Thanks so much, RAM is fine, I am so baffled…I am talking about 12 or so files here…
For mission critical work like that, you should be doing backups at the very least, end of every day, if not 2-4 times a day.
But I’m still not convinced this is a Cubase issue.
Were the files corrupted, while Cubase was open, or after it was closed? If it was after it was closed, then it definitely was not Cubase.
Did you leave Cubase open? Did the computer go into sleep mode or something? Did you hot unplug hard drives? are your hard-drives on sleep mode?
Edit
Could also be write failures due to failing hard drives
Hi there, FYI, I save very regularly, during composing and at the end of the day, I am saving-files conscientious to a huge degree.
After composing, I back up my data to a secondary drive, and every few days to an additional third drive. It’s not a saving issue.
The saved files to the other drives have the same issue too. It was a near disaster…
I saved the files, as I always do, I saved the data, woke up on Friday (last Friday) went to open the files saved as ‘Bounced’, and as I said, about 12 of them, plus one original composition file were corrupted…and their back up files too…
I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, I always end the sessions, turn Cubase off, computer off, and drives off (they are not on sleep mode).
Maybe you are right about this, maybe it is not a Cubase issue, but I run other programs, and invalidation of an entire file, rendering it completely useless only happened with Cubase.
I would suggest very strongly Steinberg looking into this so that at least some other people can benefit from prevention or solution of this issue in the future,
Cheers.
Okay, but is that because you did a backup of already corrupted files? or did the backup files themselves also become corrupted? if the latter, then it’s definitely not Cubase issue.
Also, I suggest using the ‘Save New Version’ feature as another precaution and layer of defense against data loss. I almost exclusively use ‘Save New Version’, sometimes doubletapping it just to have a double copy of important moments in a project.
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Fantastic advise!! Thanks so much for directing me to the Save New Version function!!
Much appreciated,
Regarding the backup files, yes, I would have thought so…In any case, I was hoping for a solution to open a corrupted file, but it wasn’t meant to be, I had to re-open older files and do this the hard way…it is what it is, I hope that this never happens again because it was stressful as hell…
I appreciate all your help here!
Yes, Save New Version is a great feature - I use it just before making any important or experimental change.
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Space isn’t really an issue these days, so I pretty much just use it. It has saved me many times in moments of user error, and it also gives me a very detailed path to backtrack if I feel I’ve taken a wrong direction, or if I want to reprocess something differently, or extract RAW samples, or find ideas that were left behind, make track presets and plugin presets of things that were bounced down, etc, etc. I can then also go back and back up the project at multiple stages 0%-raw recordings, 25% clean up complete, %50 direction, %75 commitments, %90 finalizing, %100 to mastering.
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We have had similar issues at our studio, corrupt files and random crashes.
On a new Mac we installed a fresh copy of Cubase 10.5. All of the previously corrupt files opened in the new environment. We’ve therefore decided that too much complexity in particular suspect 3rd party plugins results in an unstable system.
Sounds like a very well-thought-out workflow, I will certainly start to (well, I have started already 
) use the Save function you suggested. Many thanks!
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Thanks so much for the info, this sounds very interesting, this could well be the solution to the issue.
If this happens again (which I hope to God it never does) , I will re-format and re-install, hope to solve the issue this way.
just be mindful that the previous saved versions, all use the same pool and data. So if you ‘Remove Unused Media’ in the current version you’re currently operating, there might be data missing in the previous save versions.
To avoid that, typically, I split off the project with a ‘Back Up Project’+‘Remove Unused Media’ function after a certain point, so I can be sure those old versions data will be retained, and thus also, shrinking the current working version in size making it quicker to back up, save, etc.
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Yes, of course, this makes complete sense, thanks so much for the great advice!!
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IMHO, there’s a lot of good advice, etc., in this thread e.g., backup strategies, the “keep it simple” approach, making “new” backups / copies, etc., etc., etc.
There’s also a lot of conjecture regards certain aspects, primarily: 1/ All of the “other” PC related components (e.g., corrupt RAM, cloud storage, OS issues, etc.), through to 2/ Cubase coding issues; which DO exist but, although often tolerated, I don’t think we understand their effects properly; which we need to.
There’s also a significant amount of emotion, reflecting the significance of this product to a great many people around the globe; from casual users to heavyweight professionals - quite a compliment, but one which carries a significant weight in terms of responsibility, particularly for Steinberg and their parent company Yamaha.
It has also been mentioned that a conclusion has to be drawn for this thread. Hence, might I suggest that a suitably qualified member of staff from Steinberg, reads the thread, in its entirety, and writes a concluding post to help pull “everything” together for the benefit of all concerned?
Just an idea. Be safe.
There is a lot of good info here. So many things can go wrong that you have to protect yourself and your projects. I backup at every stage. Never mix in the same folder I recorded. Back up of the backups. I use DropBox too for backups because you never know when something goes wrong. I use backup project and saving versions.
I’m on a Macbook Pro these days but spent many years on Windows. It those days I always use a separate recording drive. Backup the drive often and defrag the hard drive. Most of the time it was not Cubase fault. If something did happen I had a backup.
Hope you can sort it out.
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I feel the same, if I am to be completely honest.
I am very grateful for all the helpful information, and although I am extremely careful in terms of saving my project files many times during the sessions, and triple saving my work to be on the safe side, I learned a couple of extremely useful tips.
But, this has only happened to me on a Cubase Project file (I am working on other programs on the same system, and I have NEVER had such a fatal failure of such an important type of file.)
I would appreciate a response by a member of staff from Steinberg for a solution and resolution of this issue for the present and future version of Cubase.
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Many thanks! I managed to get around the problem.
My Cubase Project files (and their backups) that I used in order to export the audio files for mastering, were the ones that got corrupted. Not all of them, but enough to set me back for days.
Thankfully, the very original project files of the original compositions and their backups were fine, so I had to go around the problem by backtracking, but it cost me a lot of time…and the invalidated files never opened no matter what I tried, I have completed the project, but it was a terribly stressful situation…
in that I’ve already addressed all that, this is too offtopic at this point
To the topic, files become corrupted when a system is hot for an extended time.
blaming Cubase or blaming the user as a strawman as one member likes to do is a cul-de-sac.
Cubase develops corruption in the Preferences, so now there is a safe mode and a whole thing to go through after it quits unexpectedly. A project becoming corrupt, well I don’t have a scientific analysis but draw a strong inference from experience, means the system has been hot for too long.
I don’t advise a DAW computer to be allowed to sleep, except for the display.
Hi there,
I am not sure what you mean by ‘hot’?
Whatever it was, such a catastrophic thing to happen is in my view, unacceptable.
I now create backup saves constantly as ‘Save as New’, as this issue has put the fear of God in me…
I think this happened once in the past on a small scale, but this time around it was horrific…
just literally hot, as hot to the touch; the machine needs to cool down.
I have had very few corrupt project files for quite some years, and none in the new system.
But I used to run an older machine, old spinner drives and barely up to spec if that, for insane lengths of time and it cost me some things I really worked on…