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Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 6:13 am
by lunarsight
This is a longshot, but I guess it's worth a try.

I still use the ancient version of Buzz from circa 2000.

WAY back in 2007, I had composed a track, and sure enough -- it got corrupted during the save process, and now it opens to just a blank view from old-school Buzz. (You basically see the MASTER generator, and that's all.)

I noticed today that the content of the track is still largely there - I had opened it up with a hex editor, and you can clearly see all the generators and effects in there.

Theoretically, are there any utilities that exist that would take a BMX file and restore its file structure so it can load?

My Plan B was to try and get a better understanding of the BMX file format to see if I can go in and manually repair the data with the aforementioned hex editor.

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:00 am
by thOke

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 3:00 pm
by lunarsight
Thanks! That looks like it would definitely fit the bill. I'll let you know if it works.

[EDIT : Nah - I think it's a lost cause. After trying to both open it and rescue it, I got errors. Reviewing the file format further, it looks like most of the machine info is intact, but the file clearly got cut off prematurely, removing most of the pattern info. I can still probably use the info I can retrieve with the hex editor to try and recreate something like the original file, anyway.]

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:56 pm
by Joachip
You may already know this, but the newer Buzz versions save a .backup file specifically in order to prevent this from ever happening.

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:32 pm
by lunarsight
Joachip wrote:You may already know this, but the newer Buzz versions save a .backup file specifically in order to prevent this from ever happening.
Yeah - I really, really should upgrade, but I'm a creature of habit.

I may give the new version a try, but I doubt ever I'll quit my grunge-era Buzz addiction completely.

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 9:57 am
by magmavander
paramfix.zip
(4 KiB) Downloaded 214 times
I have this little utility called paramfix. If I remember well, it was an utility to fix some wrong bmx.
I think it was working with drag'n'drop the bmx or bmw on the paramfix.exe.
Maybe you can make (always) a copy of the bmx and try to drop it on the exe and see if it helps ?

Is there someone here remember what was the exact purpose of paramfix.exe ?

Anyway, hope that helps :D But dont expect miracles... :|

EDIT : I was right, here is a description found on a site :

not a machine. small exe that can fix a certain type of broken bmx by renaming the PARA section to LJUD>>>. zephod >>> wrote the exact same thing but thought up a less funky name for it.

found it on USR site :

http://immaterialien.de/buzzmachines/

EDIT 02 : Do you run Buzz as Administrator ? (right-click on the exe and use "Run as Adminitrator"

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:40 pm
by magmavander
Hi lunar, can you upload your bmx ? I would like to check it to see if I can do something.
Thanks!! :dance:

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:45 am
by lunarsight
Sure -- I'm attaching the file.

I'm reasonably confident it's only a partial file, based on what I can see in a hex editor, but let me know if you happen to have any luck with it.

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 2:37 pm
by magmavander
Hello ls,

sorry to take such a long time... :?

I have not been able to retore your bmx. I dont code at all so it was not easy.
I have compared the header of your bmx with one of mine and noticed that something was missing in yours.
Head title.jpg
Head title.jpg (157.88 KiB) Viewed 5800 times
I have copy and paste my header to your bmx.
copy and paste.jpg
copy and paste.jpg (160.81 KiB) Viewed 5800 times
Now it seems to try to open something but it doesnt work (buzz freezes and crashes when you click on it) :
Opening modified bmx.jpg
Opening modified bmx.jpg (32.38 KiB) Viewed 5800 times
Have you tried to open it with old buzz ?

Only thing I was able to find is the exact list of machines used in it (Made it with the BuzzScan utility) :

[count] machine_name
--------------------
[ 1] Master
[ 1] Geonik's Omega-1 [exists]
[ 9] LarsHa Funkyverb [exists]
[ 1] WhiteNoise's KickSyn [exists]
[ 2] 7900s Pearl Drum [exists]
[ 2] Rymix StereoBox Pro [exists]
[ 2] Fuzzpilz UnwieldyDelay 3
[ 1] ErsHihat [exists]
[ 1] Rymix FlaserBox [exists]
[ 1] ErsSnare [exists]
[ 1] ld jacinth2
[ 1] Geonik's Plucked String [exists]
[ 2] 10 Band Graphic EQ
[ 1] HD GARAGE (hd.gut.ru - hdd@nm.ru)
[ 1] Q Brainwaves [exists]
[ 1] CyanPhase SongInfo [exists]
[ 2] PSI Corp's DrumAnd(b)Ass
[ 1] Rout SoundFont Loader [exists]
[ 1] FSM Kick XP [exists]

created by buzzScan 1.o

Sorry... :(

Re: Any ideas fixing a corrupt BMX file?

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:14 pm
by xenobioz
If you copied with notepad you probably should try to copy it with a hex editor instead. Otherwise the data might get corrupted as notepad saves as text and not as binary data.