# REW - Problems Saving mdat + JPEG files



## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

Hi Folks,

I did my very first sweeps today using REW. They look OK, I think, but I can only save the first sweep. Subsequent sweeps cannot be saved. Furthermore, I can't save graphs as a JPEG. I have tried repeatedly - all to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

JPC


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

Multiple measures are saved as a "Save All Measurements" in the File pulldown.

Saving your graphs as a jpeg is accomplished using the floppy icon in the lower left corner of the graph.

brucek


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

brucek said:


> Multiple measures are saved as a "Save All Measurements" in the File pulldown.
> 
> Saving your graphs as a jpeg is accomplished using the floppy icon in the lower left corner of the graph.
> 
> brucek


Thanks, Bruce!

OK, I'll try the "Save All Measurements" option.

I used the floppy icon to try saving the graph as a JPEG but it didn't appear to do anything. I would have expected a box to pop up asking me to give the file a name. Where does REW save these JPEGs by default? I searched my PC after attempting to save the graphs as JPEGs but was unable to find them.

I look forward to your reply.

Thanks again.

JPC


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

> I would have expected a box to pop up asking me to give the file a name. Where does REW save these JPEGs by default?


It does popup a box asking you where you want to store it........

Start REW and click the icon. It pops up a question about the size you want the file. Then it pops up a question as to where you want to store the file...

brucek


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

Bruce,

I tried what you suggested - to no avail. I don't seem to be able to save anything in REW. I even tried disabling my anti-virus s/w (Kaspersky) but it made no difference. I am computer savvy so I don't think it's anything I'm doing. I'm wondering if I should re-install REW. FYI, when I exited REW, it pointed out that the four measurements I've just taken had not been saved. So, it gave me the option to save them which I selected. I also had the opportunity to add a note about the measurements, which I provided and then selected 'OK'. I was not asked where I wanted to save it but when I searched for *.mdat files on my PC afterwards, they had not been saved. It's the same when I try to save a JPEG. I click on the floppy disk icon but nothing happens. I'm convinced that the problem lies with the REW software.

Any further thoughts?

Thanks.

JPC


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

brucek said:


> It does popup a box asking you where you want to store it........
> 
> Start REW and click the icon. It pops up a question about the size you want the file. Then it pops up a question as to where you want to store the file...
> 
> brucek


Bruce,

"It pops up a question about the size you want the file" - YES

"Then it pops up a question as to where you want to store the file..." - NO

Same happens when trying to save measurements. I do not get a box asking where I want to save files and, as said above, no files get saved as *.mdat.

JPC


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

> I do not get a box asking where I want to save files


Then I'm absolutely stumped for an answer. Just like any Windows Save selection, it asks where you want it saved. 

You're definitely the first person who has had this fault in the years that I've been working with the REW forum.

brucek


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Check the output logs in your home directory under the rew subdirectory, there may be some error messages in there. What OS are you running?


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

JohnM said:


> Check the output logs in your home directory under the rew subdirectory, there may be some error messages in there. What OS are you running?


John,

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by my home directory/REW subdirectory. There is a folder in C:\Program Files called RoomEqWizard but there are no output logs in there - would you please clarify?

Thanks.

JPC


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

John & Bruce,

I've done some more digging. If I go to File>Open Measurement File, I get a pop-up box saying Look In: REW Cal Files and it defaults to Files of Type: .mdat. Now, the files that were generated when I calibrated my sound card are in there. And, if I ask it for Files of Type: All Files, two of the files that I recently saved are listed but if I select them and try to open them, I get a 'Load measured data set error' that says - C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Documents\REW Cal Files\FE167E SW1 Jul 15 13.mdat not found. Similar with the other file that I saved. BTW, I think this file (beginning 'FE167E') has been truncated; I may have inadvertently included a colon in the original but I would have expected an error message if that was the case when I tried to save it. So, I'm really not sure what is going on.

I don't want to re-install REW if I can avoid it because I would presumably have to re-calibrate my sound card, etc. before being able to run actual room measurements.

Sorry this is a bit heavy-going but I need your help, guys.

JPC


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

> I'm not entirely sure what you mean by my home directory/REW subdirectory.


The error log for REW is located in your home directory. Usually it will be in c:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\

The error files are stored there and are called roomeq_wizard0.txt, roomeq_wizard1.txt, etc.....

You can open them with Notepad. There's a rotating list, so choose the one with the newest date.

Attach the file to a post, so we can see the errors (if there are any).



> So, I'm really not sure what is going on.


Yeah, for sure it's weird.

Just re-install REW and see what happens. You don't need to recalibrate your soundcard. The file is still located in the REW directory, with the filename that you chose, such as my_soundcard.cal

brucek


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

Hi Bruce,

Many thanks for the reply. Please find attached today's error file.

JPC

PS See below!


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

Bruce...take two...JPC


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

Looks like a lot of Java problems.

What version of Java do you have loaded.

Go to Control Panel and start the Java icon and select the General tab and select About. It should be Version 6 Update 14.

If not, update Java.

brucek


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

brucek said:


> Looks like a lot of Java problems.
> 
> What version of Java do you have loaded.
> 
> ...


Bruce,

I really appreciate your speed of response - thank you!

