HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

M

magicdavek

Well-known member
Last night, I discovered that my DVX100A is stuck in it's time code. I can't play anything back in VCR mode. I tried a few tapes, and the time code is stuck at zero. I can see that the tape mechanism is turning the tape, and I can hear it, but the screen is all blue. When I try to play back, an asterisk * appears after the TC at the top of the window.

Just before I discovered it, I had the cam hooked up to Final Cut Pro and I was importing footage.

I turned it off and on a few times, twice with a long time in between (a few hours). I popped out the battery all night, and started from scratch - still the same. I tried with a new blank tape and existing tapes.

Help! I'm in the middle of a project and need the cam. The manual was not helpful in this regard.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

reset hte camera using the master reset switch by the speaker underthe LCD panel.. you will have to redo any custom settings you stored anywhere in the cam, but that only takes a minute.

..hopefully that willtake care of the problem.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

i have the same issue. just received my dvx-100a. went out this morning to shoot some test footage. came back, fired up fcp, watched some footage (on the lcd) went to batch capture, fcp crashed, rebooted, went to play footage from the dvx and all i have is a blue screen. the camera doesn't read the timecode, it's just 00:00:00:00 and an asterisk appears next to it. the tape is running inside. i pulled the tape out and ran it in my xl-1. it played fine, the footage is there.

tried pressing the reset button. this does not fix the problem.

any other suggestions?
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

I just gave it a try. I still have the problem. When resting, it looks like this: TC 00:00:00.00. When I hit the play button, I get TC*00:00:00.00. I just get that asterisk after the TC when I play back, but the time code doesn't move.

Funny thing is that I hit the reset three times. Not only didn't it correct my problem, but it didn't cancel out my personal settings. For example, For F5 on the dial, I have it in 30P mode and it is named 30P. That didn't change. I pressed reset once with the camera off, a second time in VCR mode, and a third time in camera mode. Nothing changed. Am I supposed to hold it down for a certain amount of time? Each time I pressed it, the screen went blank and came back up, but no change.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

indieanajonze,

The difference for me is that I've used my DVX100A for 8 months with no problems and hooked it up to FCP about a dozen times before.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

..hmm.. according to the manual it wont erase your personal settings.. so thats nice to know, but im suprised it did not fix the issue.. let me think about this a sec..
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

i hear you. my dvx has literally 10 minutes of use on it and i already have the problem. being a newcomer to the camera, i was thinking the solution would be a simple one, but hearing from a more experienced user, i'm a bit nervous now.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

..have you tried going into the menu and changing your timecode setting ?(whatever its at .. change it to something else.. and then change it back again) that may unlock the timecode clock .. or may not.. anyway its worth a shot


..also,  does the timecode work when recording to a tape still?
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

while in vcr mode, i just went under recording setup and changed from drop-frame to non-drop, then i exited out, hit play and had tc running. i went back into the menu to switch back to drop-frame, exited out and the camera now recognizes the timecode. however, i still have a blue screen. no picture, no audio.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

now it gets really interesting. since i have tc now, i just tried to batch capture my clips in final cut pro. as the capture began, my footage showed up, however, it had 4 or 5 evenly spaced blue bars running horizontal across the lcd and the capture window. the audio studdered and a message came up on the lcd. i can't remember the exact phrasing, but it basically said unsupportable tape format. i closed fcp and tried to play the video from the camera. the message no longer shows up, but the blue bars are there and the audio is missing. i am using the panasonic master quality tapes as suggested by evs.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

..try hooking up the cam to FCP in VCR mode and simply playing back(export to tape) some footage over firewire to the cam. it may clear it up. ..dont record over anything on accident. what i think happend is that FCP opened the drivers on the cam, and did not close them properly when it crashed, so the drivers are just in limbo waiting for input from FCPs DV device controller.    by  switching the timecode it in effect causes it to reset, but the picture shold come back once you feed it some info through the controller, and then shut it down properly.      ..let me know if it works for ya.   have fcp up and running when you plug the camera in and have the camera on and in VCR mode.  .. again.. let me know if it helps.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

thanks for your suggestion neil, but it didn't work for me.  as a matter of fact, i put another tape in that i shot when the camera first arrived (to make sure it worked) when i hit play, the blue bars came up, then it cleared up to a normal picture, normal tc running...then it went blue after a couple of seconds.  now i'm back to the original problem.  blue screen, asterisk by tc, etc.

