Cameras · Sony exFAT XAVC S-I card
Sony XAVC S-I recording interrupted
Can an interrupted XAVC S-I clip be recovered?
Short answer
Often the media data, not a finished file: after the stop, the all-intra MP4 may lack its committed metadata, and the interruption itself can point to an unstable card. If the card reads reliably, create an image first, recover the clip's extent from that image, and repair only a preserved copy of the result.
The situation
The camera stopped during a high-bitrate all-intra recording.
An interrupted all-intra recording normally leaves most of the picture data on the card with no finished file on top of it. The stop is a second piece of information in its own right: a card that cut a take short may be at the edge of what it can sustain.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
XAVC S-I writes every frame as a complete intra picture, which produces a very high and constant data rate. The camera streams that into the MP4 and commits the index and the moov section only when a take ends properly. A power cut, a battery pulled out or a card that could not keep up therefore leaves the media blocks lying on the card with nothing left to describe them.
The final MP4 may lack committed metadata, and the interruption may also indicate media instability.
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Keep the card out of the camera, attach it through a reader, and try one straight read of the volume to see whether it stays stable.
- 2
If it reads through without errors, write a complete uncompressed image of the card, as IMG, DD, RAW or BIN, to a healthy drive.
- 3
Work from that image rather than the card: scan it read-only for MP4 and export the extent of the interrupted take.
- 4
Duplicate the exported file and let any repair or remux tool run on the duplicate, so the first result stays untouched.
Do not hand the card back to the camera to verify the file, and keep chkdsk, First Aid and formatting away from it. If the volume stalls or disappears mid-read, stop: repeated attempts on failing media make a lab's work harder, and software cannot read blocks the system never receives.
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.
Repair helps only when the media data is contiguous and undamaged, and no tool can invent frames the camera never flushed. File Recovery Hero recovers the raw extent from exFAT media and images read-only; it is not an MP4 repair tool and cannot work around a card with physical faults.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
Compare the duration the repaired clip reports with how long you were actually recording. It should decode frame by frame from beginning to end and hold audio in sync right up to the last second. Losing the final moments is expected; a file that stops in the first half is a partial extent.
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 XAVC S-I card be recovered in this situation?+
An interrupted all-intra recording normally leaves most of the picture data on the card with no finished file on top of it. The stop is a second piece of information in its own right: a card that cut a take short may be at the edge of what it can sustain. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not hand the card back to the camera to verify the file, and keep chkdsk, First Aid and formatting away from it.
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?+
Compare the duration the repaired clip reports with how long you were actually recording.