F3: Pix 240 media errors

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Backfocus92

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Over the last week I rented a Pix 240 to test out since I am considering upgrading from an AJA. I only had one SSD drive, a Sandisk Extreme 240 GB, which is a compatible drive for the PIX. I shot with it for 3 days as a backup with a client. I normally just shoot to the XD Cards for this client as they don't want to spend the time in post to correct the SLog footage, and I am not editing it. These are long (10 to 20minutes) scripted talking head shots with dolly moves mixed in. Every day when the PiX SSD drive got down to the 1 to 1.5 hours left on the card it would show a media error and stop recording. I of course lost that clip, so I was glad I was only using it as a backup.

Has anyone else had this issue? Do you think it was the SSD or something else? Once I stopped the camera recording and started it backup again it would record fine. I was using it triggered via the HDSDI for the F3 and never had a problem triggering it. It makes me really think twice about buying one or using one again, especailly for longer record times. It did have the latest firmware installed, and it did the same thing running off batteries one day and the AC power the next two days.
 
Do you know which firmware version it was. I hadn't had any issues with mine until I upgraded to v3.0, then the recorder started acting strange. I've since upgraded to v3.1 and it seems to be stable again.
 
I would say two things-- first of all, as has been said, make certain you are at the Pix 3.01 update.

Next... I've had a Pix240 using the same Samsung 470 256gb SSD (now discontinued) since the Pix was released. I have never had a media error. I shoot long uninterrupted takes for biographical interviews and have shot as long as 1 hour continuously. I have never had a problem with the Pix or with the media.

I just had a Blackmagic camera for a week for a review with SSD supplied by Blackmagic. The drive, which had worked the week before for the prior reviewer, was unable to shoot in raw mode without dropping frames. I had a spare SSD which worked fine.

In speaking with a number of people, including some Sony folks, I've come to the conclusion that consumer level SSD drives can have catastrophic failures without warning, that they slow down with multiple reformat cycles and just generally are a risk. That's why Sony isn't using SSD's in both the AXS-5 and the SR-R1 recorders.

It very well may be the SSD is bad. After my experience with the Blackmagic Camera, I will always carry a spare SSD with me on a job using SSD's as acquisition media.

Now it is also possible that the Pix didn't have the 3.01 firmware. Or that maybe the Pix itself was broken. Rental equipment can get banged around. I will say that the Pix has a reputation for rock solid dependability and construction.

Anything can happen. The occasional horror story with external recorders is yet another strong point in favor of the F5/55-- you have internal codecs which wouldn't require an external recorder.

Sorry for your trouble. But my confidence in the Pix240 remains very high and I have no qualms about recommending it.

Ned Soltz
 
Thank you Grug and Ned. The Pix had firmware version 3.01. I suspect the SSD was going bad, it was just too odd that is was doing it was close to the same time left on the drive all three days. If I lived in a bigger city I would of just went a bought a new drive, but you are on your own around here unless you own it or get it shipped in. The rental company I was renting from only had the one left available.

Ned, that was exactly why I was looking at the PIX. Trying to decide if I am keeping the F3 and getting a better recorder or upgrading to the newer cameras. I wish AJA would release their recorder already. They said October to December at NAB last year. Still no release.
 
About a year ago I read a long article on ArsTechnica explaining internally how SSDs work. Suffice to say there is no "quick-erase" on them.

If you want to write-over a previously used black, the controller in the SSD has to do about double or quadruple the operations as a "blank" block. It makes for some really complicated internal management trying to keep ahead of the game. There were other implications too as to data integrity if I recall, because the controller chip often has to bounce data between "sections" of the disk to constantly make room when a disk gets older.

My takeaway was to always buy SSDs with proven controller chips from good vendors. I specifically remember thinking "no wonder SxS and Codex mags cost a bit more".
 
I have been doing some experimentation with SSD's from various manufacturers. So far, had Sandisk fail, but not Samsung. Samsung also rates as the fastest ones out right now. (840 series). Cindeck recommends them for uncompressed capture.

Pix240 is a brilliant device, but pisses me off due to not recording timecode data to ProRes files in the "standard" location where Resolve expects it to be. Therefore, all Pix files show-up in resolve with a 00:00:00 starting timecode. I've made them aware of this. I am shocked that I have not heard this around the forums. Nate?
 
I've been in contact with both Sound Devices and Blackmagic over the timecode issue. Both are working on the situation. I've posted on both the Blackmagic forum on the Cow as well as on Sound Device's forum. It is under investigation and I do expect a fix, but of course no idea when.

Ned
 
If I were SoundDevices, I'd be running to the table with a Fix. It's a major annoyance that I'm surprised wasn't caught way earlier in their testing cycles.
 
I record footage on Cinedeck, KiPro mini, and Samurai and don't have this issue. So, I have to assume that SD is doing something that isn't "standard". I'm suspecting that Resolve just has to look somewhere else in the file header for the timecode. So, it's a matter of who is gonna step up to a fix: SD by putting the meta-data elsewhere or BM to read it elsewhere. I'm not a software engineer, but I bet either could be done in a day.
 
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