Fixing a 3ga corrupt audio file

[al_]

Hi to all,

my Samsung phone recorded an hour-long audio in 3ga format. When I pressed Stop button, the recording app just crashed. When I try to listen to the file, VLC player first struggles to read it, then just shows black void. Meanwhile the file is large, of around 37 Mb.

I tested several online services and a couple of desktop apps to fix the file, but it did not work. It seems that 3ga format is not well taken in charge by common repair algorythms.

A couple of years ago I saw here in the forum a discussion around the same issue, and an experimented member offered his help in its solving. I do not manage to find back that thread. But maybe a stable solution have been found since then? I presume that the issue is pretty widespread and many users faced it and maybe got assisted.

I am really frustrated by the impossibility to playback this record and would appreciate your help.

[ProWo]

First, save the original 3ga file and work with copies only.
Rename such a copy with mp3 Extention.
Maybe you can play it then.
Otherwise create a new short audio file 3ga with your Samsung phone and compare the start sectors of the new file with a copy of the original 3ga file in a hex editor.
If they are completely different, copy the first 8 bytes (0-7) of the new file to start sector 0 of the original file and save that.
Check if you can play it then.

[davexnet]

Perhaps the untrunc program
https://github.com/anthwlock/untrunc/releases/download/latest/untrunc_x64.zip
'
You have to feed it the bad file and a good one recorded from the same device

[al_]

Thank you so much for your input! I'll try both options and will write back here of the result.

[al_]

Wow, the untrunc worked as a charm! So, I did not have to try manual changes in the audio file.

Thank you, davexnet, for the solution. That might be a great help for everyone facing the same issue.