Why do I receive an error about "incorrect chunk size" when using WAVREAD in MATLAB?

Using the following code:

wavread('myfile.wav')

I receive the following error:

 ??? Error using ==> wavread

 Error using ==> wavread

 Incorrect chunk size information in WAV file.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

The WAV-file that you are trying to read is most likely constructed improperly. There are two numbers written into WAV-files that are related to the size of the file itself. If these numbers are incorrect, you will receive this error.

The following function can fix your WAV-file. However, you should create a backup copy of your file before running the following function since it modifies the file.

function wavchunksizefix( filename )

d = dir(filename);

fileSize = d.bytes;

fid=fopen(filename,'r+','l');

fseek(fid,4,-1);

fwrite(fid,fileSize-8,'uint32');

fseek(fid,40,-1);

fwrite(fid,fileSize-44,'uint32');

fclose(fid);

The function is run this way:

wavchunksizefix('filename.wav')

[Kevin Gleason]

For those experiencing this issue with AVI files. Try using MMREADER instead of AVIREAD. If you cannot or if it does not work, you will have to use some external program to read the .avi and write a new version of it.

[Walter Roberson]

Note: R2013b was the last release with mmreader.