Restore media message... format disc.

[Anthony McErlean]

I'm about to record my first wedding tomorrow with the EX3.
I'm using the Kensington/Transcend system.

Could I ask 1 or 2 questions please.

I got the Restore media message, don't know what I did, don't think i did anything, i didn't switch off or pull media out while recording, didn't touch the battery. i don't know... but i copied the BPAV folder first to the Hdrive, put the card back into the camera hit restore and it did restore the clips.
These clips weren't important, but it scared me all the same, what do I do if it happens at my wedding tomorrow??

So thats what I want to ask,

1) what do i do if this happens when I'm recording something important like a wedding?
2) When I copy the clips from the SDHC card do I format every time before I use it again?

and any advice is welcome.

Thanks.

[Anthony McErlean]

Originally Posted by David Issko

Yes, I get restore media from time to time as well. Many reasons for it but each time I have had to restore, everything comes up just fine.

I have not had any problems with frame accurate clip matching when the media was recorded over 2 cards. You should be OK with that.

I don't think you need to reformat the card unless the request is made. Just delete the clips when you are ready and you are good to go. That's what I have done without problems. Any formatting I have done has always been in camera. That is probably the best place to format or reformat the sxs card.

Best wishes

Just seen this in another post, so is restore media a common enough message, and not to worry about it to much, unless it happens often.

[Leonard Levy]

with SxS cards its not common unless you did something wrong at least in my experience.

How were you downloading - through the express card adapter or did you pull the SDHC card out of the adapter at any time. Did you hit the "write protect switch on the SDHC card at any time?

[Anthony McErlean]

Originally Posted by Leonard Levy

with SxS cards its not common unless you did something wrong at least in my experience.

How were you downloading - through the express card adapter or did you pull the SDHC card out of the adapter at any time. Did you hit the "write protect switch on the SDHC card at any time?

Leonard, none of these things, but you know with something new i couldn't say what i did, but none of the above for sure.

I may have put a card into the camera and then got this message.

UPDATE:
AND i may have taken the card out of the adaptor thinking i was finished testing the camera, switch the camera off and then put that card into a different Kensington adaptor and put that into the camera, i couldn't say for sure, but I got the restore media message and it scared me, I thought if this happens tomorrow what do I do.

BUT I don't intend to swap cards tomorrow, I'll put enough cards into the adaptors that will last me all day, so will only remove the adaptor with the card still inside it.

Could putting the card into a different adaptor cause this message.

[Anthony McErlean]

Just put another sdhc card into the adaptor and got the same media meed to be restored message.
I did that and formated the card. now what?
Is it safe to use?
Is this common?
Theres nothing important on these cards only trying out the camera clips.
Any ideas.
Thanks

[Leonard Levy]

I meant to ask how you downloaded the clips into your computer.

I have only used SxS cards until recently so don't know how people are doing this.
With SxS I always push the write protect tab after shooting and always before potting the card into the computer.

How did you download the cards? what kind of computer

BTW - This does not sound good to me.

[Anthony McErlean]

I don't like the sound of that.
I've copied the clips with clip browser 2 and using the SDHC USB card reader.

All my test clips copied to the PC no problem and played back no problem. I've an editing grassvalley HDStorm PC btw. Its this message I'm not sure about.

[Kevin Spahr]

I have 8 Transcend 16GB SDHC cards that I use with MxR adaptors. I found one SDHC card that will record fine until it is about half full then I will be prompted to restore it. So I tested it a couple times and it consistently fails. Needless to say I tested all my SDHC cards by shooting till they were full - the other seven were perfect. (I numbered all my cards in advance just for the purpose of track any problems.)

I think that I also read in a thread some where here that if use a USB card reader and open the folders on a card in the Finder on a Mac (which I use) you may end up with a .DS_store file written to your card and this will cause a error when shoot. So you should reformat the card in the camera before using it again. Or better yet, you could lock the SDHC card before putting it in your Mac to prohibit the creating of the .DS_store file.

Good luck!

[Anthony McErlean]

Just remembered... a guy I know has an ex1 so i thought i would ring him and ask if he ever got this restore media message and he said yes, he did, it seams to happen if your swapping cards into different Kensington adaptors. He said, hit restore and every things all right, so i hope hes right.
I'm putting 5/6 different cards into the one Kensington read just to make sure each card is formated for tomorrow maybe thats why I'm getting this message, I don't know.

[Anthony McErlean]

Thanks Kevin.

Originally Posted by Kevin Spahr

I think that I also read in a thread some where here that if use a USB card reader and open the folders on a card in the Finder on a Mac (which I use) you may end up with a .DS_store file written to your card and this will cause a error when shoot. So you should reformat the card in the camera before using it again. Or better yet, you could lock the SDHC card before putting it in your Mac to prohibit the creating of the .DS_store file.

Good luck!

good advice.

The card that asks to restore half way through, have you lost anything on that card?

All my cards are new, only recorded a 5/10 mins on each of them.

Is there a correct way to test an SXS or SDHC card so you will know its Ok to use.

Thanks.

[Kevin Spahr]

When I was shooting stuff I needed I didn't loose anything - but it holds up shooting which would be a bite in the butt if you're shooting a wedding.

When I was testing I didn't check - I don't plan to use that card for shooting anymore.

As for testing, in the future I plan to set up and "shoot 'em full" before using them.

[Tuy Le]

Originally Posted by Anthony McErlean

The card that asks to restore half way through, have you lost anything on that card?

All my cards are new, only recorded a 5/10 mins on each of them.

Is there a correct way to test an SXS or SDHC card so you will know its Ok to use.

Thanks.

I recommend to bring more than you need.
If I will need about 4 hours max I will bring 5 or 6 SDHC cards with adapters. It's less than $100 each (SDHC & adapter) and peace of mind for the whole day.

So If one card with restore msg, switch to other slot to continue your shoot and replace "the problem card" with a card set. You can put the card back in the camera and restore media when you have break (less stress and less chance to make mistake !).

Any time we deal with new technology such as Sony EX1/EX3, SDHC & adapter ..., we will see some unknown problems. That is the risk we are taking and it's worth it !

So don't worry too much - it will be fine and happy shooting :-)

notes: "switch to other slot" = "slot select" other A or B

[Leonard Levy]

I don't understand why switching adapters should cause any problem.

[Bob Grant]

Originally Posted by Anthony McErlean

<snip>
I'm putting 5/6 different cards into the one Kensington read just to make sure each card is formated for tomorrow maybe thats why I'm getting this message, I don't know.

This is one thing I would not do. I have one adaptor per SDHC card. Swapping cards out of the adaptors means wear and tear on contacts. I'm considering gluing the SDHC cards into the MxR adaptors.

[Leonard Levy]

Bob,
What about being able to switch the "write protect" tab. I think that's a very important safeguard when downloading. But you have to remove the SDHC card to do that.

I would think this is more important than wear and tear on the contacts.

Lenny Levy