744/722 "Media too slow" Message

[MattD]

Busted Stuff was good. How long ago was that? Of course, since they killed Grey Street live and never play You Never Know or Raven, I guess it's almost as if that album doesn't exist.

[scb]

well i don't hate the new album.  it's just not something i put when i want to hear some music.  maybe it'll grow on me

to be honest, i don't even own busted stuff.  i just never got around to buying it   but i like what i've heard from it.  they better bring back You Never Know

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Has anyone had a "media slow" issue with the revision 1.37?  I loaned out my unit and apparently it had this problem the other night with the new firmware.  I didn't see if it has been posted yet, I don't have all the details but it sounds like the same problem again.



damn it.  I guess it's a good thing I'm not at bonnaroo right now since I would have been relying on this thing to get through an entire three days without being unloaded.

[nickgregory]

Has anyone had a "media slow" issue with the revision 1.37? I loaned out my unit and apparently it had this problem the other night with the new firmware. I didn't see if it has been posted yet, I don't have all the details but it sounds like the same problem again.



damn it. I guess it's a good thing I'm not at bonnaroo right now since I would have been relying on this thing to get through an entire three days without being unloaded.

I havent had or heard of anyone having this problem with 1.37

[MattD]

Michael, I was there to witness it when it occurred. The HD time remaining indicator was blinking "slow." I'm guessing that the file times reported were real and that the system wasn't just misreporting the files. The only question I had that Jim couldn't answer was if you transferred and deleted chunks on that filesystem from your computer. A good format works wonders sometimes.

The other thing I could think of was that you had a non-stock drive in it. I'm wondering if SD chose their drives because of the heat performance. Perhaps the drive you put in has trouble when it gets very hot. That's just a reaching guess, but all I could come up with. When Jim had me look at it, the thing was pretty hot to the touch - almost as hot as it got when I first stealthed with it.

[Dr.FOB]

TLG 6/7/05 TLM170 split sub>722 Attempt

Two sets of ~50min each had been recorded when I attempted to playback the second set.  The 722 showed valid file sizes for each of the two tracks but twice locked up the keys when playback was attempted.  Query after reboot continued to show the details of the previously captured files.  The media slow error was reported after/during the third hour of capture.  I was not monitoring closely and didn't notice presence/absence of the little red recording light so I don't know when the error occured.  Three files *7a,b,&c were indicated. Subsequently none of the previously captured file details were available.  It seems that not only was the file in process affected, but the prior files as well.  I will return the unit tonight to find if anything is salvageable.

One request of SD.  If in record mode an error occurs that stops recording, stop the dancing lights, or give some other clear indication that recording has stopped.

Managed to set up the Traveller>HP in less than 15min to get all but the opening notes of the second set
Looking forward to a comp with the split TL omnis.
Jim

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Michael, I was there to witness it when it occurred. The HD time remaining indicator was blinking "slow." I'm guessing that the file times reported were real and that the system wasn't just misreporting the files. The only question I had that Jim couldn't answer was if you transferred and deleted chunks on that filesystem from your computer. A good format works wonders sometimes.

The other thing I could think of was that you had a non-stock drive in it. I'm wondering if SD chose their drives because of the heat performance. Perhaps the drive you put in has trouble when it gets very hot. That's just a reaching guess, but all I could come up with. When Jim had me look at it, the thing was pretty hot to the touch - almost as hot as it got when I first stealthed with it.

Matt, I had a few shows on that drive since the last reformat, but everything I've recorded is still on there, so there was a contiguous span of files on the device.  Maybe it is the drive. I'm not happy with the power consumption of the unit as it is, I'm getting 5:15 from a 6000mAh battery and I think I should get better performance.  I guess I'll start shopping for a new drive.  But I really feel like I need 80G for festivals.

I have to wonder if SD is preallocating a maximum size file prior to starting the track.  It seems like maybe they are not and instead trying to write FAT updates each time they store a new cluster.  Otherwise I can't understand why the 4200rpm HD wouldn't keepup at these rate.  I've tried asking that question but they ignore it.

It may be a heat issue with that heat drive.  Jim, were you running the 722 in the portabrace?  The unit did get really hot when I was stealthing it and I was fairly uncomfortable with it resting on my belly.

Can someone open their unit and tell me the stock HD model number?  I want to get a spec sheet and see where my drive's specs differ with respect to access speed and power dissipation.

