I think I'm going to be sick. I backed up about 75 CDs, using EAC to rip to WAV, then compressing the WAV to FLAC files, and burning it all to DVDs. Now when I've copied them back over to my new computer, I noticed Winamp having some problems and crashing. I started doing tests on the files via the FLAC Frontend, and I'm getting the following error on tons of the files:
10,000 Maniacs (MTV Unplugged)-12-Because the Night.flac: testing, 9% complete10
,000 Maniacs (MTV Unplugged)-12-Because the Night.flac: *** Got error code 0:FLA
C__STREAM_DECODER_ERROR_STATUS_LOST_SYNC
10,000 Maniacs (MTV Unplugged)-12-Because the Night.flac: *** Got error code 0:F
LAC__STREAM_DECODER_ERROR_STATUS_LOST_SYNC
10,000 Maniacs (MTV Unplugged)-12-Because the Night.flac: ERROR while decoding d
ata
state = FLAC__STREAM_D
ECODER_READ_FRAME
I can't even decode these files to get the WAV back. Am I completely screwed and will have to rip all of these discs again?
Have you tried using --decode-through-errors (http://flac.sourceforge.net/documentation.html#flac_options_decode_through_errors) while decoding?
I'm not familiar with FLAC so don't know how useful this will be.
Your computer might have a memory problem which causes corrupted files. Check if the originals have these errors (I mean the originals on the computer where it's prepared). As a solution you can try first eliminating the erroneous memory module (if there's any), use PAR2 files for recovery (that is burn them also on the DVD -- maybe the errors occur during DVD write) or use another format with higher error resilience (WavPack?).
Yes. I can confirm that flac is an excellent PC tester. In my case a falty USB PCMCIA card caused it. When it was plugged into my laptop regardless whether it was used or not, cause flac to fail. I used that card for a month before without any issues. Who knows what other files got corrupted in the meantime. Bloody hell I would pay for quality PC parts double price, but it is difficult to find them. While we are at it I always buy crucial memory direct from their website. Very fast delivery and never had a problem. I do test memory when I build PC for at least a day.
Triza
Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, the DVD backups are all I have now. I think I'm going to weep. I did many tests before doing the collection, and everything worked great.
I suppose I'll just re-rip everything to WAV and then try to find another lossless codec very carefully. If I even have all the CDs anymore.