CF card error msg "SlotDpc:0003 & Can't reformat

[John Fante]

Just got this thing, so pls bear with me. I'm on firmware 0.179.

When I record (1080p/24) on a 32g Transcend 133x card to a QT file. Playback on the XDR is fine. Here's my problem: after I plug the card into a USB reader on my MBP to view or transfer the QT file to it and return the card (without erasing or copying anything to it while on the MBP), it displays one of two flashing errors "SlotDpc:0003" or "DMA RD:0004"

Trying to reformat with the F2 and F5 does nothing.

Also, once the card has gone through this cycle and been put into the Mac, it isn't seen by Disk Utilities, so I can't even reformat it there.

I've tried to upgrade to the .183 firmware, but the card gets the above messages too.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong or suggestions on a fix? Thanks!

[Dan Keaton]

Dear John,

Which CompactFlash card reader are you using?

Were you able to transfer the clips on the card to the Mac?

Did you wait until all of the files were transferred before ejecting the card?

Did you go through the Eject process on the Mac, or did you just eject the card from the card reader without telling the Mac you wanted to eject the card? If you, then you probably got a warning from the Mac about how to properly eject a card.

If you are using a Lexar Firewire 800 card reader, then I would go through the proper steps to remove the device, then unplug it and plug it back in.

If you are using a USB card reader, then do the same.

If you can't do the proper steps to remove this device, then just unplug it and plug it back in.

If everything else fails, then just restart your mac.


Now for the Flash XDR.

Power off, then back on the Flash XDR, just to make sure everything is working properly. This should not need to be done, but it helps us ensure that the Flash XDR is fine.

Once this is done, ensure that the Flash XDR is working properly by pressing a menu arrow button.

Then return to the main menu, by pressing the left arrow key.

All of the above steps are not really necessary, I just wanted to check the health of the Flash XDR.

Then insert your CompactFlash card in Slot 1.(For our testing, remove all other cards, otherwise they will also be formatted in the following steps.)

You should see a brief message that the CF card slots are busy.

Then press the F2 and F5 keys simultaneously. (Simultaneously is most important here).

You should see the Format Instructions on the screen.

Press F2 and F5 simultaneously again to start the format.

The full Format process, with four 32 GB cards takes 10 seconds, so we say 15 seconds to be safe and conservative.

I have sent a private email to you with my personal phone numbers so I can assist you immediately.

[John Fante]

Hi Dan, Thanks for all your help over the phone. For others reading this, Dan and Mike have been trying to solve this issue with me today (Saturday, no less) and I'll report back when we know what is causing the the Transcend CF32gig cards to "die" when they touch the Mac.

I've updated to the 0.184 firmware and our two Flash XDR boxes are working just fine. I've run the Iconix camera and a Sony EX1 on them with no issues whatsoever.

More later...

[Dan Keaton]

Dear John,

This is a summary of the problem that you are having. Mike and I have been attempting to determine the cause of John's problem with his CompactFlash cards.

John has 8 Transcend 32 GB CompactFlash cards.

John, puts them one by one, into the Flash XDR. Then, I assume that he formats them in the Flash XDR. Originally John was using our release 0.0.179, today he updated to 0.0.184.

John records footage onto the cards using the Flash XDR. The footage records and playback fine.

John ejects the cards from the Flash XDR and inserts them into a USB attached CompactFlash card reader, and transfers the files into his MacBook Pro.

The files transfer sucessfully into the MacBook Pro. The footage plays fine in the MacBook Pro.

John Ejects the CompactFlash card from the MacBook Pro, following the proper procedure.

When the CompactFlash card is reinserted into the Flash XDR, we can not successfully communicate with the card.

When John inserts the same card back into the MacBook Pro, the Mac can not successfully communicate with the card.

When John inserts the same card into a PC, the PC can not successfully communicate with the card.

This same scenario is repeated, execpt for the testing on the PC, for 6 other cards, one by one.

As soon as the files are transferred to the MacBook Pro, and then the card is ejected, the card is no longer usable.

Based on our recommendations, John purchased a Firewire 800 card reader for his MacBook Pro.

He repeats the same sequence with another card using the Firewire 800 card reader. Same exact results. Once the card is ejected from the MacBook Pro, the card is no longer usable. But this time, the USB card reader is not used, just the same MacBook Pro.

At our request, John is FedEx'ing two of the unusable cards to us. We are going to do our best to determine the status of these cards.

Frankly, we are stumped by this problem.

It is possible that the CF cards are being harmed by an overvoltage condition, in the Mac, but this is highly unlikely. Alternatively, the Mac may be doing something to the controller, which is built into the cards.

We have had great success with the Transcend CF cards. The cards work fine, format, record and playback, read and write, until they are ejected from the MacBook Pro.

I am posting this in an attempt to solict any experience that others may have had, so we can help John. We will have his cards Monday.

We welcome your suggestions.

[Paul Cronin]

What OS is John using on the Mac? I am at Mac OX 10.5.5 update on my Macbook Pro and Mac Pro and would be glad to go through the same process to see if I have the same problem. But I think we need the same OS to make the test worthwhile.

[John Richard]

The only remotely related info I can supply was when I mixed three PC formatted Transcend 32GB 133X cards with another that was formatted in a MacPro desktop, the XDR would not recognize the Mac formatted card.

When I pulled the Mac formatted card from the XDR, it allowed me to continue.

When I later reformatted the non-functioning Mac card in a PC, the XDR then recognized it properly.

This was all using .179 firmware and the USB Card Reader that came with the Alpha units.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Paul and John,

Thank you for your comments.

I hope we can determine what is wrong on Monday.

However, I wonder if we will need John's MacBook Pro to duplicate the problem.

We take this matter very seriously.