System Error - P2 Micon Error

[James Webb]

I got this message at the end of importing a bunch of files into my G5. The message, SYSTEM ERROR P2 MICON ERROR, was flashing (in red) on the camera's LCD. In FCP, I got another message something like, "One or more files failed to import because they were incomplete or corrupt".

Almost 70 clips imported successfully. Since nothing was slated, I'm not sure if everything I shot came in. Although it looks pretty much like everything. I also looked at my Capture Scratch folder and there was one file that had no duration, no info, etc. Just a filename. And it had no .mov behind it. I assume that was the problem file.

Anyway, except for that one thing, its all good.

[Barry_Green]

Never seen that one before. Try putting the card back in the camera and viewing that file -- maybe it just needs to be "repaired" before it can be accessed? There's a file repair function in the P2 menu.

[James Webb]

I imported them again. That one empty file came in correctly this time and there were no error messages. All is well.

Thanks for the tip on the repair feature. I'll keep that in mind.

[polispol]

I found the "p2 micon error" in a camera a few days ago.
If you put the setting of the frame rate in "24p", the camera sometimes gives this error, but if you put "default" on the frame rate menu, everything's ok, shooting in 24p.

[James Webb]

I found the "p2 micon error" in a camera a few days ago.
If you put the setting of the frame rate in "24p", the camera sometimes gives this error, but if you put "default" on the frame rate menu, everything's ok, shooting in 24p.

FYI, everything I shot was set to 480i/24PA, SQUEEZE, DVCPRO50, 'DEFAULT' FRAME RATE.

Speaking of the Frame Rate Setting, I reset all of my preset scene file settings to 480i (see above). However F1-F4 are set to "DEFAULT" frame rate while F5 & F6 are set to 24 FRAME.

The rub is, in 480i, the "FRAME RATE" setting is in blue and cannot be changed.

So what makes one 480i/24PA preset scene file (F4) default @ 24 FRAME and another 480i/24PA preset scene file (F5) default @ DEFAULT frame rate?

[Barry_Green]

That has nothing to do with it. When a menu item is blue that means it's inactive, the words it says are NOT the settings that are currently employed. The blue words are letting you know what the setting would be IF it was active, but it isn't.

There is no "frame rate" option in 480; that option is only valid in 720.

[James Webb]

You know it's funny when things are explained to you and you think to yourself, " Jeez...you idiot, you knew that." Well, that's how I feel right now :)

Thanks for the clarification.

[polispol]

btw
This error apeared me using 720/24pn

[Justin Kuhn]

This error appears for me when trying to access the operation menu in MCR mode.

[jxdemaio]

Does anyone know what this means?

I posted this on DVInfo.net already so if you've seen this please forgive me. I really need to figure out what's wrong here before my shoot next week.

I have been using the 500 for a few weeks now and this is the first problem that I've encountered. I was offloading one of the P2 cards to a laptop in the field and it locked up the computer. Most of the files were transferred (and are working just fine after importing into Avid, thank God!) but when I put the card back in the HPX500 to try to reformat I get: System Error - P2 Micron Error, along with a flashing tally light and an audible alarm. Pulling the P2 card out and turning off the camera, then turning it back on again fixes the problem. However, there is no way to fix the P2 card that I know of. The other cards work fine and that slot appears to work fine too.

I have been very carefull to eject the cards from the OS after offloading and before simply removing it from the system, and I have been handling them very carefully - removing them after a shoot, putting them in their case, etc. Is there something that I'm missing, or do I have a bad card.

I tried formatting the cards on the PC which was suggested on the other forum. It doesn't work, it just hangs the system. It does mention an I/O error.

Is it common for a P2 card to fail this drastically practically overnight???

Looking forward to any help!
Thanks,

John

[raphavf]

John I'm sorry but I'd never seem this before. Hey Barry what do you think about it?

[Jan_Crittenden]

Hi,

It sounds like you have a bad P2 card. Please contact Panasonic Service. (201) 348-7975. Let them know I sent you.

Best,

Jan

[Barry_Green]

I've seen the Micon error when I was fooling around with the frame rate hack (specifically when trying to record 25fps from an NTSC HVX). So I figured that it was my own fault and I didn't even worry about it.

