Sony - PMB - problem & solution - Cannot find the media files to be imported

[munchkin2]

This is a problem and solution post.  I had this problem and while i found untold others who had the same issue i struggled to find a solution, so will post the solution i discovered for this problem.

Problem:
Went to upload video from my Sony HD Camera HDR-CX350 (flash drive),  and the computer would find the camera as an external drive, but kept saying "Cannot find the media files to be imported" and there was no media showing as found on the import screen on PMB.

I wasn't sure if it was the software, so uninstalled and reinstalled.  I upgraded to the latest version, no solution.  It wasn't the software.  have reinstalled the version that came with the camera.

Solution:
In the end i copied all the files off the camera using windows explorer.  Deleted the files off the camera using windows (apparently this is a no-no),  you are meant to delete them off the camera using camera delete function otherwise you muck up the index file.  This prompted the camera to repair the database, although you can prompt this on the camera thru the "Manage Media" section, then "Repair img.db.f."  If this doesn't work, you need to reformat the drive.

This fixed the problem of being able to then record new footage to the camera and have it importable.

Now to solve the problem of being able to import the existing files that i copied to the computer, which are now in the wrong .mts format.  I fixed this by using the export media function in PMB to export the files back to the camera, which then puts them back with a new file number.  You can then import these as per normal into the format .m2ts with the file number as the date time the footage was taken.

I think this issue came about because i deleted a file off the camera that came with the camera, it was a sony demo file, which seemed to be taking up memory, but i couldn't seem to delete from the camera as it was protected (now i read that you unprotect it, then delete on the camera).  Because i did this it caused issues with the index file as mentioned above. 

Hopefully this learning curve will help others to solve problems.

[Mick2011 · Accepted solution]

Thanks munchkin2, some useful tips there

[ROLAND_ROCK]

I have a HDR-CX115E and have just experienced an issue with a corrupted SD card. 

"There is no Image Database File" comes up on the screen when you power up and the the card looks empty on thr computer. Question is, if I say "Yes" to "Create a new file?" will it initialise the card and delete the clips? (there are about 400 or so clips on there). 

I have tried 3 types of rescue software (trial versions only) and whilst they can identify the stills I can't be certain they can see the clips. 

[Mick2011]

Hi Roland, welcome to the Sony Forums

I would avoid doing anything to the card prior to running a recovery routine on it. This is pretty much rule #1 of most recovery software: if the card has corrupted data, you won't be able to record to it and even if you could, the new DB file would be empty and you'd almost certainly overwrite your old data.

Good luck with the recovery software.

Cheers

Mick

[ROLAND_ROCK]

Thanks for the response Mick, but one more question.  The camera has a "Repair Image DB File" option.  Do we know for certain this will trash the card?  If so what would be the point of this utility - you may as well reformat. I have found this on another section of the web site and Sony implies this will rebuild the file structure for SD movies and JPGs but that you will need PMB to browse HD movies.  It does not mention initialising anything.  Any thoughts?

[munchkin2]

Hi Roland,

The repair Image DB File will not effect the files on the card, it only repairs the Database if the structure of the directories or index file get corrupted.  I did this with my camera and it did not do anything to the files on the card, or camera.

When you say it looks empty on the computer are you looking at the card thru PMB or thru file explorer?

I think PMB has different options for looking at stills and movie clips.  Other option is can you put the memory card straight into the computer? as it will prompt to import if you do that also.

If you can see the files thru explorer, you could try the option mentioned in the original post "copy all the files off the camera using windows explorer. Deleted the files off the camera using windows (apparently this is a no-no), you are meant to delete them off the camera using camera delete function otherwise you muck up the index file. This prompted the camera to repair the database, although you can prompt this on the camera thru the "Manage Media" section, then "Repair img.db.f." If this doesn't work, you need to reformat the drive."

Cheers

Munchkin

[ROLAND_ROCK]

Thanks Munchkin, but this is what I did:  I paid for EaseUs recovery software, which of the three I tried), was the only one to correctly identify the video content.  So I recovered about 1500 clips, even though I knew there should only be about 500.  These recovered to m2ts format so I previewed them in Wondershare converter and found hundreds of fragments of movie from an earlier trip!  There were also bits of these old clips appended to the new ones and new clips appended to old ones - a right mess!  However, I have edited out the old clips and flitered it down to the clips I want before converting them to .mov.  I guess I have lost some of it but given I only use about 25% of what I take, its no bad result.  I then tried the Repair Image DB File option on the camera and it initialised the card.  I guess I could still recover from it at that stage but it does beg the question, what is this option for? 

It just goes to show that stored data never goes away, it just gets overwritten, and not very well at that!

Cheers

[WallyZ21]

I had similar problem on my Xperia Phone with KitKit and Lollipop.

Playmemories could see the phone but no album content (pictures or videos).

Resolved this be clearing the cache of the Album app.