CF card problem

[James Strange]

Hi all, I just got my new Z5 and got the mrc1 card recorder to go with it.

I bought a transcend 32g 133x card, used it once, dumped the footage on my comp (using the sony utility) put the card back in the unit, went to format it, and a few minutes later it came uop saying "format error"

the only option it gives me is to format the card again, i do, and again, "format error"

I tried hoking the card up the the pc again (tried both the unit and a usb adaptor/reader)

My comp recognises the new drive, but says its empty

I try to format the card via windows (I know it sayd not to do this, but the unit wasnt formatting it, so I thought id try it) by right clickin on the new drive, then choose format.

But it says it cannot format the drive as its empty?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

James

[James Strange]

i should also mention, that when i try to format the card in the unit itself, it does say

"format completed

>back
"

but I cannot press ok/enter/play button to confirm, the only button that will don a anything when I press it is the stop button, and when I press that, it says

"format error"

and the cycle starts again.

Cheers

James

[Richard Hunter]

Hi James. As a first step towards isolating the problem, I would try a different card and see what happens. There's a slight possibility that the card got fried somehow during the time you transferred the files to PC.

Richard

[Steve Renouf]

James,

I know this doesn't help you in this instance but, personally, I never re-format things unless I absolutely HAVE to - there is always the potential for things to go wrong. When I want to re-use a card, I simply delete the files - no re-format necessary.

Steve

[Bob Hart]

James.


By "PC" do you mean a Windows PC or MAC?

There was an issue with Leopard Macs and some memory cards which was discussed here a while back.

There was a restoration workaround for that problem which may or may not be related to yours as the card maybe different.

The reason why I extend this thought to your card is that I got two SxS cards back from a Leopard Mac file transfer and they were both corrupted. They could no longer be read on my Windows PC and the camera reported an error when I put them back in and tried to access the clips.

Fortunately, a re-format in the camera got the cards right again.

[James Strange]

thanks for the responses guys,

I have another card, it works fine, so I dont think its a problem with the card recorder.

By 'PC' I mean windows PC (xp home to be precise)

In the future I will not format the cards unless I have to, but in this instance I had to, as once I put the card back in the unit (after transferring the files to the comp) it asked me to do a format,

I'll take it back to the dealer as its only a week old, hopefully they can fix it or replace it without a fuss or much time wasted.

What type of cards does everyone else use for this unit?

Anyone in the UK reccomend a good source for buying them?

Cheers

James

[Vincent Ng]

Hi

I have bought and use the Transcend 32g 133X on my unit. It was working initially, but after shooting for a while, it gave me an error A:1919 which according to manual, it is indicating that the card is not recognisable. I have then tested it on my Mac and it could not recognise the card either.

I took the faulty card to the dealer and got it tested, was confirmed dead. I got an exchanged card and use it on the unit to shoot, but it went dead after a short while. Exactly the same error. I don't get this problem with my 16g Sandisk 266X CF.

Curiously, from this forum, seems like most of you have no problem with the Transcend card. Can anyone advise whether it is compatibility issue (ie, I can't use 133X card though it is stated as the minimum speed to work on the device), or probably problem with my MRC1K or possibly the batch of Transcend card I got mine is of inferior quality? Does anyone else has similar problem out there? Thanks.

Rgds

Vincent

[Wesley Cardone]

Originally Posted by Steve Renouf

James,

I know this doesn't help you in this instance but, personally, I never re-format things unless I absolutely HAVE to - there is always the potential for things to go wrong. When I want to re-use a card, I simply delete the files - no re-format necessary.

Steve

If I remember correctly, Sony strongly recommends that you always format a CF card before each use. The Focus devices have this same recommendation saying that a format before use prevents fragmentation. Focus says that fragmentation can cause dropouts if I remember correctly. I have a FS-4 ProHD but haven't used it in a year with its problems in correctly handling HDV footage so my memory is a little vague on what its owner's manual says.