MP4 file seems corrupted: repair tools says no data found, though it's taking up 1.8 GB space

[darkpowrjd]

I got done recording something on Open Broadcaster Software (OBS, which is why I'm putting this in this board). I was 3/4ths of the way through recording when Windows told me that the hard drive was low on space. As I didn't think this particular recording would be that taxing on the remaining space, I ignored it, but kept an eye in case OBS ceased recording because. It didn't, but...

...when I went to view the file, I got hit with a terrible surprise: it will not play. At all! By pretty much anything (VLC fails, too). Saying that it might be corrupted. I have tried to use some video repair tools, but the issue is that the ones that have been suggested are clunky (not quite sure what I'm doing to get to where I have to be to tell it to look at this video. The ones in which I was able to get to look at the file only said there was no data to look at. But the file size is saying that it's 1.8 gigs of space it's taking up. So I have to assume SOMETHING exists within it.

And what makes me a bit hopeful is that mp4repair.org found that it could recover some of the file, but apparently only 8 minutes of a 32 or so min video, and they want 67 bucks for it. So while the money is an issue there, it's proof that there's some recoverable data (and it's a rather crucial piece of video where I show my immediate reaction to something, something that's not easily redoable).

I read that things like this could be a header issue, and if so, it could be saved somehow, but it's very stressful when I really need this file to work (OBS has no way of knowing when you are running out of space, and zero safeguards to prevent something like this from happening to begin with, meaning that it won't stop the recording process at all regardless of if there is space or not to complete the process). Hopefully that is the case here that I can get most of this recovered! Any ideas on if and how to do this using open source or free software?

 

[itmoba]

File forensics is a very tricky business. Normally, I'm the kind of person who doesn't advocate charging people so much for particular services. File forensics, however, is one of the major exceptions. Why? Because it's a royal pain in the butt. Having to go through files and pasting fragments together and trying to find out if some portion was compressed or not is beyond excruciating. You look at the file in a hex-editor and you cry, even when you're using top-of-the-line software, like 'scalpel' (which is also open-source).

Anyway, I'd like you to use 2 tools: the first, is 'exiftool'; the second, is 'MediaInfo'. Both of these tools are free (not freemium) and are very good. We can't begin the process of repairing the video until we get the file metadata which these two tools can provide. From there, we can find out how to proceed. Please, however, bear in mind that no one in their right mind will say that they can help you recover 100% of your data. If they do, they're either an idiot or a scam artist.


Exiftool can be downloaded here: http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

MediaInfo can be downloaded here: http://www.videohelp.com/software/MediaInfo