Formatting P2 Store

monolith

monolith

Active member
Have succeeded in switching the P2 Store (model: PCS060) over to Mac compatible, but have so far had no luck in formatting it. Thinking that the HDD button is faulty, but thought I'd check and see whether anybody else was having trouble...

Confirm or deny, people.
 
i had the same problem.. it's not mounting becuase you don't have anything on the p2 store... put some clips on the p2 store... you see that each time you dump data into your p2 store, it will create a new partition.. in other words if you've emptied your cards 5 times, it will create 5 partitions and thus 5 hardrives will pop up on your desktop.. and so on..

(the easiest way to tell if you've successfully switched your p2 store over to Mac [because the colors are hard to differentiate] is when u plug it in the mac doesn't ask you to intitialize it.)
 
I took my P2 store out for the first time today. I didn't have time to read the directions and this was just a test shoot, so I didn't sweat it.

To transfer a P2 card to the P2 store drive, I turned on the P2 store, inserted a P2 card, then pressed the START button (you have to hold it down for a few seconds). The P2 store copied the files (you know it's done when it goes from 20% to 100% (copy status).

Later that day, I hooked up my P2 store to my Mac. My G5 did not recognize it. I then pressed the following buttons in the following order at the same time: HDD CAP button, the CANCEL BUTTON and the BATTERY TEST BUTTON for more than 5 seconds. The USB light turned from green to orange. This means that you are now in the Mac mode (I learned this little trick from an earlier DVUSER post)

After doing this, the computer still did not give me a P2 store drive on my desktop.

I restarted the mac and then on my desktop 2 NO NAME drives appeared (one drive for each P2 I copied).

I then went into Final Cut Pro and did the standard P2 import (don't forget to copy all of the P2 NO NAME drives!).

Everything worked perfectly.

Next, I have to figure out how to clean/erase the P2 store. Any ideas or should I hit the manual. I never ask for directions when I get lost in my car, either.
 
So I broke down and read the manual. It looks like to format the P2 store, you need to press and hold the HDD button for 2 seconds, then press the start button.

I did these two steps, but now every time I turn the drive on the ERROR red light flashes non stop and so does all of the REMAIN lights. 2 seconds later, the P2 store shuts off.

Did I break it? How do I fix it?

Things were going so well.
 
I e-mailed my problems to Panasonic. Here is the response I got...

https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/

AND MY REPLY...

Anthony,

Thanks for the link. I don't see any info on the P2 store. Feel free to e-mail me direct links to the pages that will solve my problems. Just as a reminder, I need to know the following things:

1. Does Panasonic make software for the P2store for mac? The CDROM that comes with the P2 store is for PC only. The manual states that you need the software to perform procedures that will make the P2 store more reliable. As a Mac user, I am very upset that there is no software for my apple computer. How will I perform these vital procedures????

2. Since I can't format/erase the drive with the provided software on my apple computer, I need to be able to erase the internal drive directly on the P2 Store unit. I followed the directions in the manual and it did not work (I pressed the HD button for 5 seconds, then I pressed that start button within 2 seconds). Please find a P2 store or someone that has used one and call me and let me know what I am doing wrong. The first time I called Panasonic support, you didn't have a manual. The second time I called and talked to you, you had a manual, but no P2 store or someone around that has experience with it. This is not very helpful.

PERHAPS YOU GUYS WILL ANSWER THIS BEFORE THEY DO. THANKS!!!
 
Panasonic's reply and my response...

>On the face of the unit (where you insert the P2 Card) at the lower
>right hand corner is where the HDD format button is. It is recessed so
>you will need to insert a paper clip to press the HDD button and then
>press start
>

Thanks! I'll try that. It's a little confusing as the button on the top of the unit is also labeled HDD. I appreciate your help. What did you find out about the mac version of the software?
 
That's interesting jive.

I've rolled thru two shoots using the P2 Store, and I have an inkling that 'Import All' MAY be a bit faulty and not import all the .mov files in a partition of the P2 Store.

The first shoot definately lost some clips that we shot, and I was moving forward on the presumption that this was an error in the workflow i.e. we just didn't dump the P2 card onto the P2 Store correctly, or the Store onto the hard drive.

Now, going thru the second shoot footage myself I am coming across files that haven't been imported from partitions in which the other files have been... (I think)

This is, how you say - concerning. Don't wanna cry wolf, so will press on and see what the result of the rest of the import is now that I'm looking for the prob.

I am also finding some variation between the timecodes that appear in the P2 import window and those that appear in the browser window for cips that have been imported - usually only a couple of frames, but still.
 
As background, I'm dumping all my files into one bin in FCP - the bin is sorted by 'Media Start'. The Panasonic P2 import has a quirk whereby it usually flips one file (often the last in the partition) up to the top of the media list (sorted by Media Start, as above). Sorting by 'Media End' will put it back in it's rightful place.

