[dadfad]

This is only vaguely related to acoustic guitar but I figured here someone might have an idea.......

I've been working on a tab. I'd been tabbing Blind Blake's "Police Dog Blues", one of his masterpieces. I've been working on it off and on whenever I had some time to put into it for quite awhile, and for the last few weeks or so have been trying to do some of it every day and get it completed. It's quite a tune, especially to tab effectively. It's probably been the most "heroic" tab effort I've undertaken. I'd probably done close to fifty tab-lines, each with the note(s) themselves, the finger used to pick it and direction of picking and the "holding position" from which that line would come out of and flow into next. I'd broken it down into a series of theme-licks or lines and their variations and alternative fingerings and how to approach them, and then had begun to tab the actual tune itself, putting them together. I'd done the intro, a couple of verses and both guitar-breaks. I was probably about seventy-five or eighty percent done. Mostly just some line repetition, checking and clean-up left to go. I've been keeping it on a floppy (since I don't trust a C-drive anymore after I lost a lot of stuff in a major crash). I've been keeping the floppy in the slot, not all the way in, just inserted but not active. When I'd have an hour to spare I'd push it in, open it (it's on Notepad), do another line or two and then save the changes back to the disc and pop it back out. About an hour ago I went to start working on it again during my lunch hour, like I've been doing for most of November. I pushed the disc in and it wasn't there. The name was there.... Police Dog Blues.txt, but when I opened it, the only thing showing was the first five or six lines of the lyrics (ending in a mid-line). At first I thought something like "oh, wrong disc" or whatever. But it was the right one, which I'd had in the port and added to after work last night for an hour or so. I did a complete search of my computer for the words "Police Dog" (damn, it's actually pretty amazing how many times I've used that phrase in the last few years!) and couldn't find the tab.

Anyway, I've resolved myself to the fact that it's gone (actually I'm pretty sick about it but.......). But now I'd like to know why and how it happened if possible. Just a simple floppy, done on Notepad which I've clicked to save the changes to many (many) times and everything was just fine. Anyone ever hear of something like this? Can a disc just "cease to function"? Can a single Notepad simple text entry exceed its limits and sort of self-destruct? (It wasn't anywhere near enough data to exceed the 1.44 limits of the floppy). If possible I'd just like to know what might have happened. I sure don't want it to happen again (although this has really "taken the wind out of my sails" as far as going right back to start on it all over again). Any ideas?

[adds]

I havent a clue but im as gutted as you.I was looking farward to that tab .

[tapelator]

mister dadfad

i ain't no expert, nor a knowledgble guy in computers, but when through some share of troubles in computers

did you not format the floppy disc? if not, the files can be not read, or destroyed, and the disc cannot be open, so for future referance make sure you do so.

i think there a black box in the edge of the floppy disc, up or down it can move, i cannot remember the extact function, but up or down, one of them disables the file saving or something like that...sorry i can't really remember

you must have saved it in a wrong way, or just didn't save it at all

or you might have hidden the file in the disc, but that not really likely, but check folder options, and check show hidden files, within the screen option of the floppy disc.

if you can, you can recover deleted files only from C, if you saved the police dog txt in the C too.

but A drives deleted files canont be recovered,

good luck, and sorry about your loss.

[dadfad]

I havent a clue but im as gutted as you.I was looking farward to that tab .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Adam, I'll re-do it fairly quickly. I just need a day to mope around over it! I'll start right back. It won't take me so long the second time around (actually, the second-and-a-half time. I lost a smaller piece in that C-drive crash!). This time it'll be quicker, and I won't be so ridiculously obsessive with creating "The Ultimate Blind Blake's Police Dog Blues Tab". I could've wound it up several days ago if I hadn't been. It'll still be a good tab (I won't do a version that's of little use, like some I've seen several times before around the net). And you want to know something that REALLY maddens me? Because it was taking so long to complete, I ALMOST sent you a copy Saturday of what I had done up to that point, figuring the vast majority of it being done would give you plenty to get going with and I could re-send the finished, up-dated final version. But Noooooooooo........ I had to think "well, it's almost finished. I'll just wait and send it complete." Anyway, I'll get right back to it while it's still fresh (I spent a week just brushing up on the playing of it so that part's done too!) (On the positive side, I impressed the hell out of everyone at my acoustic guitar society meeting last Sunday when I played it because I'd been working on it so much lately! ) Anyway, I'll get it done soon between "tryin' to make a livin' an' doin' the best I can"!

