error messages

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Having read the manual, I learnt the "DMA RD" error message signals error in communicating with CF cards; may I know what DMA RD003 means specifically?

This happened to me with both the Beta Version 1.5.31, and with the latest official firmware Version 1.1.154. Power-cycling the unit cleared the message.

[Dave Nystul]

Piotr,

I have had the same experience. Though I can't be sure I think it is triggered by my quick record/pause cycle time not allowing the Nanoflash to catch up. It is an inconvenience to be sure, I hope it is dealt with in a new firmware release.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Piotr,

This error message can be caused by inserting or ejecting two cards almost simultaneously.

Yes, this error message must be cleared by powering down the nanoFlash.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Dear Dan,

If I remember correctly (it happened on the very first day of my testing the nano back in December, still with the 1.1.154 firmware), the sequence was following:

- triggering mode was set to Record button
- I recorded a clip, and pressed Stop
- the message "stopping..." displayed and lasted so long, that I power-cycled the unit
- on power-up, the DMA RD003 message displayed, so I had to power-cycle again
- I reformatted the cards, and the error never returned.

Until today (with Beta Version 1.5.31 firmware), when after I tested "delete last clip function" (worked OK), the same message popped-up.

Can you figure out the possible reason, and could this information be useful in testing the Beta?

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Piotr,

Please let me know if I understand correctly:

1. You were using our Public Beta 1.5.31.

2. You just completed a "Delete Last Clip".

3. After the "Delete Last Clip" worked successfully, you received a DMA RD003 error.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Exactly Dan - this is what happened with the Beta 1.5.31 today (just once).

This reminded me I did have the same error message with the previous firmware 1.1.154 in quite different circumstances.

[Dave Nystul]

Dan,

is it possible the circumstances I've described could trigger this error message? Not waiting for the Nanoflash to finish writing?

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Dave,

I am not certain what you mean by a quick Record/Pause cycle.

Do you mean that immediately after recording, you pressed Play, then Play again to pause the nanoFlash?

[Dave Nystul]

Dan,

I guess I mean that as I end a shot-pressing record to pause-I immediately see something in my viewfinder I want so I quickly press record again. This might happen after only a couple of seconds. Is that what you were thinking?

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Dave,

Thanks for the explanation. I understand now.

We will test for that condition.

Recording, Stop, Attempting to Record Again Immediately.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Dear Dan,

Sorry for bombarding you with messages, but I'm doing my weekend homework of testing the new Beta firmware. Here is another problem (never happened with the previous fw):

My CF cards (PhotoFast) are reported by the nano as UDMA5-capable. In fact, I could reliably record with 180 Mbps long-GOP - but with the Beta, I just encountered another failure: with the bitrate set to just 100 Mbps, I got the message "recording lost" and the nano switched straight to 50 Mbps (by-passing the 80 Mbps option). Then the "stopping..." message appeared and stayed for ever, so I had to power-cycle. The latter occurred for the second time since installing the Beta!

So I decided to torture-test it a bit, set the bitrate to 180, and recorded several clips with quite fast stop/start sequences - without a single glitch...

Something intermittent is happening in the communication with the CF cards, obviously!

What do you think?

Piotr

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Piotr,

Thanks for the report.

We will test this in our lab.

Yes, the 80 Mbps option is new, and we must not have added this to our "Bit Rate Down-Shift" code.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Dan,

Could it be that with the newest Beta firmware, when the nanoFlash checks and reports the cards (their names, and capabilities in terms of UDMA level) - when recording is started too early after powering-up, errors like the above can occur?

Interestingly, those errors never repeat later; also after power-cycling, if I wait for the card diagnostics to complete and only then start recording, everything is OK...

I suspect that hanging with the "stopping..." message displayed and lowering the speed down to 50 Mbps only happens when one starts recording immediately after power-up. At least, this is what happened to me twice after upgrading the firmware...

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Piotr,

That is an interesting theory.

When we test the new firmware, our testers, as humans, fall into certain habits, and tend to do things one (or a few ways).

They may not have tested recording before the messages are finished.

I am in the habit of waiting for the messages to finish before starting to record. I never thought of doing it differently. (But, I am not one of our formal firmware testers.)

This is something we will test.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Dan,

Until the firmware update (with fixed overcranking) is available, I will be using the latest official version. Before I revert to it, I have another kind request that you look into possible reason for nanoFlash freezing when finished recording, and the "stopping..." message remains on the display with the card light constantly red...

It happened to me again, and this time I make sure I did not start recording too quickly after powering the nano.