'Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius'

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Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of... - Adam, 24 Apr 09:13AM
     Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Robin Walker, 24 Apr 10:45AM
         Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Adam, 24 Apr 11:37AM
             Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Chris Crawley, 24 Apr 01:04PM
                 Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Andrew Ling, 28 Apr 03:49PM
                     Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Mark K Sealey, 28 Apr 04:47PM
                         Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Robin Walker, 28 Apr 07:05PM
                     Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Robin Walker, 28 Apr 07:03PM
                         Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Andrew Ling, 28 Apr 07:41PM

Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Adam - 24 Apr 09:13AM (edited 24 Apr 09:18AM)
A friend of mine still uses Sibelius on the Acorn(!).

He's interested in updating, but we're trying to work out if he'd be able to transfer his old .de0 files to a more modern version. He's managed to get all the old files onto a USB stick, and I have Sibelius 7.1 on the Mac - but obviously Sib 7.1 can't open .de0 files.

Are there any techniques or work-arounds for importing these ancient files?

I know it's a very long shot indeed. Fingers crossed.

Many thanks.
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Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Robin Walker - 24 Apr 10:45AM
It depends on the version of Sibelius for Acorn that most recently saved those files.

If a file was saved with version 3.01 or later of Sibelius for Acorn, then it can be opened by version 5.x or earlier of Sibelius for Windows or Sibelius for Mac, providing that the Sibelius for Acorn file has been renamed with a .s7 extension on the Mac/Windows platform (or /s7 on the Acorn platform).

If a file was saved with a version of Sibelius for Acorn earlier than 3.01, then there is really no route for automatic conversion into Sibelius for Windows/Mac format. The best that you can do is to print the score from Acorn, and then attempt to read it using PhotoScore on Windows/Mac.

If you have access only to versions of Sibelius for Windows/Mac later than 5.x, then there is no import feature for any version of Sibelius for Acorn file. Some users keep their old versions of Sibelius active purely for this reason. Once again, you might be able to print the score on the Acorn platform, then read it in again with a scanner and PhotoScore for Windows/Mac.

If the number of files requiring conversion is reasonably low, then it is possible that users on this forum with Sibelius 5 or earlier might be able to help.

--
Sibelius 8.5.1/7.5.1/7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 8.0.4, Dolet 6.6 for Sibelius, Windows 10 64-bit 16GB. Desktop no-name, Microsoft Surface Book.
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Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Adam - 24 Apr 11:37AM
Many thanks for your help. I may have Sib 5.1 that I can use - I'll look into it.

There are a lot of files, so I couldn't ask anyone else to help - but thanks for the suggestion!

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Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Chris Crawley - 24 Apr 01:04PM
If you can't do it any other way, you could give anyone who volunteered to help a few files each, perhaps?

--
Chris Crawley (composer and horn-player) using Sibelius 7.1.3, NotePerformer, Windows 10 64-bit, Intel Core i7 3.30GHz, 64GB RAM, DacMagic 100
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Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Andrew Ling - 28 Apr 03:49PM
If you've been through the standard upgrade process from Sib 5 to your 7.1 then Sib 5 will have been disabled. You can (used to be able to) contact Avid to ask them to re-enable Sib 5. I did this in the past for this very reason, although that version of Sib 5 went when I upgraded my PC.
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Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Mark K Sealey - 28 Apr 04:47PM
Computer Concepts (Acorn users will remember that name with affection) made a DFS (the Acorn standard file format) to Mac converter tool.

Although a quick Google search didn't immediately find it, if you wanted to make a start with the files themselves, I think it might still be available. Castle Technologies might be able to help as well? Good luck!

--
Mark Sealey
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014); 4 GHz Intel Core i7; 32 GB Ram; 10.12.4; 8.5
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Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Robin Walker - 28 Apr 07:05PM
> Computer Concepts made a DFS (the Acorn standard file format) to Mac converter tool.

But that is not a total solution as the internal format of Sibelius for Acorn files was different to the internal format of Sibelius for Windows/Mac files: that is why they need to be specially imported into Sibelius for Windows/Mac.

--
Sibelius 8.5.1/7.5.1/7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 8.0.4, Dolet 6.6 for Sibelius, Windows 10 64-bit 16GB. Desktop no-name, Microsoft Surface Book.
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Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Robin Walker - 28 Apr 07:03PM
> If you've been through the standard upgrade process from Sib 5 to your 7.1 then Sib 5 will have been disabled.

No, existing installations of Sibelius 5 are not disabled by the installation of higher versions of Sibelius. What happens is that you cannot activate a new installation of Sibelius 5 after having activated a higher version of Sibelius: but existing activated Sibelius 5 installations will carry on working.

--
Sibelius 8.5.1/7.5.1/7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 8.0.4, Dolet 6.6 for Sibelius, Windows 10 64-bit 16GB. Desktop no-name, Microsoft Surface Book.
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Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of Sibelius
Posted by Andrew Ling - 28 Apr 07:41PM
> > If you've been through the standard upgrade process from Sib 5 to your 7.1 then Sib 5 will have been disabled.
>
> No, existing installations of Sibelius 5 are not disabled by the installation of higher versions of Sibelius.

OK, it's a long time ago. I know I had to talk to what was then Sibelius to get my Sib 5 running again. I assumed it had been disabled by the later versions.

the point being, if you find Sib 5 needs installing or doesn't work, talk to Avid.
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Messages in this thread

Opening ancient files from the Acorn version of... - Adam, 24 Apr 09:13AM
     Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Robin Walker, 24 Apr 10:45AM
         Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Adam, 24 Apr 11:37AM
             Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Chris Crawley, 24 Apr 01:04PM
                 Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Andrew Ling, 28 Apr 03:49PM
                     Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Mark K Sealey, 28 Apr 04:47PM
                         Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Robin Walker, 28 Apr 07:05PM
                     Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Robin Walker, 28 Apr 07:03PM
                         Re: Opening ancient files from the Acorn versio... - Andrew Ling, 28 Apr 07:41PM