Bug found: "file can not be opened". Spoon?

[imom]

I was getting odd errors where certain files generated the above error and others worked, even though they were from the same batch.

After a little experimentation, I discovered that the reason was due to the file name being too long for the converter programme.

If you just shorten the filename, then convert, and rename the file back to what you want, it works.

Kind of cumbersome for 100s of files.

Any chance of a fix for this, Spoon?

I have seen other people get this problem but no-one has been able to answer it before.

[ChristinaS]

Just how long were those file names?

Are you using dMC R 11 or the latest beta? The beta has a fix for something relative to path names - I think it is just for the setting of the path to where converted files should go though - but maybe it helps for the entire file name problem if indeed there is one.

[imom]

Just how long were those file names?

Are you using dMC R 11 or the latest beta?

I am using R11 which I downloaded her today.

I'll try the beta.

As for file length:
One example of an unconvertible file is 64 characters + '.m4a'
Another file which is 56 characters + '.m4a' DID work

[imom]

Just tried the beta - that didn't help.

[ChristinaS]

Do your files have special characters in the file name? is there anything that just might be taken to indicate a file extension, like an early .abc sequence which may throw the program off where it thinks it needs a codec for .abc file types?

[imom]

Here's an example of a file name that failed:

"(07) 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor - Come Take my Hand (Lick Mix).ape"

When I temporarily renamed it to this it worked:

"(07) Come Take my Hand (Lick Mix).ape"

In other words, pretty standard filenames. Hope that helps.

[kimmchii]

i rename one of my wma file to
(07) 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor - Come Take my Hand (Lick Mix).wma

it worked, converted to mp3.

[imom]

I can't comment on your example. I am converting apple lossless .m4a files to .ape on a WinXP machine and I have had at least 30 files fail to transcode so far, all with the same error, and all fixed by truncating the name.

[kimmchii]

can you try converting from m4a to mp3? if there's no problem then we can conclude that this is a bug with ape codec

my example just showed that dMC, the program isnt the cause of the problem, as it can handle the file name fine.

[imom]

I don't fully agree with your logic. Anyhow, i did a test with an MP3 conversion and the same error was generated by the long filename.

[imom]

Situation resolved!

The common point of failure was the Apple codec. I followed advice given to me by Spoon: "That suggests you are running the non-beta existing mp4 codec (that relies on quicktime, quicktime has a 64 char limit).

The codec in beta has a built in ALAC decoder which should work on any lenght of filename (as long as they are under 260 chars)."

The 64 char limit on .m4a files explains everything, and the beta fixes the problem.

Hope this helps someone else out there!