Video · Sony exFAT memory card
Sony XAVC S/HS: find after an import failure
Where are XAVC clips from M4ROOT after a failed import?
Short answer
First search the destination for Sony clip names such as C0001, and check whether your import copied only the proxies from SUB. Catalyst Browse or an editing app can stop partway through M4ROOT. If the originals are missing on the card as well, stop using it and scan it read-only.
The situation
XAVC clips from M4ROOT is incomplete at the destination and no longer appears reliably on the source.
Something in the transfer stopped before the M4ROOT tree was fully copied, and the card no longer shows the clips reliably either. The first question is not how to recover, but which part of the Sony structure your import software actually took.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
Tools such as Catalyst Browse or an editing application read the M4ROOT structure and copy clips selectively. Some take only the SUB proxies, some copy CLIP but stop when a file fails, and some delete from the card after what they consider a successful transfer. The result is originals at neither end while proxies look complete.
Move, rename, catalog and delete-after-import steps can fail at different moments and leave source and destination in different states. For Sony XAVC S/HS, this matters because originals, proxies and management files may occupy different M4ROOT locations
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Leave the card untouched in the reader and search the destination for Sony clip names such as C0001 before anything else.
- 2
Check whether the copied files are originals or proxies by comparing their sizes; a proxy is a fraction of the original.
- 3
Look in the trash and in your project media folder, then scan the card read-only only if originals are missing everywhere.
- 4
Move whatever you recover to a separate drive, then repeat the import with deletion disabled and the card write-protected.
Do not restart the import with the option to delete originals after transfer, and do not reformat the card because the proxies arrived. Formatting after a partial copy is the single most common way full-quality XAVC originals are lost for good.
03 / Choose the method
Match the tool to the source
For stable, readable exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 or uncompressed IMG, DD, RAW and BIN images.
Unconfirmed exports are marked .UNVERIFIED.
The card side can be scanned read-only; an APFS or HFS+ destination cannot, because File Recovery Hero supports exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 plus uncompressed images. For files lost on a Mac disk, use the trash, a backup or a snapshot of that volume.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
Confirm you have the originals, not the small SUB versions: an original matches the card size, plays at full resolution and carries the XAVC mode you selected. Count clip numbers against your shot list so a gap in the middle of a sequence does not slip past.
Keep the source until two verified copies exist. One working preview is not enough.
Sources and technical references
FAQ
Questions about this recovery case
Can Sony exFAT memory card be recovered in this situation?+
Something in the transfer stopped before the M4ROOT tree was fully copied, and the card no longer shows the clips reliably either. The first question is not how to recover, but which part of the Sony structure your import software actually took. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not restart the import with the option to delete originals after transfer, and do not reformat the card because the proxies arrived.
Does scanning write to my memory card?+
Your memory card is only read. Nothing is saved to it.
How do I know whether the result is complete?+
Confirm you have the originals, not the small SUB versions: an original matches the card size, plays at full resolution and carries the XAVC mode you selected.