Conversion of UNKNOWN files to mp3 or other readable format

Question

After recording and saving my music to the desktop, I'm not able to open the files after storing them on a thumb drive. Also, if I email the files to myself, they won't open due to being UNKNOWN. I know there has to be something out there to fix this problem........HELP!

Answer 1

Hi, BC -
If the thumb drive is formatted as a PC (not Mac) volume, that could cause the problem. OS 9 uses File Type and Creator codes embedded in a file in order to determine which app to use to open the file (Creator code) and how the app should process it (Type code). All too often when a file is saved to a volume formatted as a PC volume, those codes are stripped off of the file.
Much of the time the result is an inconvenience - although the file won't open when double-clicked (because OS 9 can't idenitfy what it is), it will usually open when dropped onto the icon of an appropriate program. In this case, try dropping one of the files (or a copy of one - that's safer) onto the icon of QuickTime Player. If it opens and plays okay, if you have QT Pro then you may be able to use the Save As or Export function in QT Player's File menu to get an MP3 or .mov of it.
You can also try adding the File Type and Creator codes to the file. To do that, download the OS 9 version of FileBuddy. Drop a copy of one of the files onto FileBuddy's icon; a window showing a number of file characteristics will open. In the bottom center are two boxes, one labelled Type and the other labelled Creator. In the Type box enter Mp3  - note that there is a fourth character, a space, after the "3". In the Creator box enter TVOD. Save the window, and you should exit to the desktop. The file should now display a QT icon, and, if the changes worked, when you double-click it it should run as an Mp3 in QT Player.
Note - all File Type and Creator codes are case-sensitive; that is, attention must be paid to upper and lower case for each character. Also, all such codes are exactly 4 characters long, hence the need to add the space after the 3 in the Type code.
With FileBuddy you can easily create a droplet, a mini-app with a single purpose. In this case, after adding the codes but before clicking the Save button in FB's window, click the icon that looks like a water drop near the top center of its window. Follow the prompts to create a droplet. Place the droplet in a convenient place; any files dropped onto it will have their codes changed to the ones you entered. If you want to be able to process a folderful of files at a time, double-click the droplet, click the Configure button, then checkmark the "Modify items inside folders" item. Caution - once that is done, all files (regardless of what they may have been) which are in a folder dropped onto the droplet will have their codes changed to that of a QT Mp3 file.