So I just found out all my images went corrupted all the sudden. I don’t know what to do and it’d take me a huge amount of time to retake all of these (I have more than 300 images).
I’m using Obsidian v.0.12.19, Windows 10 Pro build 19042.1348
I was not using any syncing tools.
The folder name is: F:\obsidian[myname]\images\
I don’t think there were anything happening to the images when they were changed because I saved them during a long period of time, not all at once, and I haven’t modified any of them ever since.
I’m not using any community plugins, only core plugins and some themes.
Also I have antivirus program installed in my computer.
I don’t have any backups (I did my backups after this). But I replaced the images, so no need to worry about the lost files. I’m trying to figure out what happened because it’s weird: no other files anywhere in my computer were affected.
P/s: I can’t edit the post now. Does the forum limit edit after someone replies or after a certain amount of time? Sorry I’m a newbie here. Thanks.
Hopefully someone else has some ideas. I can’t think of why that would have happened, unless something else was trying to write or edit in that directory.
I’m just being curious - I can’t think what happened.
It looks like an interrupted loading process, but that shouldn’t affect the underlying image (I assume you have checked by opening an image in another program - it wasn’t entirely clear what you did when you said open it above).
As if a program tried to open all the images in the folder, failed partway and then saved the revised images. It’s not something I’d expect Obsidian to attempt.
I have a feeling this may just be something on your end, since I haven’t heard of any reports of issues like this. With some ~100k downloads for the last public release, this would have been more common if it was an issue with Obsidian core.
Regardless, perhaps some additional info might help:
When did you see these images “intact” last time?
When did you create these images? (These two questions help create a time window for when it may have happened)
Try checking the creation time and last modified time of those files - and see if they match up to any pattern as to when you saw them last intact. If they looks like they were never modified, then it’s highly likely you have disk corruption. If they look like they were modified very recently (matching what you remember last seeing them intact), then it’s possible something edited them.
How large are the images (I presume not very big?)
Do they seem “truncated” (file size much smaller than they should be) or “corrupted” (same size, but some kind of bad byte causes the rest of the image to go blank.
Are you using an HDD or SSD? You might want to run a disk checking utility and check your disk health via S.M.A.R.T (there’s a bunch of free disk info utilities on Windows I think, like CrystalDiskInfo, and you may want to run chkdsk as well on that disk, google for instructions)
Have you used any other programs with your vault (or this folder) other than obsidian? Someone mentioned some kind of sync solution but you aren’t using sync - perhaps another note taking app?
I’m trying to figure out what happened because it’s weird: no other files anywhere in my computer were affected
There is a chance that this happened, but you just don’t know about it yet. I would suggest making backups of not just your vault, but also other important stuff on the same disk just in case it’s an early sign of disk failure.
I’ve met a similar issue several years ago on Windows 10. I was developing on some web program using Webpack. Suddenly the images yielded only have upper parts. I remembered that a full reinstall of all NPM packages solved my issue last time, and no other files/directories affected. Not sure if this is a similar case.
I’m also wondering if the size of images were changed. Because if the meta-info corrupted, images cannot be rendered correctly, then in this case size won’t change significantly. Just like Licat suspected.
Also, just hunting for one more potential clue. I’m curious about the filenames of your images. Can you say what tool or app you are using to take the images?
Is this some kind of utility for taking screenshots that automatically generates the files and the random names?
I have a feeling this may just be something on your end, since I haven’t heard of any reports of issues like this.
Yes I’m not disagreeing with this, still trying to figure out.
Here’s my answer to your questions:
I created the images about 10-7 weeks ago. Since then I didn’t touch them, nor checked on them, so last I saw them intact was 7 weeks ago. However, there were like 3 more images I created 5 weeks ago, and they weren’t affected.
Try checking the creation time and last modified time of those files - and see if they match up to any pattern as to when you saw them last intact.
Too bad I deleted the corrupted files and replaced them with new ones, so there is no way to know now.
The images were around 600-700KB.
Too bad I didn’t notice the file size of the corrupted ones.
My laptop uses both SSD and HDD, but the images were on the HDD. I’ll run the disk check up. Thanks for the tip.
No I haven’t used any other program with this vault. This is specifically set aside for Obsidian.
There is a chance that this happened, but you just don’t know about it yet. I would suggest making backups of not just your vault, but also other important stuff on the same disk just in case it’s an early sign of disk failure.
I can assure you I thoroughly checked everything else on the disk, and even my whole computer. Nothing else was affected.
Don’t worry I already had backups for all the important stuff. I didn’t have backups for Obsidian because it was just some of my learning notes. Everything else is safe.
I just made backups for Obsidian after this on Google Drive. But I’m wondering if they go wrong again, will Google Drive upload the corrupted files instead of keeping the healthy ones.
Yes I use ShareX for screenshots. What could possibly be the problem?
Replying to @Dor Yes I opened the images by another program and they were definitely corrupted. You’re right, they look like they were loading midway then stopped, but they look distorted too.
As if a program tried to open all the images in the folder, failed partway and then saved the revised images.
I didn’t use any other program on this folder, but yes, it looks like that.
It’s not something I’d expect Obsidian to attempt.
Ah well it’s too bad there isn’t more data on this. I’m guessing if you never looked at those images, they could have been corrupted a long time ago and it was just left unnoticed.
Well hope this doesn’t happen to you again. Especially with backup systems in place (with version history) you should be able to revert any broken files if it does. Good luck!
I’m guessing if you never looked at those images, they could have been corrupted a long time ago and it was just left unnoticed.
I mean of course that’s the case but I can’t figure out the reason cuz no other software touched that folder. I ran the disk check you recommend and all the results are good.
I think I’m gonna let it go and just hope that it won’t happen again.
