I recently recovered some .mb files that were on my jump drive after having it formatted. The files look okay on the outside, as they read .mb files, but when I try to open/import them, I get an “unrecognizable file” error. Any ideas on how to repair it or if its even possible?

How big are the files?
Maybe you can open them with an editor and check out if you see the error.
But I dont know what exactly to do in such a case - was just an Idea

Intel Core i7-3930k CPU @3.20GHz(12CPUs); Windows 7 Prof. x64; 32 GB DDR3 RAM; Zotac GeForce GTX580 3GB GDDR5; Asus P9X79 Deluxe; 128GB SSD + 2 TB Samsung HD

I have a lot of experience with that kind of stuff. I can take a look and let you know if it’s possible to recover anything from those files. If I need to work on it I charge per hour, but initial consultation is free, as are all “simple solutions” I will need to see the file though. If you want to get an idea of what I typically go though take a look at this case study: http://www.thnkr.com/?q=node/84 The article mentions lots of things you can try if you want to attempt the recovery yourself.

Adeptus-Astrates 14 May 2011 01:52 PM

How big are the files?
Maybe you can open them with an editor and check out if you see the error.
But I dont know what exactly to do in such a case - was just an Idea

They are about 480KB, or rather the one I am most trying to recover is

THNKR 14 May 2011 02:34 PM

I have a lot of experience with that kind of stuff. I can take a look and let you know if it’s possible to recover anything from those files. If I need to work on it I charge per hour, but initial consultation is free, as are all “simple solutions” I will need to see the file though. If you want to get an idea of what I typically go though take a look at this case study: http://www.thnkr.com/?q=node/84 The article mentions lots of things you can try if you want to attempt the recovery yourself.

What would be the best way for you to send you the file?

I know what you’ve recovered. It’s not a maya binary, but a swatch file (that has the .mb.swatches extension, hence the confusion.

Here’s what the beginning your file looked like (if I run it through od -c)

0000000 M a y a I c o n s 002 S w a
0000020 t c h e s 036 005 @ @ R
0000040 S o c k s 377 ( ( ( 377 ( ( ( 377 (
0000060 ( ( 377 ( ( ( 377 ( ( ( 377 ( ( ( 377 (

A Maya binary (.mb) looks something like this:

0000000 F O R 4 352 t M a y a F O R 4
0000020 001 ` H E A D V E R S 004
0000040 2 0 1 2 U V E R 005 u n d e
0000060 f M A D E 005 u n d e

and a .mb.swatches file looks like this:
0000000 M a y a I c o n s 002 S w a
0000020 t c h e s \a \b 001 001 R
0000040 l a m b e r t 1 377 ( ( ( 377 ( (
0000060 ( 377 ( ( ( 377 ( ( ( 377 ( ( ( 377 ( (