Clips don't Play - YPbPr/SDI Out Select - SD or HD

Craig Seeman · January 4th, 2009, 12:09 AM

I got my EX1 back from Sony after firmware 1.11 upgrade, battery drain issue, backplate letters wearing off.

I found that clips recorded on SxS (or MxR) don not play when YPbPr/SDI Out Select - SD or HD. I'm seeing this in both Camera mode an Media mode.

Steps to reproduce:
Camera mode
Menu/Video Set YPbPr/SDI Out Select to either SD or HD
Record Clip any HQ any duration
ClipReview - results in media error

More details:

Turn YPbPr/SDI Out Select - OFF
Playback WORKS. Both SxS and MxR last clip review WORKS. Media Mode Playback WORKS.

Turn YPbPr/SDI Out Select - SD or HD
Playback does NOT WORK. Both SxS and MxR last clip review results in Media Error. This has no impact on going right back into record or anything else
Media mode playback does NOT WORK. Black screen when attempting playback. Cards is briefly accessed (light goes Red the goes Green and stays Green) and tally light flashes. Camera locks up and must be shut off.

I've done a Reset All. I've removed and reinserted lithium backup battery. No impact on issue.

My guess is that there is either an issue with Sony's install of the new firmware or they screwed up the hardware.

Can anybody else with EX1 firmware 1.11 check this?
Anybody experiencing this?

Lou Kulynych · January 4th, 2009, 12:23 AM

Sounds like it gotta get serviced unfortunately.

Juan McFarland · January 5th, 2009, 09:07 AM

I have 1.11 (double checked in the maintenance menu) and no problems playing back clips in cam mode and media mode.

Craig Seeman · January 5th, 2009, 09:47 AM

Thanks for checking that Juan.
I called Sony and spoke to the tech who worked on my camera. I'm driving it back in to their service center today. There's definitely something wrong with the camera but it doesn't correlate to any known problem.

Steven Thomas · January 5th, 2009, 02:13 PM

Craig, have you confirmed you actually have 1.11 installed?
Part of the 1.11 upgrade process is to install 1.10 first, then 1.11.

As mentioned before, I have no issues with my EX-1 with v1.11.

Craig Seeman · January 5th, 2009, 02:14 PM

Drove to Sony Teaneck. Showed the issue to the tech who had done the original maintenance. He confirmed he had never seen anything like this before.

I told him that I believed it was a firmware issue. He reinstalled the firmware and . . . the issue is FIXED!

IMHO this is why the firmware should be user or local dealer installer. Fortunately it's only about a 30 minute drive to Teaneck for us. Had it been San Jose it would likely be 10 or more day turnaround between shipping and sitting on the wait list for a tech.

Time for us was 30 minutes there. 1 hour between waiting and 30 minutes of tech time to explain issue, update again, test again. 30 minutes back. Total time 2 hours.

For those getting their cameras back from Sony after firmware upgrade. Check all functions. Even obscure ones.

Piotr Wozniacki · January 5th, 2009, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

For those getting their cameras back from Sony after firmware upgrade. Check all functions. Even obscure ones.

Good point. After the upgrade, the "Battery info" on my EX1 displays the number of "dots" appropriate for the battery's state, but reads "0 remaining" regardless.

Anyone has this problem?

Craig Seeman · January 5th, 2009, 05:23 PM

Piotr, is it the internal menu or the soft battery info button on the top?

Steven Thomas · January 5th, 2009, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

IMHO this is why the firmware should be user or local dealer installer.

I'm certain most will agree here.
But, they installed yours initially, right?

Craig Seeman · January 5th, 2009, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Thomas

I'm certain most will agree here.
But, they installed yours initially, right?

Yes, that's the irony. If it had been me or a local dealer it would be easy to reinstall. Fortunately Teaneck is not that far away so we drove back and they took care of it while I waited. My local VAR is within walking distance (and they are an Authorized Sony Pro Service facility too) and as a former video facility engineer who has done Avid, BetaSX, DigiBeta maintenance, I really could have done it myself. I did need the battery drain and back plate fading character issue addressed too though.

