Mac M2, Cubase 14 Pro
Today a project I’ve been working on over the last few months (off and on) started to be “unsaveable”.
It started when a message popped up saying an autosave could not complete. Subsequently (I think it happened in that order, but I’m not certain) I saw a message that the project file was corrupt and I should save it under a new name, which proved to be “not allowed”.
Then I went back to very earliest iteration of this project, well prior to any issues, opened the file, and tried to save it…not allowed.
I researched this on Copilot, which is wrong much of the time but seems pretty accurate on this subject.
Following Copilot’s directions, I made sure Cubase has full disk access. I also checked the project drive (which is external), the project folder, and the enclosed Auto Save folder, and changed all my permissions to read & write (they were already set to read & write, and the padlock was locked), and then applied the changes. But still the project won’t save.
I’ve tried saving the project to a different drive, but it still won’t save. I’ve also opened other projects on that second drive, and they will save. And I’ve opened other projects on the drive in question (the one holding the project that won’t save), and they save just fine.
Any suggestions? Thanks.
I’ve had this happen a few times. Only solution is to make an empty file, set the tempo to the same, and literally copy everything in manually. The only way. Once the file craps out its done.
Check if you have an antivirus that’s blocking it.
It’s hard to isolate an issue when it takes months before the issue appears. So if it were me I would stop using auto saves and start saving directly to my hard drive. Then once a week copy over my project folder to the external drive, for backups. Or use a backup software that auto does that.
You’re using copilot on a mac?
How big was the file size when you were last able to save the project?
A very pertinent question from Johnny_Moneto.
I called AppleCare, and after spending maybe 1-1/2 hours with them, the rep asked how big the file was, and then pointed out that the project was larger than the free space available on the drive I was trying to save it to.
Sometimes we assume the problem must be due to some arcane issue that will never be tracked down, when in fact it’s something very simple.
I won’t know for sure that this is solved until I move a certain large (198GB) folder to a different drive in order to free up some space on the drive that’s almost full. But I’d say it’s likely the issue.
And BTW Ted, that’s a good idea, which I’ll bear in mind for next time, if there is one. Thanks. I have many hours invested in this project, and the thought of starting over is painful.
Save track presets, sub group presets, etc. A lot of work but you’ll be able to recreate the bratty song file. Without “starting over”.
I thought I was the only one to these “DOH!” moments.
It would have helped if the error message actually said there wasn’t enough space.
I have a project template, and all I’d need to do is copy the tracks over to it from the file I’m unable to save.
I can now confirm that lack of space was the issue. After freeing up some space I was able to save the file.
I’ve long wished that error messages would be more specific.
Just an additional note (for future readers) regarding the project file size.
If the project reaches or surpasses the 4GByte mark it can run into trouble. Ask yourself: “was the template I use originally created with a Cubase lower than version 13.0.50?” Not the version it was last modified and saved with but the version where you created an empty project and started to build your template. If so, then >4GByte project files are likely to get corrupted.
Steinberg changed the file format of project files from version 13.0.50 and higher.
You can test it very easily. Install an older version, like Cubase 12 and try to load your template there. If Cubase prompts you that the file cannot be loaded then you can ignore the 4GB issue.
Just a quick note to add that I guess Cubase wasn’t kidding when it told me the file was corrupted. It would not play back correctly.
So I saved my project template into the same folder that holds the corrupted project, gave it a new name (SameProjectName-DifferentIncrementNumber), and imported the tracks I wanted from the corrupted project using File/Import/Tracks from Project.
Quick and painless, and the new file works perfectly.
Exactly how I’ve always dealt with that issue!