How to resolve “File Creation Error !” from Exact Audio Copy 0.99pb5
Posted by Jim DeLaHunt on 10 Nov 2009 at 12:38 am | Tagged as: robobait
I just figured out a solution for a problem setting up a piece of Windows freeware on my computer, and I’m recording it here as robobait so that others can benefit from it.
I use the wonderful Exact Audio Copy (EAC) software to rip my CDs to FLAC files, as part of moving our music collection onto a media server. I had just uninstalled version 0.99pb3 (this thing has been “pre-beta” and version 0.99 for years!) and installed version 0.99pb5. I set the directory to which EAC writes its extracted files to be on my Samba file server. When I tried 0.99pb5, though, I observed that whenever I tried to copy tracks from the CD, an “Error Message” alert box would pop up, saying “File Creation Error !” What I expected, and what I recalled from using 0.99pb3, was that EAC would write the compressed files happily to the server directory.
The minimal test case to produce the error was to select one track from the CD, and then select the menu item “Action“… “Copy selected tracks” “Uncompressed“. The Windows system in question is a virtual machine running Windows XP on my Macbook Pro laptop. I had set up EAC’s “Standard directory for extraction” to a UNC server path, let’s call it “\\samba\media\Music\untagged_flac\“. I observed, by the way, that when I changed the destination directory to be something on my Windows C:\ drive, then EAC wrote the file with no problem. And interestingly, EAC had no trouble writing log files and cue files to the server directory using the UNC path, but it refused to write audio data files.
The workaround which succeeded for me was to map a drive letter to the UNC path. In my case, I mapped the letter “Z:\” to “\\samba\media\Music\“. Then, I set EAC’s “Standard directory for extraction” (under “EAC“… “EAC options“… “Directories” tab…) to “Z:\untagged_flac\“. Then EAC happily wrote compressed music files to my network directory.
I think this write failure is a regression from 0.99pb3; I recall the UNC path working then. But I haven’t reinstalled 0.99pb3 to prove the point. If you try that experiment, please leave me a comment and tell me what you found.
There are other possible causes for the “File Creation Error !” alert box. A couple I found were:
- Unpermitted leading “\” character in EAC’s “naming scheme” option (under “Filename” tab), per a hydrogenaudio thread “EAC: File Creation Error on first CD track”
- Filename or total file path too long (I don’t know the operative limit), per a hydrogenaudio thread “EAC pb5 directory problem causes File Creation Error”
May no-one else have to spend the time I spent diagnosing this problem! Happy exact audio copying!
P.S. my thanks to the developers of EAC, and of FLAC.exe, and all the other pieces of software in this marvelous free tool chain.
Like you, I too archive my files on a Samba server.
After recently upgrading from EAC pb4 to pb5 on a Win2k operating system, I received the “File Creation Error!” with the first rip I attempted after the upgrade. No configuration or setting was changed, only the upgrade was different. I meticulously checked every setting that might be causing the error yet found nothing.
Finally, I did as you suggested and mapped the EAC extraction directory to a letter drive, changing the output destination from \\brunello\music to L:\
Everything now works as it did before and I thank you for your post.
Jim, thanks for this solution! I’ve been quite frustrated with this issue until now. Mapping the drive solved it.
Thanks 4 ur message. I couldn’t believe eac couldn’t understand UNC names and since I started using this software since years ago when all was allright I was sure I was making errors in the file naming convention %A\%D\%T etc. and spent quite some time on it.
Thankfull as I may be that something like EAC exists I find modern software not understanding UNC names extremely strange.
Thank you very much. This problem was bugging the heck out of me until I found your post.
Thank you for saving me days of head bashing!
[…] Jim DeLaHunt, world-ready » How to resolve “File Creation … – I observed, by the way, that when I changed the destination directory to be something on my Windows C: drive, then EAC wrote the file with no problem. … There are other possible causes for the “File Creation Error !” alert box. […]
Just tried ripping my copy of the Black Keys “Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough”
I got a File Creation Error on every track.
I had to clear existing CD metadata, then manually enter new data. The disc ripped successfully once this was done.
Why? Hidden characters. Some people add them by accident, but some people hide them intentionally. EAC chokes on hidden characters, as well as some Unicode. This is why you don’t want to copy-paste metadata from a web site, but enter it manually.
I’ve had the most luck with freeDB, but, on occasion, its data is corrupt.