Corrupt AVI file

[wahwill]

I have a video that was transferred from my canon SD1100 camera but only plays the first half. The video is suppose to be approx. 15min but it only plays 7min of it. It doesn't work in windows media player but works in VLC player so I guess it's not a codec problem. I also deleted it from my camera before checking to see if it works on my computer, so I can't try transferring it again...

I tried using GSpot to find out what the problem is and it says "corrupt avi header." Is there anyway I can fix this file in order to see the rest of the video??

[arobertson1]

You could use VLC to convert it: Media, Convert/Save. It may fix it.

[wahwill]

I tried using VLC to convert the file and it doesn't work.

[vidholic]

1.try recovery software to recover your video content on your camera storage....if possible...
recommended free recovery tools : DATA RECOVERY >>>

http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/DataRecovery_EN.zip

2. if it's not recoverable,try using "DivFix++" to fix your transferred video......and fix the error(don't scan!!)
3. if divfix not works...don't worry....don't use windows media player....VLC works,isn't it...??
Let's say WMP aren't the best multimedia player anymore (unlike VLC,WMP aren't friendly with corrupted video).....

[redwudz]

You might try dropping it into VirtualDub Mod and see if it will open it. If so, try doing a direct stream copy and see if that fixes the file. Or if you use 'File>Open video file', then go to the bottom of that page and check 'Ask for extended options after this dialog', the next screen will give you a option for 'Re-derive keyframe flags' and a second box for Motion-JPEG options and those may help.

Or if that fails, try saving it out as a different format with VDM and see if that fixes it. It's probably MJPEG video if it's from a still camera, with PCM audio. There is also a PICVideo MJPEG codec trial version you can try for re-saving the file.

At least VDM may give you more info on the error. I suspect you may see some timestamp errors.

[wahwill]

I tried putting it into VirtualDub and saving it as dirct stream copy and it allows the file to be opened by WMP but stops at 7min 40sec.

Then I opened it in vdub with the extended options and it also only plays up to 7min and 40sec with an error "Video frame 13807 could not be read from the source. The file may be corrupt."

Is there anything else I can do?

[davexnet]

In Virtualdub, if you hold down the shift key and drag the slider at the bottom,
it should stop on keyframes. Often, the video can be recovered from the next key frame.
When you get to the bad frame, does dragging it to the right reveal anything else at all?

Try file/open/*your file* check the box "ask for extended options" then select redrive keyframes.
Does it help ?

Thirdly (if no progress so far), use tools/hex editor. Open the file. Drag down to about the half way point.
What does it look like? Binary zeroes?

[wahwill]

I tried opening the file with "extended options" and tried dragging it to the right but there aren't any frames after the 7min 40sec point.

Then using the tools/hex editor, I see a bunch of numbers and letters throughout the entire file.

[Joz3d]

vidholic's advise of trying DataRecovery totally saved my ass. I had accidentally deleted a 2 minute long MJPEG video on my camera and recovering it with PC Inspector managed to recover it, but with corruption at 40 seconds into the video. After trying a bunch of tools/methods of fixing the video, I decided to go back and try to pull the original video with DataRecovery, which took much longer than PC Inspector, but it recovered it uncorrupted! It's an awesome hidden gem:
http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/DataRecovery_EN.zip