I have never, in the hundreds (if not thousands) of cards that I've shot, nor of the hundreds and hundreds of cards that my colleagues have shot, never heard of a card "going bad". I've seen one DOA card, but it was DOA out of the box. Once it starts working it doesn't "go bad", that I know of.

I have heard of a card being damaged by popping it out while it was being written to -- but not from the camera (I've done that in demos dozens and dozens of times); apparently (and I say apparently because this is third-hand) apparently it was damaged because it was being written to by a laptop, and was ejected during that process. If one was following proper procedure (as John said he was) that should never happen, because you'd always software-eject the card before physically ejecting it.

[jxdemaio]

Thanks Jan,

Panasonic Support is really great! And they're so eager to help! Thanks for the number. I'll keep you posted.

John

[raphavf]

Thanks Barry for the tips...

[Icarus2005]

My fist whoot with the HPX we shot over 4 hours of footage in day! There was one take that had an error and wasn't usable, but fortunately it was on room tone. Just happened one time about half way through shoot.

I was surprised to get it though, because that's never happended to me with all the HVX stuff I've shot.

[earthling]

I'm getting this same error message as I'm trying to transfer about 10 clips from a P2 card, the format is 1080p25. I usually record to a Firstore FS-100 with no problem. I Have at least once recorded a few shots to P2 and didn't have any problems capturing them at the time. I've tried numerous times, the transfer process stalls after 1 or 2%, wether I copy 1 file or all. It makes FCP crash.

I tried to copy the content of the P2 card to my hard drive, same message, copy is interrupted. Cannot stop it. What's up ? I read somewhere someone associating this problem to a SD card. I have none in the camera.

Thank you for any help, cheers,
Damien

[Barry_Green]

Does the footage on that card play in the camera?

[earthling]

Yes, absolutely. Odd, isn't it ?!

Cheers,
Damien

[Barry_Green]

If it plays, then it's not the card's fault. Have you updated the drivers on your system?

[Justin Kuhn]

I read somewhere someone associating this problem to a SD card.

That's what worked for me, taking the SD card out. A corrupt SD card will bind up the bus that controls all the cards.

[jxdemaio]

Thanks again, Barry, for the help - both here and at dvinfo. I sent my card to Panasonic, hopefully they'll find something soon.

I have a shoot tomorrow - 7 interviews - I'm really hoping that I don't have any other "issues" with the camera. I hate the fact that I'm second guessing with it now. I'm actually bringing my beta along just in case because I don't want to lose this client . . . I didn't think I'd have to worry about something going wrong with a new camera. Oh well, I'm sure it's just a bad card but I'll always wonder. Wish me luck!

John

[aleyland]

i'm having a "SYSTEM ERROR P2 MICON ERROR" aswell.

the camera is not recognizing the P2 Card on the SD Card when it is put into the camera. any ideas?

[aleyland]

I've seen the Micon error when I was fooling around with the frame rate hack (specifically when trying to record 25fps from an NTSC HVX). So I figured that it was my own fault and I didn't even worry about it.


hey barry,

how did you fix that?
i have one 16 gb P2 Card that the camera is not recognizing anymore...
could it be an SD Card/Scene File thing?

thanks!
-aaron

[Barry_Green]

Power off/Power on took care of it.

[aleyland]

hey barry,

would you mind checking out my post here, i have the P2 Micon Error and so far my trouble shooting efforts have not been sucessful.

thanks again,
aaron

[aleyland]

oops, my bad,.
heres the link

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1035443#post1035443

[earthling]

If it plays, then it's not the card's fault. Have you updated the drivers on your system?

By system, I take it you mean HVX. Driver was not up to date, it is now, and... same thing. Wether importing in FCP, copying in the finder or ingesting in P2 viewer I get this same message : "System error, P2 micon error". I don't know what to do.

Cheers,
Damien

[Barry_Green]

No, I mean on the computer system.

Every piece of equipment that sees that card, needs to be updated. The HVX, the card reader, the computer, the P2 Store, everything. There's a different driver for every stitch of equipment.

[Kholi]

Would like to point out that Barry_Green is probably right about this error. I just got it, I have a feeling it's because of my Firewire Bus. None of the clips are corrupt, the P2 Cards are not broken as I can transfer fine (and suprisingly quickly) via USB2.0 to OS X. So, it's a computer hardware issue, not an HVX200 issue.

