Transferring old sound files from OLD MAC G3 to MAC MINI creates EXEC files

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Level 1

30 points

Transferring old sound files from OLD MAC G3 to MAC MINI creates EXEC files

Back in the day, I recorded several sound files of my daughter using my old desktop G3 Mac's wired micophone that came with the system. I just bought a new MAC MINI and an EXTERNAL HD and transferred files from the old G3 to the new EXTERNAL HD. Now most of the jpeg files appear as dark gray EXEC files, but I am still able to access them. The sound files of my daughter also appear as EXEC files, but I can no longer get them to play. I've tried opening them using QT as well as iTunes. For some strange reason, I can only hear these files when I highlight a file, click GET INFO, and then click the "play sound" button from within the PREVIEW / GET INFO pane. These sound files are very important to me so REALLY I appreciate any suggestions.

Mac Mini (power pc) Mac OS X (10.4.8) External HD (Newer Technology)

Posted on Jan 8, 2007 11:51 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 8, 2007 3:18 PM in response to SeanHouTx

Try the VLC media player. It can play a lot more than QT or iTunes.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

If you can play them with VLC, you know that they are OK files. Maybe some other app can do a "Save As..." with them? Sorry that branched off into nowhere.

Since you can play them, you know that the files are still ok and not corrupted or anything. If you know what the original file extension was, you can try renaming the files to have that extension. Sometimes that helps. If you don't remember the original extension, try renaming the files to have no extension. Maybe OS X will see the files as having the right extension.

Cheers,
Ilya

PS. If nothing works, you can email me one of them and I can try and see if I can make it work. I have lots of audio apps and stuff that can usually convert files to make them readable. Let me know if you're interested.

iMac 20 inch  2.0 GHz Core Duo  250 GB HD  512 MB RAM  Mac OS X (10.4.8)  iPod video 30GB Black  Silver iPod Mini 2G 4GB

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,984 points

Jan 8, 2007 3:41 PM in response to SeanHouTx

Sean

Did you transfer the files using a Windows formatted disk or flash drive?

It can happen sometimes when you do this that the file loses it's suffix and the Unix Executable bit is set on the file. To repair this you can try download File List, it's a batch renamer, and use it to restore the suffix on the files. You can download it here:

http://www.petermaurer.de/nasi.php?section=filelist

Regards

TD

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Answer 3

Dah•veed

Level 9

66,565 points

Jan 8, 2007 7:11 PM in response to SeanHouTx

What happens if you change one of the file's file type to .aiff?

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Answer 4

SeanHouTx Author

Level 1

30 points

Jan 8, 2007 10:31 PM in response to Ilya Smirnov

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I'll give VLC a try and get back to you. Unfortunately, I don't remember the extension. I've tried .aiff and .mov and didn't get anything. Currently they have no extension. When I first recorded the sounds, it was under OS9 and I think I saved them as simple system sound files. It's hard to remember, but I might have used SoundApp to listen to them back then. If I still can't access these files, I would greatly appreciate it if you would try to open one, if I were to e-mail one to you. Thanks again, Ilya!

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Answer 5

SeanHouTx Author

Level 1

30 points

Jan 8, 2007 10:35 PM in response to Ilya Smirnov

Just downloaded VLC and it didn't work. I get a message saying "no suitable access module." May I e-mail one to you?

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Answer 6

SeanHouTx Author

Level 1

30 points

Jan 8, 2007 10:50 PM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks for fast response, TD. The sound files were in a LaCie external HD at first but I'm not sure how it was formatted. I just sorta plugged and played the thing. Then I transferred the whole thing straight to a Mac Mini looking HD by Newer Technology. And now the files sit in a MyBook HD formatted to Mac. I'll surely try FILE LIST and get back to you. Thanks a bunch!

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Answer 7

SeanHouTx Author

Level 1

30 points

Jan 8, 2007 10:41 PM in response to Dah•veed

Thanks for the fast reply. I've tried changing the suffix to .aiff, .mov, .mpeg, .mp3, .aifc.

These sound files were first recorded using OS9 and I believed I saved them as simple system sound files. Any other suggestions? Thanks, David.

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Answer 8

SeanHouTx Author

Level 1

30 points

Jan 8, 2007 10:49 PM in response to Yer_Man

I tried FILE LIST and got the following: EXTENSION: (none) • TYPE: sfil • CREATOR: movr.

Does this shed any light?

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Answer 9

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,984 points

Jan 9, 2007 6:46 AM in response to SeanHouTx

Sean

These are Finder Sound Files from OS 9. Google brought me to

http://discuss.pcmag.com/forums/1004332769/ShowPost.aspx

"I found the answer meantime. Classic Mac sound files from OS7 to OS 9 were of a file type 'sfil' and contain 'snd' resources. 'Snd' resources can be embedded into any file. Quicktime and iTunes won't play these files. I gather these two OS X programs will play "sfil"
Play Sound
http://microcosmsoftware.com/playsound/
Sound Studio
It is very expensive but was bundled with consumer Mac models for a couple
of years. It will also convert "sfil" to AIFF.
This program will convert to SFIL to MOV which you can then play or convert further :
File Juicer
http://echoone.com/filejuicer/ReadMe"

Hope this helps.

Regards

TD

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Answer 10

SeanHouTx Author

Level 1

30 points

Jan 9, 2007 10:12 AM in response to Yer_Man

Terence, you rock!!! I can't thank you enough.

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