Personally I can't imagine an engineer at a back logged Sony service facility having the time to do only the most cursory QC. The tech was very apologetic though. I still shudder to think what it would have been like to ship to San Jose from NY though after waiting over 3 weeks for the camera already.

Piotr Wozniacki · January 6th, 2009, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

Piotr, is it the internal menu or the soft battery info button on the top?

I mean the latter, Craig.

Sami Sanpakkila · January 6th, 2009, 04:05 AM

Hi Piotr,

You do mean the EX1 LCD saying there is zero minutes left of battery life although battery is full? I remember something similar happening on my camera after it was first sent to service and had was updated to 1.05 (I think, not really certain about from what firmware to what it was updated though). The battery time would go up instead of down. From 200 minutes to 230 minutes. This happened in real time, 30 minutes of usage would add 30 minutes of battery time on the LCD.

The problem went away after I had used the camera for an hour or so and tried removing and putting the battery back. I've used the camera plenty after that and both my batterys (30 and 60) have always shown correct times since. Although with my bigger battery I nowadays get a battery error message and have to take it off and put it back again to get it working.

Sami

Piotr Wozniacki · January 6th, 2009, 04:27 AM

Hi Sami,

It seems it's not the same kind of strange behaviour, as my unit always shows 0 minutes remaining when I press the DISPLAY/BATT INFO button under the handle (with camera off) - regardless of whether the battery is full, near-empty, or anything in between...

I don't care too much, as the indicator in the upper left of the LCD seems to be more realistic than that :). Nevertheless, it's indicative that what Craig says is true - a firmware update can introduce some strange side effects (the indicator used to work properly before I upgraded to 1.11).

Tom Roper · January 6th, 2009, 08:29 AM

- When I press the DISPLAY BATT INFO button under the handle, the display blacks out except for the record/standby indicator.

- When the display is not blacked out, the battery icon in the upper left corner shows 5 bars and reads 268min.

- If I press the STATUS button under the handle, and scroll to page 5, the bar graph for the battery shows 10 bars, reads Charge Count 84. simultaneous in the upper left corner is the aforementioned battery icon with 5 bars and reads 268min.

Version 1.11

Ronn Kilby · January 6th, 2009, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Roper

- When I press the DISPLAY BATT INFO button under the handle, the display blacks out except for the record/standby indicator.

- When the display is not blacked out, the battery icon in the upper left corner shows 5 bars and reads 268min.

- If I press the STATUS button under the handle, and scroll to page 5, the bar graph for the battery shows 10 bars, reads Charge Count 84. simultaneous in the upper left corner is the aforementioned battery icon with 5 bars and reads 268min.

Version 1.11

Same here. Also, even though my camera's been back to Sony twice, it still has the battery drain issue. Even with a new power board.

January 4th, 2009, 12:09 AM	#1
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Clips don't Play - YPbPr/SDI Out Select - SD or HD - EX1 firmware 1.11 I got my EX1 back from Sony after firmware 1.11 upgrade, battery drain issue, backplate letters wearing off. I found that clips recorded on SxS (or MxR) don not play when YPbPr/SDI Out Select - SD or HD. I'm seeing this in both Camera mode an Media mode. Steps to reproduce: Camera mode Menu/Video Set YPbPr/SDI Out Select to either SD or HD Record Clip any HQ any duration ClipReview - results in media error More details: Turn YPbPr/SDI Out Select - OFF Playback WORKS. Both SxS and MxR last clip review WORKS. Media Mode Playback WORKS. Turn YPbPr/SDI Out Select - SD or HD Playback does NOT WORK. Both SxS and MxR last clip review results in Media Error. This has no impact on going right back into record or anything else Media mode playback does NOT WORK. Black screen when attempting playback. Cards is briefly accessed (light goes Red the goes Green and stays Green) and tally light flashes. Camera locks up and must be shut off. I've done a Reset All. I've removed and reinserted lithium backup battery. No impact on issue. My guess is that there is either an issue with Sony's install of the new firmware or they screwed up the hardware. Can anybody else with EX1 firmware 1.11 check this? Anybody experiencing this?

