Preserve the original bytes
Make a separate copy before attempting repair. Do not overwrite the recording, reformat the recorder card or repeatedly save a damaged file in different editors. Look for recorder backups or temporary files first.
Check what is actually present
A RIFF WAV normally contains a format chunk and a data chunk. An interrupted recording can leave stale length fields even when some samples exist. A file with missing sample data is a different problem.
The WAV diagnostic checks the header and declared chunk lengths locally. A successful structure check does not prove that the recording sounds correct.
- Choose a copy of the WAV file.
- Read the header and chunk warnings.
- Save the diagnostic.
- Use a dedicated repair or raw-audio import workflow only when you know the sample format.
Do not guess format parameters
Raw import needs the correct encoding, endianness, channel count and sample rate. Wrong values can create noise or change speed. Use recorder settings or a healthy file from the same session as a reference.
A header fix cannot recreate samples that were never written. If the missing passage matters, seek another recording source rather than trusting generated replacement audio.