Hard Drive Corruption

Damian Fasolo · October 20th, 2006, 08:35 PM

Has anyone experienced corrupted harddrives when using the 1394HOST Mode to transfer footage from the p2 to firewire/usb drive?

It seems to happen when the verification fails after multiple transfers.. All the fat32 partitions are subbsequehtly lost on the drive (which is a major bummer if you are transferring from the p2 card and then formatting it again!)

Please help :(
Damo

Robert Lane · October 20th, 2006, 08:40 PM

Welcome to the forum, Damian.

We've been using the HOST mode on the camera for almost 10 months now with never a glitch. We always connect with a FW drive, not USB.

My suggestion is that you might have a bad controller on the external drive or, there might be physical problems with the drive platter itself if this problem persists. Try another external drive, preferrably the FW type since the data transfer is more stable than USB. If the problem persists with a different physical drive then it's a different issue.

Damian Fasolo · October 20th, 2006, 08:49 PM

Thanks Robert,
I appreciate your advice.
Just to confirm, do you use the verification mode and do you do multiple transfers onto the one drive (ie. where it creates more than one partition) ?
Also, what brand/model firewire drive are you using?
Thanks heaps!

Robert Lane · October 21st, 2006, 08:58 AM

Yes, we always do multiple xfrs; most of the time we leave verification off to speed up the x-fr but if we have footage that can't be easily re-shot then we turn it on.

You always get multiple partitions: one P2 card per partition.

I've been using OWC's Mercury Elite Pro FW800 250gb drives exclusively for our x-frs. I take an inverter with us on location to power the external drives from the car when it's time to x-fr.

Vince Curtis · October 21st, 2006, 09:37 AM

How are you transferring your data ? We've been using. .

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec....iteria=AA30310

and CompuAppps SwissKnife V3 Partition Utility to format the drive for the first time. . .no problems here. .

Damian Fasolo · October 21st, 2006, 06:17 PM

Cool. Thanks for all the info guys :)

Is there an procedural order for how you connect/diconnect and power the drive to the camera? (ie. Do you turn the drive on and then the cam, and when finished do you turn the cam off and then the drive?)

Do you think this might cause issues?

Vince Curtis · October 21st, 2006, 08:43 PM

That depends on what drive and operating system you are using. If you let us know what hardware you are using, we'll be able to tell you better answers.

Here is a previous post by Barry and the USB-OnTheGo solution

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...ighlight=mwave

Damian Fasolo · October 21st, 2006, 09:53 PM

Sorry Vince, perhaps i should have been more clear.
I meant going from the camera directly to any generic external fw/usb caddy (not to a computer).

Robert Lane · October 21st, 2006, 09:59 PM

Damian,

The HVX manual talks about the proper procedure.

For direct connection to the drive in HOST mode, turn on the DRIVE FIRST and allow it to spin up a few seconds so it's ready to communicate. The camera is turned on second.

Do this in reverse when you're finished copying; turn the CAMERA OFF first, then the drive.

My suggestion is that when your drive reaches it's maximum partitions (15) make sure you copy off all your data to your edit system and let the CAMERA re-format the drive, not an external program from either a PC or Mac. This way you're assured that the format is exactly what the camera wants.

Damian Fasolo · October 22nd, 2006, 11:10 PM

Thanks for all your wise advice guys.

I actually run a loans dept at a univeristy. We currently have 6 of these cameras, and over the past 3 months i've had about 5 corruptions reported by students when transferring using the 1394HOST (all the partitions are lost on the fw drive).

They usually tell me "Verification Error" pops up and then the drive looses its correct formatting from there on.

Im actually trying to replicate the issue myself, without any luck!

Has anyone else seen this?

Thanks
Damo

Matt Burton · October 23rd, 2006, 06:37 AM

One word !
Students

Damian Fasolo · October 23rd, 2006, 07:20 AM

Ha! As tempting as it would be to blame students ive finally had it happen to myself!

On the third time (this happens consistently) i transfer to the ext fw drive (1394 host mode) the camera comes up with 'verification failed'. If you turn the drive off and on it then becomes unreadable/corrupted.

Im thinking perhaps the drives are getting old, or they are too slow.... Still, this 'verification failed' is a pretty dangerous error and im not sure why it would corrupt the entire contents of the drive. Perhaps Panasonic should look into it.

Has anyone seen the error before, and if so, has it corrupted their drive too?

Vince Curtis · October 23rd, 2006, 09:42 AM

Sounds more like your hardware/drive setup thank the camera. My MWave setup has never failed me (so far).

Whats your hardware setup ? How fast are the drives ? Maybe the cables are at issue. . .

Barry Green · October 23rd, 2006, 09:51 AM

Well, the whole concept of it failing verification would point to it being a faulty drive.

The camera writes the contents out to the drive, then (optionally) reads them all back in and compares them against the card in the camera (the "verification process"). If there is any difference, you'll get a verification error.

How can you copy something to a drive, and then read it back from the drive, and have it be different? About the only way is: a faulty drive. You've got a bad piece of hardware there, I'd bet.

