P2 Card freakout - I'm really, really not happy.

BenB,

sorry to hear that you had such an horrible experience....!

But i have to second TwistedLincoln here: i think its hard to say where the damage was done, and i guess when you are talking about several things that occured the last year that you always did this with the MAC.

I agree that this is not just "one" thing, but a whole pipeline (cam, P2, computer, HDD and so on..), but its kind of strange that nothing like the reported glitches on MACs has been reported on a PC download.

Its pain for you, i can imagine, but i think its hard to blame P2 technology and to deny that the damage could possibly have been done by the MAC when you inserted the card for the first time.

I am not sure if you checked the footage in camera before you inserted the card to the mac, would be interesting if you had the chance to see the footage on the HVX before...!??

I am probably not as experinced as you are with HVX/P2 but ive recorded and downloaded hundreds of P2 cards since last april via PC and i never had one case where i lost something or something was corrupt..!

Good luck on this BenB!


EDIT: i just wrote this while you posted the comment up..which problems happened with PC when you
saw it?
 
Corrupt data on the P2 card.

My point is, and one last time, my statement is this,

P2 is not bullet proof, and is not close to bullet proof, and is not as safe as tape, at this stage in it's development.
 
BenB,

do you include the Firestore and the whole P2 idea(camcorder and so on) when you say its not bulletproof, or are you just talking about the P2 cards?

Did you have the chance to see the footage of the specific interview in the HVX before or not Ben??
 
Last edited:
BenB said:
How can the Mac corrupt data on a P2 card it can't even write to? That makes no sense. P2 cards are not corrupt by just sticking them into a slot. I'm a retired IT Engineer, that's just hogwash.
Click to expand...

Are you making the assumption that just because the protect tab has been set that a PCMCIA slot can't damage the contents of a flash based device that is inserted?

I can think of many scenarios where an attempted mounting that failed could result in a corrupted file structure.
 
FWIW, I haven't had a single problem with the P2 workflow on PC's.

This is coming from a guy who used to hate Microsoft with a passion. I was and still am a die-hard Amiga fan when it comes to computers. And I don't really care much for the Mac platform. It's just personal preference but I'll use a Mac if the situation calls for it. Anyway, I eventually got over myself (my pride) and learned how to use a PC with Windows to get the job done.

After Windows 2000 and XP came out, I noticed a big improvement. With proper components and just a little bit of computer know-how, I've found the PC to be extremely reliable with a wealth of software. It's just a tool to get tasks done. It just works.


My point is this:

Don't be afraid or somehow adverse to using a PC Windows box if it can help you in the creation and completion of whatever project you're working on.
 
BenB said:
I recently got very corrupted files on a P2 card, nothing happened that could have caused it. Just swapping them out during a very historically valuable interview, copying the files to a hard drive on my Powerbook, got back to the studio, poof, lost over half the footage. The last round that was still on the P2 cards: we went to a Mac, to a PC, used various software, and the majority of the clips, directly off the card, were not readable, period.
Click to expand...

Ben, were you copying the files via the mac and then reformatting the cards in the camera, or were you just dragging the files to the trash on the mac to "empty " the cards?
Did you check the footage on the drive immediately after copying, prior to re-using the card? Was it ok then but not when you got home?
A detail of the workflow would help to narrow down the problem.
 
Ben, I understand your frustration but don't understand what's so surprising about this. Stuff happens - cars quit, a/c's go out, VCR's eat tapes, people get sick, cellphones lose service, etc. The fact that it happened during an irreplaceable interview makes it worse, but the point is - no system is bulletproof. And one particular camera or P2 card or Mac may have more problems then the next. It might be interesting to take a poll and see how what percentage of owners using the P2 system have ever experienced a
file corruption. I'll be it is under 5%.
 
I had my HVX200 from Feb-May last year. I lost several clips due to corruption and I had tons of issues getting files off of the 2 cards I had. It would work 3 out of 4 times. It was always that 1 time that was a pain and I had to devise all kinds of work arounds. I think I had a bad P2 card or something.

I ultimately sold the kit as I couldn't stand the unreliablity. And I was using a PC with Edius and a Mac with FCP. So the troubles I had were not platform related. They seemd to be file system related. It seemed the P2 file system would get corrupt and require a format too often.

On a different note I have been using my H1 for almost 8 months and shot 20+hours and I have had exactly 1 dropout. A bummer to say the least but I can take a .5 second glitch to all the headaches I had with the P2 workflow.

I still think tapeless is the future but as others have stated....it is far from bulletproof. In theory it may look that way but there are still alot of wrinkles to iron out.
 
ice,

youre supposed to format the card, not erase data on the card manually. everytime you dump footage you have to format it. that way its fresh and ready for the next batch of clips.
 
Well,

might be formating is better, but i mostly just erased the files and reused the cards...but i better always format them, thats right.however, i am puzzeled icicle had so many problems with PC too....did you buy a new set or are you finished with P2/HVX?

If not, how did all this change?
Scary ide that some P2 cards/cams cold be "buggy"..i would really interested to know from more users in detail about their problems, specially if it happened on PC....!
 
I agree with Timur . . . I believe these problems could be avoided if you simply format the P2 card each time you are ready to re-use it. Do not just delete the files! Also, if you haven't already, get P2 Genie (available on PC or Mac) and it will greatly improve your workflow.

That being said, there must be some chance you could get a "bad" P2 card. Test them first. If you experience problems, return it under warranty for another or a repair.
 
Last edited:
The thing is, it shouldn't matter whether you erase the files or format the card. Anything that properly implements the FAT32 file system should have no problem with a card where all the contents were simply erased.

I believe P2 Genie also doesn't actually format the card, and instead erases the contents.

Last but not least, if you format a card in the HVX, it also isn't left blank. The camera immediately creates the CONTENTS folder and LASTCLIP.TXT file, and some testing I did last weekend indicated that there were recoverable file fragments on the card after formatting.
 
You're right. P2 Genie does not format the card. The reason for this is that an "erase" leaves the name of the card intact - thus letting you name the card what you want for better tracking your workflow.
 
As if I irritated tje gods, I just had 2 dropouts on a tape I shot today for a client!

Oh well! Luckily they were in bad takes!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top