R3D Data manager Checksum error

[mpallikonda]

Hi,

Over the weekend we shot on 8 GB Lexar CF cards and Red Drive.
I used R3D data Manager to transfer the CF card data and Red Drive data on to two brand new Western Digital 500 GB Hard drives(not portable ones). Both the cases, I kept on getting checksum errors. I was using Lexar FW800 card reader and as I read in the posts that cable might be culprit, I changed cable and tried. Issue still remains.
So, I did drag and drop and checked the file sizes on both the drives. Number of bytes matched same with the original size and I played some clips and they played fine.
I have been using this approach (drag and drop) for the past two years with no issues at all and I was trying R3D for the first time. In one of the posts, Conrad from R3D mentioned that these checksum errors could also indicate problems with drives.
I'm now thoroughly confused about what approach should I take, considering I'm getting checksum errors continuously with R3D Data manager.

Appreciate your advice.

Thanks
Murali

 

[BigLu]

Pretty funny and shocking.
Feels like you wrote this post for me.

2 years of dragging and dropping files onto multiple drives and no problems.
I bought R3D Data manager due to the fact Von uses Shotput Pro and i liked how it worked.

Brook seems to like the R3D data manager but thats just my guess because he has mentioned the program to me a few times.

Right now I cant stand it, and I have sent multiple emails to the R3D people and get no replies.
It gives me errors and I want to learn more about it but i just cant seem to reach them.

As of now I dont use it cuz its not very fast nor helpful.

Hope to hear some guidance from other peoples experience or from Conrad one day.

 

[Conrad Hunziker]

Hi,

Over the weekend we shot on 8 GB Lexar CF cards and Red Drive.
I used R3D data Manager to transfer the CF card data and Red Drive data on to two brand new Western Digital 500 GB Hard drives(not portable ones). Both the cases, I kept on getting checksum errors. I was using Lexar FW800 card reader and as I read in the posts that cable might be culprit, I changed cable and tried. Issue still remains.
So, I did drag and drop and checked the file sizes on both the drives. Number of bytes matched same with the original size and I played some clips and they played fine.
I have been using this approach (drag and drop) for the past two years with no issues at all and I was trying R3D for the first time. In one of the posts, Conrad from R3D mentioned that these checksum errors could also indicate problems with drives.
I'm now thoroughly confused about what approach should I take, considering I'm getting checksum errors continuously with R3D Data manager.

Appreciate your advice.

If you are getting checksum errors, then your hardware is not able to read a file correctly twice. It could be anywhere in your system, including the lexar reader, the cable, or the computer its attached to.

One thing that may have happened is that the FIRST read was bad, when it created the checksum files on the Red Media. You can test this by looking at the checksums in the md5sums-date.txt file, and if multiple runs match, but they dont match the md5sums.txt file, then this is the problem.

Or the problem could be your workflow. If you are opening up files in RedAlert for example before the copy is complete, R3D Data Manager will report errors on RSX or MOV files that have changed. In this case you can use the "report errors only on R3D files" option.

Those are just two cases. Its hard to know without knowing your exact system, workflow, and seeing error logs.

 

[Harry Clark]

Hmmm.
I use this program with few or no problems or errors. The one time I had a checksum error was early on when I tried being efficient and opening things in Red Alert! before the copy process was complete. As Conrad indicated, this will result in a checksum error, even though your footage is fine. Unfortunately, it's necessary to let the program do its thing and not touch any files until you see that little green check mark.
Cheers,
Harry

 

[Conrad Hunziker]

Right now I cant stand it, and I have sent multiple emails to the R3D people and get no replies.
It gives me errors and I want to learn more about it but i just cant seem to reach them.

Hope to hear some guidance from other peoples experience or from Conrad one day.

Luis- I have to call you out here. The way this reads is completely incorrect. You emailed me at 10:30 AM PST. It is now 12:28PM PST. It has been 2 hours. Even Red gives a 4 hour window, and they have billionaire funding.

In addition, your email (singular) did not contain any info to even start to begin to try and diagnose the issue. There was no problem description, no error logs, no workflow description. I cant begin to help your problem if you cant include that information.

Lastly, I am a cinematographer and camera operator. I do work on set most of the time. I cannot provide phone support for that very reason. If you describe your issues, as others have done, I can and will try (and have tried) to help you the best that I can, even while Im on set (as I am now). I released R3D Data Manager to the world because I saw a need and people I showed my early versions to wanted it - not to make a million bucks and feed my kids.

To others reading, I want to make myself perfectly clear. I will stand by and support my software 1000%. I can, will, and have been available as much as possible to solve any issues with my products, even to the point of loss of sleep and seeming delusional on set. And I find the feedback valuable, as nearly every new feature since version 2.4 has started with a conversation with one of you.

In summary, if you have an issue with R3D Data Manager, please be as specific as possible. Include error logs if you have any. Include workflow information and details about your situation. All this is valuable and helps me help you in the fastest way possible.

 

[mpallikonda]

If you are getting checksum errors, then your hardware is not able to read a file correctly twice. It could be anywhere in your system, including the lexar reader, the cable, or the computer its attached to.

One thing that may have happened is that the FIRST read was bad, when it created the checksum files on the Red Media. You can test this by looking at the checksums in the md5sums-date.txt file, and if multiple runs match, but they dont match the md5sums.txt file, then this is the problem.

Or the problem could be your workflow. If you are opening up files in RedAlert for example before the copy is complete, R3D Data Manager will report errors on RSX or MOV files that have changed. In this case you can use the "report errors only on R3D files" option.

Those are just two cases. Its hard to know without knowing your exact system, workflow, and seeing error logs.

Thanks for response, Conrad. I will check the md5sums-date.txt today evening and see if it gives me any answer. My workflow is very simple. I didn't open the files at all in RedAlert. I waited till R3D completes it's tasks. I'm using a MacBook pro with 2.33 GHz Core2Duo processor and running Leopard with 3 GB RAM and plenty of hard disk.
Thanks.

 

[BigLu]

Thank you it is very comforting to hear you support your software 1000%
I appreciate that and apologize for any stress caused by my post.
I am on set and looking for fast solutions as the problems change moment by moment so posting a question in the email was not efficient nor an effect solution at the time.
Im sorry.

I have since convinced production to get us internet access to find solutions to our problems.
I will followup with you shortly thank you so very much.
Luis

 

[Conrad Hunziker]

Thanks for response, Conrad. I will check the md5sums-date.txt today evening and see if it gives me any answer. My workflow is very simple. I didn't open the files at all in RedAlert. I waited till R3D completes it's tasks. I'm using a MacBook pro with 2.33 GHz Core2Duo processor and running Leopard with 3 GB RAM and plenty of hard disk.
Thanks.

Also, was it the R3D files that were erroring, or the other files? If its the other files, then you can safely keep the copy. I would advise in this case to enable the "warnings on non-R3D files" option.

 

[Conrad Hunziker]

Thank you it is very comforting to hear you support your software 1000%
I appreciate that and apologize for any stress caused by my post.
I am on set and looking for fast solutions as the problems change moment by moment so posting a question in the email was not efficient nor an effect solution at the time.
Im sorry.

I have since convinced production to get us internet access to find solutions to our problems.
I will followup with you shortly thank you so very much.
Luis

Thanks for getting the information. I'll help figure out whats going on and the best solution.