P2 Card not mounting to Powerbook-- need help fast.

I checked the 17" we used this weekend and it was also running the latest OS and I simply don't have the skills to go any deeper to try and isolate a difference in the laptops that have been proving the issue.

Does anyone know if Apple/Panasonic are currently addressing this issue? Or are those of us with powerbooks and PCMIA slots just left to wither on the vine until the rumored express card adapters come out for the latest Mac Book Pro's?
 
just finished a job with 2 powerbooks - an aluminum 17" and a titanium 15" and had to reboot both computers every 2 or 3 card loads yet again, effectively killing p2 workflow.

does anyone have a bug fix for this yet? apple? panasonic? anyone? if i hadn't already invested, this might have been a deal killer for me. it's simply ridiculous.
 
SouthCoast, thanks for the tip. I did exactly that + made sure to 'power off' the card before ejecting and didn't run into a snag. My hopes are restored. Oh and I wasn't using P2Genie, not that I can identify that as an issue, but I'm going to test it.

Things are looking up.
 
I am having the same problem. Have tried locking the P2 card and all the above workarounds. I am seriously bummed... Please let me know of any updates to this situation.
 
As noted on a thread back in May, I had similar problem...17 inch PB freezing at physical eject different random times...a 15 inch PB working perfectly...almost exact same software throughout. All sorts of attempts to try to isolate the problem, but because of the randomness, it was very difficult to find a pattern.

It appears to be one of those voodoo things and no one seems to have a clue. I do agree that Panny and Apple seem to have dropped the ball on this. I would never think I would say this, having been a mac user since 87, but if you're doing P2 workflow throught he PCMIA, I would get a cheap PC.
 
After having success on the previous shoot as I noted in the thread, I used the exact same workflow (under the exact same operating conditions with the exact same hardware) on a job yesterday and got the 'no mount/reboot' issue again. I'm at a loss. I have no idea what's going on and am back to having ZERO confidence in a smooth workflow with PCMIA and Apple.
 
Has anyone tried the Panasonic "P2 Drive" with the a G4 PB? I hate to throw money at this problem, but I need a working solution. (and I'll be dammed before I but a windoze laptop)
 
My G4 works fine with the PCMCIA card ingest. So I am curious as to what else you guys have running on your machines. Please list all programs that you run, all of the drivers you have installed, which versions of software you are running, etc. Perhaps this is the way to see what the problems are.

Keep in mind that out of the thousands of HVXs we have sold about 90% of the material is edited on FCP or now at least an Apple, at least according to my informal survey. Not everyone is having the problem. Let's try to isolate your problems.

Best,

Jan
 
I spoke to Panasonic tech support and they said that you have to load the drivers with the camera attached to the computer. There is a "Handshake" the camera and the computer have to do before the cards will read properly. If you do this, you should not have any problems with the cards loading.
 
The only driver needed to work on a Apple is the PCMCIA slot driver. All other devices pretty much mount with carefree abandon, as long as the write proctect tab is in the locked position. The camera itself should mount either way and the PCMCIA slot doesn't care either, but the P2 Drive and the P2Store will not mount without the card locked.

Hope this helps,

Jan
 
Well, I just got back from 2 months using my powerbook to offload 8g cards. On average, I could copy up to 4 cards before the PB froze. Sometimes less. Generally, you insert the first card, and it instantly is recognized and available. I have been using p2 genie to copy the cards. After you empty and eject, and put in the second card, the whole machine slows down for a few minutes, then reconizes the card. By 3 or 4, either the card is simply unable to mount, although the PCMCIA icon appears in the menu bar, or the entire machine locks up, requiring a forced shutdown by holding down the power button. This sequence is repeatable, and extremely problematic.

PB 1.5 GHz, 1 Gig RAM 160 G internal drive, 8x superdrive, OS 10.4.7, Final Cut Pro 5.0.4, P2 Genie.

Generally when I import, I have only P2 Genie running.

Anyway, let me know what you think.
 
What other programs do you have loaded on the Laptop? Perhaps there are extensions from those other programs that get in the way? Why haven't you upgraded to 5.1.1. That would be a first todo for me. It may have resolved some of this.

Let us know what other programs you actively use on this MAC.

Thanks,

Jan
 
Applications on Mac OS X rarely install extensions.
As opposed to Mac Os 9 applications, OS X tend to use .dylibs or dynamicly loaded code. That means that the code is only active in user space and not injected into the kernal space. It will also only affect the application that loaded it so it won't affect other applications.
Neither final cut pro or any other Apple software uses extensions.

On my system (a MacBook Pro) I don't have a single third party .kext running.....
 
Hi Jan,

Thanks for addressing this issue. I can't tell you how happy I am we have some acknowledgement of it and really appreciate whatever assistance you can provide.

I experience the issue in much the same way doccutter does:

On a fresh start up, the card loads just fine on the desktop and I'm able to transfer contents normally. By the third or fourth card load, I get the card icon in the toobar, but don't ever get a mount on the desktop, forcing a reboot. Unlike some others, I've never gotten a freeze - but I've never tried to keep re-inserting the card (after a couple times I just reboot).

This occurs the same way regardless of whether I'm using P2Genie or not. And I don't have any other ap's running when I'm in this workflow. And I'd like to clarify that I don't have FCP running, nor do I experience any issues importing into FCP.

Here's a laundry list of other major programs and conditions:

PB G4 1.25 Ghz, OS 10.4.7, 512 Ram, 80 GB drive, Combo Drive
P2Genie
Microsoft Office Suite
Blue Crab
Daylite
FCP
Lightroom
Adobe Creative Suite
Mail Drop
NVU
Fetch
Quick Books

Thanks,
David
 
I have the usual adobe suite installed, as well as DVD Studio Pro, safari, Mail, Camino, Peak, and Office. All the 8g cards have had their firmware upgraded on a PC laptop. I'm waiting to upgrade to 5.1.1 until my work upgrades. I have had no other problems on this PB, it edits p2 footage fine, and I've had no dropouts. Really the only issue is P2 mounting. Anyway, any help is appreciated, thanks for listening!
 
davetronic said:
... By the third or fourth card load, I get the card icon in the toobar, but don't ever get a mount on the desktop, forcing a reboot. Unlike some others, I've never gotten a freeze - but I've never tried to keep re-inserting the card (after a couple times I just reboot).
Click to expand...

This also leads to the theory that it's a fault of the Panasonic P2 driver.
The Apple PCMCIA/Cardbus driver is working and is seeing the card, as you can see the eject Icon in the toolbar.
But the card isn't mounting as the P2driver fails to mount the card....
 
Precisely. I'd be willing to run some tests if necessary, but I think we'll get the same results. I think this is a widespread problem, perhaps we could do some kind of survey, see what percentage of PB users are having the problem, then maybe we could get some action.
 
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