I'm running Java Standard Edition Version 6, Update 14 (to be precise, build 1.6.0_14-b08).

Thanks again.

JPC


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

Try starting REW and select the Settings pulldown, and then select Delete Settings and Shutdown.

Then restart REW and attempt a Save (after you do a test Measure). You'll need to do a Measure before the Save is available. Don't worry about a real Measure - just click Measure and click through all the warnings to get any Measure - you don't need a meter or anything, we're just trying to test Save.

Then, if that doesn't work, I would suggest re-installing REW and trying again to do a Save....... 

brucek


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

Hi Bruce,

It would appear to have worked (I've created bruce_test.mdat), but I've now lost my SPL calibration - what do I do about that? Looks like I don't need to re-install REW.

Thanks for all your help.

JPC


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

OK, good.

You haven't lost the soundcard.cal calibration file. It's just that REW isn't pointing to it anymore. Go to the Settings popup, and on the soundcard tab, select browse and you'll find the file in the Room EQ Wizard directory or wherever you've saved it that was convenient for you (maybe you'll have to search for it). Once you've Browsed and found it - click OK and it will appear in the form-fill window of the Settings screen.

Worst case, if the file isn't there, create a new soundcard calibration file using the loopback cable. Takes about 10 seconds to make one.

Tell me how this went....

brucek


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

jaypeecee said:


> John & Bruce,
> 
> I've done some more digging. If I go to File>Open Measurement File, I get a pop-up box saying Look In: REW Cal Files and it defaults to Files of Type: .mdat. Now, the files that were generated when I calibrated my sound card are in there. And, if I ask it for Files of Type: All Files, two of the files that I recently saved are listed but if I select them and try to open them, I get a 'Load measured data set error' that says - C:\Documents and Settings\John\My Documents\REW Cal Files\FE167E SW1 Jul 15 13.mdat not found. Similar with the other file that I saved. BTW, I think this file (beginning 'FE167E') has been truncated; I may have inadvertently included a colon in the original but I would have expected an error message if that was the case when I tried to save it. So, I'm really not sure what is going on.
> 
> ...


What are the actual filenames and extensions of the files that are causing problems (as shown in explorer)? Do they appear differently in the file dialog in REW?

Note that the soundcard calibration files (as generated with the "Make Cal" button in Soundcard Settings) have a .cal extension, .mdat files are measurements.


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

JohnM said:


> What are the actual filenames and extensions of the files that are causing problems (as shown in explorer)? Do they appear differently in the file dialog in REW?
> 
> Note that the soundcard calibration files (as generated with the "Make Cal" button in Soundcard Settings) have a .cal extension, .mdat files are measurements.


Hi John,

The files causing problems (as shown in Windows Explorer) are:

FE167E SW1 Jul 15 13
fe167e sw1 zero level jul 15 13

They are shown simply as 'File' (as opposed to MDAT File) and are each 0kB; they have no extension. They appear identically in the REW file dialog.

As I said earlier, I believe these file names are incomplete; the last half of the file name is a date followed by a time. I suspect I tried to save them as:

FE167E SW1 Jul 15 13:20
fe167e sw1 zero level jul 15 13:20

I would have thought that Windows should point out that the colon is unacceptable, i.e. no punctuation permitted in the file name.

Regards,

JPC


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

brucek said:


> OK, good.
> 
> You haven't lost the soundcard.cal calibration file. It's just that REW isn't pointing to it anymore. Go to the Settings popup, and on the soundcard tab, select browse and you'll find the file in the Room EQ Wizard directory or wherever you've saved it that was convenient for you (maybe you'll have to search for it). Once you've Browsed and found it - click OK and it will appear in the form-fill window of the Settings screen.
> 
> ...


Hi Bruce,

OK, soundcard and microphone cal files now loaded. I guess I'll just need to re-run the SPL calibration routine and then I should be back in business. Note: I won't get a chance to re-do my measurements for a few days but I will report back to let you know how I get on.

Thanks once again for all your help.

JPC


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## brucek (Apr 11, 2006)

> I guess I'll just need to re-run the SPL calibration routine and then I should be back in business


You need to run the Check Levels routine and the Calibrate routines each time you use REW. This sets up the input and output levels to and from the soundcard, and aligns the internal REW SPL meter readout with that of the real SPL meter at the listening position.

Once completed you can do subsequent measures without any calibrations required, unless you change the receiver levels, or mic position, or speaker positions. Then you would have to do the Check Levels and Calibrate routines again (which only take a second).

When you do a Measurement for a sub, set the frequency limits to 0-200Hz.

When you post a graph for subwoofers, always use the standard Vertical graph axis of (45dB - 105dB) and the Horizontal graph axis of (15Hz - 200Hz) using the Graph Limits button in the top right corner of REW.

brucek


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

jaypeecee said:


> I would have thought that Windows should point out that the colon is unacceptable, i.e. no punctuation permitted in the file name.


Windows would, but the Java file chooser doesn't, unfortunately. I'll add some filename validation for REW V5 to limit filenames to alphanumerics, - and _.


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## jaypeecee (Mar 31, 2008)

Just to let you know that I'm back in business. I've run several measurements and they have saved OK. I now need to install some room treatment and re-run the measurements.

JPC


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