Re: [NTLK] Uh-oh...how to delete "invisible" files?

Matthew Surles wrote:
> I've done a Very Bad Thing (tm) which requires I come out of Lurk mode....
> In a futile attempt to get Mad Max to stream music, I deleted Mad Max,
> nHTTPLib, MP3Codec, and the Audio soup. After reinstalling the three
> packages, Mad Max still won't play streaming music (connects to server, gets
> info, disconnects; sometimes I get a 404 error, but not always), but now,
> all the MP3's I have on my card are no longer visible...anywhere. They are
> still there, taking up space on the card, since the card slip still shows
> 3.9mb free, the same before I started this ordeal, but Mad Max no longer
> shows the MP3's, and they are not listed in Extras anywhere. TrashPak
> doesn't show them, either. I tried re-installing the MP3's, thinking that
> maybe it would overwrite the invisible copy on the card, but it doesn't.
>
> I thought about backing up the card, erasing it, and restoring just the
> packages, and installing the MP3's by hand. However, NCU doesn't do a
> complete backup, and NBU simply crashes after about 15 seconds of backing up
> the card. I though maybe it was a memory problem, so I upped the memory to
> NBU to 100mb, but it still crashes.
>
> Any thoughts? Is there a "file manager"-type program that would let me see
> "hidden" files so that I can delete the MP3's and re-install them?
>
> Thanks in advance, and I promise never to do something so dumb again ;)
> -matt surles
>

Hmm if you delete the soup it should be gone. I suspect that the card's
storage system got damaged. It can happen if you are dealing with very
large files/packages.

As for backing up, you might be able to get around that if you can find
which package or data NCU is choking on. One possibility is use some
utility to uncheck the "backup bit". One such package that will do that
is Newts Case Package Manager. It is a freeze utility mainly but it
also allows you to set the backup bit. With this off, NCU won't backup
that package. I have used this trick to speed up the backup process
considerably for packages I don't care to backup. Or if I just want the
data and don't care about the packages as I have the original files and
can easily reinstall them. I am sure there must be other software that
will do this, but I can't think of any at the moment. Anyway if you can
turn off the backup bits, you will be able to track down the offending
package and restore everything but the bad package.

Another question is, how big is the card in question? Also is it ATA or
Linear?

If you can't get it to backup (which depending on how bad it is, you may
not be able to if it is really damaged), at this point your only course
of action is to move the packages and or data you want to keep to
another card (IF it will allow this and it is possible this may corrupt
the other card as well). Then wipe it and reinstall. Corruption has
been known to spread while trying to move damaged packages and data from
one card to another. So make sure you back up the card you are moving
the data to BEFORE you try anything else. Just incase the corruption
spreads. Also can you get NCU to backup if you remove the card in
question? If you can't then you might have a even bigger problem than
just with the card.

Finally as a side note, I have heard of more problems with MP3 and Mad
Max than I have anything else with regard to corruption. If I were to
do this, I would have a card just for MP3 usage and make sure all data
was in package format so I could reinstall if corruption occurred.

-Dan

-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/