January 6th, 2009, 04:27 AM	#13
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	Hi Sami, It seems it's not the same kind of strange behaviour, as my unit always shows 0 minutes remaining when I press the DISPLAY/BATT INFO button under the handle (with camera off) - regardless of whether the battery is full, near-empty, or anything in between... I don't care too much, as the indicator in the upper left of the LCD seems to be more realistic than that :). Nevertheless, it's indicative that what Craig says is true - a firmware update can introduce some strange side effects (the indicator used to work properly before I upgraded to 1.11). __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

January 4th, 2009, 12:23 AM	#2
Lou Kulynych New Boot Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Staten Island New York Posts: 23	Sounds like it gotta get serviced unfortunately.

January 5th, 2009, 09:07 AM	#3
Juan McFarland Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Honolulu HI Posts: 50	I have 1.11 (double checked in the maintenance menu) and no problems playing back clips in cam mode and media mode.

January 5th, 2009, 09:47 AM	#4
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Thanks for checking that Juan. I called Sony and spoke to the tech who worked on my camera. I'm driving it back in to their service center today. There's definitely something wrong with the camera but it doesn't correlate to any known problem.

January 5th, 2009, 02:13 PM	#5
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Craig, have you confirmed you actually have 1.11 installed? Part of the 1.11 upgrade process is to install 1.10 first, then 1.11. As mentioned before, I have no issues with my EX-1 with v1.11.

January 5th, 2009, 02:14 PM	#6
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Drove to Sony Teaneck. Showed the issue to the tech who had done the original maintenance. He confirmed he had never seen anything like this before. I told him that I believed it was a firmware issue. He reinstalled the firmware and . . . the issue is FIXED! IMHO this is why the firmware should be user or local dealer installer. Fortunately it's only about a 30 minute drive to Teaneck for us. Had it been San Jose it would likely be 10 or more day turnaround between shipping and sitting on the wait list for a tech. Time for us was 30 minutes there. 1 hour between waiting and 30 minutes of tech time to explain issue, update again, test again. 30 minutes back. Total time 2 hours. For those getting their cameras back from Sony after firmware upgrade. Check all functions. Even obscure ones.

January 5th, 2009, 05:23 PM	#8
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Piotr, is it the internal menu or the soft battery info button on the top?

January 6th, 2009, 04:05 AM	#12
Sami Sanpakkila Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Finland Posts: 317	Hi Piotr, You do mean the EX1 LCD saying there is zero minutes left of battery life although battery is full? I remember something similar happening on my camera after it was first sent to service and had was updated to 1.05 (I think, not really certain about from what firmware to what it was updated though). The battery time would go up instead of down. From 200 minutes to 230 minutes. This happened in real time, 30 minutes of usage would add 30 minutes of battery time on the LCD. The problem went away after I had used the camera for an hour or so and tried removing and putting the battery back. I've used the camera plenty after that and both my batterys (30 and 60) have always shown correct times since. Although with my bigger battery I nowadays get a battery error message and have to take it off and put it back again to get it working. Sami

January 6th, 2009, 08:29 AM	#14
Tom Roper Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 1,891	- When I press the DISPLAY BATT INFO button under the handle, the display blacks out except for the record/standby indicator. - When the display is not blacked out, the battery icon in the upper left corner shows 5 bars and reads 268min. - If I press the STATUS button under the handle, and scroll to page 5, the bar graph for the battery shows 10 bars, reads Charge Count 84. simultaneous in the upper left corner is the aforementioned battery icon with 5 bars and reads 268min. Version 1.11