October 20th, 2006, 08:35 PM	#1
Damian Fasolo New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Perth, AUSTRALIA Posts: 6	Hard Drive Corruption - 1394host Has anyone experienced corrupted harddrives when using the 1394HOST Mode to transfer footage from the p2 to firewire/usb drive? It seems to happen when the verification fails after multiple transfers.. All the fat32 partitions are subbsequehtly lost on the drive (which is a major bummer if you are transferring from the p2 card and then formatting it again!) Please help :( Damo

October 20th, 2006, 08:40 PM	#2
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	Welcome to the forum, Damian. We've been using the HOST mode on the camera for almost 10 months now with never a glitch. We always connect with a FW drive, not USB. My suggestion is that you might have a bad controller on the external drive or, there might be physical problems with the drive platter itself if this problem persists. Try another external drive, preferrably the FW type since the data transfer is more stable than USB. If the problem persists with a different physical drive then it's a different issue.

October 20th, 2006, 08:49 PM	#3
Damian Fasolo New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Perth, AUSTRALIA Posts: 6	Thanks Robert, I appreciate your advice. Just to confirm, do you use the verification mode and do you do multiple transfers onto the one drive (ie. where it creates more than one partition) ? Also, what brand/model firewire drive are you using? Thanks heaps!

October 21st, 2006, 08:58 AM	#4
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	Yes, we always do multiple xfrs; most of the time we leave verification off to speed up the x-fr but if we have footage that can't be easily re-shot then we turn it on. You always get multiple partitions: one P2 card per partition. I've been using OWC's Mercury Elite Pro FW800 250gb drives exclusively for our x-frs. I take an inverter with us on location to power the external drives from the car when it's time to x-fr.

October 21st, 2006, 09:37 AM	#5
Vince Curtis Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 69	How are you transferring your data ? We've been using. . http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec....iteria=AA30310 and CompuAppps SwissKnife V3 Partition Utility to format the drive for the first time. . .no problems here. .

October 21st, 2006, 06:17 PM	#6
Damian Fasolo New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Perth, AUSTRALIA Posts: 6	Cool. Thanks for all the info guys :) Is there an procedural order for how you connect/diconnect and power the drive to the camera? (ie. Do you turn the drive on and then the cam, and when finished do you turn the cam off and then the drive?) Do you think this might cause issues?

October 21st, 2006, 08:43 PM	#7
Vince Curtis Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 69	That depends on what drive and operating system you are using. If you let us know what hardware you are using, we'll be able to tell you better answers. Here is a previous post by Barry and the USB-OnTheGo solution http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...ighlight=mwave

October 21st, 2006, 09:53 PM	#8
Damian Fasolo New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Perth, AUSTRALIA Posts: 6	Sorry Vince, perhaps i should have been more clear. I meant going from the camera directly to any generic external fw/usb caddy (not to a computer).

October 21st, 2006, 09:59 PM	#9
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	Damian, The HVX manual talks about the proper procedure. For direct connection to the drive in HOST mode, turn on the DRIVE FIRST and allow it to spin up a few seconds so it's ready to communicate. The camera is turned on second. Do this in reverse when you're finished copying; turn the CAMERA OFF first, then the drive. My suggestion is that when your drive reaches it's maximum partitions (15) make sure you copy off all your data to your edit system and let the CAMERA re-format the drive, not an external program from either a PC or Mac. This way you're assured that the format is exactly what the camera wants.

October 22nd, 2006, 11:10 PM	#10
Damian Fasolo New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Perth, AUSTRALIA Posts: 6	Thanks for all your wise advice guys. I actually run a loans dept at a univeristy. We currently have 6 of these cameras, and over the past 3 months i've had about 5 corruptions reported by students when transferring using the 1394HOST (all the partitions are lost on the fw drive). They usually tell me "Verification Error" pops up and then the drive looses its correct formatting from there on. Im actually trying to replicate the issue myself, without any luck! Has anyone else seen this? Thanks Damo

October 23rd, 2006, 06:37 AM	#11
Matt Burton Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leeds uk Posts: 38	One word ! Students

October 23rd, 2006, 07:20 AM	#12
Damian Fasolo New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Perth, AUSTRALIA Posts: 6	Ha! As tempting as it would be to blame students ive finally had it happen to myself! On the third time (this happens consistently) i transfer to the ext fw drive (1394 host mode) the camera comes up with 'verification failed'. If you turn the drive off and on it then becomes unreadable/corrupted. Im thinking perhaps the drives are getting old, or they are too slow.... Still, this 'verification failed' is a pretty dangerous error and im not sure why it would corrupt the entire contents of the drive. Perhaps Panasonic should look into it. Has anyone seen the error before, and if so, has it corrupted their drive too?

October 23rd, 2006, 09:42 AM	#13
Vince Curtis Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 69	Sounds more like your hardware/drive setup thank the camera. My MWave setup has never failed me (so far). Whats your hardware setup ? How fast are the drives ? Maybe the cables are at issue. . .

October 23rd, 2006, 09:51 AM	#14
Barry Green Barry Wan Kenobi Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,863	Well, the whole concept of it failing verification would point to it being a faulty drive. The camera writes the contents out to the drive, then (optionally) reads them all back in and compares them against the card in the camera (the "verification process"). If there is any difference, you'll get a verification error. How can you copy something to a drive, and then read it back from the drive, and have it be different? About the only way is: a faulty drive. You've got a bad piece of hardware there, I'd bet.