A riddle wrapped up in an enigma - conversion errors

[salter]

Hello, it's a straight forward issue, but the context is puzzling. I am now re-converting my FLAC ripped library (over 200 titles) to MP3 library.

I'm regularly (every few titles, sometimes 1-3 tracks per title) running into various errors mostly: 'FLAC__STREAM_DECODER_READ_FRAME', 'FLAC__STREAM_DECODER_READ_METADATA', and 'FLAC__STREAM_DECODER_SEARCH_FOR_FRAME_SYNC'.

Here's where things are getting interesting:
Using Illustrate tools this FLAC library was ripped a few years ago using CDRipper (v13?) and batch converted to mp3 on a Windows PC.
This time around, I copied the FLAC library to my iMac's HD (from the same external HD) and I'm running the conversion to MP3 under VM (Parallels) on my iMac (latest OS/Parallels). I'm using the latest versions of all the tools.

I proceeded to do the following:
1) Re-applied tags to a couple of the FLAC titles/tracks using mp3Tag. Then reconverted. Same errors.
2) Went back to the original MP3 conversion (on the same external HD) and checked to see if the files I converted then show any errors in the same tracks/location - no issues whatsoever. They converted perfectly and are playing back without a hitch.
3) Went back to the original FLAC library (on the same external HD) and tried running the conversion directly from there - Same errors!
4) One last detail: I'm running the conversion on 4 CPUs. When it runs into errors, it will not allow me to exit the conversion status window. I can still retrieve the error log though. Finally, I decided to configure the conversion to continue decoding after running into corrupted files. No doubt they are; it sounds like the music skips.

Point 3 above is of course the most interesting aspect. If I follow some logic, the original FLAC files that are showing corruption, worked somehow back when. Now they don't. Any ideas?

There are so many corrupt files, it'll be a pain to go back and re-ripp them all. Even if I do, it is important for me to know the reason. What improbable cause could corrupt FLAC files over time? (almost like Vinyl;-)

Thanks in advance!

S.Alter

[Spoon]

Re: A riddle wrapped up in an enigma - conversion errors

HDD failure will corrupt the FLAC files.

When ripping discs, straight after ripping, copy the files to a backup.

[salter]

Re: A riddle wrapped up in an enigma - conversion errors

HDD failure will corrupt the FLAC files.

When ripping discs, straight after ripping, copy the files to a backup.

Thanks for the reply. I ran a disk check utility on it and it shows no signs of errors. No history of failures that I know of. It's not particularly defragmented either.

S.Alter

[dbfan]

Re: A riddle wrapped up in an enigma - conversion errors

You can download the official flac.exe command line tool to check the file independently for errors

[salter]

Re: A riddle wrapped up in an enigma - conversion errors

You can download the official flac.exe command line tool to check the file independently for errors

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll give it a try.