Requesting help with corrupted (recovered) AVI files

[shosterman]

Hello all,

This is my first post, so I am sorry to be asking for help so early!


I actually came across the site when trying to find a solution for "Recovered AVI files won't play" and got this thread
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/314894-recovered-avi-s-won-t-play


We are having some similar issues. I have a 16GB SD Card that was given to me in hopes that I could retrieve the contents which were accidentally erased. I do only some data recovery in my work with computer repair and thus I used PhotoRec to image the card and then recover about 80 m2ts files (which all play fine) and about 70+ AVI files (none of which play). The AVI files range from half a dozen under 1000 KB or a few seconds, up to 5 or 6 minutes in length. However no audio or video. But that's where my knowledge in this department ends.


I looked around in MediaInfo as posted in the other topic and tried a program called DivXFix, but could not find a solution. I was hoping I might be able to either post the MediaInfo I have or even send a file or two to someone here for some assistance.


Any help, even some kind words, would be greatly appreciated.

Quick Edit, I have tried in Avidemux but it doesn't play or crash and same with VLC. 3 of the 70+ AVi files have thumbnails, but no luck with them either.

Thank you,
Steve

[davexnet]

Can you post one of the small avi files that don't play here to the forum ?
If we could take a look, we might be able to better advise you.

Use the files/attachment button below.

Also - make sure nothing is written to the SD card.

[shosterman]

Sure. Here are 2 files. The #8080 shows a thumbnail in explorer and maybe plays for 1 second. The second file, #2224, is of similar size but should be about a minute in length.

[aedipuss]

looks like junk parts of old files the recovery software collected and made into files. not much in them and they are not video for the most part. especially the second one it's mostly 0's.

[shosterman]

I'll take your word for it as I'm not sure how to read the VirtualDub attachment you posted. So it's possible PhotoRec may have been given a video header and then just shoved a bunch of junk in it. I know the first one had a screen grab of what looked liked a graduation ceremony.

Would there be any way to tell if any of the data is recoverable at all, or is it pretty much gibberish now?


Before this I received a quote from DriveSavers just in case the original owner was interested, but it was about $700. Plus, from what you are stating, it doesn't seem clear whether there is anything else coherent on the card.


I've uploaded 2 more of the largest files if you're interested in looking at a couple more.


Thanks for your time.

[aedipuss]

why are there .m2ts and avi files on the same card? was it used in 2 different videocams? the avi files don't make much sense. they don't have normal size video listed for them and they were recorded in mp4 but called avi?

i looked at the largest one. again it's just a header attached to junk. open it in the hexeditor included with virtualdub. after the file says "junk" on line 12 it's 99% blank - all 0's.

[davexnet]

I would suggest, if the SD card has not been compromised further, to try a second undelete program,
perhaps Recuva.

[shosterman]

HI, sorry for disappearing for a couple days.

To davexnet,
I tried Recuva, but no luck, strangely it only found 5 files, no mention of any media files.


To aedupuss,
I'm not sure why there are both. This was given to me to try to restore data from. I will pass on all the info you have given me. It doesn't look like there is anything there.


Thank you everyone for your time!

[davexnet]

What device produced these broken AVI files?

Can you post a small, working sample from this device?
The 73MB file above is 95% binary zeroes, the rest looks like indexing data. The 21MB file also is mostly binary zero,
but there does seem to be some data in there which may be valid.

[shosterman]

To davexnet,

I'm not actually sure what device produced these. I am returning the SD card today so that it can be returned to the original owner. I don't think I'm going to be working on this much anymore, but since you asked, I will try to get the model of the device and maybe it was used in more than 1 piece of equipment.


You say there may be some valid data there, but this sounds like it's past my scope of work. Is it possible to reassemble the data into working videos? It seems like you there are bits of data spread out everywhere!

[HaffHaff14]

The type of camera is Camileo X100. Does anyone have any idea what would have caused the files originally to show up on the computer in a weird format with weird symbols before they got accidentally deleted?

[HaffHaff14]

To davexnet. I listed in my last reply what camera device created these .avi files. Does that help at all?

Can someone explain to me what the numbers mean above from the screen shot mean?

Since no responded last time I am going to ask the question again. Does anyone have any idea what could have caused the files originally to show up on the computer in a weird format with weird symbols before they got accidentally deleted?

Also can someone list some ways files can accidentally get erased from an SD card?

[davexnet]

well it might have been interesting to provide a working avi from the same device to compare with the brokens files,
as I mentioned in post #9. But even then, there's no certainty with any recovery.

What do you mean by weird symbols showing up? The file name? I don't think there is much significance to it.

Files can be erased or not show up if they're not closed properly. For example, power is
lost for what ever reason, the device is dropped, the card is removed when the camera is turned on ,
etc,etc.