However, my Firewire port craps out after a few seconds which is strange. I will try it on the G4 Powerbook and Windows soon.

Oh well, guess that's what the PCMCIA slots are for. =P Gotta try one of those suckers in OS X now.

[edixon]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but it did give me a few ideas on what to look into to find a fix.

I started out w/ pretty much the same thing, it seemed to work at first, but then stopped on our lab computers (I work in a school). It wouldn't work on several models of g5s, or mac pros. We figured it was my security, so I tried unmodified systems w/ OSX 10.4.5-11, I tried w/ FCP 5, 5.1, 5.1.4, 6, etc. No luck, but it was still working for one of our instructors on their powerbook, and one of my students MBP.

I tried to transfer via a powerbook... and it worked. I then made it a target disk, and booted a previously 'broken' mac from it, it worked. I tried the other way around, putting a g5 in target disk mode, and booting the powerbook from it, it also worked. So i just pulled my builds out of the equation (a big worry for me). I rebooted the previously broken g5 from its own drive.... and it worked.

To narrow down the fix, I took another 'broken' mac, booted it from a powerbook's drive, it didn't fix it. I took another, and booted the powerbook from it, and it works.

I dont know how yet, but booting a powerbook from a desktop's (put in target mode) seems to fix this problem. I need to test this w/ intel macs yet, and try to narrow down a real fix (is it the firewire controller, is it getting reset when you do this? Is it some setting in open-firmware that is getting fixed? Is it some system-level config that is being reset by introducing the laptops hardware to it?). I also need to test to see if I clone this system if it sticks, or if the individual system needs to have this done (which will suck, I have 150 Macs). I also need to verify this works across my 3 HVX-200s, and 6 p2 cards.

Hope this is of some use to you guys. Ill post more as I figure it out.

[wdonaruma]

Did you ever figure this problem out, bc we are having the same issue with our school's edit bays? I can load off of the camera at my personal workstation, which is the same as the edit systems (G5 connected to Fibrejet), but those systems lock up with the dreaded error message. We logged in as administrator to bypass security, but you can't even drag the raw files to a disk without the error. Students have been off loading files to a hard drive connected to the camera (host mode) and then importing.

[NateB]

I've been having the same issue with my school's P2 cards copying to any G5 computers. I read edixon's advice and tried copying my files to a G4 powerbook and it worked fine. I'm no computer expert but it seems to me that it's an issue with G5 computers.

[NateB]

I'd just like to add that this problem also occurred when I tried copying files via firewire cable to my PC at home. I was able to resolve the problem by using the USB 2.0 option instead.

I haven't tried using the USB cable on a G5 yet.

[Barry_Green]

DON'T try to copy firewire on the PC. And don't try USB on a Mac. Those two options are specifically mentioned in the user manual as being "not guaranteed."

Mac is guaranteed with firewire.
PC is guaranteed with USB.

[filmguy123]

DON'T try to copy firewire on the PC. And don't try USB on a Mac. Those two options are specifically mentioned in the user manual as being "not guaranteed."

Mac is guaranteed with firewire.
PC is guaranteed with USB.

FWIW... I actually solved this problem on my MAC by changing my camera away from the recommended firewire mode to USB 2.0. I've been using it on USB 2.0 is OSX with no problems; actually, it performs faster (480mbps > 400mbps).

Some research shows that 1394 was developed by Apple, USB developed for Windows. They both work totally fine together; I've used firewire for years in Windows, and USB hard drives for years on Mac. Really does not matter, but I suppose one you could make any argument that 1394 is *more* compatible on Mac... but really... doesn't matter...

Anyhow, switching to USB 2.0 on Mac made my P2 Micon Error disappear.

[Barry_Green]

If you're having a problem, I guess it doesn't hurt to try it. Just remember that they clearly state in the manual that USB mode is not guaranteed to work on the Mac.

[carrieo]

We were having this problem in some of our computer labs (Power Mac G5s) too - removing the open firmware password did the trick.

[Echamings]

We were having this problem in some of our computer labs (Power Mac G5s) too - removing the open firmware password did the trick.

found this thread searching for the p2 micon error with our panasonic HPX p2HD that was occurring on one Mac Pro but not another. This turned out to be the fix!