[Dr.FOB]

It may be a heat issue with that heat drive.  Jim, were you running the 722 in the portabrace?  The unit did get really hot when

Yes, it was in the portabrace.  Sitting up on a roll of gaffers so I could read it, but still enclosed, with the plastic cover down.
Maybe it's the heat during writing causing errors.  Why should that affect the previously stored files though?

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Did it affect the previously stored files?  Could you not access what was already on there?

In any case, if there are filesystem errors, it's due to poorly written or poorly tested firmware and not due to heat.  I need to look into heat related drive failure modes for work anyway so maybe that is a project for next week.  I'm pretty sure heat causes the motor or bearings to fail.  Data already on the platter should still be there.

Sorry I keep missing your calls.  I had the phone with me but the ringer off. 

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Here's a brief update:

The filesystem is not having any issues at all.  The drive mounted via FW on my machine with no problems.  I was able to copy the files without issue.  Chkdsk and the internal repair utility report 0 file errors. 

The unit locks up when it tries to play the last good file but does play the previous recordings without problems.  The unit gets into a state where powering down causes the machine to lock up.

I'm going to attempt a new recording without trying anything.

edit:  I tried a recording and it stopped recording and displayed the "slow" message within about 5 minutes.  I restarted the recording and it's run for about 4 hours now without stopping.  I've got 40G of remaining space so I'm going to run it all night and see what happens.

BTW, Jim, when the recording stops for any reason, "slow" indication included, the red record LED is extinguished.  the LED may remain on if the unit locks up, but this afternoon I confirmed what I expected when it stopped.

[wbrisette]

The other thing I could think of was that you had a non-stock drive in it. I'm wondering if SD chose their drives because of the heat performance. Perhaps the drive you put in has trouble when it gets very hot.

SD is using Samsung Hard drives from what I can tell (reports here on this board). While Samsung is not currently considered the industry leader in the hard drive category, they also aren't slouches. I'm currently using 3 Hitachi travelstars and 1 Samsung hard drive with my Deva and while Zaxcom really only recommends the Travelstar at this point, I haven't seen any problems with the Samsung 80 GB drive. I doubt this issue is hard drive related.

Wayne

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

The other thing I could think of was that you had a non-stock drive in it. I'm wondering if SD chose their drives because of the heat performance. Perhaps the drive you put in has trouble when it gets very hot.

SD is using Samsung Hard drives from what I can tell (reports here on this board). While Samsung is not currently considered the industry leader in the hard drive category, they also aren't slouches. I'm currently using 3 Hitachi travelstars and 1 Samsung hard drive with my Deva and while Zaxcom really only recommends the Travelstar at this point, I haven't seen any problems with the Samsung 80 GB drive. I doubt this issue is hard drive related.

Wayne

I ordered a RAW unit without a harddrive.  My unit now has a fujistu 4200rpm drive.  It's looking more like a heat issue and I don't know if the HD is the problem or the 722.  I've run the recording function for 19 hours now uninterrupted without problems.  But I'm running at room ambient temperature, not in a bag in the field.  The travelstars were recommended to me this weekend.  I may have to try one of those.   I think I'm going to  throw this in the protabrace and see if I can get it to fail when it gets hot.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Here is the conclusion. 

I ran the thing all night without error so I put it in the portabrace to get it hot.   When I returned from lunch, the recorder was still running (red lamp illuminated, counter rising, and files being split) but it was hot as hell.  I stopped the recording when there was 1G remaining capacity.  The system would not play the recording and locked up.  It appears that the harddrive got hot enough and shut itself down - I could not detect the motor running when I put my ear to the 722.  After it cooled and the drive operation was restored, the recorded files at the end of the session do not play and cause the 722 to lock up.

The files that were recorded previously and without incident are all playable and the 722 operates correctly.

I need to research if these drives automagically shutdown when heat becomes extreme.  Does anyone know? 

[smokenburn]

bump.

I'm getting this issue at random with a 744T.  Last night I missed half the first set due to this "slow" error.  What is the fix?  I don't see why Sound Devices still sell products that are considered 'industry standard' when they have firewire, flash cards, and disk write issues.

[kingkita]

Means your hard drive is taking a shit or your cf card is messing up,reformat both and record onto both so you have a backup and don't lose anything even if the hard drive dies you still have it on the cf card if you record onto both.