Fixing videos

[ydiana]

Hi,

I have a few corrupted videos, after filming on the phone with an app that didn't notify me that there was not enough space left. So the files are there, but they are Not playable.
I've tried fixing using reference video, but no luck. Is it possible for files to be corrupted beyond saving? Or is there always a way?

[davexnet]

What program did you use to try and recover this file? How big is the damaged file?
Post a mediainfo report (text view) of the reference and damaged file

[ydiana]

Hi, thanks for your response.
I've used Stellar for fixing, it was recommended as a better software for that.

The exported result doesn't give much -

General
Complete name : C:\Users\musei\Downloads\Untitled_1A_10.mov
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : QuickTime
Codec ID : qt 0000.00 (qt )
File size : 7.15 Mi

[davexnet]

Upload this damaged file here to the forum and we'll take a look at it. Also,
a small known good file from the same device to compare

[Cornucopia]

If that's all MI is giving you, prospects are not good.

Scott

[themaster1]

Use Photorec it's the best for that (tested & approved) and it's free
tutorial here: https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step

[ydiana]

Thank you for the advise. Yeah, I've tried various softwares, no luck. But haven't come across a mention that videos can be corrupted beyond repair, so was wondering how possible that is?

@davexnet As for the file and the ref - here they are

[Hoser Rob]

... haven't come across a mention that videos can be corrupted beyond repair ...

That was hinted at by Cornucopia and I'm going to state that yes, it's defintiely possible. Especially if the header is located at the end of the file.

[ydiana]

Thanks Rob,

Sorry for the noob question, I'm just trying to understand how it all works to see what I can do, e.g. How did the files are there as "shells" and were recording the whole time, yet no content is present. What would be the header? And what does it's placement mean?

[Cornucopia]

Some software pre-allocates the space reserved for video recording (a certain size, or a max possible like 4gb) in order for it to be able to have less data filing overhead while the realtime recording is going on.
So if it reserves that space, and possibly has a prewrite cache, it is possible to have the header, and maybe a segement of good data (or not), and then all zeros (or however that remainder area was last left), when something happens that interrupts the recording.

Not uncommon at all.

Scott

[davexnet]

The important moov atom, which contains information about the file structure, is missing. The mdat section is missing its size,
and the data that follows could possibly be valid, at least some of it. Whether anything could be done in the hex editor,
it would take some time to study it; anybody who knows this file structure well may be able to help, if you can find somebody

[abolibibelot]

Grau Video Repair is good at repairing truncated MP4 videos automatically.