along. What else could it do? But then, because I didn't turn it off, it messed things up somehow. But surely it wouldn't have gone about deleting the actual data on the storage device. The data must be there but not correctly pointed to, dealt with, by the file system.
 

Herc08

Respectable
Aug 6, 2016
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Well, it could have been saved in memory, but not to the flash memory. And by not turning it off and finialize the save, it could have corrupted the file after you plugged it in, So there may not possibly be any way to get it working.
 

little_me

Estimable
May 9, 2015
151
3
4,910
In theory, and this is just a guess, said data might be there.
Recording device starts the recording
creates the file
Saves data
does not close the file, so the data is still there, file is just not marked as finished and as such, does not have "end of file" and as such, no size.

Data recovering tools might be able to read/recover that.
Following is for when whole file system goes bonkers on USB stick, which is not what happened for you but it might or might not work.
https://www.easeus.com/resource/raw-usb-drive-recovery.htm

Bear in mind, It will likely not work and even if it does, file might not be recognized as audio file right away, meaning you might need to use audio editor to fix the file ending.
 

bpbpbp

Commendable
Jun 30, 2016
25
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Well, it could have been saved in memory, but not to the flash memory. And by not turning it off and finialize the save, it could have corrupted the file after you plugged it in, So there may not possibly be any way to get it working.

But it's such a simple little device. You're suggesting it has two types of memory? One final storage, and one temporary? That can't be right. This is the kind of device in question (not exactly that one but like it): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/391088021883

The file would have been about 1.3GB.

It must save it to the final storage as it goes. Must do.
 

bpbpbp

Commendable
Jun 30, 2016
25
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Just tried DiskUtility, first verify, then repair:

Verifying volume “USBSTICK”
Checking file system** /dev/disk1s1
** Phase 1 - Preparing FAT
** Phase 2 - Checking Directories
`..' entry in /PRINT has non-zero start cluster
Correct? no
`..' entry in /READ has non-zero start cluster
Correct? no
** Phase 3 - Checking for Orphan Clusters
87 files, 8226088 KiB free (1028261 clusters)
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “USBSTICK”
Checking file system** /dev/disk1s1
** Phase 1 - Preparing FAT
** Phase 2 - Checking Directories
`..' entry in /PRINT has non-zero start cluster
Correct? yes
`..' entry in /READ has non-zero start cluster
Correct? yes
** Phase 3 - Checking for Orphan Clusters
84 files, 8226120 KiB free (1028265 clusters)

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.

File is still 0k :(
 

bpbpbp

Commendable
Jun 30, 2016
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does not close the file, so the data is still there, file is just not marked as finished and as such, does not have "end of file" and as such, no size.

Yup, that's exactly my thinking. The finalising didn't happen, whatever that is.

OK, thanks.
 

bpbpbp

Commendable
Jun 30, 2016
25
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Does anyone know a way to copy all the data from a drive into a file, read the raw data from the drive, irrespective of files. Clone the drive as is. That's what I really need to do.