UPDATE- i put the tape i shot this morning back in and now it works. i didn't do anything to the camera. tc runs, picture is normal and i have audio. so i took that tape out and put the tape i shot when the camera first arrived back in. i get the blue screen, etc. it doesn't play. i put the tape from this morning back in and it plays.

all i know is this isn't going to work for me. i can't afford surprises of this kind during a job.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

are the tapes the same type of tape? it sounds like the one tape is just messed up .. at least it seems to be working ok now. try shooting somthing new.. it sounds like it should be fine.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

as i stated in my previous posts, my dvx is brand new (as far as i know.) the camera has literally been used for 10 minutes.

neil- yes, the tapes are the same. rush at evs suggested only using panasonic master quality tapes and those are the only tapes i've used. i'm not convinced the camera is working fine. i'm charging the battery now and will shoot some new footage later as you suggested.

barry- is it possible that my heads are dirty seeing as the camera is virutally brand new? i would agree with your assessment that the heads are dirty from all the evidence except for the fact that the camera has only 10 minutes on it. does the dvx have a "dirty heads" warning on the lcd? if it does, i haven't seen it during playback.

thanks guys.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

.. gennerally head issues are like what your describing with the lines and dropouts, but arent bad dnough to cause a haed jam error or anything that would give you a visible warning on the display.    ive always wondered about using dry tapes on a new camera, because alot of times the cameras may be tested in the factory, some more than others.. and im assuming they would likely use a cheap standard wet tape, meaning that you should clean the heads before running dry in them as the heads would have wet lube residue from the factory.. im not really sure if thats the case with the DVX and testing them, but im would assume  that they undergoe some sort of quality and functionality test before they ship them out. .. perhaps Jan  the Panasonic product manager here would know what they undergoe at the factory.   I do know that its not uncommon for them to have hours on the heads right out of the factory box though, and that is normal.    You might as well try cleaning the heads if the problem persists. you could follow the guide here to do it the good way, or you could use the tape as little as possible. i would be interested to find out what happens at the factory, and if they are tested, what sort of tape is used as well.
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

Sorry, I made the original post then had to go coach my son's basketball game. Also, my in-laws are in town this afternoon (that' a good thing - except I can't sneak away to work much on this at the moment).
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

Barry,

Would the issue of dirty heads suggest it was just a coincidence that indieanajonze and I only had difficulty after using it in Final Cut Pro? My camera is not new. But I'd be surprised if I've gotten more than 30 hours on it (I haven't checked).
 
Re: HELP! Won't playback - time code stuck

i don't know what to think about this whole thing.

neil- do you know if the factory resets the head hours on the camera to zero before shipping it?  my dvx displayed 0 hours out of the box.

i bought this camera to replace my xl1 which has served me flawlessly for seven years, even survived being assulted by a falling c-stand.  i bought the dvx to raise the production value of my jobs.  i'll be beginning a major project in a week and i'm considering sending the dvx back and sticking to my xl1 for now.  i'm not trying to be dramatic, but i have no confindence in my dvx right now and in all honesty, i haven't the time to sit and figure out what is the real problem.   i just shouldn't have to be playing sherlock holmes on a brand new $3500 camera that all of a sudden doesn't work properly after 10 minutes of use.

if i clean the head myself, will this void any warrenty or cause any foul with panasonic?  i really feel trapped here because even if i sent my dvx to panasonic to clean the heads, who's to say this won't happen again (god forbid during a shoot.)   

again, i don't mean to be so dramatic about this, but this is putting me in a very troublesome position.
 
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