diff --git a/src/image.zig b/src/image.zig
index 00b83b8..2aabd98 100644
--- a/src/image.zig
+++ b/src/image.zig
@@ -54,6 +54,21 @@ fn swrite(file: *c.SNDFILE, buf: [*]f32, frames: i64) !void {
     }
 }
 
+fn sseek(file: *c.SNDFILE, offset: usize) !void {
+    const frames = c.sf_seek(file, @intCast(i64, offset), c.SEEK_SET);
+
+    if (frames != @intCast(i64, offset)) {
+        std.debug.warn("failed to seek to {}\n", offset);
+        return error.SeekFail;
+    }
+}
+
+fn sf_tell(file: *c.SNDFILE) i64 {
+    var frames = c.sf_seek(file, 0, c.SEEK_CUR);
+    std.debug.warn("\t\t{} frames\n", frames);
+    return -frames;
+}
+
 fn temporaryName(allocator: *std.mem.Allocator) ![]u8 {
     const template_start = "/temp/temp_";
     const template = "/tmp/temp_XXXXXXXX";
@@ -168,12 +183,12 @@ pub const Image = struct {
         var buf = try self.allocator.alloc(f32, BufferSize);
         defer self.allocator.free(buf);
 
-        const total_bytes = end - start;
         var i: usize = start;
 
         // we do sf_seek() calls to make sure we are actually on the start
         // and actually end at the end position for the file.
-        _ = c.sf_seek(self.sndfile, @intCast(i64, start), c.SEEK_SET);
+        try sseek(self.sndfile, start);
+        try sseek(out_file, start);
 
         while (i <= end) : (i += buf.len) {
             std.debug.warn("i={}, buf.len={}, end={}\n", i, buf.len, end);
@@ -197,7 +212,8 @@ pub const Image = struct {
             try swrite(out_file, view.ptr, @intCast(i64, view.len));
         }
 
-        _ = c.sf_seek(self.sndfile, @intCast(i64, end), c.SEEK_SET);
+        try sseek(self.sndfile, end);
+        try sseek(out_file, end);
     }
 
     fn getSeekPos(self: *Image, position: plugins.Position) plugins.SeekPos {
@@ -275,9 +291,6 @@ pub const Image = struct {
 
         const seek_pos = self.getSeekPos(position);
 
-        // make sure we start from 0
-        _ = c.sf_seek(self.sndfile, 0, c.SEEK_SET);
-
         // there are four main stages:
         // - the bmp header copy
         // - pre-plugin
@@ -291,7 +304,7 @@ pub const Image = struct {
             seek_pos.start,
         );
 
-        _ = c.sf_seek(self.sndfile, @intCast(i64, seek_pos.start), c.SEEK_SET);
+        try sseek(self.sndfile, seek_pos.start);
 
         var i: usize = seek_pos.start;
         std.debug.warn("\tseek pos start: {} end: {}\n", seek_pos.start, seek_pos.end);
@@ -310,7 +323,7 @@ pub const Image = struct {
             try swrite(out_file, outbuf.ptr, 1);
         }
 
-        _ = c.sf_seek(self.sndfile, @intCast(i64, seek_pos.end), c.SEEK_SET);
+        try sseek(self.sndfile, seek_pos.end);
 
         // post-plugin copy
         try self.copyBytes(
@@ -355,7 +368,7 @@ pub const Image = struct {
         const seek_pos = self.getSeekPos(position);
 
         // make sure we start from 0
-        _ = c.sf_seek(self.sndfile, 0, c.SEEK_SET);
+        try sseek(self.sndfile, 0);
 
         // there are four main stages:
         // - the bmp header copy
@@ -370,7 +383,7 @@ pub const Image = struct {
             seek_pos.start,
         );
 
-        _ = c.sf_seek(self.sndfile, @intCast(i64, seek_pos.start), c.SEEK_SET);
+        try sseek(self.sndfile, seek_pos.start);
 
         var i: usize = seek_pos.start;
         std.debug.warn("\tseek pos start: {} end: {}\n", seek_pos.start, seek_pos.end);
@@ -389,7 +402,7 @@ pub const Image = struct {
             try swrite(out_file, bufs.out.ptr, 1);
         }
 
-        _ = c.sf_seek(self.sndfile, @intCast(i64, seek_pos.end), c.SEEK_SET);
+        try sseek(self.sndfile, seek_pos.end);
 
         // post-plugin copy
         try self.copyBytes(