[BaasLian]

Hi John

I'm absaloutely gutted for you & know exactly what who must have gone through.

You are the last person something like this should happen to.

One word of advice: Even though you had a bad experience with your hard-disk (C-drive) before, it's still 100 times more reliable than a floppy disk. They are very cheap, mass produced (more than hard-disks) and, personally, I wouldn't use it as the primary area to store data on.

Use it either as a back-up. Check it regularely & format it before its first use. Save the tab on your desktop, so you know EXACTLY where it is. After saving it there, save it on the floppy disk.

That's all I can think of to help. As far as recovering any lost date from that disk: Chances are VERY slim that you can do it. But follow 'Tapelator's advice. Maybe (actually I hope), you get lucky.

Hope this helps....

D@#!nm!!! This shouldn't have happened to you.

[gcd23]

Wow John, I'm sorry to hear this. To be honest with you I wouldn't use the floppy as the main holder of your tabs. The hard drive is more reliable unlike the floppy that for one is way slower and for two it likes to crap out soo much. I would say save the tab primarily on your hard drive then save it to your floppy just to have a backup. I know you probably don't trust the hard drive all that much but you got the worse of what can happen. If you have a new hard drive then you should be fine. Usually if you are using word or notepad and your computer crashes(os crash not hard drive crash) windows will recover all if not most of what you were typing so if you forgot to save an 8 page paper you will more than likely have it all when you load the computer back up. Hope I helped some. Later.

[ibanez6]

Sounds like it might be a lost chain (ie the file has lost the pointer that points to the other half of itself). In other words the file is still there but is no longer accessable. I've had this problem before and used "Norton disc doctor" which found the lost bits of my file, and put it back together. If you don't have access to "disc doctor", I am pretty sure Windows has similar abilities but I haven't got experience with this. What ever you do, don't reformat the disc, it'll be lost forever then.

I am sure it'll be on the disc somewhere but you need system software that will find lost chains to find it.

Hope this helps some, I am no expert but others may know the technical side of things better than I.

[evileye]

John, leave the floppy as it is. Bring it to a professional, it's amazing what they can do - there are services for recovering data from floppys... They should be able to tell you straight away if they can do anything with it... Another thing, you haven't had a magnet anywhere near the floppy, have you?
It's all been said before, but a hard drive is more reliable than a floppy. Best of the lot is probably a CD... Hopefully you can manage something..

[dadfad]

Thanks for all the sympathy and advice guys. I really appreciate it and I tried the suggestions, except taking it to a recovery-service. Even if they could do it, I can probably re-tab it faster than they would be (if it's even recoverable). This time I'll double save it! Live and learn, I guess! Well, as Chairman M said once, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"...............

CODE

POLICE DOG BLUES
by Blind Blake (Arthur Phelps Blake)
Paramount Records 1929

All my life I've been a travelin' man (2x)
Livin' alone, an' doin' the best I can.

I shipped my trunk on down to Tennessee. (2x)
Hard to tell about a man like me.

I met a little gal, couldn't get her off my mind. (2x)
She passed me up, said she didn't like my kind.

I'm scared to bother 'round her house at night. (2x)
She got a police dog that's cravin' for a fight.

His name is Rambler an' when he gets a chance (2x)
He leaves his mark on every body's pants.

Guess I'll travel, I guess I'll let her be (x2)
Before she sicks her police dog on me.


.D|--12Harmonic------------------------------------------
.A|------12H---------------------------------------------
F#|-----------12H----------------------------------------
.D|--------------12H-------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
F#|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------
.A|------------------------------------------------------
.D|------------------------------------------------------

( )

[grzegorz_panek]

That's a hell of a tune really. Sorry, but you lost me at C-drive.
I thought this one's in E, not C.

By the way, isn't it in open E tuning?

[adds]

good to hear you aint going to give up on it.It will be a great tab to have not only for me but maybe in the GTU files.Its great song and one every guitarist on the planet should learn.

[dadfad]

That's a hell of a tune really. Sorry, but you lost me at C-drive.
I thought this one's in E, not C. 

By the way, isn't it in open E tuning?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Grzeg, I believe Blake used open-D tuning capoed at the second fret, instead of true open-E. He used a capo for sure on several tunes ("That'll Never Happen No More", played as if in G capoed to 2nd-fret A if I remember correctly. Maybe it was A#....; and a few others). It would make some of the changes a little easier with the slight change in fret-length and increased neck-width. Either way, it doesn't matter much since Open-D and E tab and finger identically. (all of this was mentioned on my lost preliminary preface to the tune! )