So - all files are in fact being transferred.

Not dangerous, but buggy. Hmmm....
 
Greetings all.. The P2store is great.. but it isn't 100 percent intuative. I"m just glad we have Barry to help with that Mac swtich info. That was easy enough...


I too was totally bummed at the lac of Mac support. Ya can't format and or erase through the Mac. It has to be done through the indented button.. and yes, you have to have something on the drive for it to show up on the Mac. This isn't so on the PC.. which really is a bummer for now.


Also, FYI. Formatting the P2cards wasn't working for me on a shoot. Thankfully I had the manual... In order to format on the P2store you have to select and hold the P2 card button for a few seconds and then while it's flashing.. push the start button to finalize the formatting. That little extra step caused me great pains and frustration for about 10 minutes as my cards were filling up.. and thankfully I got it figured out so I could continue to record HD for over 2 hours! That's awesome.....


I can't wait for the mac database and viewer software. It will be so great to be able to organize our p2 footage like it were elements in filemaker pro. To rename, group, delete, edit and whateve we want... Outside of FCP.. Independent of projects and whatever...


Also that red button indicator you had might have been the battery or a full drive. This is such a pro unit. Love it already as it affords me the ability to do something for an extended period of time...
 
Can you guys, who have a P2 store, please walk me through the steps to format the drive (not the P2 cards)? My P2 store is currently in the mac mode (I don't know if that matters).
 
You need to find a very thin tipped object (like a paper clip, not a pen) to activate the HDD button on the front of the drive (behind the glass flip-down cover, bottom right) - hold it in for at least 2 seconds and the unit will light up like a christmas tree with flashing lights - then push and hold the START button and you're away.

Also, I'm pretty sure that you can format the P2 Store thru Disk Utility - just make sure that you put in 15 partitions (so that they're each the size of a 4gb card i.e. 4 x 15 = 60Gb capacity P2 Store).

Also, I tend to format the cards in the camera - that way you can do a quick thumbnail review and double check that it's the right footage before you banish it to the netherworld of post-formatted data...
 
A mini screwdriver/tweeker/computer screwdriver works well to format the p2store.


Thanks for the info on the disk utility. And set for 15 partitions? Have any problems after this happens? Does it need to be done in utility afterwards or could it be done with the formatting button as well.
 
Either/or. I have generally been using the formatting button, but I had no probs with the Store after running it thru Disk Utility (at least, no probs that could be traced back to that program).

An experiment would be giving it less partitions and seeing how it deals with that extra space - but from what I've seen, dumping 1 card knocks out 1 partition (it won't be written to again until the drive is formatted, otherwise there would be a danger of recording over previous clips). This is important to bear in mind when shooting/dumping simultaneously. Dumping the cards at a convenient point during the shoot as opposed to when they are full may save you some time on set, but say you dump when the counter reads 1 min then, depending on whether you've got 60 seconds or 90 seconds left on the card - you're losing between 15 and 20 mins storage space! (Solution is to dump HDD to PC/Mac over lunch or whatever and reformat).

I should add that I don't have any firm technical back-up for this hypothesis for how the Store works - but I don't see how it could be much different.
 
thefilmaddict said:
So I broke down and read the manual. It looks like to format the P2 store, you need to press and hold the HDD button for 2 seconds, then press the start button.

I did these two steps, but now every time I turn the drive on the ERROR red light flashes non stop...
Click to expand...

Yeah the Manual sucks. it doesn't tell you about the secret mac buttons and it doesn't tell you that you need a paperclip to reach the HDD button to reformat it... I did the same thing til i noticed the little hole there... once you get past that, the P2 store works pretty well. good thing we have these forums to work through the "Lost In Translation" quirks.
 
Thank you all for the P2 store tips on macs.....I was extremely frustrated trying to erase the files on the store. It is an indispensable product but the documentation and panasonic support is totally lame. Thanks again !
Aloha
-A
 
Here's How to Format Your P2 Store

Here's How to Format Your P2 Store

1. Turn on the P2 Store.

2. Make sure there is no P2 Card in the unit.

3. Press the [Format HDD] button using a fine instrument (like a paper clip) and hold this button until you see blinking lights.

4. Depress the button (remove whatever fine instrument you have from the [Format HDD] hole.

5. Quickly press and hold [Start] for two seconds (while the lights are still blinking).

*Most users don't remove the fine instrument from the [Format HDD] button before hitting [Start]. It is imperative that you do so, otherwise, the formatting process doesn't work.

*You know the formatting occured if the flashing orange lights flash for more than two seconds (not sure exactly how long they flash - it's like 5 to 7 seconds depending on how much data you have on the P2 Store.

*Another method to see if you formatted properly is to check the HDD capacity by pressing the HDD CAP button. All 5 top center LED lights should blink 2 or 3 times.

Hope this helps.

Andy
 
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