Corrupted JPGs : Why and how to recover ?

Question

jmv2 Author

Level 1

17 points

Corrupted JPGs : Why and how to recover ?

Hello group,

I have been using Aperture since 2008 to manage all my pics in reference mode.

All the original jpgs are on an HD Book connected to a NAS server and Aperture library is local to my MacBook.

For speed performance I sometime connect the HD Book directly to my MacBook and that works just fine (Same mount path).

I noticed a while ago (2013+-) that some jpgs on disk were corrupted when the Aperture preview was displaying in Black with the Exclamation Mark Icon.

I attempted to see how I couldrecover those corrupted pics but never succeeded at doing so.

So I left it as an unresolved issue.

Today once again I realize that a whole bunch of jpgs are also corrupted.

This time I would really like to see how I can recover them and most importantly how many jpgs in my picture folder hierarchy have been corrupted.

I am inserting a snapshot of the Finder view of a folder with corrupted jpgs.

Notice that DSB_0047.jpg isn't corrupted but the others are (no Finder preview and error when trying to Open in Preview or Aperture).

The file sizes for corrupted pics appear normal so I wonder what may have changed the binary content.

Does anyone know:

1-How can I scan my whole disk holding the folder hierarchy of my pictures to find out which jpegs are corrupted ?

Is there a tool to perform this ?

2-What can I do to recover the corrupted pics ?

3-Could this issue be related to the a drive failure at some point or is it Aperture related ?

Thanks to all.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Sep 1, 2015 4:39 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 2, 2015 8:21 PM in response to jmv2

Can you try reimporting the master? (Be sure to uncheck "Do Not Import Duplicates" box.) Then lift from the corrupted version and stamp on the one just imported.

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Answer 2

jmv2 Author

Level 1

17 points

Sep 3, 2015 5:07 AM in response to Stephen Wandzura1

Hi stephen,

I am not sure what you mean.

The Master is the one stored on disk (the referenced file showed is Finder snapshot) and is corrupted.

Did I miss something in your explanation ?

Thanks

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Answer 3

Sep 3, 2015 6:32 AM in response to jmv2

Oh. That's too bad, I see I didn't read your post carefully. In my experience, when I have seen the triangle with "!" and "unsupported image format", the problem was in the Aperture library, not the master. I assume you have no backups of the masters. So, to try answer the questions your really asked,

1 - I don't know, but I would guess that one of the many image recovery programs available might help. Likely you will get some recommendations if you start a new thread with "image recovery" in its title.

2 - Same as 1.

3 - Well, if Aperture were carefully written, it wouldn't touch original (master) photos, except to delete them if requested. I would suspect something else (like drive problems) caused the corruption, but I can't guaranty it.

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Answer 4

jmv2 Author

Level 1

17 points

Sep 3, 2015 7:56 AM in response to Stephen Wandzura1

HI Stephen

I agree, it must of been caused by a driver problem at some point.

I did inspect some of the corrupted files using OxED a binary editor.

I noticed in the corrupted jpgs that the uncorruptegd jpeg data that is normally at the beginning is found further in the corrupted file.

Do you have an idea of which discussion group I should reach out too for this paticular problem?

As a last resort if I cannot recover the corrupted jpeg I do still have some previews in the Aperture Library.

I could save those as a replacement for the corrupted disk version.

However I don't know how to do that.

Thanks

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Answer 5

Sep 3, 2015 8:07 AM in response to jmv2

I would guess either this group, iPhoto. The question would probably be over the heads of most Photos users. Meanwhile, just Google "mac os x image recovery" and you will get links to several different image recovery programs.

To use the previews, first export them (presumably jpeg, original size), then reimport.

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Answer 6

Sep 3, 2015 9:08 AM in response to jmv2

One program I have used with some success is Data Rescue by Prosoft Engineering.

It can take a long time, but it seems to do a thorough job.

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Answer 7

jmv2 Author

Level 1

17 points

Sep 3, 2015 3:11 PM in response to Stephen Wandzura1

HI Stephen

I did use something similar to Data Rescue by Prosoft Engineering

EaseUS Data Recovery.

Those programs mostly look for free'd disk blocks that can be resurrected (file space than can be re-used but not visible to the user).

In my case the files in questions aren't lost: they exist (exposed by the OS) but their content is corrupted.

Also those programs work against local disks (internal, usb attached) but not wireless such as my NAS the one hosting my pics.

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Answer 8

Sep 3, 2015 8:11 PM in response to jmv2

I think some of the programs look inside the files for things like JPEG headers. Another one I have used is Image Rescue, by Lexar. You should check with the documentation for different programs to find the limitations. I would be very surprised if none of them were effective on remotely mounted volumes.

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Answer 9

Ocean 17

Level 2

190 points

Sep 5, 2015 11:28 PM in response to Stephen Wandzura1

You are running Yosemite.

I recommend to stop wasting time to get an outdated app to run well. It will only get worse over time and with each new operating system.

Get LIghtroom or Capture One Pro or DxO and build a state of the art image library with one